Chapter 24 #2
I didn’t budge. “I won’t abandon you.”
Orin’s eyes narrowed, a flash of frustration crossing his face as he stared at us. “Why? Why do you always choose him, no matter how much he’s hurt you?”
“Because love isn’t about keeping score, Orin.” I replied, readying myself for a fight. “And besides, you don’t truly know Perock at all.”
“I know him better than anyone!” Orin roared, lunging at us with his black sword tracing an unnatural, sinister arc through the air.
Perock blocked the strike just in time, but we quickly realized that ordinary weapons corroded rapidly upon contact with the dark blade. Perock was forced to switch weapons repeatedly to keep up.
“I liked the old Lilia better,” Orin muttered after parrying one of Perock’s blows, his voice low and bitter. “The fragile, helpless princess who needed my protection, the woman who looked at me with gratitude…”
“That Lilia is gone,” I shot back coldly. “She grew up, got stronger, and learned to fight against her fate.”
A flicker of fear passed through Orin’s eyes. “Then I’ll make sure you never go back to being her!”
The battle intensified. Orin’s swordsmanship was excellent, and Perock was beginning to lose patience and stamina. I could sense something was wrong with him—his movements were growing sluggish.
I grabbed a sword from one of the nearby soldiers, silently thanking my mother for the grueling combat training she’d put me through over the past five years.
She had taught me that I wasn’t just meant to be a kingdom’s heir—I needed to be a warrior, whether in wolf form or human form.
Perock glanced at me with a mix of surprise and admiration as I joined the fight.
Together, Perock and I started to gain the upper hand against Orin. But I noticed Perock’s movements slowing even more, his face growing paler by the second. Something was definitely off.
“Perock?” I asked, concern creeping into my voice.
“I’m fine,” he gritted out, though I could tell he was pushing himself too hard.
Orin seized the moment of distraction, thrusting his black sword toward Perock’s chest. I leapt in front of him, deflecting the blow with my own blade, but the impact shattered my sword. Orin took the opportunity to kick me hard in the stomach, sending me crashing to the ground.
“Lilia!” Perock shouted, charging at Orin with renewed fury.
Despite his condition, Perock’s attacks remained fierce. Their swords clashed in a blur of motion, each strike faster than the last. I struggled to my feet, grabbing a new sword, determined to rejoin the fight.
Perock seemed to sense my intent and subtly shifted his position, guiding Orin toward a specific spot. I caught on to his plan immediately, circling around to position myself behind Orin, waiting for the right moment.
“Why?” Orin gasped between blocking Perock’s strikes, his eyes filled with confusion as he glanced at me. “Why does she still fight for you? After all the ways you’ve hurt her!”
I didn’t answer. I knew that someone like Orin, who couldn’t truly love, would never understand.
He accused Perock of hurting me, yet failed to see his own actions—endangering my child, trying to destroy me because he couldn’t have me.
Meanwhile, Perock was risking everything to protect us, even if it meant sacrificing his life.
My sword aimed for Orin’s back, the blade cutting through the air with a sharp whistle.
He seemed to sense the danger and started to turn, but Perock seized the moment, driving his sword through Orin’s chest. Orin froze, staring in disbelief at the blade protruding from his body.
At the same time, my sword pierced him from behind, the two weapons meeting in a fatal strike that ended his life.
“This… isn’t fair…” he muttered, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
I stepped in front of him, looking directly into his fading eyes. “I’m sorry, Orin. You’ll never understand what real love is.”
A final spark flickered in his eyes, a fleeting trace of something—regret, perhaps, or resignation—then vanished as he collapsed, his body crumpling to the blood-soaked earth, lifeless, the ground darkening beneath him.
The fight was over, the clearing silent save for the distant clash of steel and the rustle of leaves in the night breeze.
But there was no time to breathe, no moment to process the victory.
I turned to Perock, my heart lurching as I saw him sway, his face ashen, his body trembling as if the strength that had carried him through the battle was unraveling.
“Perock!” I cried, dropping my sword and rushing to him, my arms catching him as he stumbled, his weight heavy against me.
The surrounding soldiers immediately rushed forward, and I caught the anxious look in the captain of the guard’s eyes. However, Perock waved them off, signaling for them not to come any closer.
He managed a weak smile, his hand brushing my cheek, his touch cold, unsteady, his amber eyes dimming but filled with a love that pierced my soul. “Are you okay? How about Anna?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, each word a struggle.
“We’re fine,” I said, my voice cracking, my hands frantically searching his body for wounds, desperate to find something I could fix, something I could fight.
Then I saw it—his arm, the gash from earlier now blackened, dark veins spreading like a spider’s web across his skin, pulsing with a malevolent energy.
My breath caught, a cold dread seizing me, and I tugged at his collar, my fingers trembling as I revealed his chest, where spiral patterns of black magic twisted, distinct from the arm’s markings, their intricate, sinister design a stark contrast to the web-like spread.
Two curses, intertwined, ravaging his body.
“When...When did this happen?” I asked, my voice trembling, though the truth crashed over me like a tidal wave, a horrifying realization that stole my breath - the curse hadn’t been neutralized by the soul toxin, as he’d claimed.
It was killing him, accelerating with every heartbeat, the dark magic he’d taken to save me now a poison consuming him from within.
Perock coughed, black blood staining his lips, his body sagging in my arms, his skin growing gaunt, his features hollowing as if his life were being drained before my eyes.
“No, no!” I screamed, tears blurring my vision, my hands clutching him, desperate to hold him here, to anchor him to this world through sheer will. “There’s a way—Healers, witches...someone must know how to stop this!”
“Lilia,” he said, his voice faint, his hand gripping mine with a dwindling strength that terrified me, his eyes locked on mine, filled with a love so profound it broke my heart. “It’s too late. The soul toxin… it’s sped up the curse. My time’s up.”
“No, I won’t let you go!” I sobbed, shaking my head, my voice raw with defiance, my tears falling onto his face, mingling with the blood at his lips. “Not now, Perock, not after we’ve just found each other again. We have years ahead—Anna needs you, I need you! We’re a family now!”
He smiled, a pained, tender smile that shattered me, his hand trembling as it cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing away my tears with a gentleness that felt like a goodbye.
“I’m sorry, Lilia,” he whispered, his voice fading, each word a struggle against the darkness claiming him.
“But I don’t regret it. I’d give my life a thousand times to keep you safe.
Listen… everything’s arranged. My will names you as my successor.
Our kingdoms will unite under you. You’ll be a great queen, and Anna…
she’ll be your heir, strong and brave, just like her mother. ”
“Stop!” I shouted, my voice a desperate, broken plea, my hands gripping his armor, the cold steel biting into my palms as I shook him, as if I could shake life back into him. “I don’t want a throne, I don’t want power—I want you, alive, with us! You can’t leave us now!”
His eyes softened, his gaze grew distant, searching for something beyond my reach. “Just… don’t let Anna forget me,” he said, his voice barely audible, a fragile thread connecting us to the man I loved. “Tell her… her father loves her, even if he can’t watch her grow up…”
“No, no, no!” I choked, my throat tight, my voice cracking as I pressed my forehead to his, my sobs shaking against his stilling chest. “You’ll stay, Perock.
You’ll teach her wolf stories, train her, love her every day.
We’ll have her birthdays, holidays, quiet nights together—just us, just our family… ”
“Lilia,” he breathed, his voice a faint echo, the words slipping away, “…I… love… you…”
His hand fell limp, the light in his eyes slowly fading. I could feel his life slipping away, the bond that once connected our souls growing faint and indistinct.
“No!” I cried out in anguish, clutching his body tightly. “Perock, don’t go, don’t leave us! I love you, I’ve always loved you, please don’t go…”
But his gaze grew unfocused, and finally, his eyes closed.