Chapter 12 – Confession, Betrayal, and Sacrifice
From behind Marva, Enver stood—watching her silently all along.
"What happened?" Enver asked softly.
Marva flinched. "What are you doing here?" she snapped. "We have nothing left between us. Or did you come to bring another wound?"
"Why didn't you tell me you were Huria? Tell me."
Marva fell silent. Inside her, Huria's soul pounded wildly. Their eyes finally met.
"If I had confessed to being Huria, would you have believed me? When this body... is just a shell that should have rotted," Marva said, rolling up her sleeve. Her arm revealed a bone, brittle and nearly disintegrated by the wind.
Deugh.
"What is the meaning of this?" Enver asked, his gaze grave.
With a flat voice, Marva told him everything—how Roland had captured her, turned her into a ritual sacrifice for immortality. Her skin and flesh were peeled slowly by incantations, transmuted into potions to stave off death.
Enver clenched his jaw.
"You were the one who cut the string of our marriage. If I ever turn into a beast, only you are allowed to end me."
Deugh.
Regret struck Enver like a hammer. He embraced Marva tightly.
"Stop," Marva whispered. "I'm not Huria."
"I'm a man. Do you need me to prove it so you'll believe me?"
Enver let go of her immediately. "Help me. Hide me. When the final ritual comes, Roland will need me. Don't let that happen."
He brought her to his house. As they passed through the bamboo forest, crimson kuntilanak flew through the air.
"I couldn't enter this place yesterday," Marva murmured.
"Because this forest is a part of me. If I don't permit you, it will reject you."
"You could destroy those kuntilanak if you wanted."
"I... can't," Marva mumbled. Huria's powers would clash with the Watcher Pope's essence if she confessed—her soul might shatter.
Enver led her to a dark corridor. With a snap of his fingers, lights ignited. The place was filled with astral beings Enver had purified.
Their aura pressed against the Huria essence within Marva.
"It's natural. They feel threatened by your presence," Enver said, touching her shoulder.
Marva swallowed hard. As Enver walked past, the astral beings bowed in reverence.
"You've been waiting for me? I'm late—but don't expect an apology," he muttered. He let out blood, and the creatures drank from it.
"Huria, I know what you're planning."
Deugh.
Somewhere else, Huria—still imprisoned—felt the calling. Her chains shattered. She gasped. It was supposed to be impossible.
Unconsciously, Marva drank Enver's blood.
Meanwhile, Zephyr and Thadric were still fighting hordes of undead and fire-wielding elves.
"Mother is very sick… please, help Mother…" whispered a voice—only Zephyr could hear it.
Deugh.
"Thadric!" Zephyr screamed, blood streaking down his face.
Enver heard it too. He rushed out of the corridor, Marva following close behind.
"What's happening?"
He didn't answer. When they reached the bamboo forest, the crimson kuntilanak appeared—but vanished instantly. A mark appeared on Enver's palm.
"I have to go. Hide in the same place. Only you and I can enter."
With a spell, Enver arrived at Roland's Prufen gate. A sweet aroma filled the air.
"Why am I here?"
As Marva returned home, Roland and his followers blocked her path.
"I finally found you."
They formed a circle, chanting spells. The vibration matched the one used to trap Huria.
"You can't run. I need your power—regardless of what body you wear."
Roland lifted Marva's face and grinned.
"You crave my power but reject my body? You tortured me. You served my skin as your strength. Disgusting!"
Roland slapped her.
Unseen, Spank watched. Guilt surged in his heart. He had helped weaken the barrier around Enver's home.
Marva turned. The bamboo forest was withering. The kuntilanak now hung lifeless—only their heads and dresses remained.
Roland absorbed Huria's essence. The mantra's vibration: 852Hz—much stronger. Marva's body, frail and hollow, nearly crumbled into dust.
But the astral beings who had drunk Enver's blood appeared.
"If you want to survive, strengthen your heart," one of them said.
They disrupted the 852Hz vibration. Even Roland's Hellseer followers faltered.
Panicked, Roland summoned undead hordes. But the crimson kuntilanak came back to life. The scent of jasmine awakened them. They ravaged the corpses.
Marva realized: she could not leave Enver's home. Every time she tried, the kuntilanak chased her back.
"I won't surrender my power to you. I won't die a second time."
She had once been an ordinary human—until a crow-shaped astral being possessed her. Every time the crow screeched, her ears bled.
Roland arrived as a savior—but only to exploit her. He devoured purified souls, tortured them.
If their flesh wasn't tender enough, he detonated them. He fed them feces. Worse still: he resurrected their old enemies, just to torment them again—including the fathers of Enver and Zephyr.