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Chapter 38
Fear flashed through Liberius's gaze once again, the snide amusement falling away as Adranus slowly pulled away from me. "What was your goal in all of this?" He started softly, his voice a dark, somber drawl as those red eyes flashed against the darkness of the storm.
"You kidnapped my star. Tried to steal her soul, tried to kill her, and summoned me to this godforsaken pit. And for what?" His voice rose with every word, the fury in his eyes practically glowing as he stepped towards the thin creature before us. Liberius took drastic steps back.
"To trap me? To steal my power? Or hand me over to that insignificant prick who promised to return your position?" The god shook his head, his dark hair falling across that beautiful face as he let out one dark, snide, chuckle.
The demons that tramping through the clearing had all but vanished, or had been completely destroyed by the wolf-bornes. The storm was still rumbling overhead, but the lightening had finally faded. I didn't know what to do. Adranus didn't need my help, but I didn't want to run towards the trees. And I needed to find Eirik-
"I could live on this realm for thousands of years, and still have the power to destroy Arie at his best. What do you think I will do to you?"
I watched as the thin, traitorous man glanced around helplessly, searching for any demon that would come to his aid, but the few that were left scattered quickly into the dense trees. I wanted to squash the hope rising in my chest, but it was hard. All this mess was nearly over.
"L-Lord Adranus, let's talk about this... T-the girl isn't hurt, her soul is intact. No genuine harm was done-"
Adranus snarled, the sound vicious even though it passed from human lips. My stomach twisted at the ferocity of the noise. "You took my star. You are a fool if you did not see this coming." Those words were so simple, but spoken with such an intensity they made my stomach flip.
His star.
All sense of that earlier joy and composure had left the pathetic excuse of a man, and he began backing away from the god in absolute panic. "She's in love with King!" He shouted in a stutter, those yellow eyes wide in fright. "They have slept together! You mean nothing to her now!"
His exclamations shot straight through my heart, like a sharp dagger piercing skin. "That's not true!" I stammered as Adranus tensed, the muscles of his shoulders clenching with the pause. My breathing nearly stopped at the action.
I was in love with Eirik, but that didn't mean the life Adranus and I had once shared was not true. I had loved him more than anything once. I still did. I-I think. But the last thing I needed to worry about were the two directions my heart kept tearing in.
My words hung like a heavy cloud over our heads, and although the panic did not fade from Liberius's face, a smug glint danced in his eyes at Adranus's hesitation. Then immortal let out a slow, deep breath, and that smug glint in the seer's eyes disappeared.
"Emerense is mine." He spoke low against the fading thunder, but every word was as crystal clear as the waters of the Lower Kingdom. "She will always be mine."
Then he was suddenly crouching to the hard, cold, ground, his red eyes glowing in the darkness as his hand curled into the damp earth. My brow pulled into a frown. What in the world was playing around in the dirt going to accomplish?
But the panic was growing in Liberius's eyes, and this time it was his breath that began escaping in hyperventilating pants. There are worse things than death. Adie's word rang throughout my mind as I watched the ground just a few lengths away began to shake.
My own eyes grew as wide as the moon as the earth beneath Adranus's touch moved and slowly turned a hard, corroded black as it crumbled in on itself. Like a sinking sand pit with no foreseeable end.
Oh my heavens.
A long, jagged crack rippled through the ground underneath his hand, and broke along the earth's edge until it reached just beneath the seer's feet. Liberius was in near hysterics, his feet tripping against those long robes as he rushed to get away from the breaking ground, but it was no use.
"You should have foreseen this coming." Adranus's voice sounded around the entire clearing, the dark growl reverberating among the treetops like the eternal being he was. I watched him in awe, watched the power ripple from his hand, watched the way those red eyes darkened like the night sky. It was a beautiful, terrifying sight.
The jagged break in the earth continued to grow and drop fall away until a hole appeared just beside him. A black, endless pit that seemed to suck all air and life into it depths. I stood safely behind Adranus, away from the sucking winds of the void, but that didn't ease the fear shooting through me.
"A-Adranus..." My voice was nearly unnoticeable in the ripping wind of the void as he stood slowly back to his bare feet, but the small tilt of his head let me know he had heard. "What-" I didn't know what to say- or do. Did I try to stop this and save the seer's life when he would have so easily taken mine? Or let Adranus's power eat him whole?
"His time on this plane is over. Do not look if it upsets you." His voice was in my ear, in my mind, as if he were just beside me, bending down so I could listen- though he stood lengths away. It honestly did not surprise me. But he did not turn, or even cast a glance in my direction, and his words had been so cold. But I... I couldn't worry about that now.
Liberius let out an earthshattering scream, that whirlwind of chaos pulling at his robes as he lunged away from the void. I was shocked, stunned into a frozen state at the easiness Adranus seemed to radiate watching a man slowly be dragged into a lifeless, soul-sucking pit.
"Do not worry." The God of the Night growled, those red eyes nearly smug as he watched the seer grip helplessly at thin blades of grass. "Arie will be joining you soon enough."
"Adranus please-" Liberius begged, his eyes so wide they looked close to falling from his skull. But it was too late, that sucking wind had wrapped around his legs tightly and pulled him effortlessly into its dark depths. His ear piercing screams drowned out the sounds of the wind.
Oh, my, Gods...
I was nowhere near the voice, but I still stumbled away as the man I had come to fear over all others disappeared. He just- He just disappeared... Adranus stood tall, proud even, right at the edge of the abyss, his red eyes gleaming mercilessly as he gazed down into its depths. The wind never even touched him.
We both stood silently for a few long moments, watching that endless, earth-shattering void slowly disappear back into solid ground. The earth seemed to reappear and mend itself, that awful corroded black color disappearing back into brown dirt and green grass.
My eyes were wide in terror, Adranus's narrowed in appeasement. The Underworld. He had conjured a portal to the Underworld. I-I remember watching him bring it before, but never so close.
He stood there for a long, silent moment after the void disappeared, the tension in his muscles slowly easing as he let out a hard sigh. "I never fucking liked that guy." I heard that dark voice snarl as he rolled his head against those thick shoulders.
I was still too stunned for words, just stood there in a gaping mess as he turned slowly to face me. Those red eyes were hard, and anger like no other shining against the darkness of the night. Even as he began to walk towards me, and that anger slowly ebbed away, there was no pleasing light shining from his gaze.
He was, also, still one-hundred percent naked, and despite the shock my body seemed to be in, I was still able to blush every time my eyes dropped below his waist. He walked slowly towards me, that hard jaw set in stone as his eyes glanced carefully along my body, as if he were approaching a frightened deer. I probably looked like one.
My dress was a torn and shredded mess, my hair as disheveled as the over grown grass beneath our feet, and my eyes were wider than the ocean's reach. Definitely not how I wanted to appear for our reunion. I kept my eyes focused on his face, on that hard gaze and stony jaw. He didn't seem to soften at all the closer he drew.
He paused barely a foot away, his stature tall, proud, strong, as if there were not a shred of weakness in his being. Which was probably true, he was a god after all. "Are you alright?" The question, no matter the original concern in its intention, left his lips in an icy snap. It made that painful ache from before rear its ugly head.
Had I... Had I done something wrong? The memories I had of him were of such a loving, caring nature, but the Adranus before me, the one who left me in that cave and acted so coarse during the battle, seemed the exact opposite. Perhaps he truly had forgotten me.
I could only wrap my barely covered arms against my stomach and give him a small nod. Words did not seem to breech my lips. This was definitely not how I expected any form of reunion to be.
Then again, he did leave me before, he knew where I was ever since I found the stone, but did not come for me. And he was summoned to the clearing from my power, he did not have a choice in the matter. Maybe this was his choice. To be rid of me.
Then why say all those things to Liberius? Why call me his star and make a big deal about my being taken, or hurt? Why pretend to care if he did not? Why did it freaking matter? There were far more important things to worry about. Like Eirik and the other Generals. We had to find them, or I had to at least.
He let out a small growl, one that had my eyes and attention snapping back to him. "Uh, um, thank you." I finally stammered as those ruby red eyes of his glowed down at me impatiently. I wasn't sure if that was what he was waiting for, but if he needed a 'thanks' to lose that glare then so be it.
"I-I need to find Eirik and the others." My eyes flittered back out across the ruined clearing, blood and bodies scattered everywhere. My mind still felt a little foggy from witnessing that whole portal-void-thing, and if I stared at that unearthly beautiful face any longer I feared I would do something he would obviously be repulsed by.
Like hug him.
"I have to make sure they're okay-"
"Emrie." I hadn't realized I had started to turn and walk away from him until one of those large, gruff hands reached out and grip at my upper arm. I paused and blinked up at him, that fog in my mind barely clearing as the ruby against my chest seemed to warm, then fade again. What was wrong with that thing?
"I have to get you back to his castle, it is not safe here for you." His touch was warm, gentle even, but those eyes did not soften, and neither did that painful wrenching in my stomach.
We stood there for a solid, silent moment, neither of us looking away though the emotions in our gazes were very different. I could feel the crushing choke of mine. "Why do..." I started softly, then paused when nothing else left my lips. One perfectly dark eyebrow raised in question.
"Did I do something to make you hate me?" I was surprised when the question finally fell from my lips, and dropped my gaze to his large, bare chest so he couldn't see the mass of confusing, gut wrenching emotions there.
There was another silent pause, one long enough to make me wish I had never asked. If he truly did no longer want anything to do with me, it was cruel to ask him why. But I just- I just... I didn't understand the stinging in my eyes, or the tightness in my throat. I hated myself for wanting to cry. It was not the first time the person I thought I was meant to be with did not want me. I should have been used to it by now.
But then there was a warm, wet breath sighing heavily into the crook of my shoulder as massively large arms wrapped completely around my upper body. I nearly squeaked when he squished me to his bare chest, expertly keeping me away from that lower half of his.
"I could never hate you, little star. I have, and always will, love you more than anything."
My heart fluttered at his words, the fog in my head clearing some as he cocooned me against him. I could not move as he held me pinned tightly to his upper body, the warmth of his skin seeping into the cold expanse of mine.
My hands and arms were pinned between his chest and mine, so I could not embrace him back even if I tried, but I couldn't complain. This was a feeling I had only dreamt about, one that sent warmth throughout my whole being.
His arms squeezed around me tighter, then lifted me straight into the air as if I weighed nothing. "W-What are you doing?!" I stammered in surprise as he began carrying me towards the tree line.
"I told you it is not safe here. I am taking you as far to the castle as I can." The storm overhead seemed to ignite once again at his words, those dark clouds and rolling thunder sounding around the entire Mountain.
"But I have to find Eirik! He's here somewhere! And the others! They could be hurt!"
"They are fine. Now stop squirming." He snarled into my ear, though I ignored him and tried to push away from that impossibly large chest.
"What if he needs me!" I started in a panic, my breathing leaving in quickened pants as he began carrying me further and further into the trees- away from the clearing, and Eirik.
"The King is fine. I can feel them all. Stop making this harder on yourself." He growled into my ear, though I continued to struggle against his hold.
"I still need to find them. I need to find him-"
"Emerense." He suddenly growled, the sound so hard it shook through even the tallest tree. I fell limp in his hold, though that didn't ease my worry.
But then there was a flash of gold, and brown fur, flying past us, before another very naked man came barging through the trees. My eyes nearly bugged out of my skull.
"M-My lord." Terif panted out of breath as he fell to his knees before us and bent his large head to the ground. I kept my gaze anywhere but at his naked lower half.
"Terif!" I exclaimed in relief and tried to pull away from the overgrown buffoon again, though he only grunted and repositioned his hold on me. "You're alright!"
He glanced briefly up at me, his golden eyes bright with the power of his wolf before he turned his head back to the ground. "I've been looking for you everywhere, Lady Emrie." His breathing quickly returned to normal, though his voice remained as professional as ever.
"She has been with me-"
"I was so worried about you!" I nearly shouted over Adranus's low spoken words, my arms still pushing against his hard chest. "Is Aeyron okay? Are the others? Where's Eirik?"
Terif's gaze rose to blink slowly up at me, that bright light flickering between mine and the god who refused to set me down. Adranus grunted, those massive arms tightening further the harder I pushed against them. "Adie let me go." I grumbled and was very close to slapping at his shoulders until he did.
"Terif will find them. Stop fighting me." That dark rumble of his was more annoyed than anything, but I did not let that faze me as I twisted harder against him.
"No, I need to find him. I-I need him. I-I-" There were suddenly tears pricking my eyes, tears I didn't understand, but they clogged my throat and made speaking nearly impossible.
Adranus let out a long, disgruntled sigh, his large chest moving against mine with the sullen motion. "Do not cry." He practically growled as those large arms slowly lowered me to the cold, snowy ground.
"I-I'm sorry. I just... I just- It's just been a stressful day." I gave him a sheepish smile, water still clouding my eyes although I refused to let them fall. He was with me, the man, the god, who had haunted my dreams since I found that stone. And it made the power inside of me, my soul, beyond happy- but at the same time it was yearning for Eirik. I wanted to freaking scream.
Red eyes stared hard down at me, nearly glaring as strong arms gripped tightly at my upper arms. Terif stayed silent on the ground beside us, his head still bent to the earth. There was an intense moment of silence, one neither one of us seemed eager to break as his grip slowly eased and his thumbs began to rub soothing circles into the bare skin revealed through my tattered dress.
Then that hard, intense gaze softened before flickering back towards the dark, storm invested clearing. "It is truly not safe for you here, but I will find him if that eases you. Go back to the castle with Terif."
"But-"
"Do not argue you with me on this." His eyes shot back to mine, that softened look disappearing before he turned towards the kneeling General. "Take her back to the castle. I will find the King."
Terif stood slowly to his feet, his head still bowed to the ground as Adranus's eyes flickered back to mine. "Of course, my lord." The General slowly lifted his head to glance at us, those golden eyes soft for once as they flickered between us.
Adie's gruff hands were gentle as they still gripped my upper arms, those hard eyes disappearing into a far sadder gaze. It made my heart clench. That could not have a been a good look, and it made fear spark in my stomach.
"Why do I... Why do I feel like I am never going to see you again?" The words past my lips in a hoarse whisper, one that honestly hurt my throat. We had been kept apart for hundreds of years, and despite that he said he would always love me, he never came for me. And now he was sending me away.
A small, sad, smile pulled at his lips, at the lips that used to laugh and kiss me with such tenderness it would make my head spin. Those were all memories now, that Adranus was gone- that Emerense was gone. And what was left were two complete strangers.
"We will meet again. Trust me."
"I hate when you say that."
His chest suddenly vibrated with a low chuckle, one that shook through me as he leaned down to press a soft kiss against my forehead. I stood frozen, my heart aching as his large hand left my arm to press against the ruby still hidden beneath my tattered dress. I gasped at the sudden heat that surged through the stone, at the feeling of life that pulsed through it once again.
"I will always find you, my little Emrie."
-&-
So, Emrie saw a lot more male nudity in this chapter than she was expecting!
Hope you all enjoyed!