Chapter 208

208 Chapter 208 : We’re going home

Gareth and Elric took a step forward both scared the strange man would hurt Melissa, but with the wave of the mage’s hand the two men froze in place. He then lowered his hand to Melissa’s bandaged side after which a warm white light engulfed her wound, healing it completely.

Melissa touched her side and blinked rapidly in confusion, “the wound..” the looked up at the mage, “it’s gone.” The only part of the man’s face she could see was his lips, the rest of it was covered by the hood of his cloak.

Kaiser Stefan on the other hand seemed to have some sort of idea on who the man was. “You’re one of the mages of the rocks aren’t you?”

The man’s lips curved into a smile, “what a fine memory you have Kaiser, I indeed am. The first one to be precise.”

“The mages of the rocks?” Maria mumbled before looking up at the mage, “you’re the ones you initiated the rebirth cycle are you not?”

The man rose to his feet and noded before reaching for Melissa’s hand and helping her up. “Aye, it is I who initiated the reincarnation cycle and set in motion the lives the four choosen ones have lived.” He then took a step towards Gareth and smiled at him, “it is also I who has been leaving little notes of encouragement for you son of Aragon.”

Estel’s eyes widened at the mage’s words. “Son of Aragon?” She got to her feet and carefully studied the dark haired elf who had been frozen by magic, his eyes the only things that could move. “You’re.... you’re my brother?”

“That he is,” the mage responded, “and so is the battle hungry blonde one over there.”

Estel followed the man’s finger that was pointing to Finwe who was cleaning his bloody blade. These were her younger brothers? Oh gods, she was so confused and happy at the same time.

.....

Gareth on the other hand was putting pieces together in his head. So this man was the one who had left him the notes, and the ring, and the white horse as well? Had he been watching over them all this time?

The mage then turned to Elric and gave him a taunting smile, “stubborn lycan, you waste your strength fighting so hard for what is not yours when what belongs to you is yet to come. If you keep this up, you may lose what is truly yours.”

If Elric could move he would have frowned, what did he mean he was fighting for something that was not his? Was he talking about Melissa?

“I cannot reveal much now,” the mage spoke to all of them, “the time to answer all your burning questions will arrive soon enough.” He placed a gentle hand on Melissa’s stomach making her gasp lightly. “I am here to clear the air about this little miracle Melissa carries.”

The mage looked up at Elric and gave him a small smile, “she isn’t yours Elric, at least not yet..” the last part was said in a faint tone, almost a whisper that only Melissa had heard. “This child was fathered by the son of Aragon, and hence shall be born and raised as such.” The mage then turned to Gareth, “that child she carries was the solution you seeked to break the curse.”

And just like that, like the seeds of a dandelion, the mage shuttered into a million shards of light that were carried away by the wind, consequently releasing Gareth and Elric from their frozen states.

After the white clocked mage disappeared, Elric felt his heart drop to his stomach. Had that man just said that the baby Melissa was carrying wasn’t his? How was that possible? He had lain with her on their honeymoon, wasn’t that when she had conceived their child. The silver haired king turned to the elf who was walking towards Melissa. Wait, could she have been pregnant the entire time? From the time he retrieved her from Ervelon, had she already been pregnant for Gareth?

The elven prince pulled Melissa into his arms and held her securely, making Elric’s breathing heavy.

“Is it true?” Elric stammered as he took a step towards Melissa and Gareth. He pointed at Melissa’s belly with a shivering hand and gave her a pained expression. “That baby you’re carrying, is it not mine?”

Melissa protectively wrapped her arms around her stomach, she was afraid of what Elric would do now that he knew the truth, but he had to find out eventually. The Nosferatu woman looked up at her husband and gave him an apologetic look, “I’m sorry Elric, even if I wanted to I cannot have your child. A nosferatu can only carry the child of their blood half, and mine is Gareth.”

The eleven king pulled down his collar slightly and exposed the bite mark Melissa had given him. Elric felt like the ground below him started spinning and like there was a sharp ringing in his ears.

“But... but what about our honeymoon..” Elric took another step towards Melissa and felt his temperature begin to rise. “We made love constantly for days on end.”

“We didn’t,” Melissa admitted and looked down. “I worked with the blonde maid from the inn to intoxicate you and convince you we had slept together.” Melissa looked away feeling a little guilty. Even though Gareth was the man she loved she was married to Elric, so no matter how justifiable it may have seemed, getting pregnant for another man other than her husband was unacceptable. “But even if we did lay together on our honeymoon, I was already with child.”

Elric clenched his chest and gnashed his teeth, he was not sure if the pain he was feeling was a heartbreak or he was succumbing to a heart attack, regardless, it was making him lightheaded and blurring his vision.

Melissa looked at the lycan and noticed that he was in some sort of pain. She slowly took a step forward and reached out to him. “Are you alright?”

With a strong and terrifying grip, Elric grabbed Melissa and pulled her in. He turned into his wolf, eyes glowing bright yellow with his claws and fangs bared. He pinned her down with a loud thud and roared in fury.

Marceline and Maria rushed to help but were pushed away by the veil of dark dangerous aura that was flowing from the angry lycan.

“Mel!” Gareth rushed to the lycan and tore through the dark veil with his magic. “Let her go!”

Elric turned to Gareth and roared, the impact sending Gareth flying. The lycan then looked down at the woman who was straggling beneath him and gnashed his teeth in fury. She had betrayed him, betrayed their love, betrayed their marriage and played him for a fool.

Melissa looked up at Elric and grabbed the hand that was holding her down by her neck. Her eyes were misty but she didn’t show fear, she instead showed regret. “I’m sorry...” she mumbled in a strained tone.

Elric was caught off guard by her reaction, shouldn’t she be pleading for her life? Why was she apologizing.

“I’m sorry I betrayed you,” she mumbled as a tear flowed out her eye.

Elric felt his heart break, what was he doing? This is the woman he loved and he was about to kill her. He shot his eyes to the side and saw an all too familiar redhead looking up at him beside Melissa, it was the woman from his dreams and she was holding his arm and giving him a pleading look. She mouthed the words ‘you’ll kill us both’ and Elric immediately retracted his claws and stepped back.

Gareth rushed to Melissa side and carried her in his arms, she was unconscious and had a nasty bruise on her neck. He looked up at Elric angrily and with the wave of his hand sent him flying across the terrain.

After the crush landing, Elric got to his feet and noticed his men and Gareth’s men staring at him.

“Your majesty are you alright?”

“Your majesty what happened?”

“King Elric you look distressed are you hurt?”

“King Elric...”

“Your majesty...”

The lycan roared and sprint passed the many soldiers who were surrounding him. He had to leave, to go somewhere where he could be alone and think, too much was going on and he felt like he was going mad. He sprint across the terrain and dashed into the woods.

“Your majesty!” Clovis turned to the royal guard. “Follow him!”

*

Melissa groaned and opened her eyes, had she fainted or had she died again? And if she had died, what had happened to... Melissa jolted upright and her hands flew to her stomach. “The baby!”

The flapping of the tent opening drew Melissa’s attention. Her face relaxed when she saw Gareth walking in. “Mel...” He squat down and pulled her into his embrace. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Melissa wrapped her arms around the elven king, she sighed in relief when she felt his warmth envelope her. If he was here it meant she hadn’t died and their baby was safe.

The elf pulled away slightly and studied her face and neck, he smiled when he saw that the bruise on her neck was completely gone. “How do you feel, are you alright, do you need anything?”

“I’m fine..” her hand went to her neck and she rubbed it gently. “Elric.. how..”

“He ran off, they have been searching for him for hours now to no avail,” Gareth responded.

“Do you think he’s alright?”

Gareth looked at the beautiful nosferatu woman and sighed. Even when that lycan had tried to kill her she was still concerned about his wellbeing, her soul was too pure for this world. The elven king took off his shoes and moved into Melissa’s furs, laying her gently on his chest and holding her.

“I’m sure he will be fine,” he muttered before placing a kiss atop her head. “Right now you need to focus on getting better so that we can go home.”

Melissa leaned into Gareth’s embrace, “home?”

“Yes my love, you, me and our baby are going to Gavaria.”