Chapter 74
“You’ve done your part, demon. You are free to go and do whatever it is that souls do,” Count Basil said as he looked at the demon, who was still standing there.
Lucie’s eyes lifted up to Abe. She gave him a small smile to show him she still believed in him. The connection was broken, but she refused to believe that it had changed him that much. His eyes lowered from hers, and she watched him vanish.
Count Basil smirked as he shifted the vials in his hands. “Don’t worry, my prince. I don’t wish to kill you.” His eyes narrowed, looking beyond the prince and setting his gaze on Lucie. “But killing her will bring the war we need, the step we need to break the bond.”
“You are no match for me. We both know that I am the superior fighter between the two of us.”
“Here.” Count Basil tossed the vials back over to Beryl. “Take care of the mutt. I’ll handle the prince. You should feel privileged, wolf. That potion has been custom-tailored to attack that vampire blood of yours … with some special help.” A sinister smile curled over his lips.
“What do you mean?” Derrick asked nervously, shifting himself more in front of Lucie.
“The potion you saw in action before now has some extra enhancements, just to take care of this little mutt. Not only will they separate her wolf from her, but it will also strip her of her vampire. A little overkill, sure, but kill is the keyword here.” Count Basil chuckled at his lame joke.
Lucie … Derrick whimpered.
They still think I have a werewolf, Lucie tried to reassure him.
A blur shot toward them and Derrick shoved Lucie backward as he quickly blocked the attack.
He bit the tip of his finger and pulled his blood whip out, lashing it back toward Basil.
At the same time, the witch sent a forceful surge of magic toward Lucie, making her dodge sideways, separating her and Derrick further.
Lucie felt her body being pulled to the ground, and she looked around to see oddly placed crystals surrounding her. She glanced up to see a sinister smile on Beryl’s lips.
“I helped set something similar up a long time ago for my grandmother when she planned a trap for your mother. She ended up getting out. Of course, the abomination would. But I don’t need to hold you here forever. I just need to hold you still for this.” Beryl grinned as she held up a vial.
Lucie glanced up to see a small band of voidless marching on Derrick.
This was how Count Basil planned to overpower Derrick.
He couldn’t do it on his own, so he would use numbers.
She tried to move but couldn’t. Energy pulsated from her body, pushing back on the crystals.
Her fairy magic was repelling them. They didn’t account for her being a fairy princess.
She just needed to hold out a little bit longer until she could move the crystals and break the barrier they’d set up.
She could use the crystals to seal Beryl, and then she could help Derrick.
Jasper, Irene, and Jester were overrun. Even with their abilities, the numbers were not on their side. On top of the dark elves and ogres, another legion came charging toward them. It was an army of imps, ghouls, and gremlins. This would be it. This was too much for them to handle.
Suddenly, a pack of wolves jumped in, intercepting the incoming army. Wolves and demons collided together. The Sulfur Pack had come out to attack the threat on their border. Now, with a fighting chance, the vampires pushed through their fatigue.
Jasper elongated his nails into what looked like five small blades and began slashing away at the enemies in front of him. He hoped Derrick and Lucie were okay.
Justice lunged at the dark unicorn, and his green sword roared as it collided with the beast’s dark energy.
The sword began to morph, taking on the head of a bear.
The green energy head sank its teeth into the horse’s neck, sending its power inside the decaying body.
With one last shrill sound, the horse combusted, sending dark shards of energy back at Justice.
He winced as they entered his body, throwing him back to the ground.
The blood pooled underneath him as he coughed up blood.
He could feel himself getting weaker as his life force drained out of him.
He stared up at the moon while blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
A movement caught his eye, and he looked to see a dark elf raising his blade to stab him.
So this was it for him. This would be his end.
He closed his eyes, too tired to keep them open. He was okay with dying. He just wished he knew Lucie and Derrick were safe.
He heard a loud commotion at his side, and he forced himself to open one of his eyes. The dark elf was dead on the ground and Jasper now knelt by his side.
“Justice!” Jasper cried out.
Justice quirked a slight smile and closed his eyes again. He just needed to rest.
Derrick’s blood whip wasn’t enough to beat Count Basil and the small army of voidless.
He needed to take care of this quickly. Lucie needed him.
Every time he tried to move in her direction, Basil launched massive attacks.
Derrick was stronger, but Basil was still a tough opponent on his own, let alone with the small army Derrick was also having to fight off.
Derrick could feel an energy surfacing within him, the same energy he felt in his room earlier.
It seemed to be part of his fairy magic he’d inherited from Lucie.
The energy pulsed around him, and he felt it trickle up his hand.
It poured into his blood whip, morphing it with the new energy.
The blood whip shook slightly as red sparks jumped from it.
He waved the whip again, and this time when it landed, it sent a surge of red lightning through the voidless army.
Several of the voidless fell to the ground, and for a moment, there was fear in Count Basil’s eyes. That quickly changed to a menacing smile as he looked over at Beryl.
“Do it!” he yelled.
As if in slow motion, Beryl threw the two potions, and they spiraled in the air. Lucie couldn’t move to evade the potions that were heading right toward her. As the potions passed through the crystal barrier, a bright red cloud engulfed Lucie, and nothing could be seen from the outside.
Derrick cried out and tried to fight to get to her, but he froze when he looked at the disappearing cloud. Lucie was gone.
“Where is she?” Count Basil growled, looking at the confused witch.
A deep voice called out from behind them. “No place you can touch her.”
They turned around to see a man with dark hair and dark eyes holding Lucie in his arms.
“What the hell are you doing? She isn’t your master anymore!” Count Basil shrieked out angrily.
“She doesn’t have to be my master for me to protect her.” Abe smiled down at her. “She is my most important person and friend.”
“It certainly took you long enough,” Lucie spat out playfully.
“Sorry, princess. I had to get rid of the reinforcements they had coming. Oh yeah, by the way … you won’t be seeing the other army.
They’ve been annihilated. I sent word to your father, who quickly ordered the Sulfur Pack to engage.
And the army of goblins and orcs that were on their way …
well, they won’t be making it either. The dragons invited them to a barbecue.
So I was just a bit busy, but I made it back in time.
” Abe chuckled as he placed Lucie back on her feet.
Derrick sighed in relief. Thank goodness for Abe. His faith wasn’t quite as strong as Lucie’s for a moment there, and he really did think he’d left them for good.
“Wait, what happened to the potions?” Beryl asked in exasperation.
“I switched them out on you back when you unbonded my servant relationship. It was actually quite easy.”
“So you’re saying even with the severed bond, you’re still here protecting them?!” Count Basil shrieked out angrily.
Abe chuckled. “You cut the servant relationship and allowed me to absorb the djinn. So, thanks.” He gave the Count a smug smile. “But like I said, Lucie is—” He turned and smiled at her. “She’s the only person I’ve ever cried for. She’s special to me.”
“What a waste. Do you know how expensive those potions were?!”
“Don’t act like you were doing me a favor.
You couldn’t kill Myra and me, which is why you’re siphoning her magic now.
It was easier to cut the bond, and you just assumed that was the only thing that tied us.
But you miscalculated, because Myra and I are loyal to them willingly.
” Abe watched a heavy scowl form on the Count’s face.
“Is it possible to break the servant bond? I thought it was impossible,” Lucie asked Abe, who smiled down at her as he lowered her to her feet.
“Myra and I could never seek out a way to break it ourselves. An outsider could of their own accord. But something that strong …” Abe’s eyes grew dark. Something that strong had special help.
Beryl clicked her tongue. She needed those potions. That was her revenge … the reason she sold her damn soul.
“Damn your family! One day you’ll be consumed by the dark where no light can ever reach you!” Beryl spat out bitterly.
Abe rubbed the back of his neck and lifted his brows at the witch.
“Honestly, I feel this whole end here is a bit anticlimactic for someone who’s been brooding for so long.
” He looked at Lucie and rolled his eyes.
“It really is pathetic. Now, little witch, we just need that other crystal so we can free Myra.”
Beryl began to cackle as she held her sides.
Desperate, insane laughter echoed in the air.
“I can’t believe it’s come down to this.
I can’t believe it. Well, I’m not going down like this.
If I’m going to lose, I would rather go down fighting.
I’m already dead … what is the difference?
” She lifted a vial with black liquid and quickly downed its contents.
The moment she did, her eyes turned black and her skin turned gray. She let out a feral scream, and the voidless that had been killed rose from the dead. More voidless began creeping out of the woods, all coming toward them.
“Shit,” Abe said in a low snarl. “Necromancy. She just traded her life for the power to control the undead.” He cursed under his breath. Where the hell did she get something like that, or from who?
“So what now?” Lucie asked, licking her lips and flashing a nervous glance toward Derrick.
“We have to kill the witch. Until she dies, her undead minions will continue to live.” Abe looked down at Lucie.
“So we have no choice but to feed Erebus her soul.” Lucie sighed and rubbed her forehead.
“Well, on the plus side, I really wanted to be able to kill her. I hated having to keep her alive.” She glanced at Abe, who smirked at her.
“Is there no way to free Myra now?” She looked back at Myra, who was still sealed to a stone on the ground.
“Not without the crystal she has, or one like it. So killing the witch accomplishes everything. It will free Myra and kill the undead minions.” Abe looked at Derrick, who was separated from them by a crowd of voidless.
“Abe, you help Derrick. I’ll take care of the witch … or necromancer, or whatever the hell she is now.”
Abe’s hand landed on her head. “Be careful, Lucie. And … thank you for believing in me. I wasn’t sure if you would trust me without the bond.”
“You’re stuck with me now, bond or no bond.
You’re my friend, and I will always trust you.
” Lucie smiled at him and his eyes watered.
She gripped her daggers and flicked her gaze in Derrick’s direction.
“Just hold them off. I’ll try to end her soon.
” She raised her daggers and darted toward the witch as Abe flashed next to Derrick.
He shifted into his wolf and began attacking the voidless alongside him.
Lucie’s green eyes met with pitch black as she swung her daggers at Beryl, or what was once Beryl. Honestly, there was nothing human about her now. She was making weird screeching and screaming sounds and seemed to have lost the ability to speak. She was just an angry, mindless zombie herself now.
A black tar substance shot out of the witch’s mouth and landed on Lucie’s skin.
The substance burned like acid and stuck to her flesh.
Lucie used this moment to lodge her dagger deep inside the witch.
The witch glanced down at the object in her chest, then raised her lifeless black orbs back to Lucie, completely unfazed.
Lucie hopped back in shock. The dagger had pierced right where her heart should have been.
This could only mean one thing … she couldn’t be killed with a mortal weapon.
Clenching her fists, she inhaled deeply.
She knew fairy magic was finicky about how it showed itself and often came only when you needed it.
Well, right now, she needed it. She called to the energy inside her to come to her aid.
A gentle light caressed her body, warming her. And with this light, Lucie’s new power was born.