Chapter 126 The First Evernya
A soul deep pain speared through Evernya as the cozy cabin faded to black.
The next thing she knew, she was running down a black hall with blue and green accents. Evernya tried to stop, but found she had no control over her body. Contrary to what she should feel, excitement bubbled as her body ran as fast as it could down the hall.
Suddenly the hall blurred by her body activated turbo mode, reaching the end of the hall in a moment. She yanked open the door to find herself in an expansive room with one wall all glass, giving her a view of a bustling city below.
Seated on a couch were two smiling Draecath. A powerfully build male had blue coloring and a petite female had green horns and eyes.
Loving warmth joined her excitement as she ran up to the Draecath tackle hugging the male Draecath.
A booming laugh filled the room as he hugged her back. “Happy birthday little princess.”
Evernya wiggled out of his hug before turning toward the other Draecath, who also gave her a warm smile. She moved to give another tackle hug, only for the female Draecath’s green eyes to flash with power before Evernya levitated off the ground.
With a teasing smile, the woman sent Evernya in a spin. Evernya let out a squeal before using her own magic to stabilize herself. Evernya’s eyes flashed power breaking the magic. She landed on her feet, glaring at the woman with a pouty expression.
“Excellent job my princess.” Complimented the woman with a loving smile.
“Everything is training for you mother.” Grumbled Evernya’s body, causing Evernya to gasp internally.
What is going on? Is this an illusion? It feels so real though. Could it be memories of the previous Evernya? But I thought those were erased when she died.
Now more curious than ever, Evernya paid closer attention to the scene as her body moved on its own.
“You must grow strong to survive.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s always your excuse. What if I want to live here all my life? No one could beat you two.”
“Don’t give me that. I know you want to explore the world when you evolve.”
A self-conscious expression formed as Evernya’s body muttered, “Still, that’s years away. I’m not as special as you. I won’t evolve until my first century at best.”
Faster than she could follow, her father flashed forward, bonking her between her ears. “Don’t say that. You will surpass us in no time.”
Unable to watch his teary-eyed daughter, her father shifted the topic. “Now let’s get to your presents. We had something special made for you.”
As if a switch flipped, her excitement came back. She bounced on her feet, waiting for her parents to reveal her presents.
They let her stew for several minutes before both of them waved their hands to materialize two mountains of presents all wrapped in black and blue wrapping paper.
Turbo mode instantly activated, sending her blurring form toward the mountains. With her claws, she shredded through the wrapping faster than any human child ever could.
The first present she opened was a pair of socks dampening her excitement for a moment, until she found them to be made of Evernium. She set them aside to move on, but every present she opened was either clothes or jewelry, which she liked, but as the mountains dwindled she grew confused as every year they gave her at least one special present, but none showed up.
After opening the last present, which was a beautiful blue and black Evernium dress, she scanned the room to see if she missed one.
Her parents chuckled at their daughter’s antics, again, letting her stew for several minutes. They glanced at each other before speaking through their bond. “did we spoil her too much? Maybe we should save them for next year.”
Evernya’s mother’s face hardened as she spoke. “No, she needs them to be safe. The surrounding countries are growing restless. I think they will try something soon. She is growing up. We can’t shelter her forever. It’s time she ventures outside on her own.”
“Is she ready? She’s only eighteen. She’s still a baby. Maybe we should wait another couple of decades.”
“No, I was on my own by her age. While I would never cut her off, she needs to grow up. She will never reach her potential if we coddle her.”
“I hope you are right. I could never live with myself if we lost her.”
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“Neither could I.”
Both parents returned their attention to their daughter, who was staring at them expectantly. They raised their hands, each materializing an identical spider like item.
Evernya’s eyes widened as the two items floated in front of her. “Are those?”
Her mother nodded her head as she replied, “Yes, we decided you were ready for your own Manite Weapon.”
An ear piercing squeal flattened everyone’s ears, including the squealer as Evernya grabbed for the floating weapons only for them to float out of her reach.
“No yet. You know the dangers of bonding with a soul weapon. We will ready the ceremony tonight. For now, clean up your mess.”
Evernya pouted but complied. She waved her hand over the piles of shredded wrapping paper, making them disappear into her storage ring. Once inside her ring, she mentally shifted them into waiting trash bins she stored earlier before withdrawing the filled bins, looking at her parents with a smug expression.
“Took you long enough.” Commented her mother, buzz killing her daughter.
Evernya pouted as she stored the bins once more before stomping off to dispose of them.
The vision fast forwarded after she left the room, burning every moment into her as if she lived them herself, which she did in the long-forgotten past.
It returned to normal speed as she walked down a lit night street a little over a year later. Completely at ease, she trotted up the main street toward the castle overlooking the city. On a whim she veered to the left down a dark alley, deciding to take a different route home.
A frown formed as her near perfect night vision failed to pierce the dark. Feeling something was off, she stopped to turn around, only for something to suddenly wrap around her neck. Her magic exploded outward, shattering the alley walls, but it was too late. A violating mana burned its way through her body toward her mana core from her neck. A scream ripped from her mouth as she collapsed to her knees. Rage flared as she flooded her body with mana, but it was no use. No matter how much mana she pumped into her body, it couldn’t reach the forming mana vein.
Realization formed, prompting her to activate turbo mode to rush home, but before she could take a step, mana sucked out of the alley. She gasped for breath as she continued to pump mana into her legs, but without any mana, her body withered within moments. With the last bit of mana, she activated her beacon ring as her vision dimmed to black.
Her eyes flickered open to find herself laying on a cold basement floor. A throbbing pain around her neck drew her hands upward. She prodded the band with growing horror.
A dark chuckle drew her panic filled eyes upward to find a group of humans standing over her. “Finally awake are we? Good, you can finally make yourself useful.”
“My parents will hunt you down for this.” Growled Evernya.
“Oh, I’m sure they will try, but it will be far too late by then.”
“What do you mean?”
“You will know soon enough.”
Before Evernya could speak further, the man spoke with a mana infused voice. “I Erik Sespina Third Prince of the glorious Sespina Kingdom compel Crown Princess Evernya Draor Draxia Draorxia.”
Evernya instantly stiffened as her face went blank. All thoughts grew dim. As she lost her consciousness she heard the man speak. “I can’t have you fighting my control. I don’t need you only your body, so time for you to go away for a while.”
Her rage burned, but no matter what she did, her thoughts grew dimmer by the second as the band fused to her neck pumped a foreign mana into her body.
The next thing she knew, she was kneeling in the fields outside her home. She tried to stand, but found her body unresponsive. Hope filled her as she spotted her mother flying toward her, but before she could reach her, the man standing next to her spoke in a cold tone. “I compel you to kill yourself.”
Without specifics, her body remained still for a moment before delving deep within and ripping out her own soul. Her soul floated into the air now free of the enslavement but helpless to stop her body from falling dead just as her mother reach her.
A heart wrenching scream overpowering the mad cackling of the man sent shivers through the surrounding soldier.
As she floated away to places unknown, she screamed for her mother, but being a soul, she couldn’t hear her.
Her mother suddenly stilled before standing while cradling her dead daughter. She turned her burning eyes on the million plus army standing behind Erik Sespina.
She flinch as her soul bond shot back to her now severed. In desperation, she shot into the sky before flying toward her city, now on fire, toward her mate.
Her heart shattered as she arrived at the door to their home to find their trusted aide standing over her headless mate with a sword in his hand, dripping with glowing bluish blood.
Something snapped within her as she grasped deep into the land on the ley line. Power poured into her, frying her insides, but she ignored it as she levitated her dead mate’s body to join her daughter.
More and more power funneled into her body far beyond her capacity. The very air distorted as she locked eyes with her mate’s killer.
Knowing his end was near, he bowed his head in shame. “I’m sorry, my lady. They left me no choice. May I burn for all eternity for my sins.”
He sent the sword though he chest into his heart, killing himself.
Beyond the point of feeling, Avonya Draor floated over her once prosperous city, now burning to the ground. She turned cold unfeeling eyes on the armies surrounding the city walls before pulling one last time on the ley line, severing its connection to the source pool.
With everything she had, she released a force explosion, devastating everything in sight. The city disappeared within a moment as the space warping force traveled toward the retreating armies.
Millions of bodies exploded within seconds, unable to escape the judgement of a wronged queen.
Evernya’s soul floated in the air, wailing for the loss of her father as the force shattered space sent her tumbling through the void.
After floating for an eternity dwelling on what she lost, a presence found her now dim soul floating in the void, yanking her toward a white room.
Fragmented from the millennia in the void, she floated in the room flicking.
A blinding bright woman sat on a throne spoke in a voice filled with power. “Poor child. To think Avonya condemned you to this existence.”
Unable to form coherent thoughts, Evernya remained silent.
“As much as I could love to give you back to your mother, you are too fragmented to return. How about this? I’ll send you to a magicless world to live a mortal life until your soul is ready.”
A flicker of suspicion flashed within the barely sentient orb for a moment, unwilling to trust, despite no longer knowing why.
“Your mother has more than earned the return of her daughter. I fear she is at the edge of breaking permanently soon. We can’t afford to lose someone as talented as her, so your payment is to exist for your mother’s sake.”
The shining woman gave Evernya’s soul a push, sending her on her way to her new life.
“I hope she can survive the trials ahead.”