A shock

"You helped a Lashuka worshiper that repented before her death. This was your test! But why was it, you?" she was confused.

"Everyone who entered that building had gone mad except me! Was it a trap?" The butterflies raided up in my stomach out of concern.

"He wouldn't choose regular ones! There is something within you." She pointed to something that I was unaware of it and only time could reveal it.

We were in the adjacent of my old bed, watching me going through a harsh hazard! It was awkward that I had no solution for it.

A figure shaped above my younger version. The clouds changed to his fancy robe that had embroidered with black precious beads. His long hair was white as snow and his eyes as blue as a star. Every detail on his face was perfect, unlike his heart. The slender half-god of the underworld who was standing across us was a unique beauty.

He bent beside me. For a moment, I thought he was sniffing me and then I realized that yes, he did.

"The innocent one, you are. From now on, you will be mine forever. You are alone, just like me." He whispered.

I grabbed hold of Patrise hand, my numb frozen fingers were pleading for a little bit of warmth. Sigh! She was also as cold as me, not less than mine was. We both were nervous.

He drew his soft pale hand along her thin skin. Was she really me? We were too different. The little girl liked that kindness but I feared it. She was smiling in her dream but I was biting my tongue not to scream.

The girl woke up as if someone had been spellbound by a sorcerer, walking out of the bed; she stood in front of the half-god. He knelt for her.

"You are too handsome." She said and I cursed.

"Do you know who am I?" He asked but seemed that he already knew the answer.

The younger me nodded. She craved Lashuka and was prone to be a friend of him while not knowing what she was doing and what he was capable of being.

"Would you come with me?" He said.

My heart was drumming in my chest, unintentionally, I surged ahead to save the younger one. A cluster of warnings was scratching my skull but Patrise took me and placed her hand on my mouth, shaking her head, avoiding me not to spoil everything.

The girl that was supposed to be me took hold of his hand and the dark clouds embraced them. The environment around us changed and everything seeped to a new place. We were beside the Vita River near a forest.

Many wraiths were turning around a red circle on the ground. Around the circle, there was a thin ring of the red cloud-like corona, spinning. He was aiming to take the girl inside that circle. I guessed that was a portal.

The girl hesitated and Lashuka stopped.

"Is there any problem?" he asked.

"Where are we going?" the girl asked innocently.

The cold throb at the tip of my fingers changed to a burning warmth. My entire body was flaring outrage.

"Wake up, Tania." I shrilled my name.

The younger me woke up and looked in my direction. Lashuka also followed her sight but we got some luck.

A white crane that had a golden circle on its neck emerged to the field. He lashed Lashuka but he dodged as if it was a piece of cake. After the crane arrived, six other masked people in long black leather coats appeared.

I knew them very well. The king's hunters, they were. The king's badge on their gloves and chests always revealed their identity, the dove's wings in the middle of a red-filled circle. They were as if Vita's shadows that watching everything. The kings' eyes and arms.

I was in sheer shock. There was a big secret coiled in my memories and I was unaware of it. Patrise and I exchanged a glance.

"Do you remember any of this?"

I shook my head. The crane was a shadow aligner that was the previous weaver and he was white once like the other ones. Moreover, I never could forget those shining hazel eyes.

The younger me fell on the ground speechless. I sensed that she was conscious and couldn't believe the disaster in front of her eyes.

My own voice this time worked well. It saved me from entering that circle and I was grateful for that. The hunters were dangled with the wraiths and the crane that was now wounded attempted to help the little me.

Lashuka was strong, with a lift of his finger all nature elements around him were getting dark and obeying his orders.

He moved a cluster of water out of the river, it turned dark and sticky; he threw it to the crane and dangled him with it.

The half-god returned to me who was frozen, witnessing the scene incredulously as if it was a nightmare.

"I can't wait for more," Lashuka claimed and grabbed hold of my hand.

I surveyed for the crane, waiting there to see what he would do. I found the situation unbearable, the uproar around us was increasing, and the half-god was taking me away. The crane succeeded to wrap the dark sticky water with the golden string and I could guess that he needed still time to destroy it.

Unerringly, I surged forward to offer the crane the time that he desired.

"Lashuka!" I cried out, strongly. It was the first time that I stepped ahead intrepidly to protect myself. It seemed after a very long time I discovered how worthy I was.

As I assumed the half-god heard my voice. But not only him turned to me, there the crane and a weird female hunter heard my voice. The girl was blind but she could simply smash down the wraiths with the waves that were coming out of her hands.

She was blessed with a superpower that I didn't know exist. I was sure that no one in Vita knew that they were holding such powers. They weren't like the shadow Aligners' squad that used to take advantage of their powerful weapons. The power was coming from within them.

I put Patrise in serious danger. It was mere selfishness but I couldn't see that he was taking me to the circle. Even imagining that he would raise me to become his bride was terrifying.

***

Please vote with power stones.