The Guardsmen and some of the castle staff were gathered around the pentagram. Lord Thelios gestures towards me telling me I was to join him in the center. Entering the pentagram, I felt the force of the magic that was cast, push its way around me like walking through a wind tunnel. Each and every little hair on my arms and legs and the back of my neck, even a few strands on my head, began to rise from the static the magic created.
I could feel every eye on me. Anna and Jerric, Jasmine and Lee......Elias. I could feel a force, while standing in this magic, almost physically push my head towards his direction. Almost as if the "something" that's been clawing at my emotions this whole time was trying to manifest right before me.
I was quickly jolted back to reality when Lord Thelios pushed the hair away from my neck and exposed my skin fully to the static of the magic. The sensation made me shiver. Like stepping into the cold winter breeze after a warm and peaceful slumber.
Standing there with the lord behind me, he commanded the witches begin. The three women stood directly in front of us at the main point of the pentagram. In unison they spoke.
"Lift the wind and and calm the sea, on the earth, fire burns free." They spoke in rhythm. When each element was mentioned, they began to dance. The wind element was a miniature tornado just spinning in its place on one of the pentagram points. The earth element was a handful of dirt that began to spin much like the wind forming a funnel of its own. The fire were free flames, no source they could be coming from, that appeared to be blown back and forth and the water element was a continuous cycle of waves. As the elements danced, the witches continued.
"Free your soul shall be no more, bound from here to any shore. Let thy blood dance with his own, a sequenced movement, becoming one." Their voices became melodic, putting me in a trance. I hadn't noticed Lord Thelios pressing his lips against my neck. It wasn't until I felt the pain of his fangs breaking the flesh that made me notice his presence again.
From behind, Thelios wrapped an arm around my waist and cradled my head with his free hand as he drank from me. I could feel my life force draining as my limbs began to go numb and limp. Objects and people around me started to blur and my eyes grew too heavy to keep open. Was Lord Thelios taking too much? Will I have the same fate as Victoria?
Before I could completely slip off into unconsciousness, I felt a warm liquid pass through my lips and onto my tongue. The taste of copper and iron trailed its way past my gums and down my throat. Within seconds my body was reacting to the foreign substance coursing through it.
My heart rate quickened to the point it felt as if my heart was beating its way through my ribs. Every nerve was burning hot like lava running through my veins. My body started to shake and convulse uncontrollably. As the shaking grew worse, I found it hard to breathe. Each breath was like taking stabs to the lungs by sharp daggers.
I wanted to give into the pain and the torture. I wanted to let it end me so I wouldn't have to feel it anymore. I wouldn't have to pretend to be happy anymore. I wouldn't have to live under Lord Thelios' thumb while my heart belonged to Elias. The thought made my eyes burst open with tears flowing down my cheeks.
I saw Lord Thelios covered in my blood from his nose down to his collar bone. He had a look of confusion and worry splayed across his features. Before I could think of what could cause this expression, my shaking body halted. My chest seized and lunged upwards towards the sky. As the action pursued, my breaths became shallow. This was it, Thelios had taken too much. The blackness that surrounded me tugged at my soul, pulling me deeper and deeper into the world of the dead. I felt the last bit of my life force slipping away from me. I was dying.
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He was taking too much. The strawberry blood I had gotten to know all to well was diminishing. With every second his lips where pressed to her neck, the strawberry fields smell I loved became fainter and fainter.
Just as I was about to step into the circle to stop him, he pulled back, releasing his fangs from her flesh.
"Amily...." I whispered to myself, hoping I could find some trace of life left in her. Every ceremony was different but they all felt the same. Every successful ceremony left even a faint rhythm in their chests but Amily had none.
I couldn't stop myself from running into the pentagram. Once I reached the center, Lord Thelios' expression was full of worry and confusion.
"I stopped myself...." he said as he looked past me and too the witches. "I stopped myself!" He yelled. "I took what was needed and fed her my blood yet her body grows cold in my arms!" Lord Thelios dropped amily to the ground. Her head didn't have a chance of making contact with the cold stone before I caught her. I stood there staring at the tiny human being, who had captured me, laying lifeless in my arms. As I stood there staring at her round face I heard one of the witches speak.
"It is too late..." she spoke with a sorrowful tone. Somehow I knew it wasn't. I decided right then that I would do anything to protect this girl, no matter the cost.
I quickly ripped into my own wrist and pressed it firmly against Amily's lips.
"Drink!" I heard myself urge the limp frame in my arms. "Drink....please." After what seemed an eternity, Amily's eyes began to move underneath her closed lids. Soon I was staring into bright emerald green irises again. She was shocked to see that I was the one giving her the blood for her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
When Amily consumed the amount of blood needed for the ceremony, she collapsed into my arms again. I felt a sudden surge of energy course through my body. It sounded like a clap of thunder echoing across the land when a red aura formed around me. I could feel Amily, I could sense her and I knew just by those sensations that she was hurt. I could not only hear her shallow breaths but I could feel them. Her heart beat, though very faint, pounded it's ever melodic beat in my own chest.
I stood there staring at Amily in my arms until I heard Lord Thelios speak.
"What have you done Elias?" He asked with venom laced words.
"He has bonded with her." One of the witches answered which made Thelios' nostrils flare and his brows furrow.
"Reverse it!" He yelled while whipping around and darting towards the witches. "She belongs to me, not him!" He continued. When the witches informed him that they could not reverse the bonding, he lunged at them for an attack. Before he could catch one, they cast a spell of paralysis on the lord that left him stiff as a board and floating in mid air.
"It can not be reversed on any bonding, especially on this one." The eldest witch stepped forward. The witch walked over to the still paralyzed Thelios. "Your blood simply did not work." She continued. "In fact, your blood practically killed her. His blood..." She pointed to me. "Saved her. Only the blood of the son of the darkness can tame the blood of the daughter of the light." That was all she said before she released Lord Thelios, slamming him to the ground.
"What do you mean?" He coughed out his question.
"Exactly what I said." She answered then suddenly, snapped her fingers making herself and the other witches vanish, leaving nothing but black smoke behind them. For a moment, everyone was focused on the now empty spot where the witches once stood, soon, they all turned their attention back to myself and Amily, who was still unconscious in my arms. Without a word, I walked us to the doors of the balcony.
"Elias, She is mine! You will give her to me." He said through gritted teeth as I walked past. I didn't answer.
"Elias!" He belted, making me stop. I slowly turned to face the lord.
"You will gift her to me....I am your lord and I demand this." His tone returned to being casual but anger and hatred intertwined with each syllable.
"No." Was all I said before I turned back around and headed for my chambers. I could hear Lord Thelios calling for me over and over as I walked away.
Amily began to stir in my arms when I reached my chamber door. I "shushed" her quiet and entered, softly placing her on the bed.
This night had not turned out as planned. Amily was supposed to be bound to Thelios by now and I was supposed to no longer desire her. Yet here we are. I saved her life which resulted in her being bound to me. Her heart beat that now echos through my empty chest, warms the hallow space making it feel closer to whole again. One thing is for sure, after tonight, Grim will be closer than ever bringing death with him and I'll stop at nothing to keep Amily safe. He will not have her. She is mine.
YOU ARE READING
Atherian Tales: The Blood Slave
Vampiros"You are to be a blood slave to Lord Thelios. No one can taste you but him and it's my duty to make sure no one tries." His deep voice sent shivers throughout my body that had nowhere to escape, making me shake where I sat. The Amily Brown that I w...
