TO TAME THE BRUTAL LYCAN BEAST-Chapter 103: I WAS ONCE LIKE YOU
VALORIA WILDEROSE
By the next day, I’m healthier and stronger.
The side effects of being poisoned are almost nonexistent thanks to Calliope’s concoctions every six hours.
Proof that the bitterness in the medicine does mean it works.
And with this newfound strength, I throw myself back into work and research to make up for lost time spent healing and recuperating after the amount of days that have been stolen from me.
But it’s not just that.
A lot is on my mind—thoughts I need to think and decipher, too much to process, leaving me on the verge of losing my mind.
I said I was going to figure out who had it out for me in my family, but I have no way of knowing, and that uncertainty has left me feeling helpless and anxious.
Anxiousness that pushes me towards something I can actually possibly make sense of, which is finding that dagger again.
My mission has now become my new salvation in all areas of my life.
I’m in the royal archives as early as possible, sifting through ancient books and secrets as always.
I pick out one of the many books I’ve recently begun to revisit—the very one that had helped in deciphering the ancient tongue Azrael had used—reading through its alphabet and more words, deciding learning this different language won’t be a bad skill to have on my quest.
I flip through the pages to my last checkpoint, and my eyes catch something that wasn’t there the last time I was here.
Brown old paper, printed with old faded text, now has modern-day English words written over it in bold ink letters:
’I know what you’re looking for. I can help you.’
It looks like a sick prank.
Who in their right mind would find a perfectly good historic book and ruin it with ink just to pass a message to someone?
Someone who has no respect for books, that is.
I roll my eyes and turn the page, but there’s another one—more messy and splotched across the entire page.
’I have important information you won’t find where you’re looking. You need to change your direction.’
This time I scowl, fully irritated. Just when I was getting invested, it’s ruined by some vandalizing idiot.
But then my eyes drift to the last sentence, and my blood runs cold.
’Secrets of the dagger are kept where the eyes can’t find them,’ it reads, followed by a well-detailed description of how to find them.
It’s only now that it sinks in that the person the message is meant for is me.
I gasp, stepping back, letting the book drop from my hands like it’s made out of hot lava as my mind begins to process what’s going on.
I’m torn back and forth for a few seconds before I pick it up again, reconfirming with my eyes that it is actually what I think it is.
I’m shocked speechless, trembling from what might be fear, my mind too crippled to deduce anything when hands fall on my shoulder from behind.
I scream like my life depends on it, releasing all that internalized fear in one go.
I clutch the book to my chest as a shield, then face my assailant—and it’s the last person I’m expecting to see.
"Hello, darling." Elowen smiles anything but sweetly.
Mischief and delirium hide beneath her exposed teeth. A shiver of fear trickles through my whole body after the shock. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
My free hand absentmindedly moves to my neck because it was the first place that burned when the poison started killing me.
Seeing her again after not much time has passed seems to trigger phantom symptoms.
"Y-Your Majesty."
I back further away from her into the bookshelf behind me, my eyes darting towards the exit and gauging how many steps it will take to get there.
I weigh the book in my hand, wondering if it can actually be used as a shield, preparing to not take any chances this time.
"You look like you just saw a ghost." Her smile deepens, knowing what I’m doing—that I’m completely wary of her.
It’s like she’s getting some thrill out of how terrified I am that she might try to kill me again and succeed this time.
"What are you doing here?"
"I decided to do some light reading. Am I not allowed to?" Another taunt followed by a chuckle.
I swallow, remaining silent, refusing to humor her in case this is another one of her games.
Her laughter is replaced by disappointment, realizing that too.
"Relax, I’m not here to try and kill you again. Azrael has already made sure I don’t do anything stupid. I wonder why?" She tilts her head. "You look good, though. I should praise Calliope for improving her skills in medicine."
"I didn’t say anything to him," I reiterate, just in case she thinks I sent him to her. I didn’t even think he’d actually talk to her.
She rubs her neck with a look of annoyance hidden behind a tight smile.
"And yet he came running like a loyal dog." Her eyes reminisce on a distant memory, something that obviously displeases her, before she refocuses.
"I will commend you—you’ve managed to do more than I could in five hundred years. But don’t let yourself be deceived for a second and think you’re special. I was once like you."
Her hand reaches out, catching a lock of my hair that she twiddles between her fingers. I stiffen, cautious in case she rips my jugular next.
"Did he offer to turn you into a Lycan?"
"How did you..."
"He did the same for me, you see. Many years ago I was a servant here, bullied and wounded, scorned by the same people I was taught to be loyal to because I was weak. He saw my pain and hatred, said it made me far more interesting than the rest of the pack of rats, so he turned me. Gave me power as long as I used it to burn down the world I hated so much."
