Page 187 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

The dark figure makes a clicking sound that resembles a chuckle before one dark tendril shoots out, wrapping itself around Leotar’s midriff.

I watch in shock as the general tries to gather his power and strike the dark figure, but instead of being hit, he merely absorbs each blow.

Laughter echoes in the hall, followed by a semi-distorted voice, “Die.”

The tendril tightens around the general’s body until it snaps it into two.

W-what?

I wait for the general to regenerate or come back to life. This should be a trifling wound for someone of his caliber.

Nothing happens.

He is…lifeless.

In all my life, I’ve never seen something like this. Such raw power that he is able to kill an Aperite general without expending any effort.

I shrink back, reaching for my pin but knowing that if a level nine general stood no chance, then I stand even less so.

The shadowy male stops in front of the severed parts of the general’s body. Waving his hand over the body, he pulls forth a shimmery mist that sways in the air before forming a sphere.

He palms the ball and advances in the room, and I prepare myself for the attack. At least death is more welcome than being defiled. The seconds trickle down as he moves lithely toward me, and all I can think of is the fact that I don’t want to die. I’ve barely lived, despite my advanced age, and if I’m honest with myself, the most I’ve truly lived has been in the last few months, with Mine.

Mine… how is he going to return home without me? He will be in danger if he’s discovered in Aperion. But if he does make it back… An image flashes in my mind, of him, in the future, long after I’m gone, with some faceless female.

No!

I tighten my fists, ready to fight. I’m not about to allow Mine to live on without me. He decided to court me. He is mine, and he can only be mine.

Fear morphs into anger as I struggle to my feet, assuming a fighting stance. I borrow all the energy I can from the pin and summon my armor.

“You have my thanks for killing that bastard, but I’m not dying today,” I grind out as I wait for his tendrils to strike.

He stops a few feet away from me, the dark shadows of his body swirling in darker hues.

“Come on!” I shout, materializing my ice sword.

With a small movement of his hand, he makes my sword disappear.

I blink in shock.

He comes closer.

So close, he’s almost touching me, the blurred edges of his shadows caressing my body.

The same semi-distorted voice then speaks, “Yours, for when you will need it the most.”

I frown at his cryptic words, but I don’t get to question him before he pushes the ball of energy in my chest.

I wheeze and cough as the potent energy burns my insides, spreading around before seemingly disappearing. One moment, my body brims with power, the next it’s all gone.

“What did you do?” I ask in a low whisper.

“You will know. When the time is right, you will need it.”

I wait for him to say more or finally strike at me.

But just as he utters the last word, the shadows coil onto themselves before slowly evaporating from sight.

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