The Baron and his Lady

Thirty-three: By blood and only by blood

The beyond
Lucian's pov

I came throught the portal just in time. Tristane may have borrowed enough power to open it but to keep it from closing back drained him. I would have to be fast so he can raise his magic again.

I looked around, expecting chaos. But what greeted me was the same sunny weather with cloudless skies. My eyes found the bridges untouched, the trees standing sideways but still on the ground.

At first I thought that the storm did not happen at all and my Krista is fine. But looking closely, the debris was still there. The uprooted tree laid on my feet, it's swirling motion pushed me outside but it was stuck here. There were leaves and rocks lying around as well. The beyond looked like the day after a vicious storm had hit it.

"Krista! Krista! Krista!"

I kept yelling and I only got echoes back. The wind blew against my face but nothing else stirred. Where is she?

I knelt down and checked the uprooted tree in case she had been stuck beneath it, but there was nothing but broken twigs and dirt. I checked every upturned rock, small or not. I kept calling her name. She couldn't have possibly disappeared.

Where are you Krista?

I tried screaming at her mind, like I was able to do when I first broke Letecia's spell. Krista's mind was like a lake, calm yet pulsating. I used to be able to send ripples through her mind and she'd let me in her dreams. But now, I got nothing. She's not letting me in, no ripples, no pulse and no dream.

Because she couldn't.

I was frantic. What if the earth opened and swallowed her? That would explain why she's not here. It shook so hard we had to take cover.

That made me turn. There were huge boulders around here and we used them to shield our bodies. But the wind knocked us out. I looked around, what once was a rocky path was now just a plain area. It was like someone had shoveled the rocks and threw them away.

"Kristaaaaa..."

Outside world
Claus's pov

I cradled Tristane's body after he lost conciousness, opening the portal took a heavy toll on him. The demon was gone and the candles continued to burn. What now?

The tree hovered above us, unsuspecting and ordinary. Yet Letecia chose this spot to curse me. Memories of that day came flooding back, I was riding a horse, chasing after Lucian when he entered the forest.

It was dusk and the sunlight did not reach this far, Lucian led his horse because he knew path like the back of his hand. I managed to follow without trouble and was just a few yards away from him. I kept calling his name but he won't spare me a glance. There was a sharp turn and I was caught by a branch. I realized I was falling off my horse because there was an intense pain on my side. There might be broken bones and scraped elbow but I was alive.

I lay on my back and stared at the trees, their leaves were so thick I could not make out the evening sky. Will I die like this? Not being able to witness the sun once more?

As if answering my question, Letecia came over me. She stood looking down at my injured limbs. There was no sympathy on her eyes just blankness. I remember her saying, "There is no shame in dying Claus."

"I don't want to die...yet."

She knelt down, her blonde hair falling like a curtain, "Everyone dies. Soon, you will, too."

I shook my head, "Not yet. Not yet."

"Do you want to continue living?"

"Y-yes.."