The Black Lotus | Vol.1, The Eldenarian Artifacts ✓

39.

Makaela tasted blood in her mouth. Her head swam with silver spots. Air filtered in through her nose, failing to pass her lips and down into her lungs. The wind hit the raw skin of her neck, causing her to wince every time she moved.

Thorian's eyes searched through her soul.

She bit down on her lip to stop from crying.

What just happened?

Her memory was riddled with holes. The last thing she remembered was Minerva being murdered by a Shade. The voice in her head had taken over. Uncontrollable bloodlust had taken hold of her. Vengeance gripped her heart as she prepared to avenge her housemate's death.

Everything was blank after that.

Blinking away tears, she looked around. Dead bodies were strewn about. Blood seeped through their robes, the strong scent reaching her nostrils. Glancing down at herself, she realized her clothes were stained red. Her palms were slick with blood, none of it hers.

She salivated as she inhaled the scent. Her tongue craved for more.

Violent thoughts rang about her head, growing in volume every time she drew a ragged breath. They wouldn't stop. She wasn't sure if she wanted them to.

Tremoring, she looked back to Thorian.

"What's happening to me?"

The words barely made it past her bloody lips.

Thorian brought a hand to her cheek.

"You embraced your true nature," he told her. "It won't stop now. I can teach you how to control it. I can guide you into becoming the most powerful force on this Earth."

Control it?

There was no controlling this. It was pure destruction. Pure evil. Thorian was a fool if he thought she could be its master.

She looked past him and at the other Shades. They stared at her with contempt and fear, unmoving in their stances as their leader crouched before her. She shifted her gaze to her friends. Ajax and Imogen gawked at her, mouths agape as their eyes flickered between her and the dead.

Finally, she looked to Sebastian.

She couldn't decipher the emotion on his face. Was he afraid? Of course he was. They all were. She might not have remembered it, but she killed those Shades. It was their flesh beneath her fingernails, their blood she tasted on her lips.

I'm a monster.

Thorian gently turned her face toward his.

He was the only one in that forest who wasn't terrified.

"I didn't mean to," she mumbled incoherently. She stared at her hands. The blood felt like poison seeping into her skin. "I didn't mean it."

"Shhh," he pulled her into a hug, his hands softly rubbing he back. "Let me help you, Makaela."

Sniffling, she buried her face into his chest. He was cold like ice, but she didn't care. The Black Lotus was the only one to comfort her. She needed him. He needed her.

"Makaela, please..." croaked Sebastian.

All eyes were on him now. He was on the brink of tears.

"Don't do it," he pleaded. "Please, don't do it."

Thorian pressed his hand against the back of her skull, keeping her from looking at his son. "He doesn't want you to reach your potential, child. He's afraid. They all are. You feel it, same as I." He rested his chin on her head. "But not I. I know what you are, and what you're not."

"You can't listen to him," Sebastian shouted. A Shade threw him to the ground. She heard his ribs crack as they kicked him. Still, he urged her not to do it. He begged with his life.

Makaela squeezed her eyes shut. Hiccupping, she wrapped her arms around herself. The blood on her fingers smudged against her arms. As she cried into Thorian's robes, she pleaded for him to let her friends go. The Order would kill them as soon as he gave the word.

She couldn't let them.

She couldn't.

"I can't, Makaela. They'll only get in our way."

"Please." Tears streamed down her eyes like rivers falling from the sky. "I'll join you. Just...don't hurt them."

"Don't do this," Sebastian whispered from the floor.

Thorian tensed. He pointed a finger at his son. A silver hex left his mark. The boy's lips were welded together, stopping his words behind them.

Ajax and Imogen stared at her with bewildered looks on their faces.

She refused to meet their gazes.

This was for them. They had to understand that.

Emile arrived at his master's side. "Perhaps...could spare them."

Thorian tilted his head at the magician.

"They'll be stranded here," he explained. "They'll have no way of troubling us further." He whispered something in the man's ear. Thorian's eyes lit up.

"Very well, Emile."

Bowing his bald head, he backed away.

Makaela blinked at him, stunned.

Why did he do that?

He simply nodded at her.

"Makaela," Thorian said.

She looked up at him.

"Yes?"

"I will spare them. But only under one condition."

"I'll do anything. Anything."

"You must pledge your allegiance to me. Officially this time. I will make you a Shade. Only then will I let your friends hold onto their meaningless lives."

"Makaela, don't!" Ajax shouted. Igor rushed him with his vayrir, but Thorian lifted his hand. The bearded Shade stopped in his tracks, his bushy eyebrows lifted.

"It's alright, Igor," Thorian drawled. "Let her make her decision."

Ajax shook his head at her. "You can't do this."

"They'll kill you if I don't."

I have to do this.

Thorian released her and rose to his feet. He held his hand out toward her. "Do you pledge your allegiance to me, Makaela Moreau?"

She hung her head. A shattered breath left her lips. She placed her hand in his. Bony fingers wrapped around her own, sealing the pledge.

The man grinned. Facing his Shades, he gave them a curt nod. One by one they shadowjumped out the forest. He turned back to Makaela and squeezed her hand gently.

"Time to go."

She took one last look at her friends. Sebastian laid broken on the ground, barely moving. Ajax and Imogen both said nothing. They wouldn't even look at her. Remy and Olivier were still unconscious.

She choked up at the sight of them. Wiping her eyes, she turned away. Her face burned with anger and regret.

"Are you ready?"

She could barely nod.

Shadows wrapped around her body like cold arms. They covered her, dousing her world in darkness. She closed her eyes as her surroundings faded into obscurity.

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

Hand in hand, Makaela and Thorian vanished from the forest.

Together, at last.

The Light and The Black Lotus.