The son of my father’s killer.

Mira’s POV.

“You’re really a tough one, huh?”

The guard’s voice was a jagged rasp.

He slammed me into a stone wall with a force that rattled through my teeth and stole the breath from my lungs.

“Let me go…!” I squealed, trying to call for help but my voice betrayed me, my words almost choked in my throat.

His massive hand gripped the fabric of my dress and I shoved at his chest.

My palms slid against the cold, sweat-slicked metal of his armor and I stumbled backward.

“Stupid little slut!! You think you can run from me?”

He sent a slap that cracked across my face.

Heat exploded through my cheek, my head snapped sideways and for a second, the world became a blurred smear of touch light and shadows.

My chest rose and fell unevenly, I could hear my heart pulse so hard.

My hands still tried to resist, forcefully pushing at him, but my body began to boil.

My blood flared hot and cold as if there was something in my body, fighting to keep calm.

As if there was a caged beast clawing to get out.

I felt his heavy hands roaming over my skin, but I was too unconscious to react against him.

I was drifting, too weak to fight him.

I slowly lifted my trembling hands to my head as whispers lingered like smoke through them.

Voices I didn’t recognize chanted words into my ears making me unable to move.

The guard didn’t notice. He kept ripping my clothes.

The sound of the tearing fabric sounded as loud as a gunshot in the narrow hall.

His tongue, tasting of sour wine, traced the lines on my neck.

“Please… let me… go…” I whimpered, voice thin.

He scoffed and yanked me into his arms. “You’re mine for tonight, bitch! You should be grateful for being acknowledged by me…”

Without warning, his palm collided with my cheek again and my head whipped to the other side.

The taste of blood filled my mouth.

“Miserable forsaken pig,” he spat. I felt the warm, sticky spray of his saliva on my skin.

His calloused hand slid between my thighs.

“Look at me! Don’t you dare turn your face away from me!”

I stood paralyzed in his grip, eyes rolling back, my lips twitching with a sudden, uncontrollable irritation.

The smell of the wine on his breath was suffocating… his touch was a fierce one… I barely stood up to him.

“Is this really the end…?” I murmured under my breath. My legs trembled so violently I thought my bones might shatter.

I couldn’t stand the humiliation.

My revenge hadn’t started and I was already going to end like this… broken in a dark corridor.

The voices still chanted continuously, my body fought to respond to it.

I closed my eyes, praying for a miracle, praying hope comes… praying it was a dream, that I could wake up..

He pushed forward again, hooked his fingers into my undergarment and ripped them aside. The cold air bit my skin, almost leaving me naked.

I jolted, a sharp pain pierced through my chest and that was all I could remember.

The next thing I saw was my teeth deeped into the side of his neck and tearing his flesh apart.

His blood flooded my mouth, it tasted like metallic and iron.

“You… forsaken bitch…” he breathed, arms wrapped around me, but his strength was fading as blood gushed from his neck, soaking us both.

I pushed him backward, then lunged forward again, burying another bite into his neck.

He lifted his hands, fumbling to stop the flow, but it was too late. I didn’t give him the chance to.

My hand shot out, my fingers stiffening like claws, and in one push, I plunged my arm into his chest.

His gaze locked on mine. The cruelty in his eyes had been replaced by a hollow, unassuming shock.

I slowly leaned my head to his ear as the breath of his death filled my nostrils, whispering words only us understood.

“Guess you didn’t see this one coming… sweetheart.”

I twisted my hand inside the wet heat of his chest and snapped my arm backward.

He fell to the floor, his body shrinking, his life draining into the stones.

His heart was still pulsing weakly in my hand, hot and slick, blood slipped through my fingers in thick crimson red.

“Filthy bastard…” I smirked, my eyes blazing with fire.

Then, the voice of another guard snapped me back to reality.

My hand trembled in panic as I threw the warm heart to the floor, body covered in blood.

“You… you dare to kill a guard!?” The man’s voice was commanding.

“No… it’s not what you think… I didn’t mean to…”

The man didn’t wait for my explanation, he started alarming other men.

Without hesitation, I bolted.

“Chase her…!” He ordered, running after me.

I sprinted toward the corridor, my bare feet slapping against the cold floor.

Every turn I took made my chest pounded with an agonizing pressure.

My legs became heavy, the more I ran, the more exhausted I became.

Despite being here for eleven months, I still had to navigate through my safety.

He was faster than I had expected. I could hear his heavy boot gaining on me.

My back still hurt from the way the guard had slammed me against the stone wall.

My vision wasn't clear enough… the word chanting in my head made it worse.

If king Veyrath hadn’t destroyed everything I cared about fourteen years ago, I wouldn't be a rat trapped in his creepy walls.

The guards were catching up and my legs were already betraying me.

My breath was a harsh hushing sound, I couldn’t hold in anymore.

“I can’t let them catch up… I can’t let them see my face…” I hissed, forcing my legs to move.

Then, the chant grew louder. “Run… Mira. Run…”

“Who… are you…” I wheezed, fighting for a scrap of air.

I kept dragging myself forward, determined to escape.

If I let them take me now… my life would be a special kind of hell.

This place wasn’t meant for people like us. I’ve witnessed what they do to people of our kind.

I’ve seen how they slaughter us like some ritual animals.

Eleven months of planning shouldn’t end in dirt.

Without notice, I stumbled into a rock, causing me to lose my balance.

My body lunged sideways, I rolled down the hills, my ankles sprained.

I didn’t wait to heal, I fought my way back to my feet, whimpering as I forced myself to run.

Their voices weren't fading anymore… They were one mile away from me, their torches flickering through the trees like angry fireflies.

Every surrounding I passed by started fading, my nose filled with a thousand scent.

The damp pine, the cooper of my own blood, and the sweat of the men behind me.

Everything felt within my reach.

Crickets chirped endlessly in the darkness as their song weaved through the cold night.

My body couldn’t hold on any longer, I staggered like a zombie, my hands clutched to my chest.

My lungs tightened, my throat went dry.

Deep down, I couldn’t feel myself anymore. It was as if someone was possessing my body.

I was losing control.

They were getting closer at full speed.

Just when I thought it was over… that the light of their torch would find me… just when I thought my life was ending…

A hand shot out from the deep shadows.

It gripped my wrist with a bruising strength and pulled me into the darkness.

I froze, my breath hitched in my throat.

“Who are you?”