Inferno's legacy (On Hold)

Chapter 29

"Are you in pain?"

Ashton had to admit he was startled by Eva's voice from behind him. She was beside him before he knew it.

"You're bleeding. What happened to you?" She asked, inspecting the cuts on his shirt and the bloodstains on it.

"It's nothing." He said, brushing her hand away.

"Got your arse whooped by someone? Who was it?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't. But it can't be anyone, given you're still bleeding. I just left Damion's study so it couldn't have been him and Rio has better things to do than fight with you. So who was it?"

Ashton hated to admit it but for a moment he had forgotten Dash wasn't just an ordinary mage. He was as powerful as a divinity. And the last thing he wanted was to admit that to Eva, the fact that Dash had injured him. His pride had already been badly damaged.

"None of your business." With that, he walked into his room and shut the door firmly behind him.

*-*-*-*

"What does he want with you?" Dash asked as he tended to Adeline's numb hand.

"Why are you here?" She asked back. "The council had cut me off, so I don't get why you're here."

"Trust me, they don't want you back, not with the stunts you pulled in the past." He gently applied ointments to her hand, something the man seemed incapable of. "I'm here for personal reasons. Now answer my question. What does he want with you?"

"The past will always follow you no matter where you run to." She said with a sigh. "You always told me that and it's manifesting. I've stayed away from the world after that incident but I can't run from certain things."

"Don't suddenly sound remorseful." He placed her hand on her lap and looked at her. "You're just paying the price for your greed."

Adeline sighed and leaned backwards on her chair. "They're all pathetic. Thinking they're better than us. I loved the look on Ashton's face when you defeated him." She said, smiling.

"I didn't do it for your satisfaction."

"Damion wants to break his curse. If he does, that's a good thing. A great tragedy will be avoided but I'm not prepared to go back under his rule. With all the other clans destroyed, he'll become the most powerful and will definitely want to rule over everyone." Adeline said.

"Didn't you urge him to break his curse?"

"I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't want to see the world in flames again. His rule seems palatable compared to such chaos."

Dash scoffed. "That's rich coming from you." He said, standing up and walking towards his bloodied sword.

"What do you mean?"

Dash began to wipe his sword, his fingers tracing the inscriptions on it. "Greed, Adeline. That's your biggest problem and you fail to see not everyone is like that."

"That's offensive." Adeline frowned.

"It wasn't meant to please you. You  shouldn't take offense in the truth. You should apologize for your shortcomings."

"I had to do what I could to survive!" She snapped, standing up.

"At the expense of an innocent girl's life." Compared to her, he was calm.

Guilt washed over her but she pushed it away. "It's her destiny. She's unfortunate to bear the burden."

Dash sheathed his sword. "She's gone missing and with her return comes the chaos you so fear. It's inevitable. You should be have known that before placing that heart in her."

*-*-*-*

It had been hours since Dash left but Adeline couldn't stop pacing. He hadn't said anything she didn't know of but apparently, he had become the bearer of bad news.

When she had taken that decision all those years ago, a decision that had changed her life and blessed her with powers humans could only dream of, she had refused to think of the consequences if anything went wrong. And if things did go wrong now, she'd have greater consequences to face, she'd loose everything.

But it wasn't too late. She could still do something about this. All she had to do was convince Damion he really needed to be the god he was in the past. He needed to break his curse.

When Damion had been first cursed, he was a vessel of rage. And had sworn to do anything to break his curse. But Adeline had kept the one thing he needed. Maybe he had resigned to pitiful fate, because it didn't seem like he was as determined to break the curse as he was in the past. Almost 300 years ago.

Adeline chuckled and sank into the red sette.

300 years ago.

It sounded unreal. How had she lived that long? She wasn't born a divinity. She was born of flesh and blood, a mere human. But she wanted something more than a limited lifespan, especially when she came to know supernaturals weren't just written folktales. She wanted what they had. What they possessed. And had done everything to get it. Maybe she hadn't gotten it the right way, but she had gotten it nevertheless and she had to keep it going. She could already feel it wavering. But she wouldn't let it slip.

Not even Damion's bad decisions could stop her.

She got on her feet and swayed, almost crashing into the table but steadied herself.

"Don't tell me you're dying."

She immediately straightened herself before turning in the direction of the voice.

"Today seems to be an eventful day." She remarked dryly as she stared at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Damion asked, his brow creased.

"It hasn't been that long I got interesting visitors." She said with a smile. "I think you'll want to know who was here."

"I know Ashton was here, probably to cause trouble, as always." He said, settling into a winged chair.

Adeline's brows shot up in surprise before she quickly schooled her expression. "Of course you know." She scoffed. "Why are you here?"

Damion closed his eyes. "You ever heard about the necromancers attack?" He asked.

Adeline stiffened for a moment. "Everyone has." She said nonchalantly.

"They use a very complicated form of fire magic to attack." He said, eyes still closed.

"I didn't know that and that's because it doesn't comcern me." Adeline said, crossing her arms.

"It doesn't?" Damion opened his eyes. "Are you sure?"

Annoyance crossed Adeline's eyes. "What are you trying to say?"

Damion crossed his legs. "You know, I never really understood how you got your powers."

"Why are you suddenly interested in that?"

"A lot of reasons." He smiled and Adeline didn't like it one bit. He held her gaze and Adeline found it hard to look away.

"Stop it!" She hissed and forced herself to look away. Then she lifted her chin, avoiding his gaze. "Don't you know, blessings come with the death of a divinity. I was simply blessed." She said and immediately but her tongue. It had worked after all. Damion had manipulated her mind. The man baffled her every single time.

Damion's brow creased. Blessings comes with the death of a divinity.

It all made sense now.

He had wondered for long, why everything hadn't gone back to normal after the war. Why he didn't get himself back.

He might have been the one who had plunged the sword through her heart, but Adeline had delivered the final blow.

She had gotten the blessings, her powers because she had been the one who plucked out Yennefer's heart.

She had killed Yennefer.