Chapter 142 - On the Horizon

Chapter 142 - On the Horizon


Suddenly, I am whisked away from my own mind. I open my eyes to see both Inanna and Seth looking down at me.

“Kaiya, what’s wrong? What did you see?” Seth asks.

“I come here because I sensed some distortions in the air,” Inanna informs. “What happened?”

I swallow hard, my head reeling from all the information. It is my fault in the first place!

“There’s no dark entity inside me, but I’ve found out something else instead.”

“What is it?” Seth asks. He is looking worried as seconds pass.

I grin at him. “I am an apostle, rather than a Vessel—if it makes any sense.” Then, I glance at Inanna and ask, “Did you know?”

“Just a hint,” she says. “The Blood God told me that you are technically different from us. Gezer, Ninus, and I are Vessels. You are a little bit different, though.”

“Then why did you say that I am...”

“Because I don’t know what to call you.”

“How is an apostle different from vessels?”

“I am guessing that it’s in the amount of blessing you received. Once, the Blood God called the Moon Goddess stupid. Maybe it’s because you are made an apostle, rather than a vessel.”

Seth continues to hover over me, checking for any visible wounds. When I finally lay my eyes on him, I say, “Seth, even if I am not in love with another man, I don’t think I will ever be your Queen.”

He pauses and frowns at me. “This is not a good time for you to say something about rejection though.”

Yet, I continue. “In the past, even if I am a King’s lover, I’ve never become their queen.”

“Then they just don’t know your worth, they are all—”

“It’s for a very good reason,” I say. “The Moon Goddess. She cannot return to her realm. She stayed here, her spirit wandering until she finds a suitable vessel, for every generation.”

“She created other vessels?” Inanna asks.

I smile sadly. “Not in the way you are created. She is more of, hmm... accepted by humans into their bodies. And the dark entity we’ve seen are fragments of her throughout the centuries.”

“And?”

“Every time she finds a vessel, she hunts for me, using the body she inhabits.”

“That’s why you can’t be in a position of power. That will only place a target on your back,” Seth whispers.

“That’s correct. Now, she has a perfect vessel.”

“But Kaiya, that needs compatibility, strength of magic, and more importantly, she should be welcomed into the body. Or else, the body will just shut down,” Inanna says. “I know because the Blood God told me and experimented about it with the three of us.”

“You are still correct, Inanna.”

“So...”

“There is someone in this age that is a perfect vessel for her,” I say. “The Moon Goddess also said that she will come to collect.”

“Oh damn,” Seth says, finally arriving at a conclusion. “You don’t mean that we are about to get attacked by General Brandon Stine? Is he somewhere close then?”

I nod. Suddenly, I feel a searing headache that forces me to clutch my head.

“Fck!” I curse.

“What’s happening?! Kaiya?” he asks.

“It’s the backlash,” Inanna answers.

I wince, gritting my teeth against the pain. I reach for Seth and say, “Don’t kill General Brandon.”

Inanna takes action and starts casting a spell. “I will try to lessen the pain.”

Memories start to flood my mind, and most of them are trying to escape. I see flashes of General Brandon Stine’s face, and a feeling of dread settles in the pit of my stomach.

Seth places a hand on my shoulder, his eyes filled with concern. “We will figure it out, Kaiya. Together.”

I smile weakly at him, grateful for his support. “Don’t kill the Moon Goddess too,” I say this time.

As Inanna continues with her spell, I can feel the headache subside. However, memories are still spilling out of my head.

I close my eyes, trying to calm myself, and an idea comes to my head. “We are going to purify Agia.”

Seth and Inanna exchange a look of confusion. “Purify Agia? Who is that?” he asks, looking at me as if I am delirious from the pain.

“Yes,” I say, my voice growing feeble. “We need to purify the Moon Goddess, Agia. That way, she can return to her realm.”

“You can purify a goddess?” Inanna asks. “Because I certainly cannot.”

I look at Seth. “Remember that ancient ritual we learned about? We’ll use it. That way we can cleanse General Brandon’s body of the Moon Goddess’s influence, and probably purify her.”

“But that will free her to walk our lands.”

“Without a body, she can’t do anything.”

“Still, it will be difficult. Never mind the support, they will wage war against us for even trying to free the dark lord.”

“Dark lord?” I ask.

“The people believe that what’s inside General Brandon is the Dark Lord. Not the Moon Goddess who can’t return to her realm.”

“Still, we are—”

Suddenly, I lost control of my body. I hit the ground, but I don’t feel any pain.

“Kaiya?!”

“The ritual has taken a toll on her. Because of my spell, she can’t feel the pain, but it is still there.”

“Then let’s—”

But I’m unable to hear what Seth is trying to say because my eyes close and I lose consciousness.



I wake up to the sound of loud shouting and boots pounding against the ground. Confused and disoriented, I blink against the morning light that filters in between the heavy curtains.

I sit up, only noticing that Seth is sleeping on a chair beside my bed.

“Seth?” I ask.

Seth opens his eyes and looks at me. Then a look of relief passes through his features. He jumps to the bed and hugs me. “Kaiya! You are awake! I don’t know what I am going to do if you don’t!”

I laugh nervously. “You sound as if I slept for a very long time.”

Seth pulls away and looks seriously at me.

I wince. “I did, huh?”

He nods.

“How long am I unconscious after the ritual?”

“One month, in fact.”

I sigh. Seriously. “Are you sure it’s just a month?” I ask. All this mental exercise is taking a toll on me. “I hope I missed nothing important?” I ask.

“Actually, there is a couple.” He offers his hand to me and says, “Come.”

I accept his hand and get out of bed. As soon as I stand, my knees buckle and I almost fall.

Seth quickly steadies me, his arms around my waist. “Careful, Kaiya. You’re still weak.”

I lean into his embrace, feeling the warmth of his body against mine, the mate bond acting up. I ignore it again, knowing exactly that it’s just lust.

“What happened?” I ask, breaking the moment.

Seth leads me to the window. There are army camps outside Orttenburg. I can see flags and emblems of three kingdoms at the very least. Then, I realize what was happening.

The Stine banners are on the left, icy blue banners that are held high in the air. They have the least number of people. The Owusu is in front, their green and gold emblazoned flags snapping in the breeze.

“General Brandon has rallied the other kingdoms against us...” I mutter.

And then, laying my eyes on the right, I feel a chill run down my spine. Pitchford Kingdom.

“Pitchford? But I am also one of the Pitchford citizens,” I murmur. “How are they convinced to attack Orttenburg?”

“That’s the tricky part,” he answers. “They believe that I am brainwashing you to free the Dark Lord.”

“Huh? And they believed that?”

“Not completely. However, they want to meet you in person, and when I told them that they can’t because you are unconscious, their suspicion of me only increases.”

“Theo knows about what we are doing. He should have helped in explaining our circumstances.”

“He does, but you understand he is also a human, right? No matter how much he loves you, he can still be a victim of jealousy.”

I click my tongue. “That’s all?”

“The leaders of the three kingdoms, including General Brandon, asked to see if you really are unconscious,” Seth scratches his head. “However, I can’t do that. Inanna says that you are vulnerable. If the Moon Goddess comes across you while unconscious, she’s not sure what will happen.”

“I’m guessing they give you an ultimatum?”

“They will attack if you didn’t meet them, or if I didn’t let them meet you by...” he swallows hard. “…last night.”

“It already started?!”

“Earlier... But they are being, you know, not giving their all, as you can see.”

“And the vampires?”

“They have the vow with you. Right now, they are our allies.”

“Then, what are you still waiting for?! Let me meet them!”

“But you just woke up... I—”

Suddenly, the sound of a horn cut off our conversation. We look at each other before I say, “Please, Seth. Let me meet them.”