Chapter 887: Live For
(Ch.888)
The barrier closed up faster than Xenon’s flas could reach. Faster than Jian could get to her.
She had been right in his grasp... after so long, he’d held her and was taking her away from a battle she should never have had to face alone in the first place.
But then, he felt her twitch, he sensed her pain through their bond. Muted as it had beco in the ti they’d spent apart, he still sensed the slightest flicker of it,
And he couldn’t do anything about it. Not fast enough.
Just then, she was gone.
Again.
And in one mont, before any of them could react, Neveah was locked away from them, by her own hands.
But Jian knew there was more to it. This man from her past... this bastard that deserved to be ripped limb from limb, she had decided to face him head on.
She was a woman who’d always stood alone. Always shouldered her past, and trusted in no one else but herself. She was a woman who’d known so much darkness, she didn’t know how to accept the light...
He’d vowed to be there for her. To protect her, to give all that he was until she truly counted on him.
But he’d failed. He had lost her trust. Her faith. Even now, her instincts didn’t recognize the safety he represented.
In her most primal rage, she fell back into a consciousness where there was just her against the world.
And neither he, nor Xenon existed.
And could he bla her?
He was always a step too late... always close but not quite close enough. Always reaching, but falling short.
Jian loathed this feeling. He loathed the dismay clawing through his heart and the apprehension for what was to co.
She didn’t have to do this alone. He didn’t want her to do this alone.
"Neveah!!!" Xenon roared, his voice echoing the sa terror that gripped Jian’s heart.
He shifted, landing on the edge of a parapet.
The golden barrier pulsed with life. Vibrant and impenetrable. Built to effectively keep everyone out, friend or foe.
Jian didn’t attempt to break it. He couldn’t. Not one of them dared. Whatever force was dealt to the barrier, the impact would be Neveah’s to bear.
He’d done her enough harm. He’d seen her get hurt enough. He wouldn’t be one of those who hurt her...not today, not ever.
"Veah!" Kaideon had shifted as well, landing right at the edge of the rooftop garden.
He took a step forward but the barrier pulsed brighter, sparks danced across its length. A warning.
She didn’t turn. She didn’t make any attempts to acknowledge any of them. Her attention was fixed entirely on the treacherous Wolf King.
Jian shifted, also perching on the parapet.
"You and I, this only ends when one or both of us is dead." Her voice bounced off the barrier, a deathly chill in her tone, frostier than ice.
The words sent a chill of terror down Jian’s spine. Triggering mories that had plagued his nightmares for years. mories of another ti... another life, where life had been fleeting, and fate had been cruel and unkind.
"Beloved, it’s already over." He tried to reason, "Let us through. You need to heal your wounds."
His words fell on deaf ears. His chest constricted.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Not again.
"Precious..." Kaideon’s tone was hoarse, devastated. "Drop the barrier. This isn’t the only way... it’s not!"
He didn’t doubt Neveah’s ability. He’d watched her take on foes seemingly greater than her, and in every occasion, she’d never faltered.
But this wasn’t just any man. This man... Alessio, he’d already killed her once. They’d been raised together, she learned the ways of battle in this very place. He was her nesis...
Jian’s eyes lingered on the bleeding wounds around her midriff.
She wasn’t healing. Not nearly fast enough. anwhile, Alessio was almost entirely healed.
Her magic was greatly weakened. He could barely sense Devirld. Without the advantage of magic, she was severely outmatched.
The fight about to happen would not be fair to Neveah on any count.
"Veah..." Alessio tilted his head to the side. "Dying together... wouldn’t be so bad."
His eyes t Jian’s, and his lips curled into a sinister grin.
The bastard!
Rage surged within Jian’s veins. His fists clenched at his sides, his murderous glare trained on the grinning Wolf King.
"If this is what you’ve chosen," Alessio continued, "It would be my utmost honour."
They were a few things Jian regretted in his long lifeti. But none as much as he regretted not setting this end of the world to flas when he had the chance.
He should have conquered these parts. Raided their palaces and eliminated their royal bloodlines.
He should have put a certain end to this the mont he recalled the past lifeti.
But he didn’t. And look where it had gotten him.
"Veah, beloved..." Jian tried again, "You can’t let him take you away from us! He’s baiting you!"
Again, his pleas fell on deaf ears. The battle below had quietened, and thousands of eyes now looked on.
"Well?" Alessio asked, his tone amused. "What is it going to be?"
Neveah didn’t respond. She didn’t wait. In one swift move, dagger gripped tight in her hands, she lunged.
But Alessio was faster. His hand shot up, catching her around the throat. The dagger clattered to the ground and her legs dangled as he lifted her off her feet.
She didn’t struggle. She didn’t claw at his hands. She just stared down at him, eyes dark and deadly.
Jian’s heart sank. The world around him faded to the background.
Xenon’s furious roars. Kaideon’s devastated pleas... the sun, the skies, everything ceased to exist.
He couldn’t watch this...he couldn’t watch her taken away from him once again.
A sharp ache blossod deep in his gut. It was all too familiar. A reminder of the fate he’d t a lifeti ago.
The fate that now faced him once again.
He wanted to live. With her... with his brothers, his kin.
He’d lived a long ti, but he’d only just truly begun to live. eting her, loving her... only now did life hold aning.
He’d never understood it. The value of life...why n feared to die.
Now, he knew.
He didn’t want to die, Jian realised.
If death ant they would be parted... this ti, he wanted to live.
"Beloved... I will die for you, with you. Willingly." Jian’s tone was barely above a whi sper, "But just this once, just this ti...can you... live for ?"
He wasn’t sure she heard him. He didn’t think she would.
Reviews
All reviews (0)