Chapter One Hundred & One 

...Dead

No... that couldn‘t..... 

I could feel my heart racing at hearing her words. 

Why would she have done that? Why do something before... 

Unless... unless she expected me to rush into war regardless of whether she used him as bait. Because she knew I wouldn‘t have any way of knowing he was alive and would assume that I would come for him blindly anyway

‘It‘s just another move made to hurt me. 

During our stay in the cabin, I‘d always avoided the topic of Aleric marking me. I hadn‘t wanted to tie him t o me knowing I might not be long for this world, and I didn‘t want to put him through feeling that pain upon my death. But I hadn‘t anticipated for the reverse to now become detrimental to me. If only I‘d actually done it, I would have known the minute it had happened and saved everyone from rushing in to save him 

So then, was he actually... dead

And the most guttural, animalistic growl then escaped my lips, forcing several people nearby to flinch and shy away from the pressure. 

This wasn‘t how it was meant to go. 

He wasn‘t meant to die from my own failure to save him in time. 

He wasn‘t meant to die before me. 

I could feel Thea‘s eyes watching me closely, feel the smirk on her face. 

...And suddenly I knew what I needed to do. 

My legs started sprinting towards her, pushing myself to move faster and faster. Several people were fighting between us but I didn‘t let that distract me, manoeuvring around them with ease without breaking stride even once. 

“Aria!” I heard someone yell. 

But I wasn‘t stopping. 

This was because of her. It was her fault. She needed to pay

I kept on running to the treeline, towards the figure waiting for me there. Nothing would be able to stop m 

...Not even the ten or so rogues I could now feel following me. 

They were trailing behind just close enough that they would probably catch up soon, having the advantage of four paws over me But just before I could make it to the trees, I sensed as one of them went to lunge at my legs, trying to pull me down. 

Not that this would be nearly enough against me though. Not when I could see their next move. 

Teffortlessly dodged their attack, countering with a dagger into their side, and their body slowly rolled to a stop two feet away

The others became frenzied at seeing me kill the rogue and began circling around me, snapping and 

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Chapter One Hundred & Une 

growling towards me as they waited to strike. They were now laking their time to size me up as their pack mentality kicked in. 

But I didn‘t have time for this. 

I looked up towards the trees, now close enough to meet Thea‘s eyes, and a mixture of frustration and desperation consumed me. I needed to get to her in time. To catch her before.… 

And then my heart sank as she did exactly what I feared, 

With a final smirk at my situation, she quickly turned around and began running into the woods, away from the battle. 

Fuck. 

“Get lost already!” I yelled at the rogues angrily. “I don‘t want to fight you.” 

Clearly, they took this the wrong way though as I watched them begin eagerly approaching closer. They stupidly ignored what I‘d just done to their comrade and took my words to mean that I was afraid of fighting so many of them at once. 

....Something they then acted upon, attacking me under that false belief. 

Without any further hesitation, they all began to charge me, trying to overpower me with sheer numbers. Unfortunately for them though, I saw every one of their attacks, 

‘Left... dodge... Swipe....‘ 

I moved around all the rogues fluently, swiftly taking them out one after another. 

‘Drop... side–kick... stab....‘ 

And before even five minutes had passed, soon I was all that remained. Standing in a circle of dead rogues around me, covered in their blood as I looked down with distaste. They‘d failed to land even a single scratch on me. 

All they‘d accomplished with their lives now lost was wasting my time. Time that could have been better spent going after Thea. What a meaningless death indeed. 

Aster one final look at the bodies around me, I then resumed running towards the woods, tracking Thea‘s disgustingly sweet scent through the trees. I could feel as the branches scratched against my skin as I ran through the foliage, not caring to take the extra seconds needed to slow down and avoid them. My mind was set on one thing, and one thing only. 

Thea 

“Suddenly, another clearing came into sight, opening up into a large empty plain. I could see how the trees surrounded the area in a circular way, giving it the appearance of being almost like an arena. And yet. something about this place felt familiar. Something that was impossible given I‘d never travelled anywhere near here before, 

I finally caught sight

much confidence for a woman now isolated from her

her cautiously, gauging her carefully for any sudden movement, but she remained completely still. Her demeanour was telling me to face her, wanting me to close the distance. And I

smile, sending a

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that voice. Despised the way

the point instead. W e both knew there was only

“Is he dead?” 

the answer, my heart

actually hours, dragging on so excruciatingly slow. I could feel the heavy weight of my impatience crushing me,

in complete contrast to

head to the side

all she said.

the wind had been punched out of me.

provided. None of our lives mattered to her, I already knew this. But it felt like salt in the wound to hear her

to kill you,” I whispered under my breath, staring at the ground in disbelief.

could feel as tears stung at my eyes but I barely

you just

I‘m going

loudly, looking straight up at her with a burning hatred in my eyes. All I saw was red, saw my own anger and the blood on

and pointed

taken everything from me. Everything.

it more amusing than anything, and it only acted in fuelling my fury inside.

the bloodlust pulsing through my

moment to think..,

my arm by hitting it to the side, but I read her like a book. Using my other hand, I then unsheathed a second dagger and brought it up to strike at her side,

on at the last second, narrowly missing the attack to leave merely a small scratch behind. It was barely

that was going to be it and tried to move back to begin my next attack, but somehow she moved faster than I expected. Before I could stop her, she caught me on my retreat and kicked the second dagger out of my hand,

noted, finally jumping backwards to create some distance. “This dagger seems

growl escaped my lips menacingly.

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! DIUCU UI 

death you need to be concerned about right now is your own,” I warned. “After all, the last

eyes immediately narrowed at that, no longer finding the

mock me, child….”

is. The real Thea. The one who speaks how she

once. And, before too long had passed, soon only the sound of our daggers colliding filled the air as they matched perfectly. With every strike, it was as though

my moves as I

...Oh. 

her smiling at me once more, confirming the answer I‘d just

in

meant... this meant the fight was basically

do was wait it out until | reached my absolute limit, something dangerously close already after ordering the

me easily without cheap tricks. After all, you should possess a wealth of knowledge

as her smile instantly contorted into a scowl, messing up

ended up being the very last thing I saw before she

*Clinnnnk.* 

once more, the sound of the metal kissing

defend against hers, barely with a second to spare, and it marked the

before it could land in what felt like an endless dance, soon becoming more just a game of speed. The one to win this would be whoever could execute their attack o in the

I was now completely reliant on my instincts as I moved, putting complete trust in my ability to sense her attacks. Despite already being

a moment. A drawback

progressed, her movements becoming progressively more forceful as opposed 10 swift. It was only a matter of time before she got this angry

smiling in my chance to gloat. “Having

been dead a thousand times over by now if

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UNE riunoreu a

was stolen from

“Almost as if a mortal were of equal

full strength rather than speed. It was something I‘d anticipated... and yet was helpless to defend against. I knew it wouldn‘t be possible to keep this up

the battle had lasted this long meant something so incredibly

quickly sent a kick directly to my chest, sending me flying backwards until I hit the ground roughly. I‘d tried to cushion the fall with my arms but still ended up rolling a few feet along the grass

far

get up but

up. Make

only one losing grasp on their ability. If anything, that alone would make

that?” she then suddenly asked,

that,” I said, ignoring her comment. “A lucky shot isn‘t that

closed the distance

my chest, forcing me onto my back once more, “...what I was talking about.”

that had been stolen so aggressively. My whole body had already been aching so much

a frown forming

felt it. The

End her. Get up and finish the job.‘

–Protect him.’ 

let her in to

straddling my waist to hold me

have nothing to hide,” | spat, squirming

lie to

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