SPELLBOUND

Gavrael was standing there, unmoving, tall and menacing right in the middle of the courtyard. His sleeves were drenched in blood, scarlet red liquid still dripping from his sword and pooling next to his feet on the ground.

Blood was splattered all over his face as he stared down at the small pile of slaughtered bodies before him. The air was filled with the metallic and cloying stench that only fresh blood could produce and darkness and fear hung in the surrounding air like a thick and heavy blanket that affected everyone who were within the courtyard. 

As she stood there taking in the gruesome and shocking sight, completely frozen, an intense chill washed all over Evie's body. Her throat dried up and her heart trembled as Claudius' words echoed in her head. His warning on how Gavrael's out of control dark fae magic would bring on more and more tragedy if it drags on kept reverberating in her head as her eyes took in the carnage before her.

She could not help but feel terrified. Yes, she had seen him kill before, during that war. She had seen him kill countless of his own kind too, but this was completely different. This does not even look like a punishment. It was an all-out slaughter. And this was something her Gavriel never would have done. He could not have brought himself to do something as meaningless as this.

The most disturbing thing of all was not just the cruelty of it, but the look of thrill and satisfaction in his eyes as he stood there staring at the dead bodies and severed heads on the floor.

"Please, have mercy, my lord!" a muffled, desperate voice echoed. There were still three younger men alive, prostrating themselves on the ground. Messy tears stained their faces as they hyperventilated in utter terror.

"W-we will never escape again. Please give us a second chance. Forgive us! This will never happen again, we promise, my lord. We are just forced to do this!" They begged miserably for their lives.

They did not care that they were adults blubbing like little children, snot and tears running down their faces, throwing away whatever dignity they had. All that mattered now was to preserve their lives. Dignity, face, pride… all those did not matter once faced with the stark reality of losing their lives!

But there was no hint of forgiveness in Gavrael's eyes. Not a single hint of mercy, nothing at all. He was unmoved by all these cries and pleading.

Then he lifted his sword again, stepping closer to the young men. And they trembled violently and cried the closer he gets to them.

Just as he was about to take a swipe at their throats with his blood-soaked sword, he suddenly stopped as if his cold eyes caught sight of something.

His gaze fell straight ahead and the moment he met Evie's gaze, he stilled. The thrill and sheer darkness that was still dancing within his eyes a split second ago were now replaced with shock. Obviously, he never expected her to be right there, watching… watching him.

It was as if a bucket of ice-cold water was dumped all over him, his body ran cold, and a shiver shook his heart. The frightened look in her eyes and utterly stiff posture made his cold-blooded heart tremble as if he was now as frightened as her.

'How… how did she get out? It must have been Claudius!' Gavrael gritted his teeth in anger and frustration. Now she was going to fear him all over again… And he was not sure if she would be able to get over it as easily this time.

But suddenly, an ironic smile curved on his lips.

He put his hand that was wielding the sword down and his feet began to move towards her. Somehow, he thought this was better. This way, she would be more than willing to avoid him and if she does that, he would be able to avoid risking her life. He laughed dryly to himself as he mocked himself as that ever-frightful monster that everyone despised.

Gavrael had already analysed and thought through on what was going on with him and realised his own situation at this moment.

When he was still looking for Evie, whenever the suffering was getting too much for him to handle, he always acted out in anger and what comes next was his intense bloodlust. Bloodlust so unquenchable he felt like he would go mad if he did not quench it one way or another. Once he had killed and enough blood was shed, he would finally calm down and after that he would continue to search for her again. That cycle went on endlessly, for many years. And during those years, he had done nothing but shed blood and seek for more power, thinking that he could break free from the torment if he became powerful enough and he could finally find her.

It did not even matter whether those he killed, and those sufferings he went through were actually just illusions because to him, everything was real. The evidence was how he was now.

When he had seized Kirzan after waking up in that dungeon, he went around killing people the exact same way he did when he was still in that illusory unknown place. The feeling was exactly the same. He felt the thrill of satisfaction whenever he spilled enough blood. It was like the sight of all that red and flowing blood had become his temporary relief from his suffering. It had been that way for many years, and he did not know what else to do.

Gavrael thought this would stop once he had finally found her, but it seems that he was wrong. He had realised now that he had already reached that point of no return that Claudius had repeatedly warned him about.. And he knew there was no turning back now that he is already in this phase.