Chapter 83: Unknown savior
Aira’s POV
I can’t believe everyone tried to keep me away from such a beautiful day. Indeed, I have to be going out more; I can’t allow myself to be locked up forever. Just take a look at how beautiful the weather is.
The sun is warm and shines brightly above the earth. The sky was the prettiest shade of blue I have ever seen. The air was warm, and the people of the local market all had welcoming smiles on their faces as they traded amongst themselves.
The air was fresh as well, filled with the laughter of children and the quarrels of mothers. This is the environment I wanted to be in, not within the four walls of that empty palace, void of life.
As I walked deeper into the market, I got warm greetings from the locals. “Good morning, Luna. What are you looking for today?”
“Luna! Come buy from me!”
“Luna Aira, you look so beautiful!”
I returned most of their words with warm smiles and gentle waves. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to exchange pleasantries with them. As much as I hate to admit it, I need to return to the palace before Alex returns.
I have stressed that poor man out enough. At this rate, I am certain he must have high blood pressure because of me.
My gaze falls on a cart filled with curry, and I walk up to it. The trader’s eyes light up when he sees me walking towards him. He appears to be a man in his mid-twenties. He has brown, wavy hair, eyes that resemble chocolate, and a smile as sweet as honey.
When I stop at his cart, he perks up. “Luna! It is an honor to have you. What would you like?”
“Just some curry. How much is it?” I ask him, and he shakes his head.
“You may have it for free,” he says, and my eyes widen a bit.
“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly take it for free. That would be so wrong of me,” I tell him, but he is already putting some bottles of curry into a bag and packaging them up for me.
“And it would be wrong of me to collect money from the woman who has been risking her life to guide and protect this kingdom, my family, and me. Believe me, giving you this for free isn’t even close to paying you back for what you have done for us,” he says, and my heart flutters from his words.
“Thank you. Your kindness is much appreciated,” I say before taking the bag from him.
“A pleasure.”
I leave his cart and go in search of the chili. The eyes of the locals bore holes into every part of my body, and it leaves this invisible weight on my shoulders. Their whispers were inaudible, but I knew it was about me.
I need to find this chili and get the hell out of here. Suddenly being out here feels terribly wrong. I have this discomforting feeling that I am not supposed to be here. I should have listened to the others. I should have stayed at home.
My feet come to a halt when I stumble upon a wailing child. She appears to be between the ages of four and perhaps five. She is seated in the middle of the road, covered in dirt, and crying her eyes out. The sight broke me into a thousand pieces.
“Hey there, little one. Where is your mommy?” I ask her, crouching down by her side.
A sob wracks her throat, and her little lip trembles. She points ahead and says, “I can’t find her.”
My eyebrows furrow, and I follow her finger. Does she mean that her mother went that way? My eyes remain glued to the space in the distance. That area was quiet. Too quiet.
And in a second, that is when I see it.
Scooping the girl into my arms, I spin on my heel and yell, “Everyone run!”
I have never witnessed chaos erupt so fast in my life. What was once a happy trading environment is now a sea filled with corpses and the scent of blood. Rogues filed into the areas like bees, killing off everyone in their sight.
The women ran with their children in their arms, and the men turned into their Lycan forms, holding them off for the children and women to get to safety. But they were outnumbered. The women and children made up the majority of the population in the market. Our men were dropping like flies.
My grip on the child tightens as I sprint to safety. The screams and cries of children instantly bring my feet to a halt. From the distance, a wolf sprinted towards three trembling children, and my heart nearly burst out of my chest.
“No!”
Without thinking, I aim at the sprinting wolf and clench my fist, imagining the air around my hand to be his neck and clenching it with as much force as possible. The wolf’s neck snaps to the side, and he falls lifelessly before the children.
Their screams of horror fill my ears as I make my way up to them. Dropping the little girl in my hands, I gather them and say, “Stay together, okay? It’s all going to be fine.”
I tell them, but they pay me no attention. Their eyes are trained on the massacre behind me. Their eyes are wider than saucers, brimming with tears and fear.
“Look out!” one of the boys yells, pointing at something behind me. Spinning on my heel, three rogues make their way to me, and I repeat my previous action, only this time with both hands. Unfortunately, I am only able to kill two of them.
Before I can get to the third one, he pounces on me and sinks his canines into my shoulder. The scream that leaves my lips cuts through the air as pain engulfs my entire body. A second later, the wolf pulls me off, and I sink to my knees.
With teary eyes, I watch a tall figure rip the head off the wolf’s body. The horrified screams of the children fill my ears, and I quickly turn to them, ignoring the pain on my bleeding shoulder.
The two young girls had their eyes covered, but the boys watched everything with wide, horrified eyes. “Cover your eyes!” I ordered them, but they didn’t make a move; they were paralyzed to the spot with fear.
My arms encircle all four of them protectively, and my body serves as a shield from the horrifying madness going on around us.
The unknown man stands protectively above us, ripping through wolves like they were nothing but pieces of paper. And he did all of this in his human form. I have never witnessed such strength before in my life.
What was he? A wolf? Or a Lycan?
Even with his back to me, I could tell that he was a strong man. The muscles on his back were evident even through his black shirt. His arms were muscular and covered with so many scars.
So many stories…
I am snapped out of my thoughts when two rogues sprint towards us. My grip on the children tightened as I prepared myself to sacrifice my body to protect these trembling little ones. But none of the rogues get to me.
I watched with amazement as the unknown man grabbed both rogues by the throats with a speed I could not comprehend and snapped their necks with such great strength. He did all of this with his back to me. I wanted to see his face so bad.
Relief washes over me when Lycans come flooding into the area, Alex being one of them. They kill off most of the rogues, but only two make a break for it.Text © by N0ve/lDrama.Org.
Alex quickly returns to his human form, and that is when his eyes lock with mine. Then they fell on my bleeding shoulder.
Never in my life have I seen so much rage.
I swallow, tearing my gaze from his and returning it to my unknown savior. But he wasn’t there.
What the hell? He was standing there just a few seconds ago.
I didn’t even get the chance to thank him.
“What the fuck are you doing here?!”
Well, I suppose I have bigger things to worry about.