Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 846: Brave A Step ()

The silence grew heavier the further into the forest she ventured. The moist earth squelched beneath her boots and she instinctively lightened her steps. The trees were larger this far in and the smell of moss and earth had grown stronger.

Neveah scanned her surroundings, but there were no signs of what the source of that strange light had been. Neither were there any tracks that could account for anything unusual enough to draw her out here.

Had she thought too much to it? Had she been waiting so long for something that her mind was conjuring up it’s own mysteries?

She had tracked the light by memory, with only the general direction from the glimpse she caught on the terrace. And somehow, she had found herself navigating through the forest with an ease she could only attribute to memory.

She knew this place... and she knew it well. She knew exactly where to go to avoid crossing paths with any patrolling guards. She knew shortcuts around dead ends and what path to take to get to where she wanted to be.

Neveah wasn’t sure how long she had been out in the forest but she had covered a reasonable distance and when she looked over her shoulders, the Eclipse palace was a distant silhouette.

It wouldn’t be long now. Alessio would realise she was gone and would come searching for her.

He wouldn’t come alone. The patrol guards and palace guards would flood the forest...a few would face Alessio’s wrath for failing to notice her before she got this far out.

Neveah had quickly realised in the first week after regaining consciousness that whatever risks she took that dissatisfied Alessio, the punishment would be dealt to another and not her.

He had never made it known to her. But it hadn’t escaped her notice how the palace guards had been changed entirely to unfamiliar faces after she first attempted to sneak out to the forest.

And she certainly didn’t fail to pick up on the overwhelming metallic stench Alessio exuded when he returned to bid her a good night.

Her memories were devoid of many things, but the smell of blood was unmistakable.

She would recognise it anywhere.

But she hadn’t allowed herself to jump to conclusions or make any accusations. She didn’t know enough to entertain her speculations, and he had done nothing to put his character in question.

Even so, she had made a point to be cautious. Leaving palace grounds with no understanding of her situation would bring no benefits, or answers.

That strange light had stirred a thought she had long suppressed. What if the answers were in fact out here? Why did Alessio seem so wary of her venturing into this forest when it was right beyond palace grounds?

Why was he intent on keeping her cooped up using a child as an excuse? What was he so scared of? 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Her thoughts were interrupted not long after.

A low pulse thrummed through the forest floor, rippling ever so gently beneath her boots. It began softly, barely noticeable, like a distant heartbeat underneath the surface, and she almost missed it,

But the leaves fluttering and stirring on the trees were an indication of something unusual...like something unlikely had passed by quicker than her senses could note.

And then it graduated into something stronger. A visible vibration that shook the branches of the trees and the trees themselves. Birds took flight in a flurry of wings and the hush that dawned over the forest was so sudden, a chill ran down Neveah’s spine.

She stiffened. Her hand moved to rest on her abdomen, her eyes darting around quickly.

The air had grown heavy and humid. The night wind was long gone, but the trees still trembled, branches swaying haphazardly. Every instinct should have screamed at her to move, to run, to get as far away as possible, but her mind wasn’t functioning right. Her instincts lay calm and her legs rooted to the spot.

Something wasn’t right... and it wasn’t the forest itself.

It was something else...

She felt it subtly, like an invisible weight had been placed over her shoulders. A soft thud echoed behind her and a massive shadow fell across the undergrowth.

The earth groaned, so deep she felt it in her bones. A wave of heat licked across her back, the temperature in the forest climbed sharply, and perspiration beaded on her forehead,

Neveah didn’t turn right away. She couldn’t.

Her limbs were frozen in place, her mind spinning faster than she could make sense of.

But when she turned...

All motion stilled. The forest, her breaths and her own heartbeat. For a moment, the world was entirely silent... unmoving, terrified to a standstill at the sight of a beast of nightmares.

A mountain of powerful limbs, wings as vast as the boundless skies, claws larger than anything she had ever seen and rows and rows of dim red scales gleamed in the moonlight.

A night terror given life...

Her heart shuddered within her. And again she waited for her instincts to make the move...bid her to save herself, even though it was already too late.

Even though a glimpse of those claws and those wings already told her she would not be getting too far...if she could even make it a few steps at all.

Slowly, her gaze trailed up till she stared into large orbs as dark as ruby. The beast blocked out the moonlight, encased in shadowy darkness...yet it stared back, head poised in the elegant superiority of one who dominated the world, and destroyed it all in the same breath.

Their eyes met and the night pulsed with something...a feeling Neveah could not recognize.

For a moment, nothing happened. None moved, neither beast nor Neveah,

Nothing was said. The silence stretched, thick with apprehension and the weight of the unknown.

Finally, Neveah retreated a slow, measured step back and the beast bared its teeth in tow, a stream of white steam dampened her hair and clouded her vision.

When her vision cleared, its massive head had descended to her line of sight and now peered at her on her level, barely a hairsbreadth out of reach.

Her heart tightened and then stilled, only to repeat the strange beat again. The silence was heated and maddening, the blood in her veins boiled to near agitation.

And the beast had made no moves. No gestures. Nothing.

Was she in danger? If she was, why didn’t it feel like it?

Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, and she sucked in a sharp breath, daring a step forward if her limbs allowed.

They did.

The beast trailed her movements. One step...two steps, three, and then stop.

A growl rumbled in its throat.

It was limited in its movements, she realised. The clearing was only large enough to harbour its massive size, a step and it would level dozens of trees.

Between both, only one could approach. And it wasn’t the ruby scaled beast.

She hesitated. Her nails digging into her palm, her mind spinning to make sense of this...

This overwhelming familiarity undid the knot of unease. Warming the endless, deep-rooted cold she hadn’t been able to reach herself,

What was this hollow feeling? This pulsing ache?

She didn’t know, she couldn’t decipher it, yet she braved another step...