Chapter 126: The Unavoidable Decision
Melissa’s POV
I heard a deep, resonant voice that filled my head like a single order and a thousand murmurs.
“Set me free.”
I dropped to my knees, clutching my head. Shadows stretched across the tunnel walls as the world around me grew darker. I was somewhere else now, not in the forest. Somewhere chilly. Ancient times, perhaps.
A colossal figure loomed before me, alternating between brightness and shadow. It was only whirling mist and glowing eyeballs, with no real form.
“You are my vessel, my heir.”
“No,” I shook my head and said. “This is not what I asked for. I never desired-”
“Wanting doesn’t matter. This is what you were meant to do.
My internal pressure increased. It pushed and demanded as it clawed at my chest. Silver light flickered across my fingertips, burning my palms. My strength. My curse.
“Kane is dying,” the voice said in a whisper.
My breath caught. I saw him, his golden eyes flickering shut, his body slack. He was hurting. He was getting lost.
No. I wouldn’t allow this to occur.
I begged, “Help me save him,”
“The price is high. Your soul… or his.”
The weight of the words crushed me. My heart pounded. I didn’t have a choice.
Or maybe… I did.
I gasped, jerking back to reality.
Kane lay in front of me, his body motionless, his breathing shallow. The veins along his neck and arms were blackened, the poison spreading faster than I’d thought.
“Kane!” I gripped his shoulders, shaking him. “Stay with me!”
He opened his mouth and let out a feeble breath. “Melissa…”
I choked and pressed my forehead to his. “I’m here,” I said. “I will not let you leave. I promise.”
His eyes fluttered. His body trembled.
I turned, my look locking onto the dark energy rushing through him. The infection. It was engulfing him, taking him away from me.
I had the power to stop it.
But if I let everything out… would I still be me?
A hand seized my wrist.
“Melissa…” Kane’s voice hardly raised above a murmur. “Don’t lose yourself… for me.”
My eyes were scorched by tears. This was him all the time. Even as his own life was coming to an end, he never stopped thinking about me.
Now I had to do something.
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. My inner power was hungry, restless, and waiting. It desired freedom.
I simply had to allow it.
A dark claw cut across Lydia’s arm, causing her to stumble backward and scream sharply. With his blade cutting through the twisted thing that sprang at them, Zephyr caught her in time.
“We’re becoming overburdened!” Lydia clutched her injured arm as she moaned.
Zephyr said an expletive. Too quickly, the sickness was spreading. The ground under them trembled as more of the shadowy monsters emerged from the damaged dirt, their burning red eyes focused upon their victims.
Zephyr gritted his teeth and said, “This isn’t normal.”
Lydia tightened her jaw. “No, it isn’t. It’s- She became aware, and her eyes grew wide. “It is awakening.”
Zephyr turned abruptly to her. “What?”
She gestured at the ruins in front of them. Unnatural energy glistened in the air around them, a power pulse pulsing through the earth.
Lydia exhaled, “The god that was sealed here.” “It is awakening.”
The forest was rocked by a thunderous roar, and all of a sudden the animals in the area began to move more quickly and powerfully, as though they were responding to a long-awaited summons.
Zephyr tightened his jaw. “We need to stop this before it’s too late.”
Lydia’s look was determined as she wiped the blood from her arm. “Then we fight.”
The two rushed forward, cutting through the deepening darkness, but deep down, Lydia knew-they were running out of time.
The voice inside me boomed louder, drowning out everything else.
“Release me, and I will save him.”
I looked at Kane below. His breathing was labored now, and his body shook furiously. Though his strength was almost gone, his fingers trembled as though they were reaching for me.
I would lose him forever if I didn’t take action right away.
My hands glowed brighter and brighter as they burned with energy. My inner power begged to be released, but would I still be Melissa when I did?
Insisting, “You cannot save him without me,” “Choose.”
I balled my fists up. I had to keep Kane. I wouldn’t.
I spread my hands apart.
My body erupted in a dazzling, relentless surge of light. As raw strength surged into the night, the wind howled and the ground split beneath me.
As the corruption within him burned away, Kane gasped and arched his body. His breathing slowed and the dark veins disappeared.
Then-something was different.
My own body shuddered, and I felt cold. The power continued to flow. It was expanding, contorting, and devouring.
I no longer had control.
Kane’s amber eyes widened and fixed themselves on me.
Melissa… What did you do?
With the world twisting around me, my vision became blurry.
Then, right before nightfall, I heard the whispering voice-
“Now, you are mine.”