My training with the wolf knights was intense. The gamma trainers weren't being easy on me this time. They knew, and they felt the changes in me as I also became a gamma. But the way they trained me was more complicated than the rest. Yes, they were basics from cardio to flexibility, but when we crossed fists, they were being hard on me. They were taking me seriously to the point that they were shifting back and forth as they faced me.
I was forced - rather, I met them halfway. I fought them equally, showing my agility and strength, but somehow I was over the top against them. I was not sure why I felt I was the one who was being easy with them while they were giving their best shot against me. I fought them, defeated them, which surprised some, and some were already expecting the outcome.
"You've changed. Better than before." One of the gammas praised as he panted before adding, "Keep it up, my lady."
"That's the plan." I nodded and watched him train with the others.
I was about to rest when I felt strange energy heading my way, and instead of backing down, I readied myself for another threat. It was not long before Gilmesh, the old man, came furiously at me. He quickly gave them a powerful strike with his fist and his kick. It was heavy and powerful enough to make me stumble a few steps backwards.
I frowned and was about to say something when I noticed peculiar energy swirling around him. I squinted my eyes, scrutinizing his stance, and every attempt he gave was reckless but precise and fierce. And one false move, it could be fatal.
"There's something wrong with him." I thought as I blocked his attacks, trying to read the energy flowing around him. It was not his usual energy - dark and heavy but calm.
I found it odd when Gilmesh smirked at me when he never did. "Hm, not bad." His comment was a positive sign, but his voice was humorless, cold, and taunting. He was collective like Mirxalyn, but the old man that I was fighting now was not even close to it, and that alone told me he was possessed. Then he warned me tauntingly, "Brace yourself, kiddo. I'm not going to be easy on you."
I was quiet at first, but calling me 'kiddo' confirmed that it was not him. "I see...then bring it on, whoever you are."
The old man's reaction shifted, and even if it was in a second, I changed my attempt. I was not in defensive mode; instead, I moved like the wind, fierce like fire, and the impact was hard like a tidal wave crushing him to the ground. He coughed blood, but I didn't stop. I gave him the combat skills that I've learned from school and my training with the knights. But my movement was hard to see or predict where it was coming from or where it might land. I don't give him time to breathe because each strike that I'd release already marked the areas where I wanted him to stumble. Whenever he did, I began using the blood curse I've earned from my mate.
Everyone was surprised that I could do it because, to the Knightrose, there was only one who could do it, Elizabeth Fraye.
"You...how did you..." Gilmesh tried to ask, but I didn't let him.
I gave him a random swing where I decided to take this opportunity to try mastering my manipulation with the blood curse. I kept changing the bloody blade whenever I swung it in different directions, confusing the old man even more. He grew wary, forcing him to back away in frustration. He could not land and hit me anymore. He was glaring, calculating, but could not read me. Instead of rushing to him, I stopped in my spot, waiting patiently for whatever attempt he would try.
"Don't be full of yourself. You're still a kid." He tried to taunt me, but I stood still, waiting.
"Are you talking to yourself?" I refuted, taunting back.
Gilmesh laughed, obviously not him. "No, I'm referring to you." Then his aura became lethal and poisonous to whoever came near him. He attacked me - tried to attack me, but my blood curse manipulation was unpredictable, unseen, and already had him bound. "YOU! RELEASE ME!"
He wriggled from the binding, but it was not even near snapping; instead, it was tightening around his body. He groaned, fighting it back, but the more he squirmed, the more he bled.
"You're killing the old man's body," I said coolly, checking my nails.
He laughed, grinned deviously at me, "Then it's better."
I watched him, nodding. "I see..." The bloody binding loosened a little, and he quickly made his move, but the ground crumbled. Blood emerged right above our knees before warning him, "Surprised? Don't be. But don't try anything funny because they were venomous blood."
I could feel everyone's eyes were on me, shocked, amused, and proud. But the old man wasn't done. He didn't care about the poison and tried to use his ability. I knew what he was doing, and I wanted to see what he would do. I moved from my spot and grabbed his neck before slamming him to the ground.
He smirked. I knew it, and I'm ready for it. Then he said tauntingly, "Gotcha."
The odd energy began retracting from the old man's body, flowing through my hand up to my arm, then to my body. I felt him trying to get inside my body, and I finally understood what he was trying to do. But my necromancy ability was different from the old man - I command the dead.
As soon as the ghost was fully out of the old man's body, I stepped away, and with the help of my Sigbin powers, the ghost could not proceed with what it was attempting to do. It tried one more time, then another, but nothing was happening; the ghost could not possess me.
'ARGH! LET ME IN!'
I chuckled, saying, "You're not strong enough to face me." I felt his anger and tried to fight its way inside, but it was annoying. I snapped my fingers, making the blood swirl around me, and shifted in a sharp crystal, pointing lethally at the ghost. Then I said, "You try to get inside someone's body without knowing the person first. And I'm not the type of necromancer you could possess whenever you like."
'I can do it as I did to this pathetic old vampire man.'
Something doesn't sit right with me when I hear it insult the old man. My aura shifted, dark, and then I spoke venomously, "No one could ever insult the old man other than me. And you're not in his league."
'But I managed to possess him. So easy.'
"Because that's his necromancy power." I corrected the ghost because it was the old man's ability before adding, "Even you're a ghost, I won't tolerate anyone messing with my family."
As that being said, fire began swirling around my chest, extracting my fingernails, sharper and more lethal, making the ghost terrified. I opened my palm, absorbing the blood and the ghost in one place. He tried to get away, but the blood was already blocking him, pulling him toward my palm. The next thing that appeared was an orb. I don't get where this kind of ability came from, but my mind thought of sealing it with my blood, turning it into a marble.
"Hm, I didn't know that I could do that," I said as I tossed the marble and caught it back. Then I heard the same voice coming from the marble.
'YOU HAVE TO LET ME OUT OF HERE!'
"Shut up and just think of it as recuperation." I made an excuse, but I sounded like I meant them despite not understanding what happened or where those words came from. Then I added. "In time, I'll let you out."
'You…who truly are you?'
"Trust me, even I don't clearly understand myself now," I responded with a sigh before checking the marble and the blood sealing it, which was not bloody, but pinkish. I squinted my eyes, scrutinizing before asking, "Tell me, why are you possessing the old man of the Knightrose?"
'Why would I tell you?'
"Because I'm the only one who can get you out of this marble. I created it." I answered the obvious, making the ghost sigh, defeated.
'Fair point. Fine, I'll tell you. I'm from the school grounds' wandering soul. I had been looking for someone to possess when I heard some ghosts speak about the return of the catastrophic vampires of the Knightrose family. I'm thinking if I became a family, maybe I would be able to return to the surface too, and maybe I could see them again.'
I nodded, thinking that he was referring to me. He was looking for me since I managed to bring the two powerful Knightrose back to the surface, although Eliazar must serve me, and Elizabeth Fraye and I became mates. "I see, then stick with me. You might be able to do it."
'Seriously, there's this vibe around you that I trust fully, and I don't get why. So, who are you exactly, Lady Bernila?'
"I will find out soon." I sighed, feeling the marble vibrate, making my eyes roll, slightly annoyed, "Stop laughing there."
'You're definitely something. But since I'm in a marble, recuperating, I'm Jace. How can I serve you, my lady?'
"Hm, now that you mentioned it...I'm thinking you could work as my warning device if there are peculiar energies threatening me." I answered since Mirxalyn, and I were planning to travel to unfamiliar places or somewhere uncharted to find an answer about my spirit wolf's awakening.
'That I can do.'
"Good." I nodded and dusted myself before heading to where my stunned audience was when I heard him speak again.
'Is that Sir Eliazar and Lady Elizabeth?'
"Yes, you knew them?" I asked as I went closer to them.
'Who wouldn't? They're the catastrophe, the living legend of the Knightrose family, and they were the reason that the family hasn't been touched badly.'
I chuckled and agreed to his comment, "That's how threatening their presence is, alright."
'They were worse when it comes to bloodlust.'
"I've seen their worst." I agreed and hugged my two wives, who had witnessed my strength, although I hadn't planned it.
"You've mastered it." Fraye grinned proudly and kissed my temple.
"And I see you turned my servant into a marble," Eliazar said, staring at the marble that I was holding. I frowned, making him continue, "Well, he used to be my servant before he chose to betray me and run away with the family's fortune."
"Explain yourself," I said firmly at the marble. I could feel tension from it.
'That's true, but my reason is because of my family. I had a child that they didn't know about.'
"And you're stupid for not telling them about it." I sighed, shaking my head.
'I'm trying to protect them from the family because back in our days, servants were just servants, and having an affair with the bloodline was a taboo.'
Something clicked in my head. Then I asked firmly, "Who is it?" My voice was firm, demanding honesty as I continued, "Be honest, who are they, your wife and your child?"
'Let's talk in private, please. I don't want any harm happen to them.'
***
We learned the truth after talking privately at the family office. Mirxalyn summoned her cousin Leanne and connected the dots about why she won't be able to marry anyone or accept any potential mates who came to court her. She had a child with a servant, her mate, but was threatened by a greedy nobleman from the court. But Leanne was true to her relationship and never bent to the man's greed and threats; that's why she stayed with the family with her child, who was now an adult vampire, a teacher, and married to Jerome.
"Will you be able to love again if the moon sent you a second chance mate?" I asked, making Leanne study me for a second before nodding.
"Perhaps, but I need to see Jace's body first. I need him home." She answered, yet, hoping for one more glimpse of her old love - it was the same with Jace's wish.
"And he'll be," I responded firmly. I don't know where that conviction came from, but I knew it was my connection to the spirits after entering the land of the dead a couple of times before.
"Don't make promises, Darling." Fraye reminded me.
I get where she was coming from, but I know in my gut what I was doing. "I'm not. I think I know where to find it."