Chapter Ninety-eight

CONTENT ADVISORY / TRIGGER WARNING

THIS NOVEL CONTAINS DEPICTIONS/STRONG IMPLICATIONS OF THE FOLLOWING THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND OFFENSIVE OR DISTURBING:

~ BLOOD AND VIOLENCE

~ DEATH AND/OR MURDER

Libelle's eyes widened. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. The arrow flew through the air, struck Eskil's chest and plunged deep into his flesh. Aimed perfectly to find its mark beneath the arm wrapped around his neck. She heard Eskil gasp, the sound striking her ears like a clash of metal. His eyes fluttered and blood spilled past his lips as he coughed once, twice, and with the third, he looked down at the barbed spike.

He stumbled backwards, his feet slipping out from beneath him as he fell to the floor. His breathing became a struggle. The inhales turned into chokes, and the exhales only coughed up more blood from his lungs. Libelle pushed herself up, her voice lost to her as she cupped his cheek in her hand.

He stared at her with a weak smile, his red eyes already fading. "Beloved..." he whispered. "I'm sorry."

Libelle watched as his expression became blank and his body stilled. Her heart shattered into a million pieces, her entire soul crumbled apart and her mind screamed in desperation. She forced out a whisper. "No." The pain she felt now was unlike anything she had ever felt before. The loss of her lifemate.

"No!" She screamed and cried, tears once again welling in her eyes and pouring down her face. She felt Gaalin wrap his cold fingers around her wrist as he tried to pull her up from Eskil's body. She jerked her arm away from him, crying out again.

"Libelle," he spoke gently. "I'm sorry that you had to see that, if only I had finished him earlier."

His grip around her wrist tightened as he jerked her upwards again. "My dear! You're nude!" he sighed. "What was that beast thinking, dragging you away from me while you're undressed? Here, wear this for now."

Gaalin pulled a cotton undergarment from the pack he had set on the ground and tried to pull it over her head as she screamed and cried, her body flailing wildly as she tried to get away from him. He chuckled, twisted both her wrists into one of his hands and dragged the long gown over her head. She kicked at him, trying to break free from his hold as he slid her hands through the arms of the gown and smoothed it down past her waist. She dragged her heels in the mud, once again feeling the incredible pain in her ankles as he pulled her across the ground towards the carriage he had already loaded.

"Let me go!" she screamed. "Let me go! Eskil! Eskil, please wake up!"

Gaalin rolled his eyes. "Libelle, the beast is dead. We shall leave his corpse to rot. We have places to be."

He turned and smiled at her, his lunacy reaching a point she'd never thought possible. He truly believed that she belonged to him and that she loved him, and that her entire relationship with Eskil was simply...not possible.

She gritted her teeth, growling past her tears. "You bast—"

Her shout was interrupted as Gaalin's balled fist slammed into her teeth. "I'm sorry, Libelle." He laughed as she nearly collapsed. "I can't have you using words like that against me."

She spat out blood. "Let me go, I won't go with you."

"Libelle, you don't have a choice. Come now, get into the wagon."

"No!"

He sighed, "Please don't make this harder than it has to be."

"No, I won't go with you!"

"Libelle, just get into the wagon."

"No!"

He yanked her hard, forcing her to stumble forward and fall onto her knees. "Libelle, you are my..." He paused, his expression twisting with surprise as his jaw dropped. "No...It's not possible."

"Let. Her. Go."

The ground beneath them trembled as the deep voice echoed through the air, causing ripples in the puddles of rainwater around them. Gaalin released her arm and took a shaky step backwards, the dark aura swirling behind Libelle becoming more threatening and powerful with each passing second. She slowly looked over her shoulder, another flood of tears assaulting her sore eyes.

Eskil was pushing himself to his feet, his legs trembling as he supported himself against the door frame. He coughed and spat out blood while his red eyes locked onto Gaalin who was still stumbling backwards. Eskil's fingers twisted around the arrow and clumsily ripped the barbed blade from his chest. Another surge of blood came along with the arrow head, as did a faint, magical glimmer of violet. Eskil straightened himself and stood tall while squaring his shoulders. His red eyes flared to life, the burning in them glowing like a great fire.

He took a step towards them. "Damned grey skin," he snarled. "You harmed my lifemate. You shall pay dearly for that."

Gaalin panicked, turned and ran towards the wagon he had readied. Eskil continued to slowly walk towards him, pausing beside Libelle to caress her cheek. "Beloved, wait here. I'll be done in just a moment."

His gentle smile towards her faded into a dark, threatening glare at Gaalin as the drow found the blade he had been digging around for. He spun around and raised it above his head to strike at Eskil, but he was too slow. Eskil's large hands wrapped around Gaalin's neck and tightened like a vise. Gaalin let out a gargled scream, dropping the sword to claw at Eskil's forearms as he was lifted from the ground.

"You threatened her, you hurt her, and you made her cry," Eskil growled as he hurled the vile man through the air. Gaalin crashed into a large tree trunk, his back unnaturally bending as the impact forced another scream from his mouth. Eskil instantly collapsed, clutching at the electric pain in his head.

Libelle tried to push herself up to her feet, but her own pain shot through her ankles the moment she tried to put any weight on them. "Eskil, the spell..."

He cursed, shook his head and pushed himself up again. "I don't care. I will kill him."

Quickly approaching Gaalin who was coughing while on all fours, he raised his foot up into the man's ribs and an audible crack sounded above Gaalin's screech. "What you did to her, you can never be forgiven for. You will suffer in Hel for all eternity!"

He picked the drow up by his throat again and slammed him backwards into the tree, wincing as he fought through the pain of the spell. Gaalin screamed in frustration and clawed at Eskil's arm again, when suddenly he brandished a dagger from his belt. He buried the blade into Eskil's shoulder, sinking it deep into the flesh above his collarbone.

Eskil's stare became even more beastly as he threw Gaalin to the mud beside the wagon and ripped the blade from his shoulder. Another wave of violet magic came with it, and Eskil's physical appearance began to change. His tanned skin was gradually turning ebony, and engulfing his entire body were swirling colors of black and purple that became thicker and richer as they grew in size around him.

"St-stay back!" Gaalin screamed, suddenly rushing towards Libelle and grabbing her hair. He jerked her head backwards and held a dagger to her throat, smirking as if he had won when Eskil stopped his advance.

The roar that erupted from Eskil's throat sounded loudly across the land, shattering the glass windows on the house and sending violent quakes through the ground. The roar was more beast-like than man-like as all of his pent-up rage poured out of him. Libelle cried out when Gaalin tried to return her to her feet, the both of them collapsing into the mud as an explosion of magical energy burst from Eskil's body.

In the very early morning light and through the pitter-patter of rain drops, the ball of shimmering energy swelled into an all-consuming orb around Eskil. The sound of his breath as it passed his flaring nostrils, his heavy limbs slamming against the ground and his menacing throaty hiss, all sent waves of terror through the dark elf.

From the cloud of magical energy emerged Eskil in his true form, his scaled body in all its glory stepping out of the dense, swirling fog. Eskil chuckled, shook his enormous body and stretched his long, ebony wings. His heavy tail slammed down onto the ground and his ivory-fanged mouth opened wide with a spark of deadly flame at the back of his throat.

Libelle turned, twisted her hand into a fist and slammed it into Gaalin's chin. As the drow flew backwards, his grip released from her hair and she dropped flat to the ground. Seconds later, Eskil's fiery breath spread heat across her back as it blazed towards and completely consumed Gaalin. He screamed in sheer panic and agony as he collapsed into the mud and rolled frantically from side to side.

Eskil moved closer, each step sending another quake through the earth. He carefully stepped over Libelle and shielded her from the rain with his wing. He growled again while looking down at the drow; his flesh was burned and his muscle was exposed, but his body had escaped further charring as the flames had been extinguished by the puddles around him.

Eskil's jaw opened again, this time snapping down onto Gaalin's legs as he lifted the screaming man into the air. His fangs pierced the dark elf's flesh as he wailed and grabbed at Eskil's nostrils. He paused, making eye contact with the petrified grey-skinned bastard.

"Die."

Eskil snarled, clamped his teeth together and vigorously shook his head. The metallic taste of the servant's blood hit his tongue, and he threw the separated torso into the tree line while spitting the legs elsewhere. The bastard's soul would forever be tortured in oblivion; he would see to that.