Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising by Peter Koevari Read Free Book Online Page B

didn’t feel warm… it felt icy cold,
foreign.
    Who could that be? He thought.
    His heart pounded so hard that he
could feel it pushing against his chest. He slowly turned his head
to his right, breathing ragged and deep. Where Helenia once lay was
a fresh pool of blood. He tracked the bloodstained footsteps around
the room.
    He found that nobody was
there.
    Has she disappeared? He thought, his fear overtaking him as his eyes
darted around the room, desperately searching for an answer. The
only sound was blood rain pounding on the roof as he continued
searching the room.
    Running his hands through his hair,
his eyes narrowed with confusion. His voice wavered as he called
out, “By the gods, what is going on?”
    He took a few steps forward and began
to regain his senses. Remembering that he had placed his sword by
the fireplace, he ran to its place and ground to a halt in front of
the crackling fire. His sword was gone.
    An icy cold shiver danced down his
spine, and then… he heard her.
    From the darkest corner of the room,
he could hear the sound of a woman whimpering. He turned to see
Helenia, her head and shoulders hunched over her knees, harshly
rocking. She shook violently, her legs drenched in blood,
contrasting with her ghastly pale white skin.
    He ran to her side, his voice breaking
when he called, “Helenia!”
    He crouched beside her, his stomach
sickening from worry.
    “ My love, what is
happening?” he asked.
    Her head twisted sideways unnaturally,
the sound of her vertebrae sharply snapping filled his ears and her
face jerked up to his. Vartan almost fell backward as the face of
Kassina stared at him with glowing red eyes, blood pouring from her
mouth when she cackled with laughter.
    She sprung to her feet and launched at
his direction, her words spat from her lips, “You, little,
insect!”
    She flew unnaturally through the air
and collided with him. The force of the blow sent him crashing to
the ground—Kassina straddled his body, grinding against him
mockingly.
    “ Is this who you want?” she
growled, tiny droplets of blood splattering on his face with each
word. Her head shook with such ferocity that it blurred until he
saw Kassina’s face change to Helenia’s.
    “ By the gods,” said
Vartan.
    The skin on her back ripped open as
eight spider-like legs expanded to pound through the floorboards
around him. Two of them pinned his hands to the ground. Her other
arachnid legs stroked his body. Blood from her mouth now dripped
and oozed over his neck, the heat and stench of it bringing bile to
his throat. As much as he struggled, he couldn’t break free from
her tight hold.
    Her face shifted back to her own and
gazed at him with piercing eyes.
    Kassina laughed through blood soaked
teeth. “You think you can defeat me?”
    “ I will take your precious
little Helenia from you and drag her into the underworld from which
she will never return! She will become our toy, something to amuse
us when we are bored. And you, will be mine!” she
growled.
    She leaned in to kiss Vartan, forcing
his mouth open with her hands and sliding her elongated demonic
tongue deep into his mouth. Blood filled his throat and he began to
choke.

    “ No!” yelled Vartan,
jerking upright and striking the air before him. Suddenly awake,
the glow of crystals and Trisa’s worried face quickly reminding him
that he was in Trahoterra.
    Vartan let out a sigh of relief and
wiped the sweat from his forehead.
    “ I must have been
dreaming,” he said through a pale face.
    He turned to Trisa, pulling her close
to him in a flurry of panic. “But this wasn’t a pleasant dream
Trisa… it was horrible,” he said, releasing her. “It had better not
be a vision, or I think I am really going to lose my
mind.”
    She gently pat his shoulder
and gave him a reassuring smile as she said kindly, “That may be a
side effect of the herbs that I had to use to heal you. Don’t
worry, they will ease over time.”
    He stood up slowly,