A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter One Hundred & TWO 

“Aria?” 

I could remember it so clearly now. 

The way Cai had feebly tried to cover the wound on his neck, bleeding profusely as the ground simply absorbed it. I‘d grabbed his hand and cried into it, stroking his hair as he died. As the light in his golden eyes slowly faded. 

And then there was Aleric as his wolf, walking away from his body with blood around his mouth. It wasn‘t because he attacked him. No, it was because he was giving us privacy. A chance to say goodbye. Naturally, the blood would have been Thea‘s from when Aleric bit her. 

So then, what even happened to her? 

In this vision, does she finally perish for good? Or... or does she merely escape? 

...Is there a way to avoid his death and still win? 

Confliction swirled around me inside, making me want to throw up. In this vision, I‘d seen a world where Thea was absent. A battlefield gone peaceful with her presence now silenced. Was it worth taking the chance that Cai‘s sacrifice might mean her death? 

Had I seen this from the beginning as a warning? A warning that he would need to die in order for us to succeed? Perhaps this had been a way for the universe to show pity on me. Trying to tell me that I should not get too attached after watching us become friends. 

Not that it mattered now. It was far too late for that. 

How cruel that I should be asked to make this choice. 

...And how stupid of fate to let me of all people decide. 

I grabbed Cai‘s shirt weakly and pulled his face down, forcing him to meet my gaze. Staring into the familiar eyes of someone I loved. 

I would not let him be sacrificed. Not ever. No matter the cost. 

“... Run,” I croaked out, my voice still sounding hoarse, 

It burned from where Thea‘s hand had constricted me, making it a little difficult to speak. But some things were more important than the discomfort. 

‘Things like saving Cai‘s life. 

“W–what?” he said, pulling back confused. “What do you mean? We‘re here to stop Thea. Your plan worked, Aria. I managed to sneak into the camp and get Aleric out. Now is our chance to finish her.” 

But I quickly shook my head, hoping he could tell from my expression just how serious I was. 

“Cai... You need to get out of here. You‘re not safe. If you stay here, then you‘re going to get kil–.” 

Suddenly, a loud yelping noise filled the air, cutting me off, and I sharply turned 10 see Aleric limping away from Thea. 

...His shoulder must have still been hurt from the human weapon. Something she would have known all too well. Judging from her position on the ground, it looked as though she‘d just kicked him exactly where his wound was. 

I watched as Thea then got back onto her feet, bleeding from the bite Aleric had given her earlier. 

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However, if It hurt her in any way, she didn‘t show it. In fact, the only thing she was displaying was anger. 

“Pathetic,” she huffed, “You‘re all so pathetic. Forfent now and save yourself the additional pain. Two of you are severely injured and the third is no match for me in combat. Don‘t drag this out any longer 

A growl then came from Aleric as he took a step forward, but his eyes betrayed just how much it hurt for him to do so Technically, we should have had the advantage here, now outnumbering her. This should have tipped in our favour to become an easy fight only 

...Only our injuries potentially made us liabilities. 

If we decided to fight, knowing we were vulnerable, we may end up only getting further hurt by trying to save one another 

with Aleric‘s shoulder and my own weakness from fighting Thea, we were both badly impaired Perhaps the safest thing to do here was retreat and wait to fight another day. If we left now, then at the very least i meant we could stop the vision from coming to fruition Bide our time until – 

*Clink 

to see he had picked up my dagger, now fallen a foot or so away. and he slowly moved to stand back

upright to grab him but was too

are you forgetting who originally trained you? This is

fighting skills are not even why I‘m objecting. You need to leave now or she‘s going

cautiously took a step towards Thea instead, watching her movement carefully. Clearly, he didn‘t realise that I was referring to a vision and not just an

I yelled, causing my throat to burn

myself appear weaker, and frantically tried to clear my airways I needed to

Aria,” he said, taking another step. “...I‘ve got

to die.

“. Cai, no!” 

I was helpless to

towards her, dagger poised, and began his attack. A fight between two skilled warriors, albeit one

was even doing a great

for myself. Where Aleric was more strength–based, Cai did a much better job al unpredictable moves. And, for someone like Thea, it was a tremendous edge, especially since she couldn‘t get into his head like she could mine, or even Aleric‘s. She was now having to rely completely on just fighting skills alone,

this was a battle that fate had already decided.

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I UNIUNURUTW 

as I weakly tried to re–join the battle, but the pain just ached through me, acting as a reminder that my condition was still very fragile. Too delicate t o be of any use to Cal in

I hissed in frustration, cursing my

and adjusted the plan. Maybe if I‘d just fought against Thea harder, been

hadn‘t been so

He‘d been holding off joining the fight, probably thinking that Cai was capable enough to

knew better.

I cried desperately.

need to

I hadn‘t needed to specify why or how certain I was. Aleric just did it. He did it

in there, at the risk of

a despicable mate I

despite her condition. And as every second passed, she increasingly became more furious. Now it was a gamble as to whether that would work in our favour or whether she could harness it to her advantage. But this was a gamble that would have lethal consequences if miscalculated. I shuddered to think what she was capable of if she truly channelled that rage.

calculating the right moments to lunge in, knowing he was limited by his injury. Yet despite their hard efforts, I was still stuck on the sidelines. Merely watching as they risked their lives for,

I was... useless. 

thought came to me. One I had

What if Aleric‘s involvement wasn‘t enough? What if... what if the outcome wouldn‘t even change?

starting to trickle from where the skin must have split, reopening the wound the silver had originally made. An injury bad enough to keep

Cai yelled, stepping in Thea‘s path to protect

being able to finish Aleric off, saving his

horrific

do this alone.‘

himself and Aleric, all the while keeping Thea‘s attention off me. This was exactly

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reason for why we should

die. We all

now hurt, what if I‘d now changed fate to include his death as well? What if Aleric was the one who was meant to finish her off originally, possibly after an opening Cai‘s death

was my

to shake with fear, feeling as a

failed. This was the

this

Unless.... 

did my duty.

and it wasn‘t for redemption or revenge. It wasn‘t for love or friendship, nor

one and only true mission had been simple

was to kill Thea.

of those things mattered. There was only one title

reason for being allowed

so scared of