Chapter 357
Wednesday, December 6th, 2045
Ozell Estate, Morzar, Netheria
In a land hidden in the mountains, resided one of the most powerful Ancient Families of Netheria, the Ozell of Morzar.
The Aurors on night duty were more in numbers tonight since a part of the Clan's main Force had left in the daytime to take part in the Ancient Trials that were going to take place in the Magic City.
Two Aura Stones were an allure that even a clan as seclusive as Ozell could not resist, but they did take their sweet time to debate on the matter.
One of the reasons for the delay was a letter that had been sent to them a few days ago. It was from another Ancient Family, a foreign Ancient Family.
The Arya of Dehradun were amongst the world's most respected Families, and even in Netheria, there were quite a lot of Ancient Families who immensely respected them and had good relations with them. And when a letter was sent to them, asking for a Trial of Honour, where the Young Master of the Arya Family claimed that Sunaina Ozell belonged to him, they did not appreciate it.
It was no longer a private matter as the Arya had revealed everything to the other Ancient Houses, and given a reason to the enemies of Ozell to throw some mud on their reputation.
As seclusive as they were, like any other Ancient Family, they thrived on respect. And as any self-respecting man would be offended when someone openly claimed that their fiance belonged to him, the Young Master of the Ozell family was enraged when the letters arrived from several Ancient Families of Netheria, asking him whether he would be accepting Samrath Arya's challenge or not.
To them, it was a matter of honour as well since a foreign Ancient Family was calling one of their own a dishonourable family. Those who did have some connection to Ozell were quite furious and even urged them to put a rest to these rumours.
The Elders of the Sect knew that it was all a ploy, and everyone, even including those who had some connections to them, only wanted to fan this scandal out of the grievances they bore in their hearts.
Since Ozell were very seclusive and were not dependent on any other Ancient Family, having isolated themselves for decades, they had a lot of enemies who simply did not like their ways, and now they were all jumping on the bandwagon.
The Head of the Family advised his son to not worry about these things and that he had no obligation to accept the challenge. Nothing would happen to their family if he refused to accept it, but Allario was a man with pride, who deeply loved Sunaina.
He was a little unsettled in his heart as well, and to him, it was an opportunity to clear his mind and prove to his intended that he was indeed better than the man whom her innocent heart had accepted.
And after a couple of days of deliberation, the Ozell sent a challenge to Samrath, instead of accepting the one he had sent them.
The Young Master of the Arya Family had to prove himself worthy if he wanted to have a duel of Honour over the hand of Sunaina Ozell. And to prove himself, he had to win the Ancient Trials by defeating every Auror of his generation who takes part in it, only then would Allario Ozell entertain his challenge.
Ozell never expected Samrath to accept their attempt to mock him, but to their dismay, he accepted their challenge.
And finally, today, the Ozell left for the Magic City with the Aurors they had selected to take part in the Trials.
Inside a very simple room that was lit by yellow lamps, a girl sat at a study table as she wrote a piece of prose in the longing for her lover.
Her perfectly healthy appearance was a stark contrast to the dullness of her beautiful eyes, which seemed to have lost their spark. They looked dead, a representation of her helplessness in the tragedy that struck her and her once peaceful life.
Sunaina regretted her decision to call her mother for help. And she regretted it with every breath she took.
She missed Samrath, his warm embrace, his gentleness, and the sincerity in his eyes. And in her heart, she prayed for his safety and success.
The silly her shed another tear as she lamented and apologised to her lover for putting him in harm's way and creating unnecessary trouble for him.
Instead of helping him, her decision had put him in even more danger, and Sunaina knew that he must be quite hard-pressed by having to deal with both Wislaw and Ozell now.
She had heard her mother talk about how Wislaw planned to take his life the night she had forced her to come to the Sect.
Her mother had promised her that she would protect Samrath if she obeyed, but she realised it a little too late that her mother wanted nothing more than to see Samrath dead so that she would no longer have any bonds with an outsider.
Distraught and betrayed, she had attempted to take her own life, and not once but thrice. However, the Gods seemed to like watching her misery as the Ozell managed to save her every time.
She quickly wiped the tears off as she now felt guilty for being selfish. Her mind was still in chaos, but she had now realised that ending her own life was only going to hurt her beloved more. It was selfish of her to leave him to suffer and end her own misery.
A part of her was now glad that the Ozell had saved her, and her heart had calmed down a little as well.
Sunaina would never say it, but she was a little grateful to Allario. Even though she hated the man, she could see that he was quite sincere with her.
He could have easily taken her by force if what he felt towards her was just lust. He could have pushed for the wedding like his mother wanted, but the man showed some respect to her.
Of course, she knew that it was only in hopes that she would accept him, out of his selfishness, but she was still a little grateful to him.
Her chaotic thoughts were reflected in the prose she wrote. Her heart was breaking, and her mind was tired.
A silly thought, a devilish thought, appeared in her mind again, whispering to her to end her miserable existence as she felt grateful to the very man who had abducted her.
Sadly for Sunaina, it was the moment of fulfilment, and Death had arrived to take her away.
As soon as she put the pen down and closed her eyes, trying to calm down her turbulent heart, she hissed at the sudden sting on her neck.
The next moment, she started feeling weightless, and then her consciousness fleeted away, never to return.
Her lifeless body fell forward, but a hand grabbed her shoulder and prevented her head from hitting the table.
A few seconds later, a shining Orb of pink light came out of her body, hovered in the air for a couple of seconds, and then it suddenly disappeared.
The hand on her shoulder eased a little, and from that hand then emerged a black flame, which soon started devouring her body, erasing every sign of her existence.
A few minutes later, a lone man stood in her room, reading the prose the late Heroine of Destiny had penned for her lover.
A light smile crept on his face as he appreciated the beauty of it, and then turned to look at the door that was suddenly knocked and then opened, and just like what happened to that beautiful Orb of Pink Light, he disappeared as well.
"Sunaina?" Rubina Ozell entered the room, calling out to her daughter, but froze a little when she found the room empty.
She walked over to the table and took a look at the prose her daughter had just written. Her heart felt unwell the more she read, but then she felt irritated and reached for the paper to tear it up, stopping midway as she realised how much her daughter already hated her.
Perhaps it was for the best that she was letting out her feelings in these words rather than attempting to take her life again.
Rubina took a deep breath and then slowly walked towards the dressing room, knocking once before she entered.
She thought that her daughter was in the bathroom, so she waited for her to come out. But as minutes passed, her heart felt more and more uneasy.
"Sunaina?" She called out to her daughter again, and then finally entered the bathroom, only to find that there was no one inside.
Rubina Ozell did not understand why tears suddenly leaked out of her eyes. She felt a little dizzy, but she managed to rush out of the room.
Fifteen minutes later, alarms rose in the Sect of Ozell as every Auror was out to search the estate and find the missing girl.
Unfortunately for them, she could never be found again. And the one responsible for it was gone as well, just as silently and invisibly he had come to take her life.
Far away from the land of Ozell, in another part of Netheria, a certain Child of Destiny stared at the blood on his hands, feeling colder with every drop that trickled out of his nostril and fell on his palm.
He suddenly felt dizzy and staggered, and then he felt his body falling backwards.
"Samrath!!" The last thing he heard before he fell unconscious was the cry of one of his Shadow Guards.
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