Author's Note:
Bonus chapter for 13k views! Thank you all so much for your support. Enjoy the story and happy reading!
The sun was setting on the horizon, tinting the castle walls red. Ereon was carried inside, unconscious, while Isabela and Doros watched, from the other side, the soldiers disappearing into the dense fog. Everything went according to plan: after the retreat of the knights, no one should pursue them. The order was clear "return to the walls and seal the gates."
Thus, they said goodbye to the battlefield.
In the vast lands of the barony, what remained now was silence — and the omen of something much worse. Inside the forest that surrounded the territory, a new fight had begun. It was no longer a war between men, but a struggle for survival itself.
The screams began soon after, echoing among the trees like echoes of a nightmare. First distant, then closer and closer, incessant, reverberating throughout the woods.
None of the mercenaries or knights of the barony saw when the creature entered the fight. But they all heard it.
And for some… that sound was the last they heard in life.
The forest had fallen silent. No animal, no whisper, not even the sound of the wind dared to exist. Only the distant crackling of torches going out, one by one.
Between the twisted trunks, it appeared. The form was of a woman — but nothing in her resembled anything human.The body was ethereal, shaped by metallic shadows that moved like a living cloak, sometimes flowing like black liquid, sometimes flickering in golden reflections, as if chaos itself had been crowned.Elegant horns and golden ornaments rose from her head, symbols of profane royalty, a union between beauty and destruction.
The sun sank completely, swallowed by the fog that thickened over the forest. The trees seemed to bow under the weight of darkness, and the air became thick — too heavy to breathe.
The knights formed a circle, torches raising trembling flashes among the canopies. The sound of armor creaking mixed with the rustle of leaves. None of them spoke. None dared to move. Then came the first sound — low, guttural, like the roar of something that should not exist.
The captain raised his sword, the metal reflecting the torch flame."Hold the formation!" he shouted, but his voice was lost in the wind.
The ground trembled. The fog opened — and something cut through the air with a sharp hiss.
The first knight had no time to react. The body was lifted, the blood rose in a dark jet, and a shadow enveloped him. His eyes shone for an instant, as if blue flames burned inside — and then went out. The creature held him, gripping his throat, drinking the energy that escaped from the body like luminous vapor.
With each sip, it pulsed. It grew. Its skin shimmered with a dull, golden and black glow, absorbing the very light of the torches.
Another knight advanced, shouting, but it was useless. The creature turned in an inhuman way — the movement was fluid, violent, supernatural. The soldier's blade was intercepted in the air, and in a blink, he was thrown against a tree, the impact breaking the armor.
The body twisted on the ground, and she approached slowly, kneeling beside him. With her claws, she pierced the chest and pulled out something that was not flesh — a living glow, almost liquid. When she brought it to her mouth, the air around cracked, as if the world itself felt the draining of divine energy.
The flames of the torches flickered, dying one by one. The fog grew denser.
Screams began to overlap — pleas, prayers, sobs. But she did not stop. Each time a body fell, the creature grew taller, denser, the cloak of shadows around her spinning like living smoke. Her eyes — two inverted suns — burned with a cold and inhuman glow.
Some tried to flee. The forest swallowed them without sound. Others prayed. Their voices were sucked along with the air.
Two more knights tried to attack. She turned, and the air around them bent. The armors shattered without any touch. Their mouths opened in silent screams as the energy escaped from within, sucked directly into her body.
What remained were husks — empty bodies, without glow, without soul.
The woman of darkness raised her head, golden eyes pulsing with newly acquired power. Blood dripped from her lips, thick and dark, mixed with the light that still flickered between her teeth. For an instant, the entire forest seemed to bow around her. The trees groaned, leaning as if paying reverence.
"Finally…" she murmured, her voice echoing like a thousand overlapping voices, some sweet, others insane. "…the feast has begun."
She opened her arms. The cloak of darkness spread across the ground like a living tide. The fog responded. The shadows crawled, in search of more bodies, thirsty, insatiable.
The battlefield turned into an altar of silence.And the entire forest seemed aware that nothing else could survive before her.
Further west of the forest, the unconscious Viscount, still dominated by the blow he had suffered. Baron Acasto approached, silent steps, and faced one of the Viscount's Pillars. His voice, calm and cold, cut through the air:
"What happened?"
The Pillar raised his eyes to him, firm and unshaken.
"Stay quiet."
Acasto felt the weight of death hovering over every tree, every trunk. He stopped before the body of the Viscount, observing him as if measuring the extent of the ruin. His voice, low, filled with coldness and authority, sounded with almost surgical precision:
"We cannot continue like this. Our men are dying… and I will go."
In the distance, one of the knights screamed, desperate:
"Don't stop! Please, someone…"
Acasto did not move. A silence almost physical hung in the air, and even the wind seemed to hesitate before his presence.
"You know the risk you run," said the Pillar, firm, his voice low and threatening. "Can't you feel this dark and chaotic energy growing every moment?"
Acasto took a deep breath, absorbing the tension as if it weighed upon his shoulders. Each of his words carried authority, but also a shadow of sorrow:
"That's exactly why. I'll buy time until the Viscount awakens. Without him, our men run uncontrollably… and with him unconscious, the illusion doesn't work. And if it continues like this, even if he returns, we won't have enough strength to take the barony without tearing it down."
The Pillar paused, studying him with cold eyes, measuring the determination of that man.
"Then go. Opening the way again… but know this: it won't be easy."
Acasto raised his chin, his posture impeccable, and spoke with that cutting calm that allowed no questioning, but carried every decision as a burden:
"So be it."
The Pillar nodded, his shadow lengthening in the forest fog, and completed, with a touch of restrained respect:
"I wish you luck."
Acasto turned, slow and steady steps, but each one measured, as if the entire world depended on them. The wind howled among the trees, carrying distant screams, but he didn't hear them. He didn't need to. The responsibility and the weight of decision were carved in his gaze.
After his brief meeting with the Pillar, Acasto walked slowly along the trail of bodies, each stripped of life, resembling dry branches hanging on dead trees. The silence was absolute, except for the whisper of the wind among the broken trunks.
He stopped. An expression almost like a sketch of a smile formed on his face, cold and calculating. In front of him, the dark creature stood still, surrounded by bodies that formed a macabre circle.
Her golden eyes fixed on Acasto's red rubies. For an instant, time seemed to stagnate.
At supernatural speed, the creature advanced. But Acasto remained motionless, a statue of determination and authority. Calmly, he raised his right arm toward her and murmured, in a low voice, filled with power:
"Oros-Alecto: fly."
Before the creature could reach him, a brutal force, like an avalanche, threw her away. The impact echoed through the woods; one could hear the cracking of bones, the mist tearing in half.
For a brief moment, the moon, clear and silent, illuminated the forest. For the first time since the beginning of the war, the branches of the trees reflected its pale light before being swallowed again by the dense mist that returned to engulf the world in shadows.
The creature rolled across the ground, golden eyes flashing with fury and pain, while Acasto remained still, breathing slowly, measuring each movement as if the entire war depended on his precision.
The creature released a brief smile, golden eyes flashing with malice. Her voice echoed, full of mockery and theatricality:
"Really… I suppose it's not my lucky day. After sixteen centuries, and you still remain the same. First, I have to help the son of a liar who trapped me in the abyss… and now…" her laugh cut the air, crystalline and cruel "…I have to deal with someone who harbors the three Furies!"
While she spoke, she walked slowly toward Acasto, each step measured, full of confidence and provocation. The tone was sharp, full of sarcasm and dark amusement, as if each word were a blade sliding over skin.
"Alecto…" she continued, approaching, eyes shining "…will you really keep hunting me just because I killed some of my sisters? Look around you… the gods!"
Before she could finish, a burst of energy exploded from the ground toward her. She reacted with supernatural precision, moving faster than eyes could follow, and the blast tore through the air without hitting her.
Still laughing, she leaned slightly, her voice filled with ancient memory and provocation:
"Really… did you think I would fall for the same trick? Have you forgotten already? You hunted me for three hundred years… even knelt to Zeus to join the war…"
Acasto replied, each word laden with aristocratic coldness and implacable authority. Each syllable reverberated as if three contradictory voices mingled, creating an almost hypnotic effect:
"Limia… you remain the same."
The ground trembled beneath his feet with each word. The trees creaked, branches bending as if feeling the weight of his authority. He stood erect, unmoving, each gesture calculated, each breath contained.
The creature released another short, cutting laugh, gliding over the ground as if floating:
"Ah… so serious… so predictable… so boring!" she said, sarcasm tinting each syllable. "But it's fun, Alecto. It's… very fun."
The air between the two seemed to vibrate, charged with tension and power. Each movement, each word, was a silent warning: this war was not only physical. It was ancient, personal, and mortal.
"I'm sorry…" Limia continued, her voice seductive and mocking "…I'd love to face you, but I have to finish a little thing first."
Acasto felt something strange and turned instinctively. But she, moving with supernatural speed, was already behind him. Without any hesitation, she broke the Baron's neck with a precise movement.
With a cruel smile, the creature murmured:
"Sweet dreams, Furies."
Among the shadows and fog, she vanished completely, as if the darkness itself swallowed her.
And immediately, the screams began again — anguished, incessant, reverberating throughout the forest. The presence of the creature spread like a living wave of terror and chaos, permeating every tree, every branch, every breath of those who dared remain in that place.