Chapter 68
The other mage who arrived with Genu sent magic towards me to undo my bonds as he threw me a sword. I didn’t need a sword. I wanted to rip everyone apart with my bare hands and teeth for hurting my wife, my Annwyl.
As Panya stabbed Ornella through the stomach, I felt the same pain run through me. It wasn’t enough to stop me. Nothing would stop me from getting to my wife. I was going to tear her head off. She promised me she’d do everything she could to keep Ornella safe. Why shouldn’t I have been surprised by the betrayal of a woman I’d just met? She gave me no real reason to trust her.
It was all for show, she was just playing pretend.
I couldn’t think of anything other than Ornella as I lunged for the mage. My shadows wrapped around her ankles and yanked her down to the floor, pulling her towards me as she fought against my magic. Morgana stood atop the steps smiling at me before turning to Ornella, to give her aid.
The very core of my being grinned at the vengeance I was about to take out on her. Suddenly a whack hit me in the back of my head. Losing my concentration, the vine-like shadows let go of her ankles. I whirled round on my heels, ready to take on my new attacker. My eyes dripping in shadows landed on the male mage, who was standing with both his hands glowing with magic.
“STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!”
“Sister…” The words came out as a snarl, as my eyes turned darker. “She hurt Ornella. She will pay.”
“NICHOLAS! NO!” Vanessa shouted.
It didn”t matter. I was lost to the shadows and my rage. My Annwyl was hurt and someone was going to pay. I pulled my magic deep within myself, concentrating and focusing before sending it back towards the female mage. The powerful magic ripped out of my entire body with a tremendous roar from my snarling lips. The female mage held up her arms in defence, a poor attempt at blocking my attack. As it began to push her back, the portal behind her rippled, its light starting to crack through.
Ornella needed to get away from there.
Casting my eyes about, I was looking to Morgana for aid. She’d be the only one who could potentially withstand its power should it blast open. Morgana would be able to grab Ornella. She’d be able to take her away safely.
“ORNELLA!! STAY WITH ME! PLEASE!!!”
My heart was trying to pound out of my chest, as the words exploded from my mouth and my eyes met hers. She was fading fast. The wound in her stomach had bled profusely. Thank the Goddess. Morgana was trying to pick up Ornella while Panya sent fire balls towards them both.
“TELL YOUR SISTER TO BACK DOWN NOW!” I shouted towards the male who looked lost for words, shocked at what he was witnessing.
Drawing on my magic, I sent more shadows and shields to protect my sister and my wife.
Genu, Vanessa, and April had managed to tackle Dorian to the ground and restrain him.
“PLEASE, ORNELLA! I NEED YOU! I CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT YOU!” I shouted, once more hoping she’d hear me.
The room began to shake as more magic pooled into the portal. More of Ornella’s blood began to be sucked away, continuing to power it. My shadows continued to bash against Panya. Morgana abandoned her post and came to join my shadows with her own twisted magic of energy blasting Panya from behind. Panya continued to try and block our attacks. I could see she was almost done, almost out of energy from the amount of magic she’d already used.
It felt as if a crack within the very world formed as the portal”s archway grew brighter. Its light was blinding as each of us were knocked down.
Violent shaking had begun.
That was always the first sign the door would be opening soon.
It was now or never. If Morgana wasn’t able to grab Ornella, I had to do it.
I didn’t blink.
Didn’t think twice as I raced towards the steps beneath the portal, towards my wife who needed me. Morgana’s sword sang as the blade went through the air, slicing Panya in the shoulder. She wasn’t able to dart out of the way, distracted from throwing fireballs towards my sister.
Reaching Ornella, I felt my heart sink and my knees buckle as I looked at her. The glow in her cheeks had disappeared. The rose-pink lips I’d grown to love were now pale. The colour in her skin was already fading fast and she barely could open her eyes.
“I got you—I have you my love—my Annwyl.”
Lifting her up into my arms, I pulled her close to my body. Her blood stained my hand and clothes. All the while the portal crackled. I looked in horror at the shadowed shapes behind it. They were coming. It was only a matter of seconds before the first deadly creature would cross through the gateway and into our world.
“NO!!”
Panya shouted as she flung her dagger through the air. It hit me in the centre of my chest. Morgana screamed as I fell to my knees, clutching tightly to Ornella. If one of us died, the other would soon after, it was how the deal and vows worked. I expected it. If Ornella wasn’t saved in time, we would both perish. It was okay, I was glad it would be like that. I wouldn”t want to stay in a world that didn”t have her in it. But I refused to leave this world in this much peril.
The male mage finally unfroze from his spot and moved faster than lightning as he shot up the steps towards his sister, wrapping her in his own magic.
My eyes were growing fussy. I shook my head, desperately trying to focus. A larger male stood in front of me, begging me to give him Ornella. I recognised him as her guard from the city square when she fainted.
“WE MUST CLOSE THE PORTAL, NICHOLAS!” April shouted from somewhere nearby.
Her attention turned back towards the portal holding up one hand, the other holding onto Vanessa’s who did the same.
Pointing their hands towards the portal, Morgana rushed to take Vanessa’s other hand as they pooled their magic together. The three of them could do anything when they connected their bond. Something lived deep inside them, a knot of some sort that tied them together. Mother would often say they were either the blessings of this world or its destruction, and right now, I hoped for blessings.
“NICHOLAS, WE NEED YOU!!”
Looking up at the portal, the male mage held tightly onto the female, locking her with his magic as she kicked and screamed, shouting to be let go.
Her dagger was still firmly in my chest. I knew pulling it out would cause more damage, and right now, I was running on pure rage and adrenaline. I couldn’t die, not yet. I had a job to do.
I was the Obsidian King.
The Shadow King.
And I would not let my people die.
Cracking my neck to ease the tension, I looked back at Ornella and her guard held out his arms to take her. He would protect her. Nodding as best as I could, he quickly took her from me and rushed down the steps. Genu and some of her riders held their swords up directing them at Dorian as his eyes widened in fear. The dark shadow looming behind me was the shape of the first monster that was pushing through the portal.
The room continued to rumble as my sisters sent their magic towards the portal, begging for it to stay closed. It would need something in exchange for being teased for so long.
It would need a sacrifice to shut.
Blood opened the gate.
Blood would close it.
Sending out a message I hoped Ornella would hear, hoping she would feel the words across the invisible line that I wished was still there, I took a deep breath in and begun walking up the steps. I shook at first as the knife in my chest hurt, I maybe had a few seconds before I bled to death.
“Nicholas! What are you doing?!”
April shouted in protest, unable to move forward or to stop me. My sisters looked at me with confusion and longing in their eyes as the two mages sized me up. I didn’t care for who they were or what they were. The female would die even if the other tried to protect her with his life. I would not leave this world without seeing her death upon my hands.
With a flick of my wrist, the male let go of Panya suddenly. His movements were no longer his own and she stumbled forward into my arms. The look of shock and horror played on her face as I could hear her heartbeat louder and louder in her chest.
“This is for my wife,” I whispered in her ear and placed both my hands on either side of her neck.
With a quick turn of her head, an ominous crack filled my ears. Her neck snapped. When her body dropped to the ground, her brother broke into a heart-breaking wail, as he rushed to her body.
Pulling the dagger from my chest, the instant relief and pain took over my body, urging me to stop. Fighting to stay on my feet, the pain near overwhelming, I gritted my teeth and kept going. My blood would shut the gate.
As the large shadow from behind began to emerge and step forward, I took one last look at Ornella and threw myself at the shimming light within.
A shockwave ran down my arms and legs, hitting me square in the chest, and in my heart. Screaming rang through the air as outcries of pleas flooded my ears. I felt a sense of calm.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. It wasn’t meant to be this way. I was going to apologise to Ornella for treating her so poorly. We’d have made a peace treaty of some kind with her brother once I found out the truth. Then we would go on to live happily, surrounded by our own children and the family we’d created.
That was a life we never got the chance to live. It was something that had always felt like a dream as we chased after each other in fields filled with flowers.