Chapter 67: Please
Raven
The bitterness was overwhelming the moment it slid down my throat—sharp and acrid, clinging to my tongue in a way that made my stomach churn violently. I forced myself upright almost instantly, coughing harshly as my body tried to reject it, desperate to force it back out.
But it was already inside me.
Each cough burned, scraping against my throat as I struggled to breathe, my chest tightening painfully. My fingers curled into the sheets beneath me, gripping them as if they could steady me.
Then something shifted.
Through blurred vision and ragged breaths, I noticed Gessia had dropped to her knees.
I froze, my coughing easing slightly as confusion cut through the haze of discomfort. She was on the floor, completely still for a moment before pulling out a piece of black charcoal.
And then she began to draw.
Her movements were fast, deliberate—almost too precise. Her head was lowered, her posture eerily reverent, like she was bowing to something unseen. But what unsettled me the most was the look on her face.
She didn’t look like herself.
Her eyes were distant, unfocused, like she wasn’t fully there. Like she was following something—copying something she could see that I couldn’t.
The symbols she drew were strange. Twisted lines and sharp edges, looping into patterns that made no sense.
And yet...
They felt familiar.
I frowned faintly, staring harder at them, trying to understand why they stirred something in me. But the feeling slipped through my grasp the more I reached for it.
A deep, suffocating dread settled into my chest.
It wasn’t just fear.
It was something deeper. Something instinctive.
And Rex—
I didn’t need to look at him to feel it. His gaze had been fixed on me since we entered the room. No... even before that. Since the forest. Since I spoke back to him.
It pressed against me now, heavy and impossible to ignore.
Still, I refused to acknowledge it.
Instead, my focus shifted inward—to the warmth spreading slowly through my belly. At first, it was faint. Almost comforting.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to stay calm.
Don’t cry.
Don’t break.
Whatever this was, I had to endure it.
I’ll still run. I’ll find a way. I can’t give up.
I clung to that thought desperately, repeating it over and over like a fragile promise.
Then Gessia suddenly gasped.
The sharp sound snapped my attention back to her as she lifted her head, turning toward Rex.
"Kneel. In the center."
Her voice was firm, almost commanding.
I blinked, instinctively glancing at Rex, not expecting him to actually listen.
But he moved.
He stepped into the center of the circle she had drawn—a pattern that now looked almost like a sun, with lines stretching outward in ten directions.
And then—
He knelt.
My breath caught.
At that exact moment, the warmth in my belly twisted violently.
It wasn’t warmth anymore.
It felt like someone had taken a burning knife and dragged it slowly across my stomach from the inside.
I gasped sharply, my hands flying to my abdomen as my heart slammed wildly against my ribs.
The pain was immediate.
Brutal.
Unrelenting.
My fingers pressed harder against my belly as if I could hold it together, as if I could stop whatever was happening inside me. My vision trembled, and despite everything, I looked up—
Straight at Rex.
For a split second, I saw it.
Concern.
A flicker. Barely there.
Is he mad? How dare he?
The thought barely formed before another wave of pain crashed into me, stronger than the last.
A broken groan escaped my lips as I doubled over, collapsing onto my stomach as the pain spread, consuming everything.
Behind the haze, I heard Gessia again.
"Get into the circle!"
He was already there—but it wasn’t enough.
"If you don’t kneel, it might interfere," she said quickly, urgency bleeding into her voice. "All witches inherit memories of magic once we awaken. I don’t know why, but you have to kneel—and face her!"
I barely processed the words.
But I heard the shift.
He lowered himself properly this time.
Facing me.
And then—
The pain exploded.
A scream tore out of me before I even realized it was mine.
"Please!"
It ripped through my throat, raw and desperate.
But it didn’t stop.
It only got worse.
Each second stretched endlessly as the pain deepened, twisting and stabbing through my stomach like something was tearing me apart from the inside.
"Ple... please..." I begged, my voice breaking as tears streamed down my face. My fingers clawed at the sheets, gripping them as tightly as I could.
It didn’t help.
Nothing helped.
It felt like I was being stabbed over and over again, the agony relentless and merciless.
My eyes fluttered open, searching desperately until they landed on Gessia.
She stood to the side now, her eyes closed, chanting under her breath.
Calm.
Focused.
Unaffected.
Something inside me snapped.
"Please!" I cried out again. "I’ll—I’ll do anything!"
I didn’t care anymore.
Not about pride. Not about defiance.
"Just... give me something for the pain," I begged, my voice trembling and hoarse. "Please..."
She had to have something.
There was no way she didn’t.
No way she didn’t know what this would feel like.
And yet—
She ignored me.
Her chanting only grew louder, stronger, filling the room as though she was trying to drown out my voice completely.
"Please, Gessia!" I screamed.
Nothing.
No response.
"Oh, goddess!" I gasped, my body beginning to tremble uncontrollably as the pain surged even higher.
My vision blurred, my eyes rolling back slightly as my fingers dug into the sheets, dragging helplessly.
I screamed again.
And again.
Until my voice began to fail, turning hoarse and broken.
"Gessia..." I tried weakly.
But she didn’t stop.
Didn’t even look at me.
My body was drenched in sweat, my breaths uneven and shallow as the pain consumed everything.
"Please..." I whispered.
But I wasn’t begging her anymore.
My eyes squeezed shut as another scream tore through me, muffled into the bed.
And then—
Something changed.
I felt it.
Something was leaving my body.
Not the pain.
The pain was still there.
But something else... something inside me was slipping away.
"Please..." I sobbed, my teeth clenched as tears and snot blurred everything together.
This time, I knew who I was begging.
The goddess of life.
The giver of life to everything.
"Please save me!" I cried, my voice breaking completely. "If you won’t save the child... then take the pain away!"
My fingers dug into the wood beneath the sheets, the pressure so intense it felt like they might snap.
"Please... just save me!" I begged again, screaming as the agony continued to rip through me.
But nothing came.
No relief.
No answer.
"Please..." I whispered weakly, my strength fading.
It was obvious now.
No one was coming.
Not even her.
The pain only worsened, swallowing me whole until there was nothing left but it.
My body trembled violently, my mind slipping further away with every passing second.
And in the end, there was only one thing left to ask.
"...if you can’t..."
My voice cracked, barely audible.
"...then kill me."
The plea left me in a broken whisper—a final prayer to a goddess who remained silent.
