The Lethal Air (Royals of the Realm Series #2)

Chapter 3

"May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house." - George Carlin

Air Kingdom
White Castle
The King's Chamber

Artemis' POV

I woke up once again to the familiar pull I felt every single night since the day I got here. It's strong during midnight, but barely there at day. It's like an ancient magic calling me towards it, to find it while everyone's asleep. I've been ignoring it for the whole week, I don't want to discover things I wasn't supposed to.

But damn my curiosity.

I removed Heaven's arms wrapped around my waist gently, trying not to wake him up nor disturb him. He tried to reach for me again but I immediately put a pillow in my place instead. He's fast asleep so I bet he didn't notice. I slowly walked out of the room, closing the door ever so lightly. I breathed deeply, closing my eyes as I chastised myself in my mind for engaging in this dangerous adventure I am about to begin. I hope no one finds out.

My eyesight opened to the magical plane and I found the remains of a blue aura connecting to my own. My heart rate escalated when I felt its power, almost as strong as mine and made with the same fragments. The need to find it grew inside me so I started following the path that the remains of the aura made. It led me to the west wing, the opposite of Heaven's chamber. Thankfully no one saw me coming here. It looks like this part of the castle is secluded but the magic only grew as I got closer to the entrance of the tower.

"What do you want from me?" I wondered aloud as I felt the magic trying to convince me to enter the tower. I released myself from the magical plane and saw the state of the west wing. It looked abandoned, and looking up at the spiral staircase made me rethink my decision of ever coming here. It's too dark and one wrong step I'll end up back to the start, only with broken bones.

Surely there must be a reason why it's here. It can be deadly. It can hurt me.

I stepped back, about to turn away when the magic cried out to me again, stronger this time.

'Sister...'

I gasped when I heard it calling me. It seemed familiar, as if we're one. I looked back at the staircase and made my decision right away. There's no harm in trying.

Or so I thought.

The moment I first stepped on the spiral staircase and extended my arms to search the pitch black darkness for support I was thrown back with great force. I screamed as I felt my body convulse from the electricity released by the ward. When it stopped I can barely move, my breathing was ragged and I can feel burning pain all over my body.

"Damn." I mumbled while breathing deeply. I crawled towards the nearest wall and sat with my back against it. I winced when I felt burns in my palms.

"Lady Artemis," a voice coming from the hallway startled me. There stood Heaven's general, General Colson. "What are you doing here? It's late, why are you outside your room?"

In my mind I panicked. I'm sure he'll tell Heaven right away. "I-I sleepwalked."

Really, Artemis? That's lame.

He does looked unconvinced, but he just shrugged. "You screamed, is something wrong?" Now, he look concerned.

"That was a scream out of frustration. I got lost." I smiled sheepishly at him as he chuckled.

"Follow me, then. Heaven's gonna kill all of us if he finds out you're gone without your guards. You know that man, he's got a bad temper."

I nodded my agreement as I stood shakily on both legs, thankfully because of the darkness he didn't notice and he led the way immediately as I tried to keep up. When we reached the door to Heaven and I's room in the chamber he motioned to open the door for me but I stopped him.

"I need to get something in my spell room first, I don't want to be a nuisance so you can go now. Thank you, I'll be fine here." I smiled gratefully at him as he nodded in return.

"Alert us if you need something. Good night." He smiled before walking away back to where we came from. When he was out of my sight I cursed repeatedly at the pain I'm feeling. My eyes watered seeing the blisters in my palms so I quickly went inside my spell room and applied some of the ointment given by the doctor last time. I hissed at the burning pain once again.

Lesson learned: I'll never go in the west wing again.

My healing potions were distributed to the pack houses before I even got here so I'll take this for now. If I am going to make one, it will take hours. For sure Heaven's already awake by that time and he's going to interrogate me non-stop. Unlike other creatures here in the Immortal Realm, we witches are close to being human so we heal at human pace - we eat, sleep, and drink the way humans needed it. Except we have magic and live forever young... unless killed of course.

I'll have to make ready potions tomorrow. Who knows what will happen to me again?

Besides, just because I am here doesn't mean I'll stop supplying the Werewolf Kingdom. They're family, and I'll gladly help them.

I stretched out my arms and saw bruises and abrasions from the way I was thrown. I sighed and rolled my eyes, I'll need magic to cover these.

I stood and jerked my arms, long sleeves immediately covered them. I took one cloth covering my scrying bowl and whisked it towards my legs, my knee-length dress reached my ankle in just a blink of an eye. I took care of the burns in my palms, bandaging both hands.

Perfect.

I yawned, tired and hurting. I left the room and went back to where Heaven is. He's still asleep. I slowly took the pillow out of his embrace and laid down, careful not to wake him. Once I'm lying comfortably I let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding. However, I froze when his arms wrapped tightly around me and pulled me close. My eyes widened when his face nuzzled my neck and his knuckles caressed my arm. I gasped from pain and surprise when he gripped my bandaged hand and growled in my ear.

"Where were you?" His voice was cold. Deadly.

Yay, I'm screwed.