Chapter 107: The Hidden Prophecy
Melissa’s POV
With my hand still on Kane’s throat, I stood motionless. “Because I love you” were his words, and they reverberated in my head like a sword piercing the night.
I had no idea why my chest hurt. I had no idea why my fingers were shaking.
I was expected to be powerful. Unbreakable.
The battlefield was blasted by a chilly breeze.
An odd light appeared in the distance, approaching me like a shadowing ghost as the sky grew darker.
As though time itself had bowed to the presence of the approaching person, the battle around us appeared to slow.
Out of the fog came a man with a hood, his long cloak trailing the ground. His voice made me shudder, but his face was hidden.
“Melissa,” he said, his voice deep and sage. “You’re on the wrong track.”
I squinted. “Who are you?”
A little smile curved his lips. “I am the one who has witnessed your actual fate.”
Something shifted within me, an uneasiness I couldn’t identify.
The environment around me abruptly changed when the stranger held up a hand.
A woman with my face, flashes of old ruins, a conflict much bigger than this one-
My cranium was pierced by a sharp ache that made my knees buckle.
Kane’s tone was aloof. Melissa? What’s the matter?
The man with the hood moved in closer. “Child, you were never supposed to be in charge. You have no authority over the darkness you contain. It is a hardship for you.
I tried to force the images out of my head by clenching my hands. “You’re telling lies.”
His tone grew softer. “So why are you hesitant?”
I was unable to respond.
Since accepting the darkness for the first time-
I wasn’t certain that I had made the correct decision.
Through a pool of murky water, Darius sat on his throne far away, deep in the palace’s shadows, viewing the battlefield.
When he noticed the hesitancy in my eyes and how I faltered beneath the hooded man’s comments, his jaw tightened.
He pressed his fingers into the throne’s arms. “No… No, this isn’t possible.”
I was tied to the dark by him. I had become his queen because of him.
And yet
I was hesitating.
Darius’s eyes were blazing with rage.
“I own her,” he snarled. “She is a part of the dark.”
Around him, the shadows writhed, disturbed and restless.
He gathered his strength and tightened his fist.
“If she doesn’t rule with me…” His voice sounded eerily silent. “She will then die.”
Whispering their accord, the shadows whirled fiercely.
I wouldn’t leave Darius.
Even if it meant ruining me.
The hooded man spoke again as I was struggling to breathe and understand the visions.
He whispered, “You were never meant to rule.”
What he said next chilled me to the soul.
“You want to destroy Darius.”
My heart stopped beating.
Around me, the blackness trembled.
And I realised for the first time.
All along, I had been fighting for the wrong side.
The cloaked man’s remarks made my body tremble, and my breath came in short gasps.
Destroy Darius?
It was illogical. I had power because of him. He had revealed to me the truth about my destiny.
Had he not?
The surrounding air glistened, and then, all of a sudden, I was in a new location, not on the battlefield.
In front of me was an antique temple that was aglow with golden symbols. There were thousands of sparkling stars in the dark, limitless sky overhead.
A woman with long silver hair flowing down her back stood in the middle of the temple. My breath hitched when she turned to look at me.
My face was on her.
However, there was light, not gloom, in her eyes.
“Who are you?” I muttered.
The woman gave a gentle smile. Melissa, I am you. The real you.
I gave a headshake. “No, that isn’t feasible.”
Warm and familiar, she took a step closer. “A lie has imprisoned you. Your goal was warped by Darius. You weren’t supposed to work for him.
Again, a searing agony pierced my skull, and my mind was filled with additional visions-
Long ago, in a war, I stood between light and darkness with a power that no king could match.
Darius was also present. However, he was my enemy rather than my master.
The understanding hit me like a tidal wave, and I gasped.
My past had been wiped by Darius. I had been duped into thinking that my abilities were his.
My self, the woman, came out and caressed my forehead. “Remember, Melissa. Remind yourself of your true self.
The temple grew dimmer.
The battleground reappeared.
With my heart pounding, I staggered back.
In front of me, Kane watched anxiously. With a knowing expression, the hooded figure remained motionless.
And I sensed it in the distance-
Darius’s fury.
I had seen the truth, and he knew it.
He would also come to get me.
The shadows grew thicker, swirling in the air like smoke, and the ground trembled beneath me.
Darius’s angry voice echoed across the battlefield. “Elissa!”
His form appeared out of the shadows, and I turned slowly, my heart pounding. Betrayal flared in his fiery eyes.
“You dare ask me a question?” His presence was oppressive, and his speech was like poison.
With a tight physique, Kane took a step toward me. “We have to go, Melissa. Right now.
However, I was immobile.
I felt the chains that Darius had so securely wrapped around me, the ones that encircled my soul, as soon as his eyes met mine.
He grinned. “I own you.”
His strength surged forward, encircling me like searing cords, and I felt a stinging agony in my chest.
I fell to my knees in shock.
“No,” I muttered, holding onto the floor. “I don’t.”
Darius’s sneer faltered. “What?”
I compelled myself to gaze up, seeing more clearly than before.
Now I knew the truth.
Beside him, I was never supposed to govern.
I was supposed to kill him.
Despite the pain, I responded, “You lied to me,” in a firm voice. “You took away my memories.” I thought I was yours because of you.
Danger flashed in Darius’s eyes. “I own you!”
His might smashed down like a hurricane, threatening to smother me as the sky above rumbled.
However, I refused to give in.
Because something changed deep within me.
Awoken by something.
My breast burst into a brilliant glow that blazed into the night. The ache subsided. The chains broke.
Darius’s face contorted in surprise as he stumbled back.
His eyes widened as he exhaled, “No.” “That isn’t feasible.”
I stood up, power pulsing through my entire body.
I was free for the first time in my life.
Darius’s face became stern. “If you refuse to support me…”
Behind him, the shadows deepened and twisted into hideous shapes.
“Then you’ll pass away.”
When Darius used all his strength, the battlefield burst with evil energy.
I then moved forward to greet him.