Chapter 113: The Emergence of a New Threat
Melissa’s POV
Like a second skin, darkness clung to me.
Something had changed, but I was still stuck in the emptiness. There was an uncanny silence where the whispers had stopped. I waited and listened while floating in emptiness.
Then the silence was broken by a voice.
“He is not dead.”
I gasped.
Darius.
He had been killed by me. I sensed his death. How, then?
Soft and menacing, the voice slithered around me.
“Death is only the beginning for those who embrace the abyss.”
I balled my fists up. “Who are you?”
The darkness pulsed, shifting like a living thing.
“I am the one who watched. The one who waited. And now, the one who claims.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Before I could speak, the void cracked-ripped apart-and I fell.
I landed with a gasp.
The stone floor beneath me was cold, smooth. I pushed myself up and found myself back in the ancient hall, surrounded by the spirits of past rulers.
Their gazes bore into me, unreadable, expectant.
The woman with silver hair stepped forward. “You have seen the darkness, Melissa. You now stand at a crossroads.”
I took a deep breath. “What do you mean?”
The spirits formed a circle around me, their voices a chorus that hummed with power.
“You are more than a queen. More than a wolf. You are the key.”
The word sent a strange shiver through me.
The silver-haired woman’s eyes clouded. “You have a choice. Return as you were… or take the power we give and become something far better.”
I tensed. “What kind of power?”
Another spirit stepped up, an ancient king with battle scars across his face. “Power to command the very fabric of life and death.”
The space surged with energy, old and seductive.
“You would never be weak again,” the silver-haired woman whispered. “No one would dare take anything from you ever again.”
My breath came fast. The words seeped into my mind, tempting, dangerous.
But something inside me hesitated.
I had tried so hard to keep my soul, to stay loyal to myself.
If I took this power… would I still be me?
I raised my chin. “And what would this power cost?”
The ghosts ceased talking.
The woman with the silver hair then spoke.
“Your humanity.”
The atmosphere changed.
The walls shook. The ghosts looked at each other suspiciously.
Then there was a low, deep laugh.
A silhouette emerged from the darkness.
Tall. Cloaked. Face hiding beneath a hood.
However, I sensed them.
Dark. Not true. Powerful.
The energy crackled like a storm as the spirits stiffened.
The woman with silver hair spoke sharply. “You do not belong here.”
The figure with the hood laughed. “And yet, here I am.”
I stepped back. “Who are you?”
The figure’s head was raised just enough to show a little portion of its face, with lips curved into a sneer.
“Someone who has been waiting for Darius to fall.”
A chilly weight settled in my chest. “You… you wanted him dead?”
A slow nod. “Oh, I did. But not so you could replace him.
From under the cloak slithered dark tendrils of power.
“I waited for the throne to be empty.”
The voices of the ghosts rose like a shield around me as they started to chant.
The person scoffed. “Pitiful. You cling to shaky beliefs and outdated customs. However, they pointed to me and said, “She could be more.”
I balled my fists up. “I don’t want power for power’s sake.”
The figure laughed. “Then why are you still here?”
Light pulsated from the forms of the ghosts as their chanting became louder.
The sneer on the hooded figure’s face dimmed. “Excellent. Your decision has been made.
The darkness sprang at me.
I felt a burst of pain.
My veins are being torn apart by a raging fire.
I let out a yell.
All around me, the voices of the spirits blended into one.
“Awaken.”
I was pushed back by something inside of me as the darkness tried to devour me.
My power rushed from my chest.
Hissing, the cloaked figure stumbled back. “Impossible!”
I kept hearing the voices of the spirits.
“Choose now, Melissa!”
My thoughts whirled, caught between two possible courses.
To remain the same or to change into something else.
I gritted my teeth and got to my feet. I felt stronger, different.
Then it occurred.
A force that I had never experienced before surged through me.
My vision became hazy. My heart pounded. My senses became more acute.
And when I opened my eyes at last…
The ghosts let out a gasp.
The guy with the hood froze.
Because my reflection is on the stone floor…
That my eyes were glowing unusually.
Something hazardous.
Not human.