Chapter 256: Chapter 256 Ultimate Sacrifice
The sky rumbled as if to mourn the death of the Lycan King.
The Golden light swirled like a tornado, Rhydian stood close to the barrier. "Aeris, give me your hand. Stop this madness!" He yelled, covering his face with his elbow.
The force of the wind pushed him back, but he formed a barrier around himself, "Aeris!" He yelled.
When Aeris looked down, her eyes met his pale blue ones, they looked at her with worry and care.
"This is my path... this is my decision." Her voice echoed through the battlefield. Then, the wind grew wider, and bigger, sending Rhydian, and the other witches miles away.
The corpse, weapons, and stones on the ground got caught in the wind, before flying in different directions.
"You gave your heart for my sake... now, I’ll do the same." Aeris tilted her head upward.
Her hand shimmered with golden light, and she plunged her hand into her chest. Her face contorted with pain, but she didn’t let out a sound.
Her silver-whitish hair danced to the tone of the wind, it spread in the air as if it were floating under water.
"Now, my heart will become yours, and yours mine." Blood sputtered from her lips.
Her back ached forward, as she ripped out half her heart, blood oozed from her chest, and her hand were dripping with blood.
She looked pale, when she looked down at her hand, the heart was pumping, and golden energy circled them.
’It worked.’ she thought to herself.
She placed the half-heart inside him. Immediately, the cavity in his chest began to close, and his pale skin slowly turned to a warm hue of colour. His once chapped and blue lips slowly turned pink.
His fingers twitched by his side, but he did not open his eyes.
A small smile formed on Aeris’s bloodied lips. A small warmth flickered through her eyes. This time she was able to protect those she wanted to protect. She was no longer powerless. She was no longer useless.
"Let’s leave this godforsaken place." She whispered weakly, with a flick of her hand, a portal formed in the sky. It rippled with gold and blue energy.
She flapped her wings and began to ascend into the sky.
"I see you have embraced your destiny." A familiar force rang through the air.
Aeris stopped mid-way with Damon’s head resting on her shoulder. She looked down, and a figure stood on the balcony of a room in the castle. The figure had a thick cloak draped around her shoulders.
"I apologize on behalf of my people. Their actions were reckless, and they acted without my consent. I never wished for this bloodshed."
Aeris squinted her eyes, her eyes slightly widened as realization dawned on her. The figure was the queen of the witches, and she had the same motherly feeling as the woman who had awakened the mark on her shoulder.
As if to confirm her suspicion, the queen turned to the woman who had helped her with her bath.
Aeris’ gaze remained unreadable. "I’ll forgive you, because of the help you once rendered to me."
She flapped her wings and disappeared through the portal.
As soon as they left, the heavy cyclone slowly dispersed leaving nothing but wrecked trees, broken bodies, disaster, and the smell of burnt flesh.
It felt eerily quiet after the heavy battle, only the small whimper of pain and feet dragging through the earth was the only noise.
On the far corner, in the woods, Rhydian coughed as he rose to his feet, blood trickled down his face, from bashing his head against the tree.
His eyes darkened, his fist curled tightly beside him. "I didn’t do all of this to make you give up half of your heart to him, Aeris... you are supposed to see only me and me alone." He spat blood.
With a wave of his hand, a blue portal materialized out of the thin air, and he stepped inside. "I’ll find you, wherever you may be." He disappeared along with the portal.
Meanwhile, at the other side of the battlefield, Theo continued terrorizing the witches. His eyes shimmered with nothing but hatred and lust for blood.
Close to him, Alaric lay on the floor with his chest heaving heavily.
The pain in his heart had disappeared and the snap he had once felt had reconnected again. He stared at the space where Aeris and Damon had disappeared.
A small smile of relief formed on his lips. He turned to the growl and the sound of bone snapping and flesh tearing.
"Theo, stop killing them. Damon is alive," he said, mindlinking him.
But Theo didn’t heed his words.
"Theo! Your father is alive!" He yelled through the mindlink, making Theo stop with a witch’s hand between his jaws.
He ripped her hand off before turning to Alaric, his pitched black eyes fixated on Alaric, and he bared his fangs at him.
Alaric rolled his eyes helplessly. "Help me, I can’t heal properly." Alaric mindlinked him again.
Theo froze mid-rip, Alaric’s words echoing in his head. His claws trembled, his black eyes blazing with fury. A deep growl tore from his chest, his body shaking violently as though his wolf refused to let go of the rage. He thrashed his head side to side, snarling at the pull inside him, the pull to keep killing.
Alaric’s voice pressed harder through the bond. "Theo! Your father is alive!"
Theo’s breath came out in ragged pants, his teeth sinking deeper into his lip until blood spilled out. His claws dug into the dirt, carving deep trenches as he fought himself.
The snap he felt had reconnected, he felt Damon was still alive, the black in his eyes flickered, fighting against the hazel beneath, until finally, with a guttural roar, the darkness receded.
His body shrank back, his fur retreating, leaving him collapsed and human again. A loud wheeze burst from him, as though he had been suffocating inside that rage.
He scrambled to Alaric’s side, and he gently held his hand. "Alaric, what happened to you?"
Alaric inhaled heavily. "I lost focus while battling," he said through the mindlink.
"Why are you not healing, then?"
"I don’t know."
"You look like a roasted pig," Theo said to lighten the tension, pushing back the feeling of anger and bloodlust aside.
Alaric rolled his eyes, as if to say ’Tell me more about it.’
"Damon is alive, can you feel him?" Theo held his chest.
Alaric slowly nodded his head.
"Where are they?" Theo glanced at the battlefield but they were nowhere to be found, except the witches who managed to survive crawling and limping with their remaining bodies.
Before Alaric could respond. Seraphina appeared in front of them. Her eyes lingered on Alaric’s body before looking away. "The queen’s order, you both are requested..." She turned to Alaric. "To help you heal."
Theo growled, ready to pounce on her.
Seraphina turned and walked away. Left with no choice, Alaric and Theo followed after her.
"What if this is a trap?" Theo asked, as he helped Alaric walk.
"The queen and Aeris are acquaintances, she won’t harm us... at least not for now."