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CHAPTER 2 – A Death Wish

Castle Diaboli Cerran Territory Xathos

Death.

This was something Ailara wanted for a long time now. She wanted an end to her torment and craved the blissful peace that came only with death.

Ailara knew she was going to die today. She defied Heilen, the King of the Cerran yet again. Until now, she could feel his magic in her bones. She fought against his compulsion but it cost her so much pain. It was like her skin being burnt, her flesh torn, and her bones broken.

Still, Ailara fought against his magic and the pain. Somehow, she was able to find a way through his compulsion. She was sent to find and capture more of her people so Heilen and his people could drain their blood dry and gain their speed and ability to trace. Ailara warned them instead and sent them far, far away.

She saved her people and her treachery towards Heilen would cost her more pain than fighting his compulsion did. It's always been that way for the numerous times that she defied him. She has been his puppet for nearly half a century now. But that was then and this time it was different. This time, death loomed close and she could almost taste the end on the tip of her tongue.

"Ailara!" the Heilen's voice was like the crack of a whip. His roar shook her out of her thoughts. She tried to move a bit if only to ease the ache in her arms. But the action only caused her silver shackles to bite into her skin even further. Ailara tried hard not to flinch. Any show of weakness would only make Heilen happy. Blood dripped to the floor as her skin burned.

The King rose from the shadows and approached her. He was tall and he strode towards her with menace in his steps. His emotions were shown in his handsome face. Ailara scoffed and spat blood on the floor.

He was handsome yet it was all an illusion—a glamour. He was about a head taller than her and his body was heavily muscled. He had dark hair and eyes as gray as storm clouds. His broad shoulders were hunched and his fists clenched at his side in fury.

"Yes?" Ailara answered. Her voice sounded guttural since her throat was so raw from screaming because of all the torture she was forced to endure since she returned at dawn today.

"How dare you?!" the King roared.

Ailara smiled—yet another act of defiance.

And like all others, that small action cost her. Heilen backhanded her across the cheek sending her bouncing towards the wall. The chains holding her rattled and bit deeper into her skin until it felt as though it hit bone. Her shoulder hit the wall hard and this time, she wasn't able to hold back her scream of pain.

When she was able to breathe again, she lifted her head and saw Heilen's smirk.

"You've defied me again, princess!"

"And I'll do it a thousand times over," she spat.

Heilen's smirk turned into a deep frown. His eyes blazed with his fury and for a moment, Ailara saw his handsome glamour falter revealing his true form. His eyes were black as the darkest night and his skin gray. His leather-like wings were folded behind his back. His nails sharp as talons.

She saw Heilen breathe in deep as though trying to regain control. Ailara blinked and the beast in front of her was gone. Heilen's glamour was back in place. He reached her and his large hand cupped her jaw forcefully.

"You are outweighing your use, my dear. You are more a nuisance to me now," he whispered.

Ailara smiled sweetly amidst her pain and suffering. She cannot let the king know that she would gladly welcome death now than live under his compulsion an hour more. Heilen also smiled. His smile was filled with so much evil and malice that Ailara shivered.

Just a bit more and she would die in Heilen's hands. He would end her soon because she was useless. She was his puppet whose strings were broken—a useless puppet who can no longer dance for her puppeteer.

Ailara closed her eyes and prayed. She wanted the end. She wanted to die. She didn't want this kind of life. She had nothing to fight for. Her people were no more. Their kingdom was burnt to the ground and her people were scattered across the lands in hinding.

The Vampyr were no more. They were weak and their numbers were few. No one would help them since their alliance with the Wolfen was broken. And it was all her fault. No. It was Heilen's fault.

But the blame rested on her shoulders.

Ailara closed her eyes as a wave of pain washed over her. At the same time, in her mind's eye, she saw a face that haunted her for a long, long time. He still had the same dark hair and those kind blue eyes. She remembered him telling her to be brave. She remembered how his blood tasted and how his touch seemed to burn her skin with its heat.

But that was before everything changed...

The last time she saw him, those blue eyes were filled with confusion and disbelief. Then it was replaced with rage as he took in the scene before him: his mother's lifeless body and Ailara's hands, dress and mouth filled with her blood.

She wanted to run to him. She wanted to explain and hold him while he grieved his mother. But Heilen's compulsion made her stand up, smile and then run away like the worse traitor the world has ever seen.

Instead, Dimitrios ran to her. His hands dug into her arms as he lifted her away from his mother. His claws bit into her skin. He was seconds away from shifting to his wolf form and his rage was clearly visible in his eyes. She tried to explain, to talk to him but words would not come from her lips because of Heilen's compulsion.

And so she was forced to watch as Dimitri raised his sword and prepared to strike her down. But at the last moment, he released her instead and vowed that he would make her pay... just not today.

That was the day when the alliance between the Vampyr and the Wolfen was broken. It was what started the war that razed her kingdom and killed thousands of her people. With the Cerran and the Wolfen both hunting them, they stood no chance.

And Ailara was forced to watch all of it. She was forced to see her kingdom burn to the ground, her people drained dry and left in the sun to burn to nothing but ash.

Ailara's eyes filled with tears. She tried to shake away the memories that haunted her every time she closed her eyes. She fought the emotions that threatened to choke her. She was so close and she couldn't be weak now.

"Do you want to die, my lovely?" she heard Heilen whisper.

"No!" she cried.

But deep inside, her answer was the complete opposite. At Heilen's words, her heart soared with joy. The pain in her wrists and ankles where the chain burned vanished. The throbbing in her back, which was cut and torn because of all the whipping she was forced to endure, was forgotten.

"Open your eyes, Ailara. I want my face to be the last thing you'll ever see before your spirit leaves this world and heads to the pits of Draugr where your soul shall suffer for the rest of eternity."

Ailara opened her eyes. She looked straight into Heilen's eyes.

She felt Heilen's hands on her neck as he tilted her head roughly to the side to expose her neck. Then, he opened his mouth and bared his fangs.

This was it. Finally, the moment she was waiting for.

She closed her eyes. Heilen was wrong. His face wouldn't be the last thing she'd see before she leaves this world of torment.

She summoned and image of Dimitrios. A younger version of him. He was standing waist-deep in the middle of the lake. The moon was bright behind him casting him an ethereal glow. Dimitrios smiled at her as his hair was ruffled by the wind. He was holding out his hand to her and and his eyes twinkled with mischief and a challenge to join him in the water.

Heilen struck and his fangs broke the delicate skin of her neck. She flinched in pain but Heilen held her tight, his nails digging into her skin. There was searing pain in her neck and shoulder and with each second that passed she felt herself growing weaker and weaker.

Blood was sacred to the Vampyr. Losing a drop caused tremendous pain. Heilen was punishing Ailara in the most painful and humiliating way he knew. He was draining he blood and with it cam her life.

But this was what Ailara wanted.

She sighed and felt tears rush down her cheeks. Her life was so different from what she envisioned. As a child, she had so many dreams. But all of those were not meant to be. And now, it was near the end...

Ailara imagined herself walking towards Dimitrios. She imagined feeling the cold water on her ankles and then her knees and thighs as she waded deeper and deeper into the water. Then, she accepted Dimitri's hand.

It would be this memory of him that would guide her to her afterlife.

"Dimitrios..." Ailara whispered.

And after that, she took her last breath.



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