Bride of Gods

Vera POV

My feet stumbled back in fear.

The sword loosened in my hand as I noticed my struggling father.

His hands were held behind him by eight men pinning him down.

One of them kicked him in the leg, pushing him to his knees. Then a sharp, silver sword flashed through his neck.

His head flew to a corner, and my entire body froze.

No!

An uncomfortable pain coiled in my belly, my body jerking back in disbelief and my knees shaking at the bloody sight before my eyes.

Tears welled in my eyes before a loud scream split through my throat. “Father!”

My sword fell to the ground.

I quickly pushed myself up and ran towards him.

But before I could even take a dozen paces, a group of our soldiers held me by my arms. “No, Princess,” one of them said. “Stop yourself!” he yelled.

My father’s remaining body fell forward to the ground with a loud thud.

The court went silent.

The blood pooled around him. Right beside the throne he had sat on for nearly thirty years.

“No!” I screamed hard, my voice breaking. “Father!!”

My heart broke into pieces.

How could he do that? How could he take everything from me? This was supposed to be my eighteenth birthday.

Only a month ago, the entire Kingdom was preparing for this day. The invitations were sent, the feast dishes were being decided, and I was buying new clothes and getting presents early.

And now...it was all gone. It was all taken from me.

I would never forget it.

I fell to my knees in defeat, tears breaking through my eyes. I forgot how to breathe.

The pain surged through my lower belly and spread like thick poison in my veins, blocking my chest from drawing breath.

Meanwhile, a wave of joy and applause ran through the court as the winning soldiers cheered. They put their swords up high in the air. “Celestial Star is ours,” they yelled in unison.

Anger rushed through me.

With my tears and blood-stained face, I raged to get rid of the hard grip of our remaining soldiers to kill the enemy commander. “Leave me; I will kill them all. He killed my father!” I yelled with everything remaining in my body.

They were dragging me out.

Nothing was working.

The defeat and pain gave a metallic taste to my tongue and spread through my nerves like a burning fire, leaving an indifferent strength of rage building inside me.

“We lost the battle,” one soldier said. His voice submissive.

I couldn’t believe it.

“No!” I didn’t want to believe it.

Yet, it was the truth.

The battle that had lasted for three days. We lost it. My father, the God King, was killed. All my brothers were murdered. My eight sisters were taken.

It all belonged to him.

This Kingdom belonged to Demon King Magrakor. I belonged to...

“Run,” my mother yelled.

My eyes snapped open and darted around, spotting her among the black-clad enemy soldiers.

My heartbeat returned.

“Mother,” I yelled, my eyes finding her. The soldiers neared my fallen mother.

“Vera, run,” my mother yelled again. “Save your life. Don’t let them touch you.”

My entire body trembled. I shook my head. “No, mother,” I tried to say, but it all came out as a whisper.

I struggled harder, pushing the soldiers away who were dragging me out of the court. My sword was left behind.

“No, leave me,” I yelled. “I need to save my mother.” More tears fell from my eyes as I saw an enemy soldier tearing my mother’s clothes, stripping her naked.

My body numbed.

The other pushed her to the ground, and then all I could see was hundreds of men climbing on her, and her screams filling the entire court.

“Come here, Princess,” a manly voice pulled my attention. My body jerked back in defence as a pair of hands caught me by the hands and lifted me over his shoulder.

“Put me down,” I cried out, throwing my hands.

“I am saving you,” he said in his breaking voice.

He was the war commander of our Kingdom. He ran toward the Kingdom’s back exit.

My heart sank deeper. With the dead soldiers, the bleeding and crying ones in the way, the walls set on fire, and the black-clad soldiers looting the Kingdom, the flashes of my father’s beheading, butchery with my mother, captivity of my sisters, killing of brothers circled around my eyes.

What had just happened?

What would I do now?

Nothing made sense.

“Here,” the commander said, bringing me out of the kingdom.

But a group of soldiers had already spotted us.

He put me on a horse and handed me the reins before he said, “Run.”

“Run fast, princess.”

“Where do you think you are running to?” One of the enemy soldiers yelled at us.

The commander pulled his sword and turned toward the soldiers.

“Commander!” I cried, tears never drying.

“Princess, run and save yourself,” he requested before running toward the soldiers. “Go to the magical forest.”

But it was forbidden.

I couldn’t argue. The commander already marched towards the enemy soldiers.

I looked forward with a heaving chest, and before my very eyes I saw the setting sun, and behind me lay the aftermath of a fallen kingdom. Blood. Fire. Death.

I didn’t know what to choose.

The kingdom that stood undefeated for over four hundred years, home to the last gods in this world, was now reduced to ashes. The demonic King conquered it with my eight living sisters.

The last gods—my father and mother—were gone. The hope for new gods—my brothers—were killed.

Our entire bloodline was done.

The sound of my brown horse’s snort pulled me from my thoughts.

I turned back to see a soldier drive a sword through a commander.

No!

I immediately grabbed the reins and kicked the horse’s belly, forcing him to move.

He began.

I didn’t have any options. Behind me was a hell I couldn’t imagine living in, and before me was a hope. A tiny hope to save my sisters.

I rode forward.

My tears blurred my vision, but the horse knew the way.

I needed to save them.

I needed to ask someone for help.

My fingers circled the reins and pulled them to make the horse race faster. My eyes, burning with tears, went dry as the slapping air hit my face.

I didn’t look anywhere and ran as if everything depended on it.

I knew the soldiers would chase me.

My throat was dry, almost hurting.

The memories of my family sliced my chest in two, making breathing hard for me.

He wanted all the girls alive. Magrakor made it very clear to the soldiers.

The commander helped me escape, but now I had to do something.

After riding all day, I finally slowed down when I realised I was standing in the middle of the forest with no direction left. My body ached from jumping on the horse’s back. My horse was giving up too.

I pulled the reins and stopped the horse before stepping down.

The leaves crunched under my feet, and I couldn’t help but look around nervously, with fear still crawling on my skin.

The tall trees with the fuller leaves swung in sync with the winding breezes. It was calming. Twisted twigs and tree roots lay on the ground, as if serpents had been frozen into the woods.

From afar, I could hear the crickets and night insects singing in symphony.

For a moment, my chest ached with the thought that everyone was celebrating the end of my kingdom.

I looked away, pulling my attention from the dark, pearly surroundings.

It wasn’t dark. Moonlight glittered over the trees, sifting through the dense canopy and reaching the ground wherever it could.

The full moon hung bright in the middle of the sky, larger than usual. Beside it, a canopy of twinkling stars clustered in the corner, and on the other side they spread far apart. It was a mix of silver and gold, like golden dust spread across the sky.

In all eighteen years of my life, I had never left the Kingdom this late and seen such a view.

I did not know where I was.

It seemed like the middle of the night.

There was no one around.

I could feel my heartbeat racing. I could literally hear it.

Behind me, the horse snorted, and I jumped in fear. Goosebumps rose on my skin at the mere thought of being caught here.

If those soldiers caught me, they would end me now and here.

I looked behind me as far as I could, but heard no horses or soldiers.

I inhaled deeply, mustered every ounce of courage, and stepped forward.

The horse stayed near the edible grass.

With my hands, I pushed the tall grass blades aside as I heard the sound of water coming from a distance.

It was faint.

The moment I pushed aside the last tall bush, my eyes widened in shock.

Before me was a large lake with glowing water.

The entire lake glittered in silver pearls on the waves. The sky was in the water. Scattered. And together.

My breath hitched before a tiny smile appeared on my face.

My feet began to move on their own. A new energy surged into my body as I reached closer, hiking my dirty gown up. It was torn at my arms, around my legs, and a little on my belly.

My hair was dishevelled, all covered in dirt and blood. I smelled like a pig in mud.

But before I could put my feet in the water, it began to rise, and my eyes widened in shock as a head rose from the lake, followed by a naked pair of shoulders.

I froze in my place.

Who was he?

Hello Everyone!

I am finally starting something I had been dying to write.

It is a special universe for me. I am nervous.

Just let me know how much you like it.