23 The Monsters

Annalise felt cold shivers running down her spine as her eyes hurriedly searched her surroundings to find the source of the inhuman sound that she had just heard.

Her heart was racing as fear started taking control over her senses and her brain was sending her the signals of warning about the great danger lurking in the shadows. Though she couldn't see it, she could feel the threat that was moving toward her.

She once again tried to move but the vines wrapped around her ankles once again stopped her from running away. Those vines were slowly making their way up her legs to grip her more tightly.

As panic took hold of her, she started struggling against the hold of the vines on her ankles in desperation. She even tried to pull away the vines with her hands but she was no match to those things. The more she struggled, the tighter their hold became on her. At a point, it became so tight that a painful cry escaped her lips.

Running across the orchard had already drained her of energy and her hands kept trembling as she struggled to get the vines off her legs.

The snapping sound of dead tree branches pulled her attention toward a huge tree that was standing a couple of meters in front of her while blocking her sight, making it hard for her to see what or who was hiding behind it.

But she didn't have to wait too long before the beasts stepped out of the shadows and appeared in front of her. Around five feet tall, bulky in size, with red glowing eyes, sharp fangs hanging from their mouths, and long tails that were covered in sharp thorn-like elements, the beasts not only looked dangerous but also scary.

"N-no...!" Annalise stared wide-eyed at the monsters that had their eyes fixed on her as they kept stepping toward her, their dark intent clearly visible in their red glowing eyes. She had become their prey.

Her heart pounded in her chest as her eyes tried to hurriedly search for an escape route, however, there was no escaping for her, at least not until she was still in the death grip of the vines. But even if by some miracle she succeeded in getting rid of the vines, she would never be able to run away from those five deadly beasts standing in front of her.

Annalise was too busy staring at the beasts that she didn't even realize that the vines had reached her wrists and by the time she did realize, it was already too late. The vines pulled her to stand against the tree trunk with her legs and hands bound.

"P-please... pleas-se..."

It didn't seem like requesting for mercy was even an option in her current situation but Annalise still gave it a try. She just couldn't stand there and wait for her death. She didn't want to die so early. The thought of her husbands entered her brain and she felt tears emerging in her eyes. Would they even find out what happened to her? Or would they think that she ran away? What would happen to her family?

Tears spilled down her cheeks as the fear became too much for her to keep in. She looked at the beasts with terrified eyes and as she noticed them finally stepping closer to her, she knew that they won't be sparing her life.

One of the beasts, who seemed to be the leader, came as close to her that his warm and stingy breath attacked her system. It was so bad that she was about to choke.

Annalise pushed herself against the tree trunk behind her even though it barely helped. She shut her eyes closed tightly as she didn't want to look at the beast who was about to have her as its meal.

More tears trickled down her cheeks as she waited for her death. She was stuck and there was nothing she could do to save herself and it only made more sobs leave her lips.

She heard another growl from the beast and knew that it was about to attack her. Clutching her fingers tightly into her palms, she waited for her end. However... instead of pain, she felt a powerful force skipping past her, and the painful growls of the beasts that seemed pretty far away from her which didn't make any sense to her.

She tried to open her eyes but the sudden push from behind her made her keep her eyes shut tight. She found herself stumbling forward as the vines suddenly let go of her and she waited for the fall and the pain that would have followed. But once again, she was met with pure surprise as instead of the cold and hard ground, she fell into the warm embrace of Valerius.

She knew it was him even without opening her eyes. How? She had no idea and neither did she care. She just buried herself in his embrace and let out all the pain that she was suffering through.

She wasn't sure what she expected him to do? To push her away, to comfort her, or just to stand still and let her vent out her emotions? But when his hands circled her shaking form as he pulled her tightly against his chest, she felt all the fear and pain leaving her.

She tightened her arms around his waist and just stood there with tears still falling down her cheeks. She had never felt this much afraid ever before in her life but at the very same time, she also never felt this protected as she was feeling at the moment.

"Ssh! It's alright, Annalise. It's alright."

She finally heard him murmuring those words in a soft voice as he caressed her hair with his long slender fingers which did some strange kind of magic as she started feeling much calmer. Getting a grip on herself, she finally found the courage to open her tear-filled eyes and look up at her husband's face.

His icy-blue eyes looked back at her with warmth and it only caused more tears to escape the boundaries of her eyes.

"Ssh! You are safe now. We are here. Let's go back home."

Only after he mentioned the word 'we', did she notice the presence of the other two Dark Lords who were discussing something in whispers but stopped and gave her a comforting look when she looked in their direction.

She didn't get to look at them any longer because Valerius suddenly pulled her face to rest against his chest and a buzzing energy surrounded them.