Chapter 6 - MARK OF THE ANCIENTS
1141 Words
KAEL’S POV
The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew there was no way on earth I was going to let her go.
I watched her grip the white sheet around her small and fragile body.
The fear in her eyes was nothing compared to the excitement in mine.
Finally, something fun was happening around here.
‘You must be out of your mind,’ she snaps, eyes wild with disbelief.
‘I know this is all new to you, but you need to calm down.’ I say.
She looks at me with that annoyed expression on her face.
It wasn’t too long till her eyes started glowing faintly.
‘What…What’s going on ?’ she asks, a confused expression sitting on her face as she tries to grab the wall to balance herself.
I could feel her energy pulsating through the room.
Her scent drew me in as I moved even closer.
Her eyes suddenly roll to the back of her head as she passes out, almost dropping to the floor,
I quickly rush to grab her, her body landing gently on my arms as I carry her back to the bed.
Every breath she took made something primal in me tighten.
Maybe it was the way her warm brown eyes filled with anger made my skin heat up as every breath she took seemed to tighten something low in my gut, like a tension waiting to snap
I set her on the bed slowly, my eyes trying their hardest not to look at her body one last time.
Her lips were slightly parted as I placed a finger on her neck to feel her pulse.
She was still alive. Whatever happened in that forest must have taken a toll on her. I still couldn’t believe she was the prophecy.
Every 5000 years, the gods choose a person to pass on ancient magic to, and this time they chose a human?
It was very hard to believe, but I’m sure they had their reasons.
The door suddenly bursts wide open, and my brother Riven walks in, shirtless with blood on his forearms.
‘What the f**k, Kael? ’ he growls as he storms towards me in anger.
He stops the moment he sees Seraphina lying on the bed, and then he turns to look at me.
‘Oh, now, I see what this is all about,’ he states.’Our people are dying while you are in here playing hero to some weird lady.’
‘What do you mean ?’ I ask, my heart racing with every second.
‘The Blackfang Pack are dominating us,’ he says. ‘We’ve lost a lot of our strongest fighters in battle. We were able to capture the leader of the rogues, so the others ran away out of fear. But still, we are very much outnumbered. I doubt we can handle another attack.’
A sharp ache pulses through my jaw as I grit my teeth.
‘The girl needs to go.’ Riven says as he takes a look at Seraphina. ‘She’s causing more harm than good, and I’m not buying any of that prophecy bullshit. Kael, she needs to leave now.’
I pause for a minute, trying to gather my thoughts.
Riven was wrong.
We needed Seraphina now more than ever. She held powers that even the Black Fang Pack would never be able to wield, even though they got hold of her.
‘No,’ I voice out. ‘We can’t give them what they are after; instead, we use it as leverage to take back control.’
I get up from my seat to face Riven.
‘So, what exactly are you saying ?’ he asks.
‘I’m saying that we get her to fight for us.’ I reply.
Riven pauses for a second and lets out a loud laugh.
‘I don’t know what the hell happened, but maybe you left your common sense in that damn forest.’
Riven gets up this time and utters, ‘You think the prophecy would be in some half-dead human girl like her?’ he adds. ‘If she’s the prophecy, she wouldn’t be on this damn bed doing nothing to fulfill her duty.’
‘But we have no proof denying that she’s not the prophecy,’ I voice out. ‘Earlier, she was reciting the ancient Alpha Oath….Whatever she is, she cannot be let out of here, no matter what.’
Riven takes a step back.
I was sure he was just as confused as I am.
He takes a brief look at her and then back to me.
‘I see what this is about…’ Riven shoots at me. ‘Something tells me this is more than just the prophecy.’
He gives me a dirty look, and I raise my eyebrow at him as he steps even closer to me.
‘I don’t know what dirty game you have planned out, Kael, but this woman is not worth destroying the legacy we’ve built for years.’ Riven raises.
I tap his shoulder and look into his eyes, and say, ‘Then let me carry the weight of that destruction.’
His jaw tightens.
‘Don’t be stupid,’ he growls. ‘This isn’t just about you. We’re hanging by a thread, Kael. Our people need leaders, not reckless romantics clinging to myths.’
I step closer, close enough to see the dried blood crusted on his forearm, the exhaustion pooling beneath his eyes.
‘And they’ll have one,’ I say calmly. ‘But this woman? She’s not just some myth. She recited words no one outside the Bloodline should know. She felt the Shift, Riven. The air bent around her when she screamed. You didn't feel it, but I did. The power, the pull... something ancient moved.’
He glares at me, but the hesitation in his silence speaks volumes.
‘We’ve seen what happens when power like this goes unchecked,’ he mutters. ‘What if she loses control? What if she’s the end of us, not the savior?’
‘Then I’ll end her myself.’ The words come out cold. But they settle like a sword between us.
For a moment, Riven doesn’t say a word. Then he pulls back.
‘You'd better hope you're right,’ he warns. ‘Because if she brings this Pack to its knees… it’ll be your name the Ancients burn into the ashes.’
He turns and storms out, slamming the door behind him.
I turn to Seraphina.
Still unconscious, her breathing steady but shallow.
The mark, the one I’d seen glow for a split second beneath her collarbone, was no ordinary sigil.
It was the Seal of Aelon, a symbol long thought erased from existence after the Great Divide.
Only the true heir of the Lunar Ancients bore it.
And she was wearing it like a scar.
‘How could something so broken carry the Seal of Aelon?’
- Writer
