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The Emperor’s stronghold dungeon
“Can it be done?” a disgustingly pure and beautiful voice asked.
“It can be done, my lord,” Princess Shilah said after a short, fearful pause.
A snarl of rage rumbled as a man thrashed in the chains constraining him. The manacles, forged from the pure valnetium iron found in the hardened core of Amagarie, were unbreakable. The Emperor’s high chancellor twisted his lips sinisterly as he observed the Darkan in chains. They had over ten chains holding it enslaved. They’d captured a female Darkan before, and made the mistake of only binding her with five shackles of valnetium iron. When they had started to exorcise the demon from her, the rage and strength she’d displayed had been breathtaking. Tormented by pain, she’d burst forth with madness, and had almost destroyed all of those that held her in the dungeon before escaping over the castle walls. They had hunted her to no avail.
The emperor would not repeat their mistake with this Darkan. He was much younger than their first victim and so weaker. They could not risk working with an older Darkan but had to accept the choice of one that had only just gained access to his beast’s chakra. The older ones were too powerful, and they needed to hone their techniques and experiments before attempting to take one.
“How long?” the high chancellor snapped.
Shilah tried to hide her dread with assumed bravado, but he loved inflicting pain too much to miss the slight start of fear that filled her eyes before she quickly masked it. His lips curled in satisfaction at her quiver. Her power stirred, and she caught whiffs of his sickening thoughts.
She is so slight. Barely five feet and moves as if she walks on air.
The Princess of Dxyriah, one of the three kingdoms in Serange will become my personal slave.
I will enjoy breaking her.
Her voice is low and soft; exquisite as if she were a Mevian…I will enjoy her tongue on me.
Unable to listen to any more of his vile musings, she spoke, “The beast I touched is strong. Not as mighty as the presence that I sensed within the female Darkan, but I have learned what I could of its essence. It wants out.”
“Yes, but can you control it?” he asked with a slight pitch in his voice. He smiled cruelly as she flinched from the devastating beauty of his voice.
“I will try…”
She trailed off as a voice filled with strength entered the room.
“You will do more than try, Princess Shilah, you will succeed.” A weapon that was a voice. Powerful and evil.
The emperor, the ruler and Ricarkri of the great nation of Mevia, glided into the room. He seemed almost ageless. Power roiled in the room. His beauty was so blinding she found herself hard pressed to look at him directly. White-blond hair hung down his back and eyes the color of gold stared down at her. But it was his voice, so achingly alluring and evil that grated at her and made her stomach roil. Bile, thick and bitter, flooded Shilah’s mouth as she tried to make herself appear as small and nonthreatening as possible, lest he struck.
“How long will it take you to pull the beast from its master?”
“With the witch’s help it can be done in a few days, my emperor,” Shilah said reluctantly.
“Will we have full dominion over the beast?”
She chose her words with the utmost care. “We cannot kill its master as full control of the Demon will be impossible. I can pull it from the Darkan and bring it to corporeal form. But it is the master we must control, who in turn will manage his beast.”
The silence was deep. Shilah held her breath and waited for a response. She hated the Mevian emperor with all her heart. Darkans were brutal and reviled for the monster they possessed inside themselves, and he wanted to rule that evil to build an army. She pretended she did not know much about their plots and schemes, for to reveal any inkling of them would mean death for her sister. A thought Shilah could not bear.
“Do it.”
After a slight pause and a deep breath to fortify her resolve, she formed a triangle symbol with her hands and flared out her psychic aura to meet the vile evil of the beast buried inside the Darkan once more.
Chapter Eight
The darkness had always held Tehdra enthralled, but the sunlight seduced. She doubted she had ever seen anything as glorious as the sun rising on the horizon. The air was chilled, flavored with the coming daybreak. The dawn rose like a monster, first soft, then roaring, devouring the land and all that it touched. It swept across the mountains, the hills and the castle, unstoppable and inevitable. It was fascinating to watch the light slowly eat away the darkness and bathe the land in its bright glow. She felt the death of her essence as the sun washed over her.
She would never get used to losing her beast once the sun appeared.
Anticipation held her captive as she waited for Ajali on the balcony over the battle arena. She had been ready for hours. The pleasure she’d tasted from her mate was all consuming, and she wanted more. She did not want to tread lightly or with patience. Time was already ticking away. She could only stay so long in the city of Adara and the land of Nuria.
She felt him before she saw him.
Decadent. The bite of his chakra tasted hot and spicy, yet sweet. She glided down the stairs to meet him in the center of the arena. He strolled forward with raw magnetism. It was as if he prowled in his movement like he contained a predator within him. Her eyes devoured him from his boots to the top of his head. The only color he wore was the dark blue shirt that billowed out of his pants. His hair was leashed tight with a thong, and lust fired in his gaze before he quickly banked it.
