Defiance

4.8

Chapter 48

E L Y S I A

Aldric was dead.

The body before me was dead. His heart had stopped. It was a final flash of red lightning had hit him. It was what caused the final blow to his chest, stopping his heart. My fire was still burning around us, engulfing me as well but not hurting me.

He could have stopped me at any time. He had the choice. One word and I would do anything he asked. He could have had anything he wanted.

But he didn't. Aldric didn't use the Blood Oath. I was so certain he'd force me to stop - so certain he would reach a breaking point but he had not. He never used it. I choked back a sob as I stared at the shut eyes of my mate.

The sheer panic of that realization cut through me. I screamed, stepping back - I did this. I stared at the corpse, his face of pain, his eyes shut tightly. The claw marks were dug deep into his chest. I didn't know what had happened for his wolves to stab him the way they had. His wolves meant everything to him. One hand still gripped my fingers, tightly.

Aldric was dead. 

Without meaning to, I coughed up blood to the side, throwing up to the side. 

My fire didn't stop burning. Not even when there was silence on the entire battlefield. The screams had become nothing. The fire was raging. The lightning struck. The storms were blood red. The ground was split in half.

I had destroyed it.

I had destroyed everything.

I heard the laughter next. When I turned, I saw Naiheera, who had a wicked grin on her face. She was before me, along with the other High Priestesses. Immediately, I had shields around myself. I wasn't terrified of the High Priestesses but they were joined together again. I wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating them when my final goal was to make them suffer for all eternity.

The High Priestesses had flown over the abyss of darkness where I split the earth and were standing on the last piece of earth that remained. Clearly, they didn't understand their lesson. Clearly, they didn't understand I wouldn't hesitate to shoot lightning and kill them on the spot right now. 

The rage had consumed me completely.

I had nothing left to lose.

The High Priestesses didn't attack when they arrived. They surrounded me with wide eyes, almost amusement. Their eyes went to Aldric's dead body.

"You killed him!" Naiheera continued to laugh hysterically. She pressed a hand over her stomach as she laughed louder. Her cackling shook the battlefield. This was the first time I had seen her so happy. "You did what we couldn't do for years - what I couldn't do."

"What was he to you?" This was Melheera's voice. She turned to me, her brown eyes glaring up and down at me. They initially believed I was nothing but a witch he used for his pleasure.

A second later, Velanora was flying over in my direction as well. She stood between Naiheera and Melheera in the circle they had created around me. The High Priestesses were grinning as they stared at Aldric's dead body.

This was what they wanted. I had given them what they wanted in my rage. The anvil on my chest grew. The pain was growing and I quickly ignored it.

Dealing with this now, when I was surrounded by High Priestesses would be foolish. I had to destroy them first. And Freya was still waiting for me on the other side. Her death was coming for her.

"What are you?" Velanora hissed at me, the anger in her eyes bright and red. I had killed witches today. I had killed wolves. The betrayal in Velanora's eyes was apparent but I didn't care.