The Lycan King and his Dark Temptation novel Chapter 113

VALERIA

I lifted my eyes and gazed upon the world where Umbros was imprisoned.

The sensation was horrifying, as if all happiness had been sucked into a vortex of evil.

A floating island loomed in the distance, far beyond our reach, the only solid thing in this place.

Everything else was shrouded in ink-black mist, with distant flashes of lightning flickering through storm clouds and darkness.

It felt like floating in the void.

“Take the first step and get us to the Lunar Island.”

“The first step? To where?” I asked, looking down. The vertigo made me step back quickly once again.

“Don’t be an idiot. I saw you had raven wings when you fought the Lycan King—use them and stop wasting time. Fly to the island.”

I closed my eyes and summoned the transformation, hoping it would work. The truth was, I couldn’t control it so easily.

However, the itching sensation began on my back, followed by discomfort.

My dress tore slightly, and enormous wings covered in dark feathers spread powerfully, but I had never used them to fly such a long distance.

“I... I’ve never used them like this. I don’t know if they can carry me across,” I admitted, practicing the movements, recalling how ravens did it.

“There’s only one way to find out…” he said, bringing a bad premonition to my heart.

Without warning, his cold hand pushed my back, and I screamed as I fell forward, desperately flapping my wings, my hands and legs flailing in every direction to stabilize myself, my heart pounding in terror.

I finally managed to steady myself after nearly dying of fright and turned to insult him in every way possible, but the words caught in my throat as I watched him transform into a fine mist, floating through the air to position himself beside me.

I kept forgetting that vampires could also summon the magic of natural elements—and that this man had stolen the powerful blood that belonged to me.

Resigned to my fate, I beat my wings, adjusting to this new and fascinating sensation, advancing over the abyss toward the island with some instability.

When my feet touched the ground again, I sighed in relief, retracting my wings, and he reappeared in his corporeal form beside me.

“Find the resting place of the Selenias. I can feel their power nearby. Don't delay—let's go. We can't stay here too long,” he pressed me again.

I looked at the forest in front of us and advanced blindly once more, guided only by my instincts and that strong call whispering in my heart.

Thousands of voices called to me, and as we walked beneath the shadows of those dark, twisted trees, they grew louder and louder, almost to the point of overwhelming me.

The ruins of some ancient structure appeared when the forest cleared and opened into a glade.

“It’s here,” I whispered, standing beneath a set of crumbling stairs.

My boots were stained by that thick, dark liquid, and then I realized—it wasn’t water. It looked more like blood.

I took one step, then another, staring into the eyes of the statues surrounding us. I lifted my head solemnly and focused on one that stood out above the others.

Sitting atop the giant moon where the heart of the Selenias was embedded, one statue stared down at me.

She held a spear in her hand, her long hair cascading down her back, waiting silently within her prison of silver and stone.

The heels of my boots sank into the muddy ground. I had no idea what I was stepping on, but the viscous liquid was now up to my waist.

I suppressed my shivers and fears as I reached the fountain, where the liquid cascaded down in a small waterfall.

“What do I do, Nana? What do I do?”

I stood and looked up, far above my head, at the glowing light that seemed to pulse with life—fueling the magic of this entire place, sealing the barrier that kept darkness from invading our world.

Crimson cracks extended around it like veins of a living being.

My trembling hand reached out—I couldn’t take it, I couldn’t steal the sacrifice and death of so many women of my race.

This was sacrilege.