The Reaper's Wicked Obsession

"You’re a myth," Kraven replied. "A myth the Five Courts have searched for winters."

"It’s not my fault I’m special and they sought me out. Those greedy bastards," she huffed.

"Then their search wasn’t so pointless after all. You’re real." Kraven’s eyes skimmed her from head to toe.

"I’m to you, but to the rest of the realm, I remain a myth."

Kraven pointed his blade at her head, eyes screaming bloodlust. "What do you want? I’m sure it’s not just to announce your presence. You already made yourself clear when you said my father’s name. You know who I am."

"I know everything about you, Val Thrond. And I know about Isadora Skaldwood, too," she amused.

Something flashed in Kraven’s eyes, then he moved his blade without hesitation, determined to cut her down.

However, she was abruptly behind him. "Ease yourself, Kraven, I’m not your enemy."

"How do you know about Isadora?" Kraven demanded, slowly turning to face her, tempted to cut her down, but he remained poised to get his answers first.

"Because she’s my daughter," she confessed.

Kraven blinked, temporarily pausing as he tried to digest that information. But then, like the quick-changing skies, a grin tugged at his lips, stretching widely, and his eyes had an eerie glow, identical to the crescent moon.

The Witch tensed at his gesture, which did nothing but unsettle her.

"Daughter? Then I have enough reason to cut off your head, but I’ll make sure I’ll enjoy myself first before I do. Tell me, how well is your pain tolerance?"

"Ugh!" she rolled her eyes. "I did not birth her. Do not mistake me for that good-for-nothing woman." She stepped closer. "I’m her spirit mother, and I’ve been searching for her for twenty winters."

Kraven’s eyebrows rose. "You haven’t done a good job, have you?"

"I would have found her, but Imagine my surprise when I finally got the chance to call for her, but a certain Fae thought it was right to block me out!"

Kraven tipped his head. "That was you? Always calling her when she sleeps?"

"Yes! And thanks to your mental forts, I couldn’t reach out to her."

Kraven shrugged. "How else was she supposed to sleep peacefully? If you kept haunting her ears like a nightmare?"

"Ugh!" She stretched out her palm, and an unseen force pushed Kraven’s body backward until his back met a tree.

It pinned him there and tightened against his body.

"If you hadn’t done that, I could have found her, and she wouldn’t have been fighting for her soul right now!"

"You’ve made your point." Kraven’s fist clenched hard as he tried to fight through whatever kept him still.

There were no weaves in sight, so he pondered how she did it. It was just as the stories said, she was not a weaver, and yet she was capable of doing something a non-weaver couldn’t. She truly lives up to her name.

"Yes, I have, and now it’s time for you to bring her to me."

"I never said I agreed to your terms." Kraven broke from the force, the unseen power snapping, and he dropped to his feet.

Frustrated, she did it again, but the force only made Kraven take a step back.

"Interesting," she murmured. "You can control your weaves now. But you’re still no match for me."

She used her second palm, adding more density to her attack, and compelled Kraven back to the tree, but this time, vines wrapped around his neck and before it could strangle him Kraven grabbed it.

It became a feat of strength, if he let go, the vine would ultimately snap his neck.

"Now, where were we? Right, bringing my daughter to me."

"Why should I?" Kraven countered, tugging on the vines and calling to his dark weaves. They pulsed and swirled around him like they had a mind of their own.

"Fool. I’m the only one who can save her." She released him before he got the chance to break out on his own.

Kraven snapped the vines and flung them. "Why should I trust you? You say you’re her spirit mother, why reveal yourself now? Your actions are questionable."

The witch gritted her teeth. "If you can’t trust her well being with your own kind, how about you do with hers?"

"What do you mean?"

She took the veil apart and revealed her face. She had almond-shaped eyes, lined with black, her lips painted the same color.

Her features were sharp and mature, but that was the least of Kraven’s focus.

It was her ears, they were the same as Isadora’s

"I’m a mannfae."

~♧~

Kraven opened his eyes but he found himself standing in the center of the room, he was no longer in that dark woods. His sword on the ground next to him.

"Your powers have grown, which means you can portal anywhere you want as long as you have the image, so I’ll show you mine."

Those were her words before everything faded away. The image of her location was burned in his memory. It was almost like he had known that place his entire life.

He couldn’t trust the Witch, but she gave up something vulnerable, her location.

Kraven walked closer to the bed, and Isadora remained where she was.

Unlike before, when he waited for some miracle, it suddenly felt like it there was hope after all.

The door pried open, and Logi stepped in. "What happened to your neck?" he asked, quick to notice the line mark. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

Kraven rubbed against it instinctively. "Courtesy of the Witch."

"The witch?" Logi amused. "Come on, Kraven, you don’t really believe she’s real do you?" But then his smile slowly faded and his eyes widened. "Wait! Orric mentioned something about telling a story to get her what she wants." He shivered.

’Could it be he was right? Then what does the Witch want?’ he thought deeply as, then in a heartbeat, he turned his attention to Isadora.

"She wants her?"

"The Witch claims she’s Isadora’s spirit mother."