179 What Am I To You?

In her mindscape, Vy replayed the scene of them in the throne room. This time, instead of leading with her dagger in her hand, she chose not to draw her weapon. Vy rushed forward and at the moment Viviana brought Elette in as a human shield, she grabbed hold of the girl into her arms.

"I got you, Elette," Vy said with confidence as she then pushed herself away from the commotion.

But when she put the girl down, she was already dead, with a knife in her back. Elette's eyes started to pour out tears of blood.

"Why Vy, why?" the girl mouthed the words as she reached for Vy.

Vy, in shock, stepped back from the scene as the blood pooled around Elette's body. Like a puppet, Elette's body sat up, eyes completely red.

"Why did you kill me?" she screamed as she reached for Vy.

"No… no that's not what I meant to do… I," before Vy could even defend herself, shards of crystallized blood shot through the air from Elette's hands.

It pierced straight through Vy's heart, causing her to jolt awake in reality.

Seeing the stone wall of the dungeon brought her to her senses.

-Yet another dream.- she said to herself as she sat up.

Vy massaged her temples and took in deep steady breaths to calm her palpitating heart.

-Nightmare again?- Aether asked as he lifted his head.

"The same old one," Vy whispered back.

Her back hurt from sleeping on the damp stone ground. Its uneven surface brought her nothing but pain. Even as she sat up, the pain was just moved to a different area of her body. Now that she was fully awake, Vy could not go back to sleep.

It was only her and her Familiar in the cell. There was no one else. Her mind started to be filled with questions she had about Aether and his past.

"Aether?"

-Yes?-

"What did you do before you met me?"

Aether slithered off Vy's wrist and chose to coil loosely around her neck instead.

-Fae kin are Familiars. I was a Familiar to another being before you.-

Vy paused in thought for a while, "What happened to that being?"

-The bond with a Familiar is for life. It only ends with death.-

Aether explained that the Fae Kin had a realm that they belonged to, where they were born into. When the time was right, they would receive a calling to become a Familiar. They would then be bonded to that being.

That bond can never be severed once formed. It would only be severed upon the being's death.

His previous bond was with a young witch named Morena Styx. During the summoning ritual, the brightness of her soul attracted his attention. Hence he chose to become her familiar.

"She must have been quite extraordinary," Vy commented.

-She was destined for great things. But her life was cut short fairly quickly.-

Within three years, Morena Styx was at the brink of death. In a twist of fate, her life force was sustained by a blood mage. But the young witch would never awaken ever again.

"What good was Morean to the blood mage in the coma-like state?" Vy asked.

But as soon as the words left her mouth, she realised something. The blood mage was not after Morena, he was after Aether. He knew once Morena's life force was completely depleted, Aether would leave as well.

-He kept her barely alive so that he could trap me and use me for his research.-

"How long?"

-What?-

"How long did he trap you for?" Vy asked.

Aether lowered his head a little, remembering the many trials he had gone through in that lifetime.

-300 years.-

It was the blood mage's slip up that released both Aether and Morena in the end. An attack on his lab resulted in a battle for power and greed. A misfired spell hit Morena's body directly, causing her to burn up in flames. As her body turned to ash, Aether was free.

"Why did you pick me then?" Vy changed the topic, "After being trapped for that long, wouldn't you want a peaceful life?"

For a period of time, Aether had his peace and quiet. He had spent time in the Fae Garden recuperating and trying to find peace with all that had happened. He also spent some time travelling through different realms to explore the world beyond.

Each time he felt the summoning ritual calling for a Fae, he hesitated. Aether feared that he would not be able to protect the next being he bonded with. But when he saw Vy, he was intrigued. He could not see into the memories of the life she had before but Aether could feel her emotions.

In this life, that she had in Gaeia, he too could see how far she had come.

-You looked like you could use some help.- he chuckled.

Vy laughed too as she teased, "So I'm your charity case?"

-No no, nothing like that. Then again…-

Both of them shared a good laugh.

The next day, the guards arrived to take Vy to the courtroom. A bucket of ice-cold water was dumped onto her to wake her up. As she shivered from the ice water, the guards barked at her to get up on her feet and exit the cell.

Her muscles were cramped and sore as she stood up. She almost lost her balance and had to put her hand on the wall to balance herself. The impatient guards were having none of it.

"Stop wasting our time and get a move on, murderer!" one of them barked at her.

Vy paid him no mind as she walked towards the opened cell gate. Just as she was about to step out of it, one of the guards put out his foot. This caused Vy to trip, falling face-first onto the hard stone ground, bruising her jaw.

Aether wanted to retaliate and give them a taste of their own medicine but Vy stopped him.

-It's not worth it.- Vy said.

Please go to

to read the latest chapters for free