Page 35 of Chains of Nightshade

16

AUREL

Islither through the dense forest, my serpentine body weaving between ancient trees. Every muscle in my body screams at me to turn back, but I push forward. The taste of freedom should be sweet on my tongue, yet all I taste is bile.

"You're doing the right thing," I mutter to myself, crushing a fallen branch beneath my coils. "She was holding you back. She's weak. Human."

But the words ring hollow, and memories of Vera flood my mind unbidden. The way she looked at me with trust in her eyes. The warmth of her body against mine in the river. The soft sounds she made when I?—

"Fuck!" I slam my fist into a tree trunk, splintering the bark. The pain helps clear my head, but not enough.

A distant scream echoes through the forest. My heart stops. I know that voice.

"She'll be fine," I growl, trying to convince myself. "The dark elves won't kill her. They need their slaves."

But my body coils tighter, every scale bristling with tension. Another scream pierces the air, closer this time. Then silence.

The silence is worse than the screams.

I close my eyes, seeing Vera's face. The way she smiled at me, even when I was cold to her. The gentle touch of her hands. The trust I betrayed.

"What have I done?" The words escape in a whisper. My chest constricts with an unfamiliar ache. Is this... guilt?

My tail lashes out, knocking over a small tree in frustration. I shouldn't care. She was just a tool. A means to an end. Nothing more.

But even as I think it, I know it's a lie.

Her face haunts me as I move through the forest. Those eyes - wide with betrayal, glistening with unshed tears. I can't shake the image of her trembling lips as I spat those final cruel words at her.

"You're nothing but a burden."

My tail coils tighter around a tree trunk, the bark splintering under my grip. The memory of her flinch cuts deeper than any blade.

"Weak human," I mutter, but the words taste like ash in my mouth. The warmth of her body against mine in the river floods my senses. The way she touched me, so gentle, so trusting...

"Stop it!" I slam my fist into another tree. Physical pain is better than this... this thing eating away at my chest.

Her voice echoes in my mind. "I thought you were different." The last words she spoke before I turned my back on her.

A sudden, searing pain rips through my chest. It's like molten metal being poured into my veins. My body convulses, scales scraping against the forest floor.

"Fuck!" The scream tears from my throat, echoing through the trees. The pain intensifies, and I thrash, my tail whipping wildly, taking down saplings in its wake.

Another wave hits, and I roar, the sound more beast than man. What is this? What's happening to me?

Through the haze of agony, her face appears again - but this time, it's different. Empty. Lifeless.

"Vera?" The name escapes in a broken whisper before another scream rips from my chest, echoing through the vast forest.

Pain rips through my body like lightning, forcing me to curl into myself on the forest floor. My scales scrape against fallen leaves and twigs, my tail thrashing uncontrollably.

"What is this?" I gasp, clawing at my chest. The agony spreads from my heart outward, as if my blood has turned to acid.

Then I hear it - her voice, carried on the wind like a whisper. "I curse you, Aurel!"

The words brand themselves into my soul, and I roar in pain. My vision blurs, but all I can see is Vera's face, her eyes filled with betrayal.

"Get out of my head!" I slam my fist into the ground, but her presence only grows stronger. Something primal stirs within me, an instinct I've never felt before. Every fiber of my being screams at me to return to her.

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