Venom

Prologue

ANGUS HUMPHREY

I climbed the staircase up to my room. I would easily teleport there but the truth is; I don't like using magic for little things like this one. It bothered me somehow, even after centuries, to be only particularly dependent to magic. I swung the door open and stepped inside the obscure bedroom. It was dark but I could see even the smallest of the particles clearly. I kicked my shoes off and sat on the far edge of the bed. I stared at the same spot on the floor, lost in thought. A sigh escaped me suddenly as my mind wondered around with the new complications we were facing lately. The members of the council and I were having a hard time keeping the structure of things intact and at the same time searching for the deserter Queen. She certainly chose the right timing, disappearing when things were proving uncontrollable. I can't blame her for that, though. Things were pretty much too dangerous for her to stick around.

I ran a hand through my hair, feeling exasperated for the first time in years and lay down on my back. I stared at the ceiling unable to close my eyes and sleep despite the exhaustion. After a long moment, in which nothing happened, something glowed weakly near the window, catching my eye. I sat upright slowly, knowing exactly what it was and checked the room for any presence but there weren't any. I knew the small magical cube was just on the chest under the window. It's been years since I haven't displaced it from there and it hasn't lit ever since-. It never lit up before. No energy was mighty enough to make it glow.

I stood up and walked up to the chest. I took it and held it in my hands and stared at the small thing in pure confusion. It continued to glow even more. The signs on it were bright and for just a second I wondered how it was even possible, but it stopped when I realized I was not the only one staring. I pulled the curtain to the side of the window and looked outside. A mind shattering beauty I hadn't noticed on the balcony next door was looking through my window too curiously. As I stared at her, the cube started to rise towards the glass and light up the whole bedroom, exposing me to her. The girl saw me and froze and I rushed to shut the thing down.

I stared at her face a few seconds after I turned off the object. Her heart had skipped a beat when she saw my shadow and her eyes widened. She tried to look further through the glass with no success. Several seconds passed and she was still pretty much shocked but she immediately recovered when someone called her inside the house. It was strange though. I concentrated on her thoughts and it seemed as though she thought of it as her own imagination and she instantly decided to let it go. It was both unsettling and a relief at the same time. Yet something felt terribly wrong as I was almost certain she was genuinely related to what just happened.

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A weird feeling kept pushing me to follow her everywhere. It was uncontrollable and almost impossible to stop, like an impulse. I felt weak and submitted to the strange pressure and the loud voice in my head that kept yelling at me to do just that and I was already lost in it, giving in.

What is happening to me?

I was following her and as I surveyed the girl closely something unusual occurred to me. She hadn't used any of her powers yet she unleashed so much energy, it was almost suffocating and I didn't know how I did not to feel it the first time I saw her. It felt so dense. Maybe I'd been blinded by her delicate, yet sightly features, and I got distracted. She was comely-beautiful, I would allow and curious, from what I've been able to gather so far.

Focus, Angus.

Focus.

I continued after her, unable to handle the urge every time I saw her walk out the pavement like I found myself doing that day. At first, I thought she was just doing her usual jogging session but this quickly changed when she changed her direction and walked right into the woods, going dangerously further and further and that actually worried me. She took great risks going there-inconsiderate ones. I knew her curiosity would probably lead her straight into a wall or something and a part of me wanted to make sure nothing would actually happen to her and I was right. She got a guy in a black cloak on her heels and suddenly my worry turned into fear. I knew just a few knots of sorcerers who still wore those stuffs and none were worth my clemency. They were all dishonest and I am just holding back my words.