章節 22: Chapter 22 - The return of Liam

A panicked Emma awoke Erik as she stormed into the study, yelling, "Please be here!"

Erik stirred as he started coming to his senses, and the memories of last night came flooding back. He looked at the still-sleeping Elora and shook his head. This girl was really too much.

He realised he was lying on the ground with a normal-sized Elora on his chest and his now flaccid member still lodged inside her.

As he started to move, he could feel every joint and muscle in his body ache as if they had gone through tremendous strain the day before, which was not far from the truth.

When Emma saw this scene, she flushed red but immediately shook her head as she apparently had other things on her mind.

She sprinted closer to Erik and started fidgeting nervously, "Finally, I found you! T- That man is back! Please get up!"

Among the questions Emma had asked Erik the day before, she had also asked him about the circumstances of his arrival, something Erik had obviously seen in Emily's memories.

So they were both aware Liam had been there to represent the newly formed council with a small force of what they assumed were some kind of enforcers for this council. Although he had obviously left out the part about being teleported there.

Erik yawned deeply, still lying on the ground, as he started caressing Elora's back in an effort to wake her up slowly. He looked at the panicking girl, "Calm down, Emma. We'll be fine."

As he took a good look at Emma, he suddenly noticed that she possibly looked even worse than yesterday. He frowned, "Why do you look so terrible? Did you get any sleep last night?"

Emma suddenly looked uncomfortable, "I- Never mind about that! What are we going to about that man!"

Deciding that he could deal with Emma's issue later, he nodded groggily, "Well, why don't you tell me what the situation is now?"

Emma quickly responded, "Emily's guards are behaving on autopilot and have lined up in front of the door, but they are outnumbered. Currently, Liam and his cronies haven't attacked yet, but they are demanding for Emily to come out."

Suddenly, Emma looked a little unsure, "Although… I get the feeling Liam isn't in charge anymore. It seems to be some woman, and I think I might recognise her, but I don't remember from where."

Erik yawned again, "Alright, I get it. Just give me a moment here."

Annoyed at his casual attitude but still a little too timid to call him out on it, she just stood there fidgeting, afraid of what might happen if she ended up in Liam's hands, the events from seven years ago still clear in her mind.

Erik groaned through his pained body as he sat up with Elora in his arms before he kissed her and whispered that she needed to wake up.

Elora groaned but eventually opened her eyes and looked at Erik with annoyance, "My body hurts."

Erik couldn't help but grin at her words, "Well, I believe that was your own choice, was it not?"

Then, he grabbed her chin and made her look into his eyes while saying sternly, "Listen, Elora. I know your heart was in the right place, but never do something like that again, alright?"

His voice was full of determination as he continued, "We both have our parts to play in this partnership, and my job is to keep you safe from physical harm. That is my pride as your protector, your conqueror, your partner and your man. Don't step on my pride, Elora."

His dominant attitude made Elora feel a little giddy, especially as she still felt Erik inside of her, but she realised now wasn't the time.

She could see Erik was truly hurt by her actions, so she could only nod and say, "Alright, Erik. I won't do it again. But… I'm still happy I did it."

She cupped his cheek with her hand and smiled, "I wanted to know what you had to go through to be as powerful as possible so you can keep us both safe."

Lifting her hand seemed to have taken all her energy as she then made it fall back down before she whimpered, "Anyway, go take care of the trash. I'll be happy to relieve myself of this body for a while."

With those words, she disappeared into a cloud of light specks that got absorbed into Erik's body. He felt a strange combination of increased power and pain as his body seemed to ache even more now.

But he certainly couldn't let that show after the words he had just said.

Meanwhile, Emma didn't actually understand anything of what was said since her new guests spoke in Sylvari, but she was horrified upon seeing the large snake flop freely onto the ground now that the cave it was previously sealed inside had disappeared.

She yelped, blushed and covered her eyes before starting to kick Erik in frustration at his behaviour, seemingly having lost some of her timidity.

Erik naturally just felt as if someone was caressing him and only laughed at her actions, "Alright, alright. I'm going already!" He stood up as his body creaked and ached before he stretched his large and powerful body right in front of Emma.

Emma couldn't help but sneak a peek between her fingers as she felt intimidated but also somewhat comforted by his immense size.

Since her trust in him had begun to grow exponentially from the moment he saved her and promised to cure her sister, she had already started to think of him as a giant boulder protecting her from the winds and rain of life.

After a few moments of stretching, Erik finally felt like his body was his own again before he picked up his armour from the ground and put it back on under Emma's half-relieved, half-disappointed stare.

He turned to Emma, "Wait here, alright?"

Seeing the girl nod nervously, Erik walked into the hallway and heard a still tired-sounding Elora in his head, "Remember, if you end up fighting, either use purely your powers as a werewolf or as a human. It's still too early to reveal you can do both. Should I send Emily with you?"

But Erik shook, "No need for that. I should be fine on my own, even if it comes to a fight. Besides, it would raise too many questions if she appeared in her puppet-like state."

Feeling a mental nod to indicate Elora understood, Erik kept walking and suddenly started to wave his finger around in the air. Since he might soon get into a fight, he should be as prepared as possible, and he just got a new affinity to make use of.

***

Meanwhile, outside, a familiar scene was playing out as two groups of various races had gathered under the cloudy morning sky.

The aggressors appeared to have found some reinforcements, as their group had only gotten larger despite the losses they suffered yesterday.

While the cloudy sky made sure it still wasn't very bright out, the dark and oppressive atmosphere that Emily spread last time was nowhere to be found, for the simple reason that the woman herself was missing as well.

Emily's absence caused a tenseness in the air as everyone stared at the woman's slaves with some anxiety, wondering when the slave mistress would make an appearance while somewhat confused about why they hadn't simply attacked yet.

Didn't the altercation from the day before warrant an all-out attack without the need for more negotiations?

What most of them were unaware of was that yesterday's attack was not supposed to have happened yet. The council was sending someone from its joint security force, the shadow sentinels, to take charge of the operation.

Yet, in an effort to claim at least one of the sisters for himself while also hoping to gain some fame by taking down the infamous witch of London, Liam had taken matters into his own hands by using his authority as a local warlord to call the attack early.

The position of local warlord was granted by the council to various individuals who controlled certain regions before the council's formation.

After the formation of the council, various factions had formed within it, representing vampires, werewolves and humans, and the European regions were divided among these factions.

The human faction currently ruled England, and since Liam had already taken control of most of London during the six years before the council's formation, he was given the title of local warlord and now ruled the local area in the council's name.

Unfortunately, that title was now in danger as he stood beside a tall, pale woman named Seraphina Nightshade. This intimidating woman held the title of warden while serving the shadow sentinels.

Wardens were the keepers of the peace and would be sent out whenever threats arose that local leaders weren't able to deal with. This woman was the person originally sent by the council to deal with the Witch of London, and she was very displeased by Liam's actions.

Her short, midnight black hair framed a beautiful but angular face, complimenting her bright crimson eyes.

This actually made her appear similar to Emily, who also had black hair and crimson eyes. But unlike Emily, whose eyes were a result of her corruption, this woman was, in fact, a vampire.