Donovan leaned back in his chair. He and Leonardo were supposed to be uncovering whatever knowledge they could about Ultima, and thankfully, they were making so good progress with the theories they had gathered. However, his focus seed to be wavering between each interval.
His mind drifted elsewhere, and a strange, unsettling ache pressed against his chest— one he couldn’t shake.
Instinctively, his hand rose to rub the spot, as if that would ease the discomfort. Leonardo caught his brother’s movent and arched an eyebrow.
"Are you alright?"
Donovan’s brows drew together, and he gave a single nod. But his expression revealed a different story. Leonardo simply let out a sigh. He closed the book, reclining in the seat next to Donovan.
"You don’t look fine to ," he murmured. "Your mind is sowhere else entirely. You’ve been like that for the past few minutes, which is sudden. Tell , what’s wrong?"
Knowing Leonardo wouldn’t stop pestering him till he said sothing, Donovan exhaled softly, shaking his head. "It’s nothing. I just feel... restless. I’m not sure I understand why, but I can’t seem to shake it off either. It’s ssing with my head."
"Of course your head is not in the right place," Leonardo responded. "Your Es isn’t here. It’s natural to feel that way when your mate is away. Irwin always gets overwheld when his wife isn’t with him too. It’s just a sign that you miss her."
Drumming his fingers against the table, Donovan couldn’t help but admit. "But... What if sothing terrible is already happening? Maybe I should have gone with her to see Lennox. The distance already makes it difficult to use telepathy."
Leonardo shook his head and stood, striding toward one of the library shelves. He retrieved a folded scroll and returned it to Donovan, unfurling it to reveal the strategies and maps they had worked on with Lothario, Acheron and Althea.
"Look at these beautifully crafted plans," Leonardo said. "These plans wouldn’t exist if you had gone with her today. It’s normal to worry, I’m actually worried too. But we need to trust Es to handle this on her own because there will be tis we can’t always be present to aid her. If anything, this is her chance to step out of her shadow and embrace what’s ahead without relying on others. Let her grow into her strength. Your role is to support her— and to make sure everything is in place for when she returns."
After listening to Leonardo, Donovan didn’t say anything, but he didn’t disagree with his brother’s words either. He knew his brother was right, and he also wanted what was best for Es. Es chose to do this alone, and he would let her. At the sa ti, he also hoped she knew when to call on him if need be.
"Perhaps you’re just stressed from today’s work," Leonardo added, patting him on the shoulder. "You’ve been awfully busy since Es left— keeping yourself occupied."
Donovan narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Leonardo. "Have you been tracking my movents?"
"Of course," Leonardo responded. "I’m practically your second Kangee. Soone has to look out for you too. By the way, any luck on finding that mysterious girl you said you keep seeing? Is she a ghost?"
-_-_-♡-_-_-
anwhile, back at the inn, Es’s face paled drastically when the figure introduced himself.
"You–"
"?" He interjected smoothly, turning to face her. "You know... I never actually intended to reveal myself tonight. But after realizing my suspicions about you were right all along, I couldn’t resist. It was only a matter of ti before I claid what’s rightfully mine. So, here I am."
"The true bearer?" The warriors surrounding Es exchanged uneasy glances and whispers. Their fear soon spiraled into anger as they rembered all they had to face because of him, whilst their grip on their weapons tightened. At last, they stood face-to-face with the man who had condemned them to hell.
"It was you! You’re the one who cursed us all!" One of the warrior’s spat in fury, his voice trembling with pure rage. "You dood us all to a life of suffering! What did we ever do to you??? For so many years, we’ve been hunted, branded as monsters, accused of cris we never committed. Because of what you have done, we were forced into hiding just so we could survive. We had to find a way to rid ourselves of your control. We are not afraid of you! Tell us how to break your curse! Tell us now!"
He pointed his weapon at Ultima, and everyone else did the sa. Silence ensued for a mont before Ultima finally humd, tilting his head in amusent.
"You sound upset," he let the words hang in the air, savoring their anger. "And yet, I see no reason to grant you such an answer. Is your existence truly worth any of it? Prove it, then." He gestured, his voice a taunting whisper. "Co and take your answers from — if you can."
This bastard!
Es seethed where she stood. She knew a trap when she saw one, and this one was pretty much obvious. There was no way he’d hand over the truth so easily.
Yet, in their desperation, so of the warriors chose to lunge forward without processing the situation first.
"Wait, don’t!" Es began, but Atticus had already shifted to his human form, hoisting Es over his shoulders without hesitation and using the charged warriors as an escape route to get out of here.
"Forgive , but we have to go."
"He’ll kill them all! Hold on– don’t fight him!" Es cried out, but the warriors charged anyway, their cries of war rising as they raised their weapons, so shifting mid-air, teeth bared, claws in the ready as they were more desperate to put an end to their suffering once and for all.
However, that did not happen.
Es watched in horror as Ultima’s fingers wove thin black threads– all similar to the one’s Donovan wielded, but far deadlier. The threads sliced through flesh and bone with terrifying ease, severing bodies in half and sending blood spraying in all directions.
Atticus didn’t stop until they reached the carriage that had been secretly kept aside. He set Es inside before taking the reins, while Orion and the rest who had made it back quickly devised a plan to hold off the true bearer in case he ca after them.
The sight of those warriors dying just like that had Es frozen in shock. She didn’t even move when Atticus set her down in the carriage, and the look on their faces as they were rcilessly slaughtered were engraved in Es’s mind.
She only regained herself after she spotted Revana lying unconscious in the carriage beside her, and guilt imdiately surfaced.
Those people, the warriors, they’re all dead, and Revana wasn’t spared either since she suffered a fatal blow.
Es imdiately drove back a tear. This was not the ti to break down. She knew they had no choice at the mont, but if she hesitated now, none of them would make it out alive.
She couldn’t make sense of Ultima’s words. Aside from the fact that he stole her healing abilities, how did he know about her family’s secret? A blood wolf resided inside her. Regardless of the fact that she barely knew what type of wolf it was, the fact that the true bearer was after it made it clear that no matter what cos, she shouldn’t let him have it.
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