Chapter 235 – I've Awaken The Devil

Chapter 235 – I've Awaken The Devil

Liora

I walked deeper into the forest.

The further I walked, the colder and eerie it became. The air was damp. Stench. My boots sank into damp soil with every step.

It was dim because the moon couldn’t reach this paet of the forest. The only light is from the touch I carried.

In hugged the Soul Reviver against my chest. Its cover felt warm, keeping me warm.

“Lucian,” I whispered into the dark. “I’m coming for you.”

The wind answered with a soft hum. The sound was similar to a sigh. I followed it, my heart beating faster with every step.

Despite encouraging before Snowfall felt worried now.

“Liora,” she said quietly, her voice shaking a little. “If you do this… you may lose yourself.”

I swallowed, tightening my grip on the book. “If that’s the price to bring him back, I’ll pay it.”

She sighed deeply. “This is not the path of love. It is the path of hunger... the kind that never ends.”

I knelt on the damp ground. His scent filled my nose. My fingers trembled as I opened the book to the marked page.

He's here.

The symbols shift under my touch, like tiny veins of light running through the parchment.

The Soul Reviver whispered in a language older than the moon.

I cut my palm. Blood rolling down my wrist. It didn't even hurt.

Snowfall whispered. “Lucian would not want this.”

I looked at the moon, tears burning in my eyes. “He wouldn’t want to be gone either.”

The word broke me even more.

I drew Lucian’s curse sign on the ground with the blood of my palm. The earth soaking it burning with silver mist making the ground shaking under my feets.

Even the wind changed. The forest lively.

Snowfall growled softly, her voice shaking. “Liora, stop. You are opening the wrong door.”

But I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to.

“He’s close,” I whispered, my hands trembling as I traced the last symbol. “I can feel him.”

The blood glow beneath me, turning from red to silver, then to something in not natural.

I heard whispers, circling me like a thousand wolves whispering. But I couldn’t understand theor words ...but deep in my heart recognized it.

Then I heard his voice.

“Liora…"

My chest tightened. “Lucian?” I gasped. "Is that You?

“Come closer…” he whispered.

I crawled forward, the damp leaves cold against my palms. My vision blurred with tears. “Lucian, please. Say something else.”

“Don’t cry… I’m here.”

My breath caught. I looked around, searching for him, but all I saw were dim lights of the moon through the mist.

Snowfall howled sharply, her fur rising. “That is not him!”

“Yes, it is!” I screamed, turning on her. “Don’t you feel it? His voice, and energy... it’s the same. His scent ... it’s here!”

But even as I said it, doubt crept in my heart. The air smelled of him, yes, but there was another smell.

Something stench ...making want to vomit. My chest paining.

I'm here.

Then I felt it. A pulse beneath the soil. Slow. Steady. Familiar.

The earth was shaking.

The branches cracked. The sound of footsteps approaching, the rustling of leaves as he walked on them.

I turned quickly, holding the book to my chest.

Eira burst through the mist first, her coat drenched in dew, silver hair clinging to her cheeks.

Then Aurelie followed, eyes wide with fear, she gasped as she was me. Behind them was Keal and Lily, their faces pale in the faint light.

“Liora!” Eira’s shouted “Stop! You’re calling something else...not him!”

Her words echoed through the woods like thunder.

Keal’s eyes locked on mine, he was worried but angry. “You don’t know what you’re doing. You’re breaking the balance!”

I shook my head violently, tears spilling. “I know what I’m doing! I can feel him!”

The ground glowed brighter under me, the sign pulsing, like a living heart.

The ground cracked across the leaves, up the trees, and even over the stones at their feet.

Aurelie’s breath came out in a shudder. “She’s drawing on both life and death.”

Eira walked forward, her hand reaching out to me. “Liora, look at me. You’re calling something else. This energy...it isn’t Lucian’s soul.”

Her voice trembled with panic.

I pressed my palm against the sign, the ground soaking mr blood, the heat burning through my skin. “I don’t care what you think. I know him. I can feel him!”

Snowfall growled again, circling me. “Mate calls… but the voice is wrong.”

I ignored her. My whole body was shaking now. My hands were numb, my heart pounding like it wanted to escape my chest. My mouth tasted of salt and blood.

It's soaking way too much blood.

I can't control myself anymore. It was the Soul Reviver thats controling me. I started chanting words from the book.

Words I didn’t know, each syllable burned my throat, but I kept going.

“Stop her!” Keal shouted.

He rushed forward, but the air around me shifted violently, knocking him back. The force was cold and sharp. Lily screamed his name as he hit the ground, groaning.

Eira’s started her spells ...silver light came from her hands trying to counter the dark glow rising from the earth. But the two lights clashed and hissed, neither winning.

The world spun. My head felt heavy, my ears ringing.

Liora… closer…

Lucian’s voice again. So soft, so near.

“Lucian!” I cried out. “Where are you?!”

Then the ground cracked. Again. This time louder. Deeper, vibrating through the forest.

Frost explode from my arms, putting them in place, numbing them. So they can't stop me.

“Liora, stop!” Keal’s voice broke through the chaos, hoarse with fear. “He’s gone! You have to let go!”

I screamed back, “I can’t! He’s still here!”

Tears streamed down my face, hot against my frozen skin. I pressed both hands into the ground, pouring everything...my fear, my love, my fear... all into the spell.

The light turned blinding white, then deep crimson. The air smelled of smoke and blood.

Snowfall howled, her cry echoing through the forest. “You will lose yourself!”

“I already have!” I shouted.

The earth beneath me pulsed one final time..
then split open.

The wind went silent. Even the trees seemed to hold their breath.

Slowly, the ground began to move. The soil cracked, parting like the surface of water disturbed by a rising hand. Frost covered everything.

A shape began to form from the ground.

Fingers...long, pale, trembling... broke through the soil. Then a hand. The wrist was marked by a faint glowing symbol.

Lucian’s mark.

I froze, my breath caught halfway. “Lucian…”

Behind me, I heard Aurelie’s soft gasp. Eira’s voice trembled, “Oh Goddess… what have you done?”

Keal’s voice was quiet, but it carried a weight that made my chest ache. “It’s not him, Liora. It’s the Devil.”

I couldn’t move. My knees felt weak, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. The hand twitched, fingers curling as if trying to grasp somethin... someone.

Me.

Snowfall howled. “The moon weeps,” she whispered. “You’ve crossed the line.”

But I didn’t hear her anymore.

Because as the soil cracked wider, and that pale hand reached higher toward the air.. toward me...

I heard his voice again.

Soft. Familiar.

"Liora… finally you found me.”

My tears fell freely then. My lips trembled. “I told you I would.”

I had brought him back.

Or something that looked like him.

That's when Keal yelled. "That's not him."

"But the Devil. Lucifer!"

What?

Oh Shit.... what gave I done? I've awaken the devil?