Caden stumbled out weakly, his sword in his right hand and his left holding his head in pain, his vision still blaring. The enchantress watched him helplessly, yes, she has been able to recover all her powers and can open a portal now but it will alert the high wizard of Thule and he will know where the 'cursed bride' is, she is yet to find out what the king will do with 'cursed bride' if he should get his hands on her, he hates Lilith for sure and hates everything about her, and apart from Batya being the absolute sacrificial lamb to the sorceress, she is also her doom if she breaks the curse. She reached the knight's side and helped him to a seat.
"You need rest Caden, you are not in your best form…"
"But I have got to find her, it is my duty to protect her"…he said with a grunt, the amount of essence he had wasted to draw his blood needs to be replenished and he can do that by calming his thoughts and resting his mind, his mind is tired affecting his body.
"I know and it is my fault", Sarah looked at her hands, they had been completely healed, she had underestimated the potent of a vanquisher's blood this might be why the Feeder feeds on them, a lot can be achieved with their power and no demon whatsoever stands a chance against including Lilith, she was however curious, isn't the Feeder a demon too, then how is he able to live by feeding on a vanquisher's blood?
There was so much she didn't know, maybe the Feeder was after something else and not the knight, it was so confusing that he had hurt Hagar and waited long enough for Batya to heal her as if he knew the princess's healing abilities and he was just testing her…so at the end of the day it wasn't Caden he came but Batya, the question now was 'what does he want with her?'
"We must first figure out where he had kept her, then we can come up with a plan, Caden…"
"But…"
"Remember any hasty decision will put her life in more danger, we can't risk it…" The older woman heard a deep sigh from the knight, she knew that look he carried, she was familiar with what he was feeling, scared, nervous, and anxious, she felt the same thing too when she had left Virgin's Willow unguarded and her people had to pay the price. She knew that feeling very well and she wasn't ready to lose another soul on her watch not again.
"Rest up, we head out tomorrow morning"… she said to him and entered the hut to attend to Hagar, she was still puzzled why her daughter was still asleep even after she was healed.
***
The small dark room was shown with bright light for a couple of minutes and then it was deemed down, but unlike the light, his black pupils turned white remained and still even as he turned to face the king who sat perfectly calm to hear what he had to say.
"Indeed, Lilith's curse is here, however, her presence is sensed very far from the normal inhabitance of Thule, plus there is another presence I sense where she is…"
"Speak already…" the king said in a non-very patient tone.
"It's the Feeder your eminence" …
"Oh, I see. So, he still hides in Thule, he has done well covering his tracks …" the look in the perfect king's eyes wasn't good at all, and for the first time, those present witnessed a scene they will never forget, the king grabbed his wand, a weapon he had left sitting for centuries.
"Prepare the soldiers, we head for the hanging mountains, we seek out Lilith's curse, it is our duty to help her out of the portal and send her back on her journey. Did you halt the time as I asked you to?"
"Yes, your eminence" … the wizard replied and the king smiled.
"That Feeder needs to be taken care of, he wishes to take the curse's power and filter it with the vanquisher's blood, if he is not stopped, a greater calamity unlike Lilith's will befall the earth …" he gritted his teeth in anger.
"I am still not ok with the fact that Sarah kept her from me, did she think I will not know, that she has healed herself?" the smile on the king's face was one to marvel at, it was lopsided and crooked but it looked natural, and for once he was just acting like a normal man who was not obsessed with making everything perfect.
***
Batya could barely digest what she was forced to chew.
"You are not a demon?" she asked in a shaky tone as she looked at her captor standing before, he looked more human than she did, dressed in a grey robe, his rusty black hair hung low on his black and he looked like an innocent child, he even passed on as handsome, he smiled showing his perfectly straight teeth. He took a seat on his chair and even bit into an apple and closed his eyes to savor the taste of the fresh fruit, this was far beyond what she had imagined of a demon.
"You see, everybody wants you gone from Thule, back on your journey but I don't like it, I want you here. I can help you find that redemption you want" …
"What do you mean?"
"I hate the fact your wizard only told you the only way to get rid of the curse is to bathe in the Eden River, there is another way…"
"And that will be…" she carried on with her questions and remained as calm as she could, a reaction from her will mean a win for him and she wasn't ready to become food for a demon who didn't look like one.
"Let me take your curse upon myself, let me drain you of the dark energy that is surging through your veins, finding its way to your very core and taking completely over".
'Drain the dark energy? Take the curse upon himself? Should he be trusted? Trusting a demon? No, she can't let his sweet words fool her, he knew she wants to rid of the curse and he knew she was journeying towards it, a demon is a demon, no matter the kind of skin they were, they will always be demons and can never be trusted.
"Thanks for the offer but no, I like my curse…"
Her words seems to have triggered something and now he was showing the demon side he so wished to hide and she didn't know whether she was losing it or not, but she found the nerve to smile through such a situation.