Ileus: The Dark Prince

The emotions that Anastasia felt were raw, were that of awe and fear. They had never seen princess Anastasia in this form. And this was… this was so primal… like she was the one… the goddess, the deity of the Lore… the one who carried the blood of the ancient. 

Anastasia… wasn't expecting this. She thought there would be some resistance, but this… this was different. Breath lodged in her throat as Ileus came right next to her. Her glow receded and Ileus came right beside her with his chest swelling with pride. He placed his hand on the small of her back. Together they looked mesmerizing. 

Black shadows swirling around the white wings. 

Anastasia craned her head to look at the man who was her mate, her love and her husband. "I love you…" she said. 

"I love you too, sweetheart," he replied and their lips crashed. The Evindal sword hanging on the side. 

The moment was surreal. It was like a statement to all those who saw them. Anastasia was telling them that this man who stood with her, by her, was the man they had to accept as their prince. This dark prince, the dark wizard, the Prince of Draoidh was her lover, her husband and her mate. And they better concede to it. 

Anastasia had come back. 

When she looked up towards all of them, she could see that they were still on their knees. "Rise," she whispered and they listened. All of them rose up. She looked at Etaya with triumphant eyes. Then she turned her gaze to Yion and said, "Take her to the celestial prison. I have to do my experiments!" 

"No! No!" Etaya's body or the husk of what was left of it, shuddered. Her soul felt like empty. There was an unfathomable void, which was slowly filling with fear. 

"With pleasure, princess!" he said, his voice filled with hate and bitterness. At once Yion rushed to the woman he had hated for the past eight years. No, he had hated her the moment his king had his doubts about her. He grabbed her by the forearm and dragged her out of the field, a trail of blood and screams forming on the way. 

Suddenly the darkness of the sides burst again. Seraph reappeared. He was in a frenzy. "You destroyed my bodyyyy," he hissed at Iona, who was clacking her claws. He lashed his tentacles at Yion who had to rush away before he could get injured. Immediately, the fae soldiers surrounded them, but each was looking at them with caution. They had seen this spirit haunting the palace so many times, and Etaya had said that it was harmless. But no one knew that it was that of her husband's—husband who she had killed for her gains. 

The dark witch stayed quiet, not understanding what she had done. It was not registering in her mind that she could do a thing like that. But a blurry vision flashed across her mind… of going to a tunnel and leashing her Diumbe on a body. Was that his? And why did she do that?

Seraph looked at Anastasia with red eyes that flickered yellow. "And now even she won't be able to save you!" Saying that he lashed his tentacles and himself on Iona. 

"Masterrr!" The Dark Witch shrieked, as she stepped back. 

Ileus got into action as he once again sent shadow blades towards Seraph. The spirit shouted in agonizing pain but it was so insane that it didn't stop. 

"You should strike your wife for deceiving you!" Anastasia said in order to attract his attention. "Etaya is the one to be blamed." 

Adrianna and Dmitri came to stand right in front of their daughter. But they forgot that they were dealing with a spirit. 

Seraph vanished from there only to appear behind Iona. He pummeled a tentacle at her obsidian skin, on her stomach. The glass shattered and the Dark Witch cried in pain. "Masterrr?" she said with confusion and anger setting in. He took another one of his tentacles and she fell on the ground with a shriek so painful that Adrianna rushed to her daughter, only to be stopped by Anastasia. 

When Seraph brought in yet another attack, the Dark Witch got up, turned into swirls of darkness and barreled into him. And right behind them Anastasia. 

A wave of panic passed through Ileus. "Anastasia, don't!" But Anastasia was too far into them. 

The silver of Evindal flashed through the darkness and fog. The thunder struck lightning somewhere and the dragons which were flying above roared fire. Brantley and Dawn's dragons shot down from the skies with their riders. Soldiers scurried to the sides for the dragons to land. 

"Now!" Dawn shouted and the two riders jumped down from the saddle. The dragons breathed fire and created a fiery circle around the shadows, around their deity, around the goddess who was about to reign in dark spirits. Only fire created by the dragons could stop them from escaping. And they couldn't let them escape for they were now dealing with the Lore's goddess. Everything in Sgiath Biò happened according to what the heir wanted. Nature worked in tandem with her. And dragons—they realized it. 

Magic sizzled in Adrianna's and Haldir's hands as they stood to tackle the dark forces. 

Rolling dark clouds blanketed the skies as blinding jags of electricity stabbed the ground far in distance. Gusting winds brought down the black clouds, which broke with a loud boom. As night drew, rain slashed down from the sky and a sheet of lightning lit the sky in an ominous flash. 

Impatient and restless as hell, Ileus caught a glint of lightning on the Evindal blade as he saw Anastasia flapping her wings hard and shooting high in the air. When she came down with a battle cry that shocked him, he heard painful shouts and grunts. And he could only watch in horror and awe as she unleashed herself on Seraph, while saving herself from his sister. 

None of them stood a chance. 

Seraph lashed his tentacles again and again but Anastasia cut them with her sword. And as and when she slashed them, he let out screams of pain. "Those demonic letter, they—" 

"What about them?" she asked.  A hurricane of steel and wings. Rain that swirled around her in circles. She was like a predator on her last hunt—a true warrior girl. Breath lodged in his throat as he clenched his fists. He wanted to get in there but through their bond, for the first time she communicated that this was her kill, and hers only. And her voice was so cold, that it was merciless. For the first time he realized how ruthless, how animalistic, how primal, his mate could be. 

Anastasia was slicing his tentacles that he was throwing at Iona, and Iona—she was trying to claw her to get away from her Master, because she wanted to kill her Master. And Anastasia knew that if she left her alone, she would end up being killed and driven to the dark portals of the Land of Gaira. 

Over all these years Seraph had gathered, made alliances with many dark spirits and she knew that some of them lurked in Sgiath Biò too.