Verveville's Curse

Chapter3

Willow’s Pov

Smoke choked the air.

I stumbled back, skirts tangled around my legs, the scent of singed silk thick in my nose. Screams thundered from all corners of the palace, echoing off the white marble that just moments ago gleamed like moonlight. Now, it was streaked with soot, blood, and fire.

“Get her out of here!” Lilith’s voice rose above the chaos, commanding as ever, laced with power. Spells cracked like whips around us, shields shimmering in violet and gold as palace guards fought to hold the outer courtyard.

I didn’t move.

My eyes were fixed on him.

The strange werewolf hadn’t charged forward yet. He watched from the rise above the palace steps, still and sharp as a blade. Something ancient shimmered around him, a darkness that wasn’t just magic. It was instinct, hunger, and rage braided into form.

Who was he?

I didn’t know his name, not truly. But something in me did.

“Princess! This way!” someone shouted one of the royal guards, face half-burned, sword glowing with runes. He lunged toward me, but was intercepted by a grey wolf, its fangs sinking deep into the man’s throat before I could scream.

Eldric grabbed my arm, pulling me backward. “We have to move Willow!”

I looked into his eyes and saw the truth, fear. The calm prince from the altar was gone. He was just a boy trying not to die.

Behind him, Queen Lilith stood tall at the heart of the chaos, her hands aglow with violet energy, incantations ripping from her throat like a song of war. With a flick of her wrist, a dome of light burst out, shielding half the altar from the incoming wolves. But it was already too late for the other side.

A fireball shot from my hand, hitting a beast mid-leap. It let out a horrible scream not wolf, not human, something in between. The sound pierced my bones.

I took a step forward, ignoring Eldric’s hand gripping my arm. “Willow!” he barked. “We have to move. Now.”

I pulled away. “No,” I breathed, fire flickering again to life in my palms. “Not yet.”

Lilith appeared beside us in a flash of violet smoke, flanked by two witches in gleaming armor. Her eyes were wild, the calm mask gone. “You don’t get to fight now, girl!” she snapped. “Move!”

Before I could speak, the palace doors exploded inward.

A wolf, fur black as ink, fangs bared, tore through the guards at the gate. Others followed, snarling and shifting mid-leap, claws raking through the enchanted crystal as if it were paper. Behind them came soldiers in obsidian armor, weapons lit with flickering green flame.

“Go!” Lilith shoved me hard. “Take the east tunnel!”

A blast struck the tiles at my feet. I fell, glass biting into my shoulder. Someone screamed my name, Eldric? A guard?

I pushed up, heart hammering. Magic flared at my fingertips, wild. The heat scorched my skin. The flames I summoned crashed into two werewolves. Another explosion rocked the palace.

Suddenly, a cold wind swept through the corridor, snuffing out fire, stilling smoke. I turned.

He was inside now in his human form now

His face was hidden, but the aura was unmistakable.

The war wolf beside him paced ahead, but his gaze was locked on me.

Dark blue armor. Brown eyes with specks of gold. Not empty, just so full, so consuming, it felt like drowning.

And still, I knew him.

Not from life.

Not from stories.

From the echo of something older.

He stepped forward. I raised my hands, fire flaring again between my palms. “Stay back,” I warned, voice hoarse. “I don’t know who you are.”

He stopped.

But he didn’t raise a weapon.

He looked at me not with hate, not even anger. It was… sadness? Confusion? His head tilted slightly, as if he was seeing a ghost.

Behind him, wolves spilled through the halls. I was surrounded.

Lilith shouted something then a wave of dark magic surged through the air. The man flinched. For the first time, he turned away from me, raising a dark blade to dodge her spell. The impact shook the ground.

“Run, Willow!” Lilith screamed. “Run now!”

I was rooted to the spot, I couldn't possibly leave my kingdom

Screams rose around me, but I didn't flinch. The heat of fire magic still pulsed at my fingertips, my body poised between defense and fury. A blood-curdling snarl erupted from the shadows then Lilith’s cry pierced the air.

I turned

I summoned a blast of energy, striking the strange man with a bolt of mystical force. He stumbled back, shortly baffled.

As he tried to regain his footing, I chanted an incantation, summoning a whirl of swirling lights that trapped the werewolf. He howled in frustration, thrashing about as he tried to break free.

My aunt collapsed, black magic curling around her ribs like smoke, her violet robes soaked with blood. “Lilith!” I shouted, magic crackling in my voice. Without hesitation, I sprinted across the blood-streaked floors. Eldric tried to grab my arm, but I shoved him back with a wave of force that sent him stumbling.

I dropped beside my aunt, fingers glowing silver-blue as I pressed them to Lilith’s wound. “Don’t speak,” I commanded, my voice shaking but sure. “Let the magic hold.”

Lilith’s eyes fluttered. “Get… out of here…”

“No.” my eyes flashed. “I’m not running from this.”

Her body convulsed violently as blood streamed from her mouth, nose, and her open wound. Her skin turned nearly white.

She gasped for air twice, and with her final breath, her voice turned sharp with venom.

“May your heart forever ache with the loss of your love. You’ll be left to bear the weight of the moment, the cause of her fall, forever haunted, beyond recall,” she rasped, her voice barely a whisper. “And may you be haunted by the shadows of your deed!” Her eyes locked on the man in the shadows, the strange werewolf

The curse left her lips like a dark spell heavy and final.

Then another surge of power. Across the ruined courtyard, he was on his knees. The dark curse had wrapped around him, a black mist rested around him covering his limbs, magic branded onto his chest like branded runes. He roared in agony, and even the wolves hesitated.

I stood, trembling from magic overuse, but still standing and confusion from the curse my aunt laid upon him

After a while, when it looked like he had regain his strength, the curse settling in, in a swift movement, he charged towards Lilith, his eyes blazing with fury. He raised his claws, ready to strike the final blow. But just as he was about to land the killing strike, Lilith's body began to dissolve into a misty vapor. leaving him grasping at nothing. He swung his claws wildly, but they closed on empty air.

It looked like her body went up in flames with no trace of her

“Aunt?” I called

“Aunt!” I called louder, as if volume could summon her back from wherever she went.

But she was already gone. She disappeared. I didn’t know where, she could be dead

No tears came.

I looked around the room. The wreckage. The broken dreams. The bodies of the royal guard, my people eyes wide, blood pooling beneath them. Blood soaked the floor. Limbs and broken swords lay discarded like trash.

It was as though grief had taken away even the luxury to mourn.

My kingdom. My people.

Gone, in one night.

Because someone let them in.

I thought of Thorne.

Delayed at the border. Again.

But not caught in the attack. Not anywhere near it.

Verneville... was no more.

“Kill me already,” I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper. “Do what you came for!” I shrieked, still clutching my mother’s lifeless form.

Silence.

Then I heard it, heavy footsteps.

A shadow loomed over me, taller than I expected, thick with power.

“You are not meant to die,” he said simply.

His voice was rough and husky.

I looked up, meeting the eyes of the man who had destroyed my kingdom. The one who had shattered everything I knew.

Without thinking, I surged to my feet. In one swift motion, I pulled the silver dagger from my ankle, the one she always insisted I keep close and drove it hard into his chest.

Straight into where I thought his heart would be.

“If I’m meant to die,” I growled, “then I’ll take you with me.”

The blade sank in deep.

Images flashed through my mind, my aunt, the wedding, the smiling faces of Verneville, now gone. The curse. My aunt’s final words. The haunting glow in her eyes.

Was it a vision? A prophecy?

I didn’t know anymore.

My body trembled violently, energy draining from me. Light burst behind my eyes. My limbs turned limp. I swayed, dizziness consuming me.

The floor rushed up to meet me.

But before I hit it, strong arms caught me.

Warmth.

I tilted my head up, barely able to see through the fading light.

But there they were. Those eyes, staring at me

Familiar.

So achingly familiar.

The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me completely… was home.

And then

Nothing.