The Crimson Snow (A Realm of Chaos and Void #1)

Chapter 23

The Wanting Wolf

The poor, sad wolf lay on the floor,

Waiting for her return.

And when she did,

She was the same as before,

And the wolf basked in a world of happiness and longing.

But when she left, the world cracked,

And the poor wolf wondered,

If it was better for her to be gone than to stay by his side.

Retrieved from The Great Love Story of The White Fox

by Illyra Everdawn, Ch. 17, p. 105.

Evren Wraithwood

Evren couldn’t believe it.

“What do you mean you lost sight of her? It’s dawn, and the Shadowmarket is not a place to be wandering around during dawn, Raggart!”

He had sent Raggart after Seraphine every single time to ensure her safety. After what Seraphine had said to him before leaving, Raggart losing her, and his increasing lack of sleep due to keeping his distance from her, he thought he might be the most misfortunate being in the whole realm.

“I-I— She was there, and then she was not,”

Raggart stammered.

Evren fought the urge to kick him. What kind of excuse was that?

Evren had decided to keep his distance for her well-being. He thought it was the right choice. Still, it was hard, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her voice, the way she felt whenever she was close to him, her lips. How beautiful and dazzling she looked when she focused on the books. The way she delighted in food.

Evren would wake up in the middle of the night, thinking about her crimson eyes and how much he would delight in painting the whole library with that color so he would be reminded of her forever. He would stay up, restraining the need to go to her and see her.

Evren wanted so much more than just seeing her or talking to her. He couldn’t deny the deep longing that stirred every time he thought of her. He wanted to hold Seraphine, kiss her again, lose himself in her warmth, and hear her whisper his name for an eternity. He wished to take her everywhere, possess her, and let himself be possessed by her—in his bed, in the library, in the woods, everywhere.

Ah, the restraint he had to maintain whenever he saw her leaning to pick some new books, imagining how her body would feel pressed against his, her breath hot on his skin. And when she had moaned my name when she fell asleep in the library… Was she thinking of me? He almost broke there.

After what she had said at the doorway to the library about him deceiving her and implying he had used her and then thrown her away, he wanted to wrap her in his arms and explain everything to her. However, he knew that was not a good idea, not when she was in that state. Still, he decided that while he might withhold some information from her, he could start over and be there for her. He would find a way where both could still have a happy ending.

He almost laughed at that. A being of the Otherworld believing in happy endings.

Evren should have talked to her before distancing himself and hurting her, but first, he needed to make some arrangements. So, he made sure Raggart followed her while changing the Mystweave Library to show her that he had been wrong and wanted to be her friend. Maybe more, if she allows it. Most importantly, he wanted to see her.

Seraphine was always haunting him, but she was far from a ghost. She was the reason he did not end up wandering alone and why he still pushed himself to do what was needed. She was the reason for everything, the sole thing that kept him from falling into chaos. Seraphine was his hope.

“I will look for her,”

Evren finally said, putting on a dark cloak that would hide his face.

Raggart looked at him. “Mr. Wraithwood, it is dangerous for you! Someone might spot you and—”

“I don’t care. I have to bring her back. Plus, I doubt someone from my father’s army is looking for me, especially at dawn and in this place. I can handle myself,”

he said, adjusting his boots and taking a red leaf, a tracking type of leaf that would lead him to her. Next time, he would give Raggart a couple of those so he wouldn’t lose her like she was some kind of stray cat.

“But, sir, I know she is—”

“If you value your life, Raggart, I suggest you don’t finish that sentence,”

Evren said, rubbing one of his tattoos. At that, the ink disappeared, and Shadoweater appeared.

With a sigh, he let the red leaf move across the mirror, and both he and Shadoweater followed it into the Shadowmarket.

I won’t ever let you out of my sight, he promised, his heart pounding with anticipation.

Shadoweater moved across the empty streets and alleys of the Shadowmarket. While Evren lacked his full essence and power, he was still more dangerous than any nightmarish creatures that lurked in the area.

They crossed the main center of the Shadowmarket until the leaf floated near some enchanting trees.

Where are you hiding, sweet and cunning fox?

Evren moved through the foliage, but Shadoweater’s hiss froze him in place. A warning. He took a silver leaf from his pocket and turned it into a sharp dagger. He was well-trained, but he was not very fond of using weapons. He had always preferred fangs and claws, but since he could no longer turn into a wolf, a dagger would do the trick.

Another scream came from afar. Something twisted in Evren’s heart, and his head clouded with memories. How many times have I witnessed her death?

No, he would not entertain that thought.

Dagger in hand, Evren moved faster than he thought possible.

Please be safe. Nemera, Brannon, Aurum, just let her be safe.

The red tracking leaf fell to the floor, a soul eater in front of him. The creature from the Underworld was holding Seraphine against a tree, strangling her. Blood trickled down her head to her face, matching her crimson eyes.

There were three of them. They were fast and skeletal but deadly, and their only purpose was to devour and feed on souls. A human soul was the most desirable for them since the Underworld had been lacking them for decades.

Evren dashed toward them. Shadoweater caught one of the soul eaters by the throat and sliced its neck open, purple blood splattering on the leafy ground. The trees screamed as Evren moved to the one holding Seraphine, throwing his dagger at its head and knocking the monster off balance.

He caught Seraphine before she could fall. She was breathing, but there were marks on her neck, and she might need stitches on the back of her head.

“Hey, Crimson Eyes. Can you hear me?”

he said, holding her closer while the cat sith moved to the second soul eater.

She blinked at him, like she was in a daze. “I... I fell asleep and then tried to go back, and one of them punched me. I...”

She was trembling, and before he could stand up, laughter came from behind them.

“What a ravishing hunt! What is a soul in comparison to the most wanted being in the entire Otherworld?”

the soul eater Evren had hit said. The monster was smiling, sharp canines showing, and its shadowy skeleton body seemed to be recovering.

Evren put Seraphine behind him, covering her. “I can assure you they won’t give you a penny for me.”

“Is that so?”

The soul eater approached them, and Evren was ready to tear him to pieces. If I could only use more of my power. The monster continued, “I am sure Malvrek would be pleased to have the one who killed his two elder sons.”

Evren stiffened. Kill my own brothers?

Seraphine moved from behind him, cutting his thoughts short. She snapped at the soul eater, “He is not the killer, you disgusting thing.”

Evren’s heart skipped a beat. Despite everything, Seraphine believed in his innocence. Still, the thought was maddening, the accusation shaking him to his core. His father had always been ruthless, but to paint him as the murderer of his kin was a lie so twisted it almost felt real.

The soul eater looked at her, something flickering in its eyes, and it laughed. Shadoweater was still focused on devouring the other two fiends. “Let me correct myself. I just found the most wanted being in the Otherworld and a rare oddity worth a mile of souls.”

Evren launched himself at the monster, producing a couple of other daggers from some silver leaves. He moved fast and pushed the soul eater to the ground.

The Soul Eater scratched Evren with its dark, sharp nails. The monster was fast, and Evren hadn’t fought in a while.

Evren dug one of the daggers close to its heart, but the thing just laughed. Quicker than he had anticipated, the soul eater dipped a sharp nail inside Evren’s side and bit his shoulder so fiercely that Evren froze. Then, he felt it—the soul eater was feeding. His strength and mind were slipping away, and he slowly lost grip on his dagger and himself.

Evren gazed softly at Seraphine, who was barely standing. If I am to die getting lost in this universe of crimson, it would be worth it. Shadoweater had long been instructed to protect her no matter what.

However, Seraphine moved toward them.

No, no.

He tried to shout, but no words came out.

She stumbled a little, and Evrens eyelids grew heavier. Then, like a shooting star, Seraphine jumped over them, pushing the soul eater off Evren. He tried to regain his strength, call for his cat sith, or maybe call for his other familiar, but he couldn’t move. He had been out of this realm for too long and was too weak. Seraphine pushed the soul eater, and the monster swiped her side, his claws ripping flesh and breaking a bone. She bellowed, a raw scream full of frustration and hurt.

Evren started to move, but the soul eater froze. Seraphine used that moment to grab the monster’s head. She pulled the thing closer, as if trying to break it, but it was no use, and fear overcame her when the soul eater laughed again. “Do you still know who he is?”

“Should I care?”

she mumbled, holding the head of the soul eater firmly, continually pressing.

The soul eater grimaced, its voice slowing, as if he was also tired and drained. Suddenly, purple blood came from its mouth and eyes. “You should. He is a murderer—”

“He is not,”

she said so confidently that Evren almost believed her.

“Ask his beloved father,”

the soul eater coughed, purple blood splattering around them.

Perhaps Evren had hit the thing harder than he thought because it was not hurting Seraphine. It almost seemed as if it was slowly dying.

The soul eater looked at Evren, a smile forming. “Tell her, ‘prince.’ Tell her that Malvrek, your father, is looking for his remaining son. Tell her how you killed your other—”

Seraphine pushed her hand deeper into the soul eater’s head, and before it could react, the monster fell to the ground, limp. It was paler, its eyes black and vacant.

What in Nemera’s name happened?

Seconds passed, and Seraphine remained on her knees, unmoving. Evren somehow regained his strength, and with Shadoweater’s help, he pushed himself toward Seraphine and the soul eater’s body.

Is she hurt? As soon as he approached them, he realized that the soul eater was indeed dead, but more than that, the monster had been fully drained. Its magic, its essence, it was gone. If it had a soul, that was drained too.

Before Evren could ask what had happened, he saw her.

The hand with which Seraphine had grabbed the soul eater’s face had black veins spreading upward. Her eyes were vacant too, the crimson in them dense, as if they were pools of dark blood. Around her eyes were spiderwebs of black ink coming from the corners, as if feeding her. Or poisoning her.

“Seren?”

Evren asked softly. To his surprise, she turned her head and looked at him. She tilted her head to the side, like a predator evaluating its prey. The person standing there was not Seraphine.

It looked at him as if he was next. Evren steeled himself, aware he would never hurt her. Suddenly, Seraphine fell on top of the soul eater, and Evren quickly jumped to her. He breathed a sigh of relief.

She is breathing.

He sensed Shadoweater behind him and motioned him to leave, turning back into a tattoo on his upper arm. Evren, still hurting and weak, held her up and carried her limp body.

Her hand was still dark with protruding veins. Evren tried to rush, the mirror portal not far from his location.

She is well. You will figure it out.

He allowed himself to consider what Seraphine’s action truly meant. She had just drained a soul eater’s soul, something that no creature from the Otherworld could do.

He was unsure of what this made her, but she wasn’t a mere human, and she wasn’t a soul eater either.

Which means that she is probably something far worse. Far more dangerous.

Evren finally understood why she was allowed to move across realms. If what he was thinking was correct, then it all made sense. Few creatures were allowed to wander across realms, and perhaps someone in her family tree had been part of them. Still, he was unsure how she had been born in the human realm. Mixed races between realms were forbidden and usually executed, but like soul eaters, the only ones who could feed on a soul like she had done was their ruler: Aurum, the Ancient of the Underworld.