Free Web NovelChapter 195: _Embrace The Chaos
Celeste’s POV
*****
Crimson Expanse, 5:08 AM
"You’re a traitorous snake, Azrael!" One of the vampires, a blonde with blazing yellow eyes, got in front of me in a flash.
I frowned, sidestepping hard—but that ended up being futile. She seized me by the throat, lifting me off the red sands and levitating me into the air. freewebnøvel.com
"N–No—!" I screamed but she choked out my voice as a sadistic grin curved her red-painted lips.
Azrael, Caelum and my mother were occupied, facing off against the other vampires. Out of thirteen who attacked us, Azrael killed one.
Yet the others were no pushovers, each having strengths that were dangerously close to Azrael, like this bitch for example.
"All for what?" She turned my head around so I could see how isolated I was from the others. "A piece of mortal flesh? I understand why you’re entangled with the Child of Chaos. But—"
The air temperature dropped.
Literally.
Azrael who originally had his back facing us, snapped his neck until those coal red eyes were locked on me. He didn’t move yet. In the very next second, I felt his presence beside us in the air.
"What—?" The female vampire attempted to flee but it was too late.
Her fingers withdrew from my neck, letting me fall. A flick of my wrist positioned my body enough to let me land on my feet.
I swerved my head back to the sky in time to witness Azrael grabbing the vampire by the neck, giving her a taste of her own medicine.
"Argh—Azrael." She gasped, grabbing his arm as her composure cracked. "You won’t want to hurt me. I—"
Like ink on a canvas, pitch blackness spread from Azrael’s body. It swallowed both of them for a beat—before pulling back and creating dark tentacles slithering out of his back.
One tore through her stomach, spraying her blood and entrails to the earth below. I gawked speechlessly as the others wrapped around her, stretching her away from Azrael’s grip.
"You brought this upon yourself, Elena." He muttered coldly then clenched his fist.
The tentacles tightened around her until the crack of her bones resounded into the night. Her neck twisted to the side unnaturally—while her muscles spasmed like she was being electrocuted.
Within a few seconds, her body dried up until there was nothing but a skeletal husk bringing out ashen steam. The tentacles ripped her dried-up body into several pieces, flinging them aside like scraps.
A heavy pressure settled in my chest as my throat closed up.
’That... power...’ my wolf stirred in me. ’It all came from your blood?’
Yes... Azrael did mention something about his connection to the Vein getting stronger each time he took my blood.
Just then, he angled his face toward me. The blood of his fallen brethren stained his skin but he was unshaken. The ghost of a smile tugged his lips—and I couldn’t hold back the one playing on mine.
Until instinct reminded me that this was a battlefield.
"Celeste!" Azrael’s smile vanished as the earth beneath my feet shifted.
Dust and dirt exploded around me, blocking my vision right when I saw him moving toward me. My fingers sparked with my magic but an invisible force kept them stuck to my side before I could conjure a spell.
As the dust cleared, I realised that I was being flown off the ground again. This time it was done telekinetically by a male vampire who hovered to my right.
Ahead of us, Azrael was held back by the combined attack of two vampires. One disoriented him with a thick smoke blast while the other struck him with a fireball.
Between that and struggling to get to me, he was being overwhelmed.
"Such a pretty face," The male vampire drawled, pulling his mouth to my neck. As if gauging his chances if he bit me.
"Celeste, no!" Caelum roared somewhere across the field. I could tell without looking that he was also occupied by the vamps.
The violet light of my mother’s magic flared repeatedly from another part of the Expanse. I managed to look in her direction, watching as she faced off three vampires on her own despite their superior speed.
’Come on, Celeste.’ I gritted my teeth. ’Your parents didn’t raise a fucking damsel in distress.’
The edges of my vision blurred out as the invisible force around me magnified. I could feel the air slipping out of my lungs—until it wasn’t.
My neck snapped to the vampire constraining me. His expression flickered with alarm as I broke free of his telekinesis.
I reached for his neck, curling my fingers until they dug into my skin. "My turn."
He flew backwards as I charged. A slash of my right arm sent a crescent wave of silver energy at him. He dodged by a hair’s length but I wasn’t finished.
We blitzed through the air—my hands igniting with one spell after the other. He blocked, docked and evaded as the fire in my chest burned hotter.
"You wanna play?!" I hissed, spinning my arm in a circle.
Chains sprang out from every angle, snaking toward the vampire. One by one they caught his limbs, then wrapped around his chest and the rest of him.
His face paled as I drew closer, my hair blowing over my face. The wind picked up while dark clouds spiralled above.
I lifted a hand to the skies. "Here... PLAY!"
ZAP! fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Tens of searing white lightning bolts descended from the heavens, each thicker than trees. They struck the Expanse, one of them hitting the vampire chained before me.
"AHH!" His animalistic cry didn’t make me flinch as I watched him burn, the lightning eating deep past his defences.
’Celeste?’ my mother’s voice slammed into my head all of a sudden. ’Celeste, control yourself! Y–Your arms—’
Her words faded as the downpour of lightning festered. The clouds roared with my wrath and the crimson field paid the price.
’Celeste, you’re losing control.’ At the same moment that my wolf told me that, I brought my gaze to my arms.
As expected the dark sigils glared back at me from under my skin. They throbbed like they were alive, spreading out to other parts of my body before I understood what was happening.
I barely even noticed the vampire I chained collapsing to the ground as a new voice slipped into my head. One that I was all too familiar with.
’At long last,’ the silvery words chimed like a distorted melody. ’Embrace the chaos, Celeste. Embrace the Vein... and watch every threat to you and those you love bend to your will.’
My body stilled—and deep in my soul, something tore.
One bond.
Then another.
Then all four snapped in unison.
Hundreds of voices layered around me, whispering things in languages I couldn’t decipher. I clutched my ears, sensing the last of my restraints peeling off like cracked glue.
"AHH!" I screamed, my back arching in a way I knew should be impossible.
A beam of black light exploded out of my chest, shooting up into the night sky until it connected with the clouds like a pillar.
The sky cracked open above the Crimson Expanse. And somewhere beyond the veil of reality... something answered.
