The Mirror (Completed)

FIFTEEN

"That is not true, I am not some murderer. I am here to find my father and return home," I refute, arguing with a goddess who could easily kill me. "Why not slice off my head already, make sure I never get the chance to murder a god?" I question, as if taunting the goddess as she takes a step back from me, taking in my appearance.

"Why would I end the game before it has even begun. I am sure you have heard of my reputation in the ring of gods, how I am feared most, how I love to play a game."

"I figured you liked to play games the second I heard of you," I reply, watching as the goddess flicks her wrist, golden mist circling her hand as her eyes glow gold."

"And you think yourself incapable of killing a god," Dregh points out. "I have feuds with gods and goddesses who have upset me for centuries. I know their weakness and their limits. I know what will happen to you when you find your father, how you will slay your first enemy before nightfall as you would do anything for family." Dregh flicks her wrist again, the golden mist in her hands forming the shapes of people, one holding a sword as they strike another down, the body turning into mist that falls to the ground we stand on. "You are part of a family whose loyalty was never underestimated. Stories of your bloodline still live on in Iduna, how one hunter took down an entire army just to find their sister, how one slayed a dragon to avenge their husband's death, and now, another child of Heka has emerged, to find her father lost in a world she will soon come to know as her duty to destroy."

"I have no need to destroy a world made of the unbelievable, for your world does nothing to my own. I wish to leave it as soon as possible. I will not become someone to be known for slaying gods and goddesses because that is impossible."

"And yet you thought that a world like Iduna was impossible," Dregh points out. "Soon enough, things will awaken within you, for Heka of the Nile did not just stone that helped give him a leverage to his hunt, but he stole the soul of a goddess, cutting it from her body before it could escape, allowing the soul to be consumed by his through a darker magic than any other, his bloodline carrying the soul of that goddess. That is the mark you bare upon your soul."

I find my heart races, the sound of drums banging in my head as a headache begins. "And what was this woman the goddess of?" I ask, looking back to Kyril and Duke Gravon who stand parallel to time.

Dregh smiles, opening up her palm as her flesh becomes crimson red on her hand, as if blood is covering her flesh. "The goddess of war."

The bubble surrounding us comes down, allowing for the King and Duke to become back into our conversation as I take in a shaky breath. "Soon enough, Kyril," Dregh begins, turning to her son, "you will not be protecting this female from Iduna, but you will find yourself under her as she takes your life from you."

Dregh goes up in flames, blue and white flames consuming her body as she fades away into the sky, the weather becoming a heavy rain as I am left alongside a King who thinks I am his soulmate and a Duke that fears me. They have been told I am to be feared, but Kyril does not believe that, not yet, not the way he looks at me like I am someone he has sworn to protect for all eternity. As the wind blows and the rain beings to soak my clothes, my head spins as thunder rolls in the distance. Dregh wants to play a game with me and she wants Kyril to be another piece of entertainment in it.

"She often says things to mess with your head," Kyril comments, as if trying to persuade himself that he does not believe what his mother has said. "We will return to the camp and head in the direction of Heka. Going to Dregh was just a waste of time and she took advantage of it," he includes, grabbing my arm, sparks flying through it as he holds me close, eyes staring into mine, the appearance of hopelessness shown in his eyes as they trace over every detail of my face. "She wants to pin me against my mate because her mate left her for a mortal back in the realm of humans." He holds me close, an arm wrapped around my waste as I want to push it away and run for the hills. Unlike him, I find myself accepting every word that Dregh told me, but that does not mean I believe every word that goddess spoke. I will not murderer. I will not taint my soul in crimson red. "We shall return you to the palace, to keep you safe from these darker places of Iduna." I shake my head.

"I am here to find Heka, to return home-

"Your home is here, with me!" Kyril shouts, the ground rumbling beneath my feet as my eyes widen and skin becomes pale. "Where my home is, so is yours."

"And if my home is with you, then I am to go with you on the hunt," I reply, taking his hand, squeezing it as I know what I must do to see my father. If Dregh was correct about my family being related to the line of a powerful family of hunters, then I am screwed. "I stand beside you." I know the words I must say, how to word my every phrase to make this male believe that I trust him and will be beside him as we find Heka. I may be insane, but I wish to return home, to see my mother, and to make my family once whole again, even if it means placing myself in terrible danger.

"You do?" Kyril asks, his free hand moving up to cup my face as my throat dries and become sore. He looks into my eyes with a sorrow matched with a sense of happiness or relief. He looks at me like how I would imagine my father to look at my mother when they are reunited after so many years of isolation from one another. He looks at me as if we have been in love for ages and have finally renewed the love we have for one another. "You will stand beside me?" He asks, coming in closer as his eyes begin to slowly shut, his lips only coming in closer.

"I will," I whisper, moving my lips closer to his as I know this is for my family, for my family to become whole once more. "Because we are mates," I add, giving Kyril false hope as we seal our conversation with a soft and short kiss, and as he holds me only closer, I find a darkness growing within my soul. A darkness uncontrollable and just waiting to be released.