CHAPTER 26: WICKED SPIRITS
1591 Words
ICARUS
The world was once again being cleaned from one of these wicked creatures called witches.
Watching Hera burn to death brought me satisfaction and I could not hide the satisfying smile that creeped up on my lips.
Her shrill cries were a sweet melody to my wolf, and the cheering crowd in support of my action stroked my ego.
But I was not just doing it for the people's approval. It was impossible to forget how witches wiped out my entire family. The memory filled my soul with rage whenever I thought of it, and it fuelled my quest for revenge.
As long as I lived, every witch had to pay the ultimate price for the sins of their ancestors. Since it was so easy for their kind to take the life of my entire family, I would do the same to theirs and their generations to come.
I was so engrossed in the burning woman that I was not quick to notice Freya's disappearance. When I eventually did, I searched through the crowd of people, scanning every face in search of hers but there was none.
Where did she go and why did she leave without telling me? Was she upset because I did not take her word?
She did try to stop me from going ahead with the witch's execution, but I refused to give in to her pleas. She should be grateful that I did not burn the child as well.
Why was she so compassionate towards the witch anyways? Did she have any idea the amount of havoc a witch could wreck if they unleash their powers?
Well, they will never get the chance to unleash such powers. Not on my watch.
I walked away from the mob in search of Freya. Maybe she was tired after the long journey and needed to rest. If that was the case, then I could totally understand.
“Hey, have you seen my Luna?” I asked one of the guards who was standing behind the crowd.
“Uh...I saw her run off a few minutes ago, but I am not sure where.” Came his reply.
I nodded absentmindedly, looking around for where she could have possibly gone.
“Did she go this way or that way?” I asked the guards, pointing in the two opposite directions.
“Uh, neither Sir. She ran straight ahead.”
Where in the world was she running to and what was she running from?
I walked towards the car to check if she was inside and there she was, sitting with her head lowered and her face buried in her palms. Her shoulders quaked, and it caught my attention immediately.
I tried to open the door, only to realise it was locked from inside. I resorted to knocking on the window.
“Freya! Open up!”
She raised up her tears stained face, a look of betrayal gleaming from her eyes.
“Freya, what is going on? Open up, please!” I pleaded, still knocking on the window.
“Go away!” Came her muffled scream.
“Freya...Freya talk to me, please…” I insisted, but she did not seem ready to give me a listening ear. “I am not leaving until you tell me what's wrong.”
Her head suddenly shot upwards and the fury in her eyes made my stomach twist in knots.
“You want to know what is wrong?" Freya asked, going on to unlock the door. “I will tell you what is wrong!”
She stepped out of the car afterwards, slamming the door behind her.
“You and your wolf people are sick! Everyone of you!” She screamed at my face.
I stared at her in confusion. What was all this about? Was she still angry about the accusations thrown at her at the White wolf ball?
“Freya...where is this coming from?” I asked her, with my face marred with confusion.
I had seen Freya angry a lot of times, but never as angry as she was at that moment.
She took menacing steps towards me but I stood my ground until her chest was a hair's breadth from me. There was something terrifying about Freya at that moment. Her eyes pierced through my soul like darts, sharp and accusatory.
“How could you, Icarus?” Freya's voice broke. “You took that woman's life for nothing and you made her child watch. Heck, you even wanted to kill her child as well!”
I blinked at Freya in disbelief. Was she really trying to defend the witch?
“Freya, that woman was a witch!” I fired back. “I do not think you have any idea of what witches are capable of. If you did, you would not be standing here, defending them!”
Freya shook her head sadly. “Can you not see you are the real problem? You fear what you do not understand. She did not deserve to die just because she was a witch, Icarus. She did not hurt anyone!”
“Yet. She did not hurt anyone yet, Freya.” I narrowed my eyes on her. “These creatures are evil, consumed by wickedness and they are not capable of any good. They do not deserve to walk the face of the earth.”
“That is not true, Icarus.” Freya replied vehemently.
I was yet to understand why Freya was bent on taking the witch's side. These people she defended with tears and intense passion would not hesitate to snuff out the life from her lungs if they needed to.
They were monsters.
“Everything I have done today was to protect my people.” I narrowed my eyes on Freya. “I would not stand and let a witch live freely in my city or wherever I find them.”
I turned my face away from her. “I understand that your natural instinct as a being is to show love and compassion towards another being, but witches do not deserve any ounce of compassion.”
Freya's sniffs drew my attention back to her once again.
“They are ruthless, and they draw their powers from wicked spirits, using their curse to perpetrate evil wherever they go.”
I placed my hand on Freya's shoulder, staring straight into her sorrowful eyes. With my thumb, I wiped a stray tear from her cheeks.
“Those monsters deserve to die a thousand deaths, Freya. Do not waste your precious tears on their undeserving souls.”
“Get your freaking hands off me!” Freya snapped, slapping my hands away from her face, turning her back to me.
“She is dead now, and I hope you are happy.”
Those were Freya's last words before she ran away into the woods.
***
FREYA
I ran as fast as my feet could carry me, not stopping even though my legs hurt and my thighs burned. Every breath of air was like tiny paper cuts to my lungs, but I kept running.
Images of the woman being set on fire replayed in my head and the heart piercing screams haunted my soul.
I tried. I really tried, but I could not stop those monsters from taking her life.
The blood l**t in their eyes, the thrill in their voices as they chanted ‘Kill her!’ made me go nauseous.
She was someone's mother, sister and friend, and her life was taken from her just because she was a witch.
I could not believe I was starting to grow soft on Icarus. Our relationship was getting less rocky, and I had allowed the soulbond bloom for a moment.
I was foolish.
I had let myself be carried away by his show of love that I did not pause to consider a very important truth.
Would Icarus still treat me the same way he had treated me if he found out I was a witch?
I bet he would not.
He had watched me burn alive before. What would stop him from doing so again?
All his promises of protection and love would all disappear and he would look at me with those same gelid eyes he directed to the woman before she was tied to a stake and burnt alive.
Even our soul ties will not matter at that moment. The mating bond would mean nothing to him, and none of my pleas and cries would be heard.
My blood pulsed under my veins as I ran deeper into the woods. How did I get here? How did I let myself get to the point where the memory of what he did to me and my family fade as they were slowly being replaced by fonder memories?
Now all those fond memories faded into dust, and the only vivid memories were the memories of his gelid eyes and satisfying smile as he watched my skin melt under the fire.
The purpose for my reincarnation had never been so clear, and I was not going to let them down.
My late husband,
My son,.
Every witch Icarus had killed unjustly,
Every one of them was counting on me to avenge their souls, and I will not let them down.
I let myself crumple on my knees, beaten down, tired and blinded by fury. As I panted for air, tears and sweat dripping down my face, only one thought screamed in my mind so loudly that I could hear it in my ears.
Icarus had to die.
- Writer
