The One after my Heart

The man clothed in black stood there as though he blended into the night, as he held out a bleeding heart in his right hand with his eyes fixed on the corpse before him. Barlow's body had weirdly turned into some dried-out skeleton with disfigured rotting flesh.

He had heard the last words the witch spoke as well as caught the expression on her face before she died. He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind since he couldn't make anything out of it. Probably a dying person's mindless muttering, he mused.

His figure stood there entirely still, momentarily paused as he briefly thought back on it. After which he looked at the woman in his arms and then turned back to look at Bree. He finally turned his eyes in the direction where Nisa took off.

With Kyra still in his arms, he flashed towards Bree, who laid on one of the three stone beds struggling to breathe as her body trembled in pain. Her body looked sapped out of moisture and vitality as she almost turned into a desiccated corpse.

The person held Barlow's heart as he stared at it with his blood-red eyes and then squeezed his fist around it with a serious look on his face. Instead of just a few drops of blood being squeezed out and falling to the ground, at the next instant, what happened mysteriously was a huge amount of blood-red mist that came out from the heart. The shimmering bright red-mist swirled in the air before him, floating in the air as it twisted and turned.

He threw away the heart that had now turned into what looked like a shrivelled tomato wholly dried out in the sun. The man raised his index finger as he slowly pointed towards Bree and silently muttered, "Blood reversal-Assimilate".

At the next moment, the blood-red mist, immediately as though receiving an order, surged towards Bree's body as it entered her body from the eyes, nose, ears and mouth.

Bizarrely, all of a sudden, the dark-brown skinned Bree's body underwent a considerable change. As though a starving plant, as she took in the mist into her body, it felt like time had reversed.

Her deflated body, skin and looks turned back into her previous young form and regained their lustre. Even the bruises on her face cleared up in no time as it healed as showcased her attractive face.

Bree's body that kept trembling previously in pain relaxed all in no time, and her eye-lids slowly started to twitch, showing signs that she would soon wake up.

The so-called Young Lord didn't stop there. He laid his right index finger above her forehead and slowly brought it down. The nail on his index finger slowly grew by an inch as it turned sharp as a blade. He pierced her forehead skin with his razor-sharp nail as he carved a lightning-shaped jagged symbol in the middle of her forehead.

After which he then drew another lightning symbol, but this time in reverse, like a mirror image, having them criss-cross and intersect each other, making it look like a chain as he murmured, "Blood... Seal!"

The mark shone red brightly for a few seconds, after which it slowly dimmed and disappeared, leaving no trace of any symbol or wound.

Bree slowly opened her eyes to see a pair of blood-red eyes staring at her with an indifferent cold-expression on his striking face. In his arms was Kyra, peacefully unconscious as she laid on his left chest.

Bree slowly straightened herself up as she cautiously stood up and looked around her. She noticed the old-dark witch's and the beefy straggler's dead bodies on the ground. As much as Bree regretted owing people, especially to someone such as this person, she knew the man in front of her had saved her life.

After a pause under the gaze of those red eyes, Bree slight bowed towards the man and said," I thank the young Lord Black for saving my life and taking the trouble. May I ask where is Crane? It was him who was supposed to be here tonight. We had an agreement after all."

"Crane is occupied with another errand, and couldn't make it here in time hence I came. Besides, I was bored and wanted a breath of fresh air.", replied the man in black cooly as his blood-red eyes slowly turned back into icy-cold blue ones and a small smile travelled across his lips.

Bree's eyebrows twitched but remained silent. 'To take a breath of fresh air you travelled hundreds of thousand miles? Who are you kidding? Do you think I'm a child who'll buy this nonsense?', she thought to herself but remained silent.

She couldn't help but wonder if Crane was killed by the man standing in front of her. She knew and heard many rumours about the young Lord being playful but very dangerous, cold and decisive. His mood would instantly change every now and then, and he hated following the rules the most.

"Anyways, now that I'm here, on behalf of Crane I'll collect what was agreed upon. Where is it?" he asked Bree as he looked at her. "Apparently it has immense value to the Blood Lord, so it's best not to dally any more."

Bree was taken aback at this information and immediately regretted her previous decision. She wondered if she did the right thing by letting out her family secret. But it was too late now. It would be hard to trick this person, and even if she managed to succeed, only a bloodbath would follow across the entire domain following the wrath of his anger. Besides, now she owed her his life since it could be said he saved her.

All Bree could hope was it was not something dangerous and harmful that would affect the peace and power balance in the world involving the three domains. She could feel his ice cold-blue eyes staring intently into her eyes, reading her every expression with a slight smile on his face.

"It's hidden at a secret location which only us few Vandermire know about. You wouldn't find it on your own. It's best I accompany you. Besides, you're not supposed to be here in this domain, you know that. You should know the council wouldn't be happy."

The man in black nodded as he stared into Bree's eyes and nodded inwardly. He purposely let out that it was necessary to his father. If he found her backing out, he wouldn't mind killing her here right now himself. This would end up as just another interesting evening to him. Besides, he had a fair idea of where their so-called secret location was.

Although it would be troublesome, he was confident he could retrieve it, though it would get a little messy and bloody.

"But young Lord, since my agreement was with Crane, I'll need another additional favour from you before I hand over the item, young Lord. The terms have to be changed. I will agree to hand over the item only after you agree to the terms and help me ", Bree said at the next second, looking at the person in front of her with a determined look in her eyes.

The Young Lord's eyes immediately went cold as he waited for her to continue.

Bree immediately felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she felt herself just moments from her death. But she didn't back down as she clenched her fists with a determined expression on her face.

"There's a hideout of a band of stragglers along the way within a hundred miles away from here. They traffick and kidnap young children and witches for dark witches as sacrifices. I need your assistance in killing them all", she continued with hate in her expression.

"You want me to help you kill a bunch of bandits? Didn't I mention this matter is the utmost priority? Are you trying to court your own death?" he spoke frostily as his posture slightly hunched toward as though he would attack her any moment.

Bree found herself freezing under his glare and could feel her heart pounding wildly against her chest, but she still managed to blurt the rest of her words out. "If you disagree, you can kill me here right now. Trust me when I say this, you'll never get what you want without my help", she said as she looked straight into his blue eyes resolutely.

The man in black looked at her in brief silence for a while before he spoke with a slight annoyance in his tone. "The Vandermires are known for their noble tenacity and stubborn personalities indeed."

"What's your name?", he asked after a slight pause as he looked into her eyes.

"Brianna Vandermire or just Bree", she replied.

"Hmmm," he nodded.

But after a pause, he continued with a grin on his face, "Alright then, we have a deal. I like you compared to the other Vandermire witches, Anna", he said in a teasing voice. He admired her courage and intentions, though he didn't show it on his face. Besides, she was no different from a beauty herself, especially with that rich dusky brown skin and that cropped hair.

Bree sighed in relief as she nodded and looked at the person in his arms.

The man, following her gaze, looked down and lifted the sleeping Kyra as he stepped forward and placed her gently on the stone bed that was previously occupied by Bree.

An interesting woman. He didn't know why, but he felt reluctant after he separated her from his embrace. It was a weird, unfamiliar and unsettling feeling.

A light, pleasant breeze swept across them through the forest, rustling the leaves all around.

The young Lord looked at the beautiful figure in front of him, sleeping peacefully. His lips curled upwards in a smile as he admired what he saw and recalled their previous conversation.

"I think.... I like this one as well", his voice murmured softly in the dark night.