The White Snake and the Scarred Delta

Chapter 14

"Let's make this clear. I did not save you⸺"

I was cut off midsentence when Dušan and Zorica suddenly embraced me. My breath was caught, something that made me confused.

"Thank you, Snake Goddess!" Dušan exclaimed.

Zorica looked up at me with shining and adoring eyes. I just realized she does not speak at all. My eyes grew tender as I gazed at her. I slowly lifted a hand and lightly touched her head, smiling at her a little.

The prisoners knelt in front of me, bowing their heads. "We're in your debt, Snake Goddess!" they said in unison.

I stared at them, speechless.

"Let me introduce myself, Snake Goddess. I am Radomir." He had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and an oblong face. "We don't belong to Ultima Vasile's pack," one of them said. "In fact, we are from different packs under Ultima Danijel. We were just imprisoned by him to make us his hostages against our beloved ones, to make them do things for him."

"Why does he have to do that if you belong to the same pack?" I asked in confusion. "Isn't it a given that you're under his command and that you are to obey it?"

"Yes, we all are, but our beloved ones are not," said the second of the seven.

I invaded his thoughts, learning that his name was Budimir. He was Serbian like Radomir, who knew how to speak Romanian. I pored over his memories. Now, I understood. They fell in the same category as Dušan and her sister Zorica.

"So, you're saying that you all have a mate that can summon magic and Ultima Danijel is using them to defeat his enemies?" I slowly concluded, blinking thoughtfully.

"Yes, Snake Goddess," they answered in a chorus.

My brows knitted. "If that is the case, then... how come he has not won every battle yet?" I thought aloud.

They looked at each other. None could answer me.

"I think it's either they perished or... they are hidden somewhere else," Dušan chimed in.

I stared at her for a moment or two. "Perished?"

"My beloved was a water fairy, and... Ultima Danijel caused her death." The third shifter, Tomislav, choked. "I wanted to avenge her, but I could not do anything. I have been kept in prison for over two years now. Thanks to you, Snake Goddess. I may be able to do that in the near future." There was determination in his dark green eyes. I could see in his memories that he saw his beloved kill herself instead of doing what Ultima Danijel wanted. But instead of killing Tomislav, he was held captive in the dungeon with the others.

My heart went out to him. I had no idea if it was from the newly gained powers that I felt something like this for shifters that were not my kind, or it was merely because of this whole different dimension I was in altogether. Or Garridan had something to do with this?

I mentally shook my head. How could he have anything to do with this? I must be mad.

"Snake Goddess..." the fourth one, Omiljen, with ash-blond hair, muscular, and kind face, spoke. He had an air fae as a mate.

My eyes were dragged towards him. "Call me Tezy. It's weird when you call me that. I'm not in my realm with my worshippers."

They all looked at me with curiosity, but none asked, waiting for me to share more.

"We won't dare call you by your name, Snake Goddess!" they said again in unison, bowing their heads.

My lips parted. "I said, it's awkward. I'm not⸺"

"But⸺" They started to protest.

I held up my hands, saying, "Fine! What's the use of debating with you anyway? Now, what I'm trying to say is that you are free. You're not in a dark dungeon anymore. I can only advise you all to live in peace, not to go to different battles because of some territory. Is it not better to live without shedding blood? Is it not far better to just live without hate and be with your loved ones?" I winced at the last phrase I blurted out.

"Loved ones? Ultima Danijel took them away from us, so how can we live without hate?"

I gazed at Oblak, the fifth of the seven. He was tanned, fierce-looking, and so tall. From his memories I prodded, his mate was a beautiful, slender forest fae. He fought alongside her in a battle, but she died saving him. He then wanted to avenge her, by attempting to poison Ultima Danijel, believing that it was a trap to kill her kind.

Of course, there was a root to his hatred. Not only he, but all the others whose eyes were on me.

I looked at them one by one in return. The darkness was still around us. The rain had stopped, and the moon was still covered by a thick cloud⸺I learned it was the name of the floating thing in the sky, just as Smaranda told me.

"Your hatred pushes you to take revenge, yes. But that's never an answer. It will become a vicious cycle of hate and revenge. I'm sorry, I may sound cold-blooded and have no empathy, but I don't think it's right. What's done is done. What's in the past stays in the past. You can never change it, even if you avenge your loved ones tomorrow, the next day, or whenever in the future. What's better is for you to move on and to find another reason to live, but not any negativity."