Chapter 110: Who Is The Rogue King?

Roiner

Outside the temple in the medical cabin, the night sky had shifted abruptly from a clear, starry expanse to a turbulent, swirling mass of heavy, slate-gray storm clouds.

Low rumbles of thunder rolled across the valley, shaking the wooden foundations of the camp.

In the center of the sterile room, Jax’s pale, lifeless body lay flat on the steel table. The gaping, bloody cavity in his chest remained open and raw, entirely void of a heart.

Standing over him, Omen rolled up her sleeves, her bright green eyes fixed intensely on the corpse. She took a deep, centering breath, raising her hands over the dead boy’s chest as she began to chant in a low, rhythmic cadence that vibrated through the floorboards:

"For once or twice, but once thrice more... give this body life, find that soul’s door..."

The wind outside howled against the windowpanes, rattling the glass.

"...by blood unstitched, by breath unbound, rise from the dark where you were drowned!"

On the table, Jax’s fingers suddenly twitched.

Vance, who had been lingering near the doorway with Theo, let out a sharp gasp of pure shock. "Oh, my... that actually worked!"

Theo grabbed Vance’s arm, his eyes wide as saucers. "Remind me never to cross a witch, seriously."

Standing quietly on the opposite side of the table, Roiner and Keali watched the spectacle unfold in dead silence.

With a sudden, violent gasp, Jax arched off the table. His eyes snapped open, shooting wide as he began to convulse uncontrollably, his lungs dragging in air with a loud, tearing rattle.

Omen immediately stepped in, pressing her hands against his shoulders to keep him steady. "It’s okay. You are okay. Just breathe."

Jax coughed violently, clawing frantically at the metal table, his chest heaving as terror flashed through his eyes. "Where... where am I?!"

"You are back in your body," Omen said firmly, leaning in close. "Now, I need to ask you a few questions, and you need to answer me immediately."

"What?!" Jax gasped, disoriented and trembling. "This... this doesn’t make any sense. I was a spirit. I was dead!"

"I know," Omen urged, cutting him off. "Before you were killed... who did you see? Who killed you?"

Jax blinked hard, his mind racing through the hazy fog of his memories. "A man... with long, dark hair tied back in braids. I can’t explain much, my head feels like it’s splitting—"

"We do not have time!" Omen snapped, her green eyes flashing with urgency. "If you want me to free your soul, I need to know who took it from you. You need to give me a name...something!"

"I don’t... I don’t understand what you’re talking about," Jax whimpered, clutching his hollow chest.

"Please, Jax, think!" Omen pleaded. "The person who killed you... or the person you were walking around with till you came back to your body, who was it!"

Jax nodded frantically, his breath coming in shallow gasps. "Yes... yes! I was attached to woman... she was the one who was there when i died. It’s her and her brother, it’s those two people who killed me."

"Okay! Then what else do you know about her?"

"She... she had a very strong accent," Jax rasped, shivering violently. "And... and she had many other souls stored with her. It wasn’t just me. There were dozens..."

Omen’s face drained of color as she muttered under her breath, "She’s harvesting souls..." She leaned in closer. "Is there anything else? Anything at all about her?"

Roiner stepped forward from the shadows, his crimson eyes narrowing. "The man she was with... the one you referred to as her brother. Do you know his name?"

Jax squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head against the pounding pain in his skull. "I... I do not know his exact name she only refers to him as ’brother’. But... wait. I do know something. She constantly also referred to him as the Rogue King."

Vance’s jaw dropped. "Rogue King?"

Keali frowned deeply, crossing his arms. "Rogue King... what on earth is that supposed to mean?"

"I don’t know!" Jax cried out, his voice cracking. "That’s all I heard!"

"Think!" Omen demanded, shaking his shoulders. "Do you know where she is headed now? Where are they going?"

"The southern territories!" Jax blurted out, a fresh wave of panic gripping him. "They want to take the southern packs! That is where she said they will establish their main kingdom, their ruling seat!" He paused, his eyes glazing over slightly. "There’s... there’s something else I’m forgetting... something about a message—"

"What message?!" Omen pressed urgently.

"They... they said they must send a letter telling someone inside to keep a close eye on the situation..." Jax stammered, his body suddenly locking up.

Theo, who had been standing quietly near the back, stepped forward. "A letter to whom? Who is supposed to keep an eye out?"

Before Jax could answer, a violent, unnatural spasm seized his body. His back arched off the table once more, his eyes bulging as thick, black veins crawled aggressively up his neck and across his face, straining against his skin like writhing serpents.

With a final, ragged wheeze, Jax collapsed heavily back onto the steel surface, his eyes rolling back as he went completely limp once more.

Omen stared down at him, her chest heaving. "Great," she whispered bitterly.

Vance took an involuntary step back. "What happened?! Did he just die again?!"

"No," Omen said grimly, shaking her head. "The damn wicked witch sensed us probing too deep. She just called his soul back."

Theo stared at her in utter disbelief. "Well, can’t you just call it back again? Do the ritual thing!" Theo gestured wildly around the room. "We clearly have a snitch walking among us in this camp, and we need to know who—"

"I cannot call his spirit back a second time," Omen interrupted sharply, cutting Theo off. "I am not powerful enough to fight a witch of that caliber over a tethered soul."

Keali stepped forward, his milky eyes cold and analytical. "If we find the snitch inside our camp... will we not find the witch? And this ’Rogue King’ Jax was talking about?"

Theo frowned, running a hand through his hair. "Who on earth is the Rogue King anyway?"

Standing near the door, Roiner didn’t say a word. But deep inside his mind, a cold, heavy weight dropped straight into his stomach.

I may know something about that, Roiner thought, a sudden surge of dread washing over him. Oh, no.

I am completely and utterly screwed.