Heart Of A Lycan King
Chapter 86

Fear, they say, is a crippling emotion. One that wrecks the functioning nerves in one’s system, leaving it shattered and worn out, to the point where a simple movement, or the blink of an eye causes a twitch of impending doom to settle over the looming atmosphere.

In the past months, I had experienced fear in different forms. The type where I was mostly scared than terrified. I had experienced fear in the form of panic, agitation, trepidation. I had experienced fear in terror when I had to watch Aiden fight for his life.

Today, however, I was filled with terror. I was filled with thoughts that something may go wrong. That somehow, all of this would take a different turn and the happiness I was hoping for, the happiness I craved for at the end would never come.

It wasn’t only fear that gnawed at me, however. There was also hope. Just a tiny winy bit that was getting crushed by my fear.

“We’re doing this together,” Aiden murmured, clasping my hand tightly in his as he stopped the car.

“Yes, we are. Always will,” I answered, bringing the back of our clasped hands to my mouth and kissing it.

“Ready?”

I nodded as Kane pulled open the door on my side. The cold night breeze hits my face, instantly causing me to shiver a bit. Standing far ahead of us were Inna, her sister Lantana, and four women, where two held a large tray and the other two simply stood, waiting for instructions. Baba, Mav, and Kamal were also present.

We had all arrived separately, mostly because Aiden insisted he and I were going to drive separately. He rounded the car and walked up to me before taking my hand. We approached the group, my heart thudding loudly as though it would rip from my chest at any moment.

I tried to keep my face straight so my fear wouldn’t show. I had managed to keep it in check so Aiden wouldn’t notice it as well, because in the end, it would only cause him to worry more and I wouldn’t want that to be a cause of distraction.

“Greetings, Your Majesties,” Inna, Lantana, and Kamal all greeted us as soon as we stopped.

Inna was dressed in a black material. Her lips were painted black, as were her brows and eyelids. Her eyes are completely white as though covered by a fog, just like I’ve always seen them since I met her back at her castle. On top of her hair laid a crown, with glittery red jewels shaped like the crescent moon adorning it. Her white hair was a perfect contrast against her beautiful shiny, dark skin. Staff in one hand, and a leaf on the other. She looked exactly like she did the first time I saw her. The four women behind her wore white thin materials.

And today, like the first time I met her, she looked scary. Or maybe, it was just my mind playing games with me. But when Erin whimpered within me, I knew it wasn’t just me. There was just something about Inna when she looks this way that definitely scares the s.hit out of both of us.

Whatever that is, though, I hope it has nothing to do with the impending sense of doom I felt.

Aiden waved his hands, then turned towards Baba and we both bowed. Aiden’s face was grim as he greeted Baba, and so was Baba’s when he returned the greeting. Aiden hasn’t spoken about the incident again and neither have I. Because it’s obvious it was something he still wasn’t ready to discuss nor something he had accepted.

Just like neither Donald nor I could understand what Phil meant with her letter. Or the idea behind sending a letter like that.

“Are you ready, sis?” Mav said from beside me.

I turned to face him, and in turn, he ruffled my hair. Like he always does.

“Yes, I guess I am. We have to do this.” I answered.

“The moon is already at its peak which is the right time to summon the Mbems.” Inna said, her voice pitchy, and her kola nut stained teeth visible for everyone.

At that moment, weird as it may seem, I chose to think about why old people loved kola nuts. Because for the life of me, I couldn’t understand the point. Once, when Abba was eating it, I had asked for a bite. I remembered how I had scrunched my face up and spit out the contents. The bitter taste of the kola nut lingered long after I had eaten it. But Anna said that if I had chewed on it longer than I did, the kola nut would’ve turned a bit sweet.

“And the other species that were supposed to be here?” Aiden asked.

“They will be here after we find out what the demands of the Mbems would be, Your Eminence.” Inna answered. “Only the dragon witch is here to help with breaking the sealing curse, since her ancestor casted the spell,” Inna added, nodding towards a woman I was seeing for the first time.

She was dressed in a long red gown that hugged her body. Black hair with white streaks to it, and black painted lips. She carried a white staff, and had the paint on her eyes as well. Her eyes shone underneath the moonlight, and it was impossible to ignore the bronze and hazel tint in them.

She simply waved at us and continued leaning against the tree.

Both Aiden and I nodded.

“Right now, we’re all three steps away from stepping into the Fiko pack. However, none of us can take another step towards it save for you two,” Inna pointed at Aiden and I. “If you are ready, then you’ll have to change into this and I’ll begin the summoning ritual.” She finished, snapping her fingers as two women stood before Aiden and I holding one black robe and two pairs of black trousers.

The robe was identical to the one Inna and Lantana wore, however, mine had markings on the front, while Aiden’s trousers were plain. We took the black clothes and walked to the back of the car to change.

With the rising tension, I had no time to admire the sculpture of my mate, because who has that time now? Both Erin and I were nervous. My palms were sweaty, and my breathing had quickened its pace because this could either turn out to be a good thing or a horrible bad thing. Aiden stripped his clothes off and pulled on his trousers. Surprisingly though, the eyes of the wolf tattoo on his stomach glowed. Only once. As though it was making a mark. Or something like that.

“My instinct to protect you will always kick in, Nala. However, when I’m about to mess up, please be there to help my sanity return,” Aiden murmured as he cupped my cheeks. “Whatever happens today, we’ll get through it together. As king and queen. As mates. As friends.”

“Yes we will, Rabin Rai,” I placed my hand over his and leaned into his touch. “We’ll always be there for each other,” I added.

Sighing, he leaned in and placed a fleeting k**s on my forehead before he pulled my hand and led us back to the group. My black robe reached my ankle, with markings on the front that looked like shadows of wolves drawn in gold ink.

When we stopped before Inna, she took a small clay pot from the tray another woman who stood behind her held, then dug in a leaf she was holding and sprayed the contents on both Aiden and I.

A tangy and earthy smell filled my nose, before another spray hit my face. With each hit of whatever the content was, I felt my body slowly paralyzing. Aiden still held my hand in his firmly, and I could also feel his grip getting weak.

“The summoning mark is ready,” Lantana called. She had taken another step towards the forest to make the drawing of what she called a tomb and was already shaking like a leaf, thick sweat trickling down her face.

“Step into the circle,” Inna ushered both Aiden and I towards it. Clay pots were placed around the circle, with a thick fire burning on the side. In the middle of the circle were two smaller circles, and each had a wolf drawing. One was a lycan and the other a wolf.

We each took our respective spots. Inna asked that we hold our hands and stretch them out over the last circle that was in between us.

“I’ll start the summoning ritual now,” she said, taking a single step backwards. She clapped her hands once, then again, and again before the pacing increased.

Then she shut her eyes and began humming. My head began to pound, terribly, as though it was shaking and would get ripped off of my neck. I tried to pull my hands from Aiden’s, but I couldn’t. The more Inna hums, the more the pounding increases. Along with the pounding came the increasing amount of fear. The crippling kind.

“Argh!” a strangled cry left my lips, as I wrenched my hands from Aiden with a force I didn’t know I had and gripped each side of my head tightly, before I crunched to the ground.

Before I could react to anything, Aiden fell before me, clutching his stomach tightly.

Then Inna stopped humming, and the pounding in my head subsided. However, Aiden was still on the ground, groaning painfully. I tried to move to him, but my legs weren’t moving, and neither were my hands stretching towards Aiden.

The fear was back in more folds than it had back then. My insides were squeezing my heart until I thought it would pop out of my chest, I was overwhelmed by profound fear. Not the Nyala-please-save-me kind of fear. Or even the one that allows us to scream. It also wasn’t the type that would make one want to cry and plead for mercy. No, it was far worse. It was ‘I can’t contain any of the emotions inside me’.

I watched helplessly as my mate g*****d and cried in pain. The scene was almost too familiar, but far worse than it was on the two different occasions I had watched him this way.

The scene reminded me of the first time Inna had done something similar back at her castle.

“Katimena!” she screamed, hitting her staff to the ground. “Jiyani! Handakariya!!!” With each strange word she said, my body trembled, and Aiden hissed, clearly in agonizing pain. Inna continued chanting the same words thrice, while the two young women who weren’t holding a tray danced to it, the chains on their waist dangling and making weird sounds as they moved around.

Inna soon joined them, as I watched in awe despite my fear. I admired the way her waist moved, and her dark caramel skin was shining underneath the light from the full moon. For the second time, I was watching Inna dance as she repeated the same movements. She was summoning the shadows.

Then I was floating, my body sprawled upside down, same with Aiden. I felt b***d rush to my head, making me dizzy. Dust and dark smoke rose around us, creating an eerie atmosphere. Everything ceased to exist, and it was as though only Aiden, I, and the floating darkness around us existed. Strange hallowed voices began to filter through, filling my ears. I had no idea what they were saying as the floating and spinning increased.

Suddenly, something cold touches my skin, and I pried my eyes open to see Aiden’s hand clasped over mine. But why was he so cold? When our gaze clashed, his eyes had turned foggy-like, just like Inna’s before it vanished. As did the hallowed voices. The spinning. The floating. Everything.

Both Aiden and I now stood in the middle of a dark forest. No one was here, and we certainly were not at the entrance of the Fiko forest anymore. The air was stuffy, and smelled like something had burnt. The musty air was difficult to breathe, which forced me to cough constantly as I struggled to gulp a clear breath. The foliages of trees were very close to each other, forming a very thick canopy. Their barks were mottled and splotched, as if bubbled soup had been frozen in time on their surface. Clumpy combs of wet moss dangled from their rotten boughs.

From the distance, amidst the darkness of the forest and its gloomy atmosphere, I saw it. The two colored wolf, her vibrant violet eyes staring back at us. Behind her were shadows floating, until finally, a voice. No, voices spoke.

“Welcome, King and Queen of the Zambelians. We are honored that you accepted our invite. Today, you will both repay the debt you owe us, and we hope you honor that as well.” It looked like the wolf was the one speaking, but at the same time, the voices were too many to figure that out.

“I can’t feel Leo,” Aiden finally spoke, his voice a hoarse whisper.

It dawned on me then that I couldn’t feel Erin too, except for the hollow space in my heart. Before I could speak, the voices continued.

“We have been angered and we have been wronged. We were crushed beneath the feet of the one who we called King. A life for a life is what we demand. We demand for a pure soul as appeasement. A soul that would set us free.”