Blood Inked

Chapter 8.. The Red Hex

The beast is coming.

Run Quick!

Time is running out.

There is no where else to hide.

You've been marked as his.

And for you, he will cross the seas.

As his bride you shall remain

By his side you shall surely stay

There shall be no escape

For He shall always find you. Always.

Run Quick!

The Master's hunt has begun,

But know this; the beast you can never outrun.

Death is coming for you.

and this time you will not escape the grip of its clutches.

Adria woke up from the nightmare with a scream. Those terrifying red eyes were back. It seemed as if death wanted her soul and he wouldn't rest until he had it. Her throat felt dry and scratchy. She tried to speak but it sounded hoarse.

"Selene." She croaked out weakly. "Selene." She called out again in a louder voice but got no response. She reached for the lamp that was stationed by her bedside to illuminate the room and came in contact with a cold slippery wall.

Panic seized her and she choked back a scream. Much more alert, she focused on her surroundings. She saw that she no longer lay on her bed. In fact, she was not in her room anymore, instead she laid on a slab in a crypt.

Here lays His highness- Adria stopped reading the words that had been etched on the slab. She had been laying atop a person's coffin.

She sprang up to her feet immediately, looking for the exiting door. She had slept in her room - on her bed, but had woken up in crypt.

"This is a dream, it is only a dream." Adria chanted to herself. "For I am surely in my room, on my bed asleep."

^^

Lord Iah looked at the red clouds hanging over the palace from his suite. The red Hex was an ominous sign. He had seen it too many times in his lifetime and he knew the troubles it brought.

Death. Disasters. Plagues. Curses. The Dark One, and that was just listing a few.

Fear had gripped the palace and buried it within its bosom, but he refused to fear. He refused to be paralyzed by the Red Hex's spell. Truthfully, at the sight of the vortex, he too had almost shaken in his boots, his knees had struggled to hold him up.

"The Red Hex shall strike fear in all that sets their gaze upon it." He quoted from a distant memory words a person had spoken to him.

He let out a short harsh laugh. Unbelievable. The mighty Dark Prince, the revered Dark Duke, shaking in his boots. He hoped the Princesses were ready, to seek the crown was to bear its weight... There was more to being the reigning monarch and crown princess of Valngasia than wearing a pretty crown.

Bearing even a mark from Eloah brought more responsibilities than they were ready for.

A great storm of trouble was brewing and things were shifting. Once everything has passed over, a new age shall begin. He just hoped that he will survive long enough to get a glimpse of it.

"Hakj" he called out.

A huge man stepped out from the shadows surrounded by clouds of darkness, "Master" he said and knelt before him.