Chapter 254: Chapter 254 Try and Take it
(Third POV)
The wind picked up with so much force that the witches were barely hanging on.
Alaric and Theo transformed back to their human form, after noticing the barrier around them. Theo fell on his knees with his shoulders slumped. His hands tightened with anger and hatred.
He looked up at Aeris who was floating mid-way, her face contorted with pain before turning expressionless.
His lips parted in awe, as majestic golden wings unfurled from her behind. They stretched wide and massive, each feather glowing like it had been dipped in gold. Some looked soft and hard, while others shimmered like they were made of light itself.
The wings caught in the storm around her, bending the cyclone, commanding them to move more hostile. When she finally took a step, the wings fluttered behind her, and the sound was like thunder rolling across the sky.
Her purple eyes had a golden fiery ring in their depth.
Alaric stood to his feet, his battered body slowly healing, but his gaze fixated on Aeris. It was like she had become someone else... someone ancient and powerful.
Her silver- white hair turned more whitish, her gaze met with Bone witch.
They held their gazes like they were in a mind battle, the Bone witch broke eye contact and reached for the heart, however, she retracted her hand when a golden vine lashed between her and the vines.
She turned to face Aeris, hissing and snarling in anger. The white in her irises began to spread, covering her whole eyes. The Bone witch looked up to the sky, and dark clouds began to form, creating a vortex.
Aeris remained unreadable, she began to descend, and every step she took formed a golden stair. "Bone witch..." She began. "You betrayed our trust in you." Her voice was like a roaring ocean.
Her gaze fell on the golden orb, and with a flick of her hand. The orb sped through the air, floating before Aeris. Her eyes flicked with sadness, but it was so fast that it disappeared the next second.
"This is mine." Aeris collected the golden orb, and the energy seeped into her.
Seeing this the Bone witch let out a loud shriek. "No!"
The Bone witch struck her staff against the earth, and lightning descended, piercing through the cyclone, Aeris raised her finger, and the lightning diverted, striking the defectors and the witches, turning them to nothing but ashes.
"You think you can win against me?!" The bone witch let go of her staff, and slowly the staff changed into a massive bony snake with white eyes.
Aeris tilted her head to the side, completely unamused. She reached for the heart, but the snake hissed, striking at her hand, she lifted her other hand, and a golden vine wrapped around the snake’s neck, slamming it against the ground.
The witches muttered incantations under her breath, and the snake rose, shrieking angrily. It moved with an incredible screech, but was met with a wall of vines, which lashed at the snake.
The snake dogged the vines, but the vines grew bigger and attacked faster, the vines pierced through its bony body, wrapping around its body and disconnecting its bones. The snake let a painful shriek before slamming against the ground.
The Bone witch stumbled back, sputtering out black blood, before holding her chest. She growled, before taking out a dagger from her waist, she made a clean cut across her palm. Then, she muttered spells, winds ruffled her grey hair, making them fly in the air, black and red light formed around her, before entering the snake’s body.
The snake rose with a loud cry, its body oozing with black and red light.
Aeris walked closer to the heart, letting the vines take care of the snake. She paused as she walked past Damon. "I’ll bring you back... even if I had to bring you back from the land of death itself."
Meanwhile, right outside the cyclone, two figures stood right at the edge. One of them had red fiery hair, her green eyes fixated on the pulsing heart. "It is time to join the battle now." She muttered under her breath.
"You think it is a good idea? Shouldn’t we wait for both sides to get wasted?" Gwen turned to Seraphina. Behind them, a large group of witches was ready for their orders.
Seraphina turned to Gwen. "It is now or never."
As Aeris reached for the heart, the Bone witch charged at her, she turned abruptly to meet her gaze, and with one single look, the bone witch felt a heavy pressure on her.
The bone witch’s knees buckled, digging into the earth, she let out a whimper, it felt like her whole being was being crushed.
Aeris reached for the heart, but a fireball flew directly towards her, she looked from under her lashes, and the fireball dispersed before it could reach her.
Her gaze flicked toward the source, and through the thinning smoke, Seraphina stepped forward, her red hair burning in the light of the storm. Behind her, Gwen and a line of witches advanced, magic crackling at their fingertips.
The battlefield went still for a heartbeat. The Bone Witch, pinned beneath Aeris’s power, snarled through her teeth and spat black blood onto the ground. "You dare..." she rasped, but her words broke off in a ragged cough.
Seraphina’s eyes did not leave Aeris. "Step aside," she called, her voice carrying over the roar of the cyclone. "The heart is not yours to take."
Alaric staggered to his feet, his chest still heaving, and his golden eyes burned with suspicion. "Ae... Princess, let me handle them?" His voice cracked with fear and longing, but his claws elongated.
Theo’s jaw tightened, rage still contorting his face as his gaze darted from Damon’s lifeless body to the new witches closing in.
The air trembled as Seraphina lifted her hand, and her army of witches raised theirs in unison. Seraphina’s eyes met with Alaric’s for a second too long, her heart hardened more as she saw his claws.
Aeris lowered her hand over Damon’s heart, her golden vines curling protectively around it, shielding it from every side. Her calm but cold voice cut through the chaos.
"Try and take it," she said, her purple and gold eyes locking on Seraphina. "And you will all burn to ashes."