CHAPTER 319: CHAPTER 319 NOT AGAIN

"Thank you, Alpha Damon." The witches bowed their heads.

"Arrange some of the pack’s fighters for them." I mindlinked Alaric.

"Yes, Alpha." He said politely through the mindlink.

"And take care of the situation here, call the elders if you need any help. I have something to take care of."

Alaric’s hesitation lingered in the back of my mind even after I cut the link. He knew exactly what I was going to do, but he also knew better than to stop me.

I turned on my heel and headed toward the castle, each step heavier than the last. The night air was cold, sharp against my skin, but it did nothing to calm the storm building in my chest.

A faint pulse tugged against the bracelet around my wrist. Her emotions brushed against mine in faint waves, confused, frightened, then... gone.

My jaw tightened. "Something’s wrong."

Beowulf stirred restlessly inside me. "She’s in danger. Let me out." He growled.

I didn’t need to be told twice, a cracking sound echoed through the night, and Beowulf blurred through the grasses, heading back into the castle.

My heart hammered in my chest, praying to the moon goddess that I was just overreacting.

Beowulf almost slammed into the wall when he took a sharp turn into the hallway. His eyes were burning a sharp shade of silver grey.

We got inside our room but she wasn’t inside, her scent lingered faintly in the air. Beowulf’s eyes darkened dangerously.

Without wasting any time, we followed her scent to the open field, but she was nowhere to be found. The familiar scent of the witch invaded my nostrils.

I followed the sight, a girl hid under a broken cart. I let out a blood-chilling howl sending shivers down her spine.

"Where is she? Where is she?!" Beowulf growled in fury, his fur bristling in restraint to not tear the witch apart. His snort wriggled, peeled back revealing his massive teeth.

The witch trembled. "Rhy...Rhydian took her away." Her eyes welled with tears, and she pressed her lips together to stop her sob.

Irritation flickered through my eyes, I should have known when the bastard lied to her. I should have stayed with her, and now I have lost her... AGAIN.

I howled painfully, before charging towards the Fae border. I believed she would be there, as Rhydian asked her to come to Fae Land.

"When I see that bastard, I’m going to shred him into pieces," Beowulf growled, as he blurred through the woods.

...

(Aeris POV)

Distorted voices echoed in my head, voices I couldn’t make any sense of. I tried to open my eyes, but I was too weak.

’Where am I?’

Then my consciousness faded away again.

My eyelids felt heavy, my body weightless, as though I had been submerged underwater. The world came back to me in fragments, first the flickering sound of magic humming in the air, then the faint scent of burning incense and dried herbs.

When my vision finally cleared, the first thing I saw was Zeir and my mother standing side by side.

They stood over me like priests at a sacrificial altar. I was lying on a wooden bed carved with strange symbols that pulsed faintly with blue light. My wrists and ankles were bound with vines that glowed softly, not tight enough to hurt, but firm enough to keep me from moving.

A translucent orb of blue magic swirled above me, threads of energy stretching between it and my body. I could feel the constant pull, the slow, rhythmic drain of my magic being ripped away from me.

My breath hitched. "What... are you doing?" My voice came out hoarse, barely a whisper.

Neither of them answered. My mother’s hands were clasped together, her lips moving rapidly in an ancient tongue I could barely recognize. The air vibrated with her words. Zeir stood beside her, eyes shut, his own hands weaving patterns in the air.

The orb above me spun faster, glowing brighter until it bathed the entire room in blue light. My body trembled as more magic was torn from me, the pain sharp and suffocating.

’These people, what are they doing? If they take away my magic, would I even still be alive? And I thought I had died, so I came back...’

"Stop..." I managed to say, my vision blurring at the edges. "You’re draining me."

But my words were swallowed by the chanting. My mother’s voice grew louder, and suddenly she coughed, a splatter of blood staining her lips.

Zeir’s eyes snapped open, alarm flickering across his usually stoic face. "We should stop," he said urgently. "Your health..."

"No!" My mother’s voice was trembling but firm. She wiped the blood away with the back of her hand. "There is nothing more important than her safety, continue the ritual."

Zeir hesitated only a moment before nodding, his expression hardening. He raised his hand, and blue light spiraled upward from his palm, joining the swirling orb above me. The air crackled violently, and the energy in the room spiraled out of control.

My magic pulsed beneath my skin like a living thing, it grew restless, and defiant. It clawed at the confines of the spell, furious at being contained.

Then, all at once, something inside me snapped.

The blue orb shattered with a deafening crack, shards of light scattering across the room like broken glass. A violent surge of power erupted from my chest, tearing through the bindings and flinging both Zeir and my mother backward.

The walls cracked as the magic ripped through the air. Symbols on the floor burned bright gold before dissolving into ash.

Zeir hit the ground hard, blood spilling from his mouth. My mother tried to rise, clutching her chest, tears streaking her face. "No," she whispered hoarsely, her voice breaking. "Not again... we were so close..."

Her trembling fingers reached toward me, but the backlash had left her too weak to move.

The vines binding my legs and hands slithered away, and I rolled down from the vine of the bed.