Chapter 2: MATE CURSE

I clutched my chest. I’m suddenly having a hard time breathing. What the hell is happening? I clutched—more like clawed my chest again when the pain of almost losing my breath starts to slowly consume me.

I want to scream but I held myself. I can’t—not here.

The pain strike again. It knocked me off my feet as it worsens every second. Whatever this is, I can’t let it win over me. I closed my eyes and channeled my powers in my palm but to my disbelief, I can’t even feel my essence nor any of my powers. I panicked.

No. This is not happen----

“Aaaccckk,” I fell completely on the ground and curl myself into a fetal position. The pain is strong… so strong it’s killing me.

I can’t help the tears that fell silently on my cheeks without warning. The pain I’m experiencing right now is like no other. I’ve fought in wars before and I had been wounded—deep wounds it reached the bone. I was bitten by vampires and other lycans, struck by sword in the heart, other rius used their elementus on me to knock my breath for a very long time, my sister even took a hold of my heart right through my chest and gripped it hard it almost killed me. It’s painful—everything I had experienced in the past. But they are nothing compared to this pain right now.

An unnamable pain—so dreadful all I wanted was to just die right away.

I clawed my chest again. I can feel my hands already wet with the blood coming out of the claw wounds on my skin but I didn’t stop. It’s so painful—so awful. I’m using pain—countering it to cure the pain, but it’s not working. Hurting myself is not helping.

Another strike of pain came again. This time, I did not stop myself from screaming. I let out a blood curdling scream and cried so loud all the creatures of the night and those in peaceful slumber disappeared to their holes in fright.

I’m getting exhausted but I fought myself from drifting to unconsciousness.

A loud pounding echoed somewhere but I was clouded by the pain I can’t even name where it’s coming from. There was a sudden loud crash as the door of my chamber went flying through the windows and the sound of another crash and glass breaking disturbed the silence of the night.

The next thing I know is the feeling of cold hands shaking me back to consciousness.

“Oh gods! Tari!” I can’t make up the owner of the female voice but I know deep inside that I know her. I just can’t think clear and straight.

As another hit of pain came rushing in, I screamed again and curled tightly in my fetal position. I can’t take it anymore. I’m slowly drowning to unconsciousness by the second. The pain is consuming my whole being. I can’t feel any of my powers—I can’t even feel my Lycan — where is she?

“S-Sir-r-ris…” I breathed shakily. But I got no response. ‘Siris…’ I called in our mind link but still, I got nothing. I panicked again as the thought of losing her surged through me.

The silence of the night was again disturbed by my shrill cry and scream. The pain is doubling, you add more my Lycan disappearing and it’s tripling by the second.

I don’t know why this is happening but I want it to stop. I’m tired—exhausted. I just wanted to die.

“Damn it, Mortensen! Stay with me, you bitchy lycan. Stay with me,” I felt the cold hands shaking me again but everything is just so blurry and I feel like I’m high.

“Tari! Oh gods! Nooo! Don’t give in, stay with me. You still have to help me deal with a lot of shit in this realm. I can’t lose you. Not now!

“Tari!” I can sense the panic and anxiousness of the person holding me right now but like I’ve said, I feel like I’m high. It’s what the unnamable awful pain does to you. It makes you feel light-headed as the pull to give in to the darkness grows more dominant. It also seems like the pain numbed my whole system and it suddenly sent me to cloud ninety-nine and all I’m feeling right now is flying—no, more like floating.

“Tari! Oh gods! What is wrong with you? Tari, wake the hell up! Damn it! Mortensen!

The female is still in frantic mode as she shakes me to dear life but I finally gave in and drifted into darkness.

------------------------------------

The next thing I know is waking up in a cold, freezing temperature covered room in all my naked glory. Creasing my forehead, I look around the empty room. What the hell?

I waved my hand weakly and clothed myself. I was more than shocked when I realized I can get a hold of my powers again. Closing my eyes, I channeled my essence on my palm and a grin rip on my lips.

I’m back with a burning passion. I can also see my Lycan at the back of my mind enjoying her peaceful slumber and I don’t have any intention of waking her up. She must’ve been so exhausted with all the things that happened last night. The pain—that awful pain that made her disappear—that pain that made me think of just wanting to die—I will never let myself experience that again. Never!

The door sprang open and a hot gash of wind hit me in the face. I suddenly felt my fire awakening from the unknown presence.

“Calm your flame down, you worthless thing. I can’t afford letting this chamber burn down to ashes. I already let it be covered in five layers of essential ice, fire can’t do no more. I might as well burn this whole castle to ashes instead or sink it to the deepest depths of the pacific if you burn this chamber again,” a person I’m so familiar with announced sarcastically.

I raised an eyebrow at Kamilla who stood by the door frame. She responded by rolling her eyes.

“How are you feeling?” she asked diverting my attention. She succeeded.

“I feel like coming back to life,” I answered, lifting my hand slowly forming a blue flame on my palm.

She rolled her eyes again. “Obviously, you did come back to life.” She stated and I shot my head at her.

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously, worry in my voice.

“You were out for ten days straight and----” she started.

“I’m what?” I exclaimed cutting her off. She narrowed her eyes at me and I gestured for her to continue.

But the heck? Ten days? That’s too long. Considering I was not out in war to be laid in bed for a long time and I have healing abilities and essence to prevent me from being bed-ridden for that matter. So what does that mean? That pain is such a pain in the ass.

“Like I said, you were out for ten days straight and I even have to sneak into Nyrie to ask that damn witch to come see you. So that makes you indebted to me---

“Wait! You sneak into Nyrie? You went back to Terra? How? How did you escape those Natare warriors?” I asked simultaneously cutting her off again. She narrowed her eyes again glaring at me this time. I sheepishly smiled and let her continue.

“As I was saying, you now owe me,” I rolled my eyes with her words. “But that’s a convo for next time. Now, I want you to tell me what happened before I’ll tell you what that witch said about you.

“Can’t you just say it straight away? I don’t want to think about that time again,” I sighed.

“No shit, your highness. We might not know what that witch has said was just all gibberish theories of some sort. I need you to say it before I’ll fill you in,” she insisted. I sighed nodding reluctantly. I have no choice.

I started telling her about what happened. I told her about the unexplainable, unnamable excruciating pain in my chest that almost knocked me off my breath that came out of nowhere. I told her about how it even dulled my powers and made my Lycan disappear. Even the moment I can’t get a hold of my essence and how my senses were clouded as all sounds and my vision became a blur.

I even added the person that I remembered coming inside my chambers that night but I can’t make myself to tell who it is. It’s just that deep down inside, I know. I know her. I know her voice. But I can’t recognize her. I can’t tell myself to look at her face some more to know who the person is. I told her how I felt like I was so high all of a sudden… like I was floating on cloud ninety-nine. Everything seems to be flying and drifting upwards. Everything is unnamable and hard to explain.

“Then I was consumed by darkness. And the next thing I knew, I was laying in a freezing room. Why am I in a freezing room anyway?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

“Because that’s what you need to come back…” she answered and I raised an eyebrow at her. She sighed and stared straight into my eyes. “The witch said you were consumed by flame—I assumed it was your fire elementus but she said it’s not that. She said it was related to a destiny of yours…” she trailed and I raised my eyebrows even higher if that’s even possible.

She sighed again before looking somewhere else. And when she said it, I regretted that I have urged her to continue. Because what she said made me want to disappear right at this very moment.

“Your mate…” I was gobsmacked. I felt weak. I was dumbfounded.

No. No, it can’t be.

She only gave me a sympathetic smile and I bit my lower lip with my shoulders slumping in defeat.

This only means one thing; I am mates with either a werehuman or a werewolf or a lowly vampire in this realm. Worse, my mate can also be a human. I felt myself tremble in shock as the feeling of numbness overcame me. This is not good. Being mates with an outsider or a non-Terranian can either get my full powers awakened or die a mortal. It will be my demise.

“Seeing by the way you took the information, I assume no one in Terra has told you this,” Kamilla’s voice cut me off my little realization. I looked up at her and shook my head. She huffed, her eyes turning blue to bright red. I felt her anger.

“This is just one of the consequences of having an outsider as a mate. I may hate you to hell but trust me, I didn’t wish for you to be in this kind of horrible situation. No one deserves to be in this kind of state you’re in. This is even worse than death itself,” she said, her voice laced with anger and annoyance as her eyes hardened in full rage.

I just closed my eyes stopping my tears from falling miserably.

The gods must be crazy. They must have lost their nonexistent brains pairing me up with a weakling of the weakest realm. An Adis with a noble blood is not meant to be bonded with the weak.

A royal Adis having a human, a werewolf or lowly vampire from the mortal world is a bane—a curse.

A curse unheard of that can be undone. It’s such a pain in the ass.

*****

‘How dare you leave my mate out there? Go back!’ Siris snarled at me as continued marching towards the entrance of the building, careful not to alert the people around. I just ignored her but she growled angrily fighting her way to take over and be in control. I snarled back at her menacingly.

‘I don’t care about that mate of yours, you stupid pathetic excuse of a lovesick mutt!’ I snapped but she snarled back with her fangs bared. I did the same as I let my flames surround her making her took a step back.

‘Have you forgotten the death stage I’ve experienced just because of his existence? It’ll be just fine if you’re the only one I will lose but damn it! I almost lost my life!’ I breathed angrily. All my rage coming back just as I was reminded of that horrendous night I’ve had to go through after seeing that little human werewolf Siris has called hot a week ago when we we’re at one of Kamilla’s hunting grounds.

I lied when I said it’s okay to only lose her though, but I won’t admit it to her. Not now. Not ever.

She whimpered at the back of my mind as my words finally got through her. She may be dying to be in the arms of her mate right now and hell, she’s even dying to claw her way out to take control and just dart down to go straight to that pathetic weakling of a mate of ours but she knows I’m right. I sighed in relief when she didn’t fight me anymore.

She knows what happened that night will destroy her and will never let her come back ever again if it will be once again repeated. She may be ecstatic to have found her mate in this realm but she knew she couldn't risk it if it means our life will be put on the line… again.

This mate thing is just—ugh! I huffed and let my hands run through my hair in annoyance. I’m not against having a mate. But being it a possible human or a lowly vampire or a mortal werewolf is not the most rewarding, and most appealing thing happening to say the least.

I’m nearing my coming of age ceremony. I’d be three thousand just after nine years and if I still haven’t bear the mark of my mate before I can even reach that age, all my powers will disappear and my lycan soul will be detached to me. On the other hand, if I will be claimed and marked by my mate, my full powers as a deifius, a rius and a royal Adis will be fully awakened and I will become one of the forces to be reckoned with.

But that is if my mate is a fellow Terranian deifius and not just a weakling of a despicable realm.

I stopped myself from thinking about mates and power awakening as the bus Kamilla sent for the rescued vampires came into view. I was so immersed in the thought of our mate I almost forgot my business here.

Lifting my hand, I let a little confinement materialized in my palm where I let the lowly vampires kept hidden.

Kamilla won’t be thrilled to know I caged them in my little confinement box but I can’t risk getting them out of that building through teleportation now that I almost had an encounter with my mate. There was a possibility that if I used any of my powers to escape, I won’t ever gonna make it out of that place with my mate getting to know of my existence.

According to Alvie, the Nyrie whom Kamilla has asked to check on me after that awful night, as compared to mortal weres in this realm who easily senses their mates even a hundred meters away, they can’t easily sense a lycan mate not unless that lycan surround herself with an aura that gives off her identity as the were’s mate. Maybe that explains why my lycan was the first to feel agitated with that despicable mate of ours. But as a lycan, there is a possibility that an encounter with that outsider mate will dull my powers as it will trigger something between us that will lead to a dangerous clash knowing that we’re from different worlds and I’m more powerful.

I let the vampires out once I was inside the bus and settled their unconscious bodies to the empty seats of the vehicle. I gestured at the driver letting him know we’re ready to set off. I can tell the driver was also a vampire—a once human turned vampire whom I bet was one of Kamilla’s peasants.

I leaned back on my seat lazily as the silent drive towards the Alastrine castle has began and I was flooded with memories of the first time I came to this realm.