ENCHANTED WORLD SERIES BOOK 1: POSSESSED BY LORD MAGE

Noelle opened her eyes and allowed the warmth to seep into her aching and cold bones. For a moment she thought she was back in the fortress with Tyran beside her. She could almost feel his strong thick arms wrapped around her slender shoulders, holding her close to him so that she was no longer afraid of the dark horrible nightmare. She could hear his steady heartbeat and his heady masculine scent wafting into her nostrils.

“Get up princess.” Someone kicked her wedding dress up and connected with her calf.

A sharp pain seared its way through her entire body as she struggled to sit up and face her assaulter. The rope around her wrists bit hard into her tender flesh and the wounds pulsed with her heartbeat. The male removed a nasty looking blade from his leather belt around his lean hips and watched her intently.

This is it. Noelle thought as he approached her cautiously. This is the end and I didn’t even get to see my father again. Tears choked in her throat as the male reached for her and passed the blade behind her to the rope holding her captive. The rope fell away in one slice and finally blood circulated again in her hands. He threw a brown hard-looking piece of bread on her lap and a container of water.

“Eat.” he instructed, his eyes bright with malice. “Then you go meet your father.”

Noelle’s heart jumped into her throat. Finally she was going to see her father. She bit hard into the stale bread and swallowed. It tasted of cardboard and salt but she wasn’t such a picky eater. She was starving and she needed this if she was going to survive.

She noticed that her uncle wasn’t among the males in the cave with her. She also noticed the marks the males had on their pectoral muscles. The last time she saw a mark like that was in one of a story books she read. It was the mark for Kruk the terrible but he was long dead. So, who were these males? His successors?

One more male came in and watched her in distaste. She didn’t cower away at his raw hatred for her. Instead she looked up and met his gaze with her own which was full of contempt.

“The word is that the Lord Mage is searching for you.” He said as he slowly made his way towards her.

“You should be afraid.” Noelle assured them.

The entire cave roared with laughter. They didn’t believe that Tyran could bring hell to them but she saw it first hand when he tried to force the Leo back inside Storm. He commanded so much power that she feared it could destroy him if he wasn’t careful.

“The spell-binder is not strong enough to go against us.” The male smiled cruelly. “He could die trying though. I don’t remember the last time I killed a Royal Mage.”

Noelle pursed her lips to stop the retort that burnt her tongue from coming out. “He’s coming for me and when he does, none of you will be spared.”

“Well, then.” The male sighed. “If that is the case then I don’t think we need you anymore.” He removed yet an amber-like blade and slowly stalked towards her.

Before the rogue even made it to the foot of the rock where she was seated, the male was thrown to the opposite wall and a loud sickening crack echoed in the silence. Noelle clamped her jaws together to stop the scream bubbling in her throat and watched in horror as the large male crumpled onto the floor, his head twisted in an awkward angle. Behind him was her uncle and the white parts of his eyes were completely swallowed by darkness. Strange otherworldly growls emanated from his lips as he looked down at the dead male.

“I said no one touches the princess!” he roared.

The other males muttered softly to themselves and looked away.

“Take this filth out before it starts to stink!” He commanded as he moved towards Noelle.

He yanked her roughly to her feet and led her out of the cave.

“Where are you taking me?” She asked as she struggled to stay on her numb feet. The wedding gown made it difficult for her to keep up the pace with her uncle because it kept tangling itself around her feet at every chance it got.

Ron looked down at her with his bloodshot eyes. “Alston is waiting for you. Maybe if he sees what he has to lose then he’ll start talking.”

Noelle’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

Ron smiled sadly. “My brother doesn’t want to corporate but I think he will once he sees you. You are, after all, his only pride and joy.” the words were bitter.

Noelle followed her uncle through the maze of caves until finally they arrived to a smaller and darker cave. The smell of it reminded her of the sea and earth. There were several animals skins on the floor and empty dirty plates of food. Ron left Noelle at the doorway and entered the small cave.

“Hey, Alston!” he kicked a bundle of rugs and Noelle heard the pained grunt.

Her hands flew to her neck as she tried to breathe through the bitter tears clogging her throat! The bundle of cloths moved around and a face emerged. Noelle looked down at the familiar face yet it was so bruised and swollen that she couldn’t tell if it really was her father. He sat up and looked at her then his lips trembled as his bruised hand reached up for her.

Noelle tasted salt against her lips as she opened them up to try and say something and realized that she was crying. She ran through the small entrance of the cave and hugged her father with bouts of tears coming down her cheeks like gushing summer rain.

“Oh, father!” She sniffled holding him tight, afraid that if she let him go that he would disappear and she would never see him again.

“My dear Noelle.” Noelle heard the tears also behind her father’s weak voice.

Noelle felt the bones protruding on the shoulders and the back of her father’s body. His cheeks were hollowed and his eyes sunken. He looked older with gray and white hair populating his head like never before. She wondered if they ever fed him and...did they torture him?

“I missed you so much, father.” Noelle touched her father’s face with trembling fingers, tracing deep lines that were never there. “I knew you were alive.”

“Enough with the sentiments.” Ron rolled his eyes and sighed lightly. “Alston, I think by now you know how serious I am with what I want. I gave you a chance to corporate but you decided to act all tough and loyal to your other ancient dogs. Well, I’m done playing nice.”

“Noelle has nothing to do with this, Ron—you shouldn’t have involved her.” Alston’s voice strained as he talked to his younger brother.

“You gave me no choice!” Ron hissed. “If you had just told me where the Light Sword is, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Noelle gasped as she turned to her uncle. “The Light Sword? I thought nothing like that existed? I thought it was just a myth?”

Ron smiled wickedly. “I guess your father forgot to mention about his role in banishing the Dark Energy eons ago.”

Noelle turned to her father. “Tell him the Light Sword doesn’t exist, father. Tell him it was just a myth!” Noelle begged with her father to assure her that what she believed as a fairytale was nothing more than that. She feared of what it might mean if those Mortal Locks truly existed. It might change her beliefs entirely!

When Alston hung his head without a word, Noelle felt her entire body go cold. She didn’t even know what to ask. The darkness that she felt in the streets, the crazy wars breaking out in different regions, the belief of a True King of the enchanted world; were they all linked? Did Tyran know about this since he was also an ancient? Did he know about the Mortal Locks? Did he possess one? Was that the reason why he was being targeted by the rogues? So many questions buzzed in Noelle’s little head until she thought she was going to go crazy.

“Like I told you before, I do not possess the Light Sword. Like the Thyest Bow, the Light Sword was tainted by the Dark Energy and was not fit to be wielded by even the strongest of the Fae warrior. Because it was a godly weapon and indestructible, it too was hidden in an undisclosed location, never to be found again. Not even I know where it is!” Alston insisted.

“Liar!” Ron pulled his hand back and slapped his brother across the face.

Noelle shrieked and put herself between the two males. “If my father says he doesn’t know then it is the truth! You should have known this by now! He can never lie especially about something as serious as this!”

Ron snarled at her, his eyes darkening once more. “This is between me and Alston--”

“He’s your brother, goddammit! Why would you treat him like this?” Noelle yelled but Alston’s hand on hers shushed her.

“He is no longer the Ron we know. He’s too far gone into the darkness.” Alston looked up at Ron who twitched like he couldn’t control his own body.

“Don’t talk to about me like you know me, Alston. You don’t know anything about me! You never took the time to know me. You always made excuses about my behavior and never once thought of why I did what I did.” Ron roared.

“Then tell me, why did you do what you did?” Alston turned his old battered face to his brother.

Ron brushed a hand over his tight face and breathed in hard. “I never mattered to you even though I was your only brother. Once you actually gave a damn about me. We were close and you looked after me. I looked up to you because I heard the stories of my brother being a hero for the Fae and for the enchanted world. I was but a baby when the great war against the Dark Energy occurred. Mother and father went to hide in the mountains with everyone else while you and the others sacrificed your lives to bring peace once more.

“I read your stories as I grew up and was proud to have you as my brother. Even after our parents died, you were always there for me and even after people began to forget the great war, I still held pride that my brother was one of the ancients to fight for the goodness of the people. Then Reina came into your life and everything changed.

“You never looked at me again. It was as if I was just a shadow or an irritating pest in your fortress. No matter what I did, you didn’t bother with me. You had no idea how much I missed my brother and you didn’t even bother to ask how I was doing. Do you know how that feels? And then Noelle was born.” Ron turned to Noelle with his eyes glassy and angry. “You shut me out completely. I was so angry with you and I just wanted everything to go back as it was before Reina and Noelle came into our lives. I did what I had to do to make sure it was just the two of us again. My poor sick sister-in-law....” He tsked sadly but the sadness didn’t reach his eyes. “No one really knew what was wrong with her. Her health deteriorated day by day--”

“You murderer!” Noelle felt her heart seize to beat in her chest as she looked up at her uncle. Although she thought him odd and a little dark, she never thought him a murderer! She wanted to forgive him, oh how she wanted to have back her uncle but now she had no idea if she wanted to see him alive again.

“Spax did the trick. Slow and untraceable. Add a little of spax poison in her tea everyday and her body organs started shutting down.” Ron finished.

Spax poison was found in pixie mushroom rings in the forest. The mushroom spores were deadly even to the animals and it was the reason why not even mice went close to a pixie mushroom ring in the forest. Pixies used these rings to protect themselves for predators at night when they danced and slept. It was a very rare poison and only the pixies knew the antidote to it. It was the reason why the healers couldn’t find the problem with her mother. They had no idea what they were looking for!

Noelle felt her father trembling beside her and when she turned, she found new grooves of tears forming on his cheeks. She held him tightly and turned to her uncle. “You are going to rot in hell for this, Ron! I’ll make sure that as long as I am alive, I’ll make you pay!”

“I have already won, Noelle.” Ron turned to her coldly. “I would have got rid of you too but then I discovered you were to be mated to the Lord Mage—and I thought, maybe it isn’t such a bad idea to have you so far away and then you fled!” He gritted his teeth at her. “You fled to the human world, you little coward and I had a glitch in my plans. But then again, thanks to you, the little war between the Mage and Fae covered up my real plans for the enchanted world. Thanks to you, I will have these dogs kill themselves and save me the hustle. Then collect the Mortal Locks and proceed with my plans!” His eyes twinkled maliciously and his mouth spread into a dark smile.

“You will never succeed.” Alston snapped. “You will never find the Mortal Locks. And even if you do, you will never find what you are looking for! It’s impossible!”

Ron grinned. “We’ll see.” he turned to leave and sighed. “Oh, almost forgot.” he turned back to them and pulled Noelle to her feet. “If you ever change your mind and want to tell me where the Light Sword is, you are permitted to—just know you have until dawn to do so...and I’ll hold on to her until then. Who knows what will happen to her at dawn.” he asked pensively.

Alston’s eyes widened. “Let her go you animal!”

But Alston couldn’t reach them. His leg was bound in chains anchored in the rocks. Noelle’s eyes filled with a new layer of tears as Ron pulled her away.

“Father!” She screamed.

“Noelle!” Her father wept but Ron didn’t stop to acknowledge the amount of pain he was causing his own blood!