Free Web NovelChapter 74: 74-The truth
"Feel free to clear my confusion. How are you here if you existed a thousand years ago?"
The fairy could taste the doubt in Nytherael as clear as day. She didn’t rush to clear them or prove herself. That had never been her style.
Her attention was drawn to the silent nine-horned dragon seared in complete silence and daze. Her true eyes could instantly pick up on the technique that Aeltharion was using to activate his sea of concious to find Sseraphis.
Her lips curved up, pleased. She had seen thar technique first hand when it was created. On the surface, it looked like the person was caught in a trance and lost in thought while in fact their soul is diving into a sea of conscious that awakens every life thread connected to every person they had ever met, and if they share deep feelings for the person, they can track them down to any corner of the world.
It required total focus, and in such a state, the mind can ou respond robotically to conversations with the outside world. Because the true beast isn’t present to fully process what an outsider communicates with them.
"Hello?" Nytherael waved a hand before the fairy’s mismatched eyes to break the focus of her gaze on Aeltharion. "It does seem suspicious that you aren’t answering my questions but are rather focused on staring at my husband."
"With how weak and fragile your mate bond is... I am surprised you can confidently stand guard against your husband?"
"I know that I made a mistake, and my marriage isn’t what it used to be..."
"You invoked the divorce by death trial? Oh, dear!" The fairy turned extremely pale.
"It failed."
She smiled. "The reason it was named that was to stop beasts from breaking rare bonds that aren’t easy to break," she enlightened him, "the name exists to stop idiots like you from making a mistake you can’t take back!"
"Idiot?" Nytherael felt his feathers ruffled, and he reacted, anger boiling in his heart. "How dare you insult me?"
"What else should I say?" She scoffed. "You were idiotic enough to try and break a rare trio-soul bond by invoking the death trial. What did you expect, flowers and rainbows at the end of the road?"
"The trial failed."
"You fool," she shook her head at his idiotic thinking.
"What do you mean?"
She straightened her dress and rose up to meet Nytherael’s height. Having been present when the first trio-soul bonds appeared, she saw history being recorded with the different marriages thar came from the bonds.
And had personal experience with the consequences that come with different choices in such marriages. She had been one of the founders of the beast court and had personally written most lawsherself after witnessing beasts’ experiences with different paths.
"Whether the trial succeeds or not, it doesn’t change the fact that you invoked the trial, opened the sacred link to your bond, and exposed it to the death threat," she brought to light.
She circled around him and stared down at the dragon. "He’s dying, and it’s all your fault," she pointed out. "If that doesn’t make you an idiot, I don’t know what else to call you," she added.
Nytherael eyes opened wide with shock. It blew his soul out of his body to learn that he was responsible for what happened.
Death had slithered its way into his mate bond, and he hadn’t realized it. It was claiming Aeltharion’s life while he, being as self-centered as always, was completely unaware and moving about like nothing was wrong.
"It will kill him... them you... and find the last member and end his life too," the fairy let out, her emotions as calm as an unstirred water. "And there’s little you can do to stop it. Don’t tell me you didn’t know?"
"Death... isn’t that supposed to happen on..." he stuttered, unable to voice out his discomfort.
"The moment the trial came into effect, death entered your sacred bond. Whether you succeed or not was up to fate," she said.
She had seen two marriages that were through the trial. One died instantly at the trial while the other lived, succeeding in breaking the bond and being free.
They chose different life partners, but none of the members of the bond lived the past two years. Death had already clung to their essence, and with the bond broken, it ate away at them at a slower rate, but it emerged victorious in the end, claiming the lives of the traitors of the sacred bond.
That was why divorce was marked with a death title. To sway stupid beasts from going through with it, but even then, there’s always that one person who defies fate, ignores warnings, and manages to invoke the trial.
"Sad for your partners, though. They did nothing wrong, but they’ll pay the price for your mistakes
Nytherael fell to Aeltharion’s feet. He had thought that the worst consequence of his mistake was Sseraphis hating him, Aeltharion’s indifference and the dynasty falling apart, but he’d not yet learnt the true consequences of what he’d done.
"No, this can’t be true," he fell into denial as he hugged Aeltharion’s pale body.
The dragon’s robes were rough against his soft skin since they were made with secretly hidden scales that shielded him from exterior surprise attacks.
"This can’t be true, right?"
But all the signs were there. His pale frame, the fact that since his return, the only time he’d seen Aeltharion’s use his powers were to save him from the illusion, the scent of herbs and Ilyrien’s fur meant to cure diseases were on him, not to mention his horns were growing faintier like the dragon was slow fading away from existance.
He stared helplessly at Aeltharion, wondering why fate had to be so cruel as to pick Aeltharion to go first. It should be him. He was the one who made the mistake and brought the disaster upon them. It was only fair that he was the one to persist first.
As though reading his thoughts, the fairy chuckled and squatted down to continue their conversation. She seemed to have the habit of matching beasts’ height while talking.
"That’s not how the death curse works," she said. "It’ll come for the innocent first and kill the guilty party last. Its fates punishment to the culprit... watch his loved ones perish first before he is to join them. That way, he knows his sin and suffers for it."
Nytherael realized that he had underestimated fate. Even with his strength and level of cultivation, he couldn’t stop its hand from moving, blessing, and cursing as it moved along. ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Why are you crying over spilt milk. You wanted out of this bond, right? The only way out is death," she uttered, completely emotionless like she was talking about something basic and unimportant.
"How can you say that? I love my mates!" He roared, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes.
The fairy scoffed. She was taken aback by his bold claim, seeing as his actions told a different tale. "If you love them so much, why condemn them to death, huh?"
"I did...I didn’t... I didn’t..." Nytherael stuttered, lowering his head in defeat.
"Oh, dear," the fairy lifted his chin. "Innocent beasts don’t..." she bit her tongue at what saw hidden deep inside Nytherael’s eyes.
