2024-02-07 11:40:29
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393 You Talk Too Much
The voice spoke in an ancient desert tongue. None of the Vargas knew a single word of it, yet every one of them understood its meaning in their bones.A suffocating miasma poured out of the tree like smoke from a furnace. It pressed down on their chests and crushed the breath from their lungs.The King froze. Leopold shuddered, with his arms wrapped protectively around his sister. The guards stood rooted to the earth, unable to lift a finger.Only Tyler stood easily in the middle of the clearing."It's me," he said. "Tyler Grant. I think you will have to go hungry."He looked up at the black trunk."You're the Sepulchre Wyrm from the Crusades, aren't you? You've taken a lot of lives from this family. It's time for you to disappear."The tree shook with laughter. Dead leaves rained down on the clearing."DO YOU EVEN REALIZE HOW ANCIENT I AM?" the voice roared. "I WILL PUT YOU IN THE GROUND!"The earth erupted. Roots tore out of the soil on every side, more than before, and this time th
392 The Ancestral Tree
The Varga family led Tyler deep into the grounds behind the palace.Vivian and Alaric had been sent back. These were the hallowed grounds of the Varga bloodline, and the King had ruled this a family matter.Tyler was quietly relieved. What he was going to face next was too terrifying and she'd be scarred for her life.Moreover, he didn't want Vivian to see the extent of his supernatural powers yet. It would snap their thin strand of relationship.Only the Vargas, their elite guards and Tyler went on. Tyler had asked for one thing, the oldest, most ancient tree on the estate.They passed through an orchard where the fruit hung shriveled and black. They passed flower gardens where the roses had wilted. The air grew colder with every step.Then the path opened into a clearing, and the tree came into view.It was enormous. Its trunk was as thick as a house, black and gnarled, and its buttress roots spread across the earth like the claws of a buried beast.Nothing living grew in its shadow
391 Serpent's Night
Nobody in the room could move.Tyler kept drawing back, slowly and steadily, and the snake kept sliding out of Clara's mouth.A foot. Two feet. Three. Its black scales were slick and glistening, and they made a wet, rasping sound against her teeth as they slid free."Gods above..." a guard choked out. His sword clattered to the floor.One of the maids at the door screamed and fainted.Leopold staggered backward until his shoulders hit the wall. His face had gone the color of ash. "A snake? How did a snake get inside my sister's body?""I can't believe my eyes," Alaric whispered, white to the lips. "How is this even possible?"Vivian clutched the bedpost with both hands to stop herself from falling. The jealousy she had felt a moment ago was gone. All that was left was terror.With one final pull, Tyler drew the entire creature out of the princess and caught it in his fist just behind the head.It was almost five feet long.It was no ordinary snake. Its scales were black as tar, and th
390 The Princess
King Ebbert froze.His raised finger stayed where it was, still pointing at the doors. The color drained out of his face so quickly that he looked like a corpse sitting on a throne.The guards stopped in their tracks. None of them dared to take another step. Some of them lowered their eyes to the floor, as if they had heard a secret they were never supposed to hear.Prince Alaric frowned in confusion and turned towards Tyler."Mr. Grant, I'm afraid you are mistaken," he corrected gently. "The royal family of Denter has no princess. Queen Marion passed away giving birth to Leopold. There have been no women in this family since."Nobody answered him.Alaric glanced at Leopold, expecting him to agree. But the prince's face was frozen too. His jaw was locked, and his fists were trembling at his sides.Why was nobody saying anything?Tyler kept his eyes on the King. "That's not true," he pressed quietly. "Is it?"The silence stretched on and on. Vivian held her breath. Even the candle flam
389 The Fading Kingdom
The royal limousine rolled through the iron gates of the County Palace.Denter County was far larger than Petra, and far older. Its towers and cathedrals had stood for centuries, and it looked like an ancient kingdom out of a storybook.But it was a kingdom losing its light. The few people on its streets were pale and listless, as if every step cost them their souls. The whole county lay under a permanent shade, and the sun barely broke through.Over the palace, it was worse. A thick, dark cloud hung directly above the towers, low enough to swallow the spires. It did not move with the wind. It simply sat there, like a malevolent hand pressing down on the royal family.Vivian shivered and drew her shawl tighter. "What happened to this place?" she whispered. "It used to be so beautiful!"Leopold didn't answer. He was ashamed to let outsiders see his land and its people like this.Tyler looked up at the dark clouds. To everyone else it was only bad weather. Tyler could feel something coi
388 Denter County
Vivian had just taken a sip of her drink. She choked on it so hard that she nearly sprayed it across the table."Marriage?" she spluttered, coughing into her napkin. "Girlfriend? Mother Agnes, Tyler isn't my boyfriend! This is just a formal date to pay him back for the hospital treatment!"Agnes furrowed her brows."Oh, forgive me. It's just that he never went out with anyone before. He always used to say when he was a child that he'd fall in love and marry the first girl he takes on a date."Tyler finally looked up from his burger. "It's too early. We're working on it."Vivian's face turned as red as a tomato. "Tyler! You're embarrassing me!"Mother Agnes laughed until her eyes watered. She patted him on the head as if he were still five years old, then picked up her empty paper bag."Take care of him, dear," she whispered to Vivian. "He hasn't had anyone to look after him for many years."Then the old warden shuffled away between the tables and disappeared into the crowd.Vivian sat
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