Realm of Monsters - Chapter 630: Secrets of the Past Part 1

Chapter 630: Secrets of the Past Part 1

  A tear in space appeared behind Death and he stepped backwards into it. He glanced at Lunae one last time and winked. “Goodbye, love.”

  The tear closed with a crackling sound like thunder. Melantha and Holo slowly turned to Lunae, eyes wide.

  “Damn you, Death,” Lunae muttered.

  “Why did he just call you ‘love’?” Melantha asked with a grimace, dreading the answer that she knew was coming.

  “Are you and our father lovers?” Holo asked, her expression awfully still as if she were trying to hold in her emotions.

  “That’s—” Lunae began before Stryg interrupted.

  “I saw Stjerne and Mother Moon all over each other earlier at the party.”

  “So you are lovers!?” accused Melantha.

  “We’re married,” Lunae replied flatly.

  “Holy shit, that’s so much worse!” Melantha ran her hands through her silver-white hair.

  “This actually explains a lot,” Holo muttered.

  “Excuse me, but I think we should talk about all of this later,” Aurelia glanced pointedly at the ruined gardens.

  “Do not worry,” Lunae raised her hand to the sky and frost-mist answered the call, rising out from the earth in rolling banks of fog. “Any guests that wander too close to the gardens will forget hearing or seeing anything to begin with. As for these,” Lunae gestured to motes of chaos floating about, “We should keep the mortals away from here until these settle down.”

  “Agreed,” Holo nodded. “Nel, let’s go.”

  Melantha grumbled under her breath but followed.

  Aurelia grabbed Stryg’s hand and led him away.

~~~

  The party had ended after another hour or two, though strangely neither Lord Stryg nor Lady Aurelia made an appearance after the duel. The guests were ecstatic at Aurelia’s display of magic. The return of the Ebon Lords and its implications was all anyone could talk about for the rest of the evening. Lady Elise Veres took over hosting the party and she artfully avoided any questions regarding Aurelia.

  The small family of gods had wandered off to Stryg’s private study and had cozied up around the fireplace. Not that any one of them felt cold but the crackling flames gave them something pleasant to stare at when the conversation lulled into silence, which was constant.

  “…Sooo, how long have you two been married?” asked Holo.

  “Longer than any of you have been alive,” Lunae answered curtly.

  “What possessed you to marry that asshole?” Melantha muttered.

  “Contrary to your fucked up relationship, Death and I have always gotten along… mostly,” said Lunae.

  “He’s a monster.” Melantha threw her hands up.

  “Darling, we’re titans. In the eyes of mortals, we’re all monsters,” said Lunae.

  Melantha frowned. “I’m not a mortal and I think—”

  “Then stop acting like one,” said Lunae. “You’re a goddess of death and your father is the Calamity of Death. Stop acting as if you two are so different.”

  Melantha narrowed her eyes dangerously. “Do not compare me to him.” 

  Lunae was unmoved. “You have your problems with your father, I do not mean to belittle them, but do not think you can throw them over me either.”

  “Your husband manipulates people. He uses them. What makes you think he won’t do the same to you? Or Stryg for that matter?” asked Melantha.

  As for Stryg, he sat on a sofa with Lunae, trying his best to make himself look small and unseen. There were times to voice one’s opinion and argue, that time was not between angry goddesses who could quite literally slap him through the wall with a flick of the wrist.

  “I am aware of the potential dangers Death might bring to my Little One,” said Lunae.

  “Then why even let him come here in the first place?” Melantha asked.

  “It was risky and very dangerous.” Holo nodded.

  Lunae laughed. “No one stops Death from going anywhere, not even me. He is the Traveler. What I did was limit his interactions. If it were up to you two, you’d have continued to fight and leveled this entire manor. My husband merely wanted to meet his son, nothing more.”

  “For now, maybe. Ananta has disappeared. Who knows what she and your brother are up to? We need all the help we can get if we are to win. We need Stryg,” said Holo.

  “And you don’t think having your father by your side would even be of greater help?” asked Lunae.

  “But at what cost? Who is to say Death won’t be using us instead?” retorted Holo.

  “That’s why I’m here,” said Lunae.

  Melantha rolled her eyes. “That’s very comforting, ‘Step Mother.’” 

  “Don’t call me that.”

  Stryg closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. He’d be getting no answers tonight. Luane had been tight-lipped regarding any real details about his father and he doubted that would change.

  After a few minutes, the conversation died down once again and he felt cool fingers brush his hair off his forehead. “Are you sleepy, Little One?”

  Stryg cracked an eye open and looked up at Lunae. “A little,” he lied. There was no way he could sleep after all the revelations tonight.

  “Of course, he’s sleepy, he’s a baby,” Holo said as if it were obvious.

  “You must be exhausted after the encounter with your father. It’s been a long day,” Lunae fussed over him and wrapped him in a blanket that was hanging off the sofa.

  “We’re nocturnal, he’s fine,” said Melantha. Even now, outside of training, she was still a tough mentor.

  “Actually, the sun is starting to come out,” Holo pointed to the window. The first faint rays of sunlight were leaking out from the horizon.

  “Gale,” Lunae called out.

  The door creaked open and Gale poked her head inside. “You called, my lady?”

  “Your Ward is feeling tired. Escort him to bed,” Lunae picked Stryg up as if he weighed nothing and walked him over to the door before gently placing him down, still wrapped in the blanket. “Go straight to bed, do you understand me?”

  “Yes, Mother Moon,” Stryg nodded.

  Satisfied, Lunae closed the door.

  “So, wanna tell me what that was all about?” Gale asked.

  Stryg shrugged, “Can we talk about it later, please?”

  “That bad, huh?” Gale cocked an eyebrow and stared at the fuzzy blanket. “Seems like it was terrible.”

  “Lunae just gets overprotective when she thinks I’ve been hurt.” Stryg threw the blanket at her.

  She caught it with a grin but said nothing more on the matter. “So where to next?”

  “My room.”

  “Wait, so you are going to sleep?”

  “No, I have something there I need.”

~~~

  Stryg reached under his bed and pulled out a small wooden chest. He threw it on the nightstand and opened it, revealing his great-grandmother’s book of memories. 

  “Are you still messing with that thing? You know it’s dangerous,” Gale chided him.

  He gave her a flat look. “Are you going to stand there and pretend that you don’t know I have been reading it? While I lie to you and tell you I haven’t?”

  “Why do you even need that book?”

  “Lunae won’t give me the answers about my father that I need and neither will my mother. But maybe grandmother Stryga will.”

  Gale sighed, “Just be careful. I can’t protect you while you’re in there.”

  “I’m always careful.” Stryg smiled wide and channeled mana into the book. His body went limp and he fell on the bed.

  “Well, that’s a lie.” Gale clicked her tongue, “And he did go to sleep.” She pulled out a chair and sat down next to his bed. She reached into his nightstand and pulled a book on military tactics she had tucked away. This wasn’t the first time she had caught Stryg unconscious with that cursed book beside him.

~~~

  Stryga Veres awoke on a cot that was a few sizes too small. She cracked her eyes open and was met with a leather canopy. “W-Where am I…?” Her voice was parched and it hurt to speak. She tried to sit up, but pain shot up throughout her whole body. It felt as if a thousand needles were pricking at every inch of her, except for her left arm. Memories of her battle with the dragon flooded back to her. A cold shiver ran through her spine. Slowly, she tilted her head, and looked down at—

  “You’re awake,” Sevryn said from the small table he was sitting at, strewn with half a dozen bottles and open books. He got up and rushed over to her side.

  Stryga tried to sit up again but she winced at the effort.

  “Don’t try to move, your body is still very weak.” Sev uncorked a bottle and slipped his hand underneath her neck before carefully lifting her head. “Here, drink this.”

  She stared at it warily.

  “If I wanted to kill you I’d have just left you to bleed out.”

  “My companion, is she…?” Stryga couldn’t force the words out. After everyone she had lost, she couldn’t bear to lose another.

  “Gwyn is fine. She is resting.” Sev glanced pointedly at the cot behind Stryga where Gwyn slept. “The vampiress is a stubborn one, I tell you. She refused to let me heal her until she was certain you were all bandaged up and in bed.”

  Stryga let out a sigh of relief and drank the offered elixir. “Thank you… for everything.”

  Sev stared at her face and a faint blush touched his cheeks. He cleared his throat and lowered her head. “Least I could do. You saved our lives. My people would be dead if it weren’t for you and Gwyn.”

  We wouldn’t all be in this situation if Ravellan and I hadn’t attacked Lunis. “How long was I out?”

  “A little over a day. The healing magic and elixirs did a lot, but your body still suffered severe trauma. You need to rest and let yourself heal.”

  Stryga finally worked up the nerve and looked down at her arm. Or what was left of it. Only a bloody bandaged stump remained where her left arm had been. She closed her eyes and did her best not to scream out. Tears slipped down her face in silent frustration. This was her punishment for everything she had done. No, this was just the beginning.

  “The dragon bit off your arm during the battle. There was no recovering it. I’m sorry.”

  She sniffed and took a shaky breath. “No. You’ve done enough. Thank you.”

  “I didn’t do much. For all my magic, your wounds were so severe, it shouldn’t have been enough. But somehow… your body recovered. It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”

  Stryga thought of the gods and the horrific destruction they had wrought upon her soldiers. “I don’t think the divines favor me very much.”

  “Then how else do you explain it?”

  “Mutations. Several mutations.”

  “Oh. Right. You’re a hybrid. The purple eyes. Not very vampire. Or drow. Not very normal at all. Pretty odd. I mean, they’re not odd, per se. They’re very beautiful. Like amethysts or something. Wait, that sounds even weirder. Sorry, I’m going to stop talking now.”

  She smiled weakly. “Trust me, I’ve heard a lot worse.”

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  “You don’t think people stare and gawk at a hybrid?”

  “Eh.” He wobbled his hand. “I don’t think people would dare to gawk at the Lady of the Great House of Veres. Stare? Definitely.”

  “Heh, you haven’t been around many nobles I take it?”

  “Thank the gods, no. I prefer the company of more grounded folk. No offense.”

  “None taken.”

  The tent flap opened and a young goblin woman walked in with a bucket. “I brought some clean and fresh towels— She’s awake!?”

  “Yes, she’s awake, please don’t shout,” Sev said quietly.

  “Ah, sorry.” She stared at Stryga for a long moment then focused back on Sev. “I’ll leave the towels and water here. Excuse me.” She bowed and left.

  “Thank you, Myn,” said Sev.

  “Myn?” The name sounded vaguely familiar to Stryga.

  “You don’t recognize her? Well, I guess she was pretty banged up the last time you met. She was the one who had been mauled by the bear. You saved her life. And mine.”

  The incident had only been a few days ago, but it felt like a lifetime.

  “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

  “I’ll try to answer what I can,” Stryga replied honestly.

  Sev stared into her eyes, a mixed bag of emotions running through him. “What happened at Lunis?”