Ileus: The Dark Prince

Ileus didn't want to take the chances. "Damn it!" he blurted out of frustration. He exhaled heavily and then stepped on the next board as nimbly as possible.

Ileus didn't want to take the chances. "Damn it!" he blurted out of frustration. He exhaled heavily and then stepped on the next board as nimbly as possible. It didn't take him much time to reach the other side after that. He looked behind when he was only about ten meters away from the ground. 

Darla thought that it was a signal for her to cross the bridge. She left the bolts and excitedly stepped on the board. Darla broke into a sprint. 

"Stooooop!" Ileus shouted, but it was too late. 

Earth rumbled. Darla and Ileus froze in surprise in their places. 

"Gods!" Anastasia whimpered as her lips trembled. 

Ileus' palms glowed with white lights as if involuntarily. Everything became deathly quiet. Darla's face blanched. She looked at Ileus but he was fixed at his spot. After a moment when things settled, she braved up and took another light step. 

Another rumble. "Fuck!" she rasped. The rope on her right snapped sending the entire bridge into a ripple like a wave. She clutched the rope on her left, but that too broke.

Ileus looped his hands in the rope and held on to it as the bridge broke, creaking heavily. He heard Darla screaming as he was hurtled closer to the cliff on the opposite side swinging like a pendulum. Just before he thrashed into the cliff's rock, he turned to his back in order for it to take the impact. 

"Ileus!" Anastasia yelled with horror, not believing at what just happened. In front of her eyes, she saw Darla hurtling down towards the deep end. 

Kaizan left the anchor bolts and rushed to Anastasia only to see that her massive wings had flared wide and her eyes turned a violet. "Anastasia don't!" he called her, but she didn't hear. Her attention was on Darla. "You don't have the experience!" Kaizan pointed. He knew how much pain must have erupted on her shoulder blades by spreading those wings. Anastasia stepped back. Her wings began to beat the air and she looked like a giant butterfly. "No Anastasia!" he hollered her. "Please don't go." But she wasn't listening to him. 

In a hoarse voice, she said, "Ne moku je purtim unre!" Can't let her die. 

Then she ran until the edge of the cliff and shot towards Darla. Kaizan watched her with goosebumps that lined his skin. It was so ethereal to watch her fly. He didn't know how the little Anastasia would save Darla, but he admired how she just felt the need to do it… despite her little experience in flying. 

Darla shrieked with horror as she free-fell down the ravine. The gravity was doing its work. Suddenly she felt a beam of yellow rays looping around her ankle and pulling her up, but her speed was so high that the rays were thinning. She knew that it was Ileus who was using his magic, his energy to pull her. But with the speed she was hurtling down, he would never achieve it, unless… unless he used both hands. And if he did that, he would also fall. She closed her eyes, bracing for the fall. She recalled Aidan and how much he stayed with her all through her miserable period. She couldn't help feeling grateful to him for showing what true love meant. If the wolf spirits gave her another chance, she knew she would embrace his love forever. But that was just a dream now… Noise of the river gushing beneath reached her ears. Tears fell from her eyes. She was about to become one with death. 

Suddenly she heard  wings loudly beating against the wind. Giant, beautiful white wings appeared on her side. Anastasia's face came into her line of vision and then her eyes that were burning violet. Anastasia came close to her, caught her flailing arm and with a loud blood-curdling scream pulled her up with force. 

"Anastasia!" Darla panted as she gobbled down her breath. The next moment she felt a ray of light loop around her ankle, pulling her. Anastasia beat her wings as strongly as possible to keep them in the air. Along with Ileus' help, Anastasia brought Darla to safety. 

With the assistance of the Kaizan, Anastasia pulled Darla up. Darla scrambled on her hands and legs as she tried to catch her breath. Anastasia was in excruciating pain. Her shoulders felt as if she had lifted heavy logs with them. Tears streamed from her eyes and she leaned against a tree as she tried to fill her lungs with air. Kaizan rushed to her and stroked her back, too scared to touch the place from where the wings emerged. For the first time he noticed that the right wing's bone was slightly crooked. But gods, she was a surreal being… not of this earth. And his friend was lucky that she was his mate. He marveled at her courageousness to save Darla. She was a true princess deserving to be a queen. 

"Are you okay?" he asked, as she coughed. He handed her water and she gulped it down. 

"We need to get Ileus here," she panted. 

"Yes," Kaizan muttered. 

"Can you see him?" she asked. From the corner of her eye, she saw that Darla was sprawled on the ground, too weak to even move a finger. She was muttering something. 

"Give me a second," he said. He looked at the side where Ileus was and was shocked to see that he was… gone. His jaw slackened. 

Anastasia looked in his direction and her stomach plummeted to her feet. "Where is he?" she asked. 

"Bastard!" Kaizan chuckled with relief when he found that Ileus was now on this side of the cliff and climbing it. 

"What happened?" she asked. 

He pointed far below towards Ileus. "There's your vokudlak."

She focused her eyes and saw him throwing one beam after the other to act as a support while he ascended the cliff. 

When Ileus leapt over the edge on the solid ground, Anastasia squealed and launched herself right at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her head against his chest. He curled his arms around her shoulders tightly. 

"Thanks for being safe," she murmured. As she clutched him, she felt complete… The last few minutes of her life had been horrible. Ileus shackled her wings again and then used his magic to spread balmy yellow lights on her back. As they hugged each other, Darla came and hugged them both. "Thanks Anastasia," she whispered and placed her head on Ileus' arm. As if that wasn't enough, Kaizan too came and wrapped them all in his long arms. It was a comforting moment. 

"Welcome to Draoidh, wife," said Ileus, savoring the term. 

Kaizan and Darla chuckled. They left the couple and stepped back. 

"I wanted to get you home with full fanfare and not like this." 

She looked up in his golden eyes that burned softly and a smile blossomed across her mouth. "I am home on the ground you stand, my prince," she said. 

Ileus kissed her lips and stole her breath. He cupped her face and stroked her cheeks with this thumb. "Then so be it, my love," he said in a reverent voice. He held her hand and walked out of the woods. Her eyes widened with surprise at what she saw next.