Awakening: Book 1 of the Vanquisher Series [GxG]

53

"So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" Narvari asked, sternly watching her father. She had asked the same thing an hour ago as soon as they had teleported into the house her father had been living in all these years in Brazil. But Yabaga insisted they freshen up and eat something first. And so, after begrudgingly doing what her father had asked, she finally sat in the warm living room, impatiently waiting for answers. "Tell me everything, Papa. Don't hide anything from me anymore."

Yabaga sighed. "Maybe it's time for me to tell you about your mother."

Narvari inhaled slowly. She would be lying if she said she had never wanted to know about her mother. She'd never met her, and though she grew up loved in a wonderful family, there were times she wondered what her life would have been like if her mother had raised her. Was her mother as kind as Anana? Strong like her father? And did her mother love her? If so, where had the woman been these past eighteen years of Narvari's life? What could have stopped her from being a mother to her own child? Narvari narrowed her eyes, sharply gazing at her father.

"Is my mother a demon?" Her heart tightened in anticipation. This was the only explanation she could think of. As much as she didn't want it, Narvari was slowly coming to terms with her demon side. She couldn't have inherited that side from her father--he was no demon. And since Narvari wasn't turned into a demon either, the only logical conclusion was her mother. "Is that why she left us?" she asked.

"Narvari, princess..." Yabaga rubbed his temples. "You asked for an explanation. Why don't you let me do it?"

She sighed. "Fine."

"Indeed, your mother is a demon," Yabaga began. "And yes, she's still alive. You need to understand that your mother is the kindest, strongest, and most loving person I know. You are just like her in every way."

She was? Was her mother really that kind of person in spite of being a demon? Trixan's words suddenly came to her. People weren't inherently evil and just because one was a demon didn't mean they were malevolent. Maybe that applied to her mother. And yet... "Why did she leave us then?"

"She didn't leave us, Narvari. She was... taken. As a prisoner."

"What?" Narvari's eyes widened. "The Order has my mother?"

Yabaga shook his head. "No, princess. It's not the Order."

"Then who?" Other than the Ancient Order of Vanquishers, who would go about capturing demons and imprisoning them? Was there another organization Narvari didn't know about? And why was her father hesitating to speak? "Papa, tell me."

"You heard about how I got lost in Bezvar, didn't you?"

They were talking about her mother. Why would he suddenly bring up Bezvar? But she wanted answers. So she indulged him with a nod.

"They made me a spectacle there," he said, "tying me to a pole for weeks. Demons came from all over the kingdom to catch a glimpse of the vanquisher who dared to fight Bezvaros." Guilt pricked at her conscience. She couldn't imagine what her father had gone through. They must have tortured him so much, those bastards. She would like to vanquish every last one of them. "And that," said Yabaga, smiling with glee, "is where I met your mother." He laughed.

"What?" It took Narvari a moment to understand what her father had just said. "You met her in the Lower Domain?"

Hellstorm nodded. "While I was locked up in the dungeons, she would often come and see me. Well, there's a lot more to that story. But all you need to know is that, after I suddenly awakened my new teleportation power, we escaped together." He explained that they ran away to an uninhabited island in the Pacific where they lived together happily. But everything changed when Narvari was born.