The Crown's Entrapment

780  Anger and Fear

Unlike what was expected of them, Jayra and Bartos began their journey with enough men with them to guard the caravans and protect them from potential dangers. At the moment, they were outside of Cordon's borders, and they were currently in the wilderness which Bartos had deemed safe to travel through. In addition, a few of his men had already gone ahead of them in their wolf forms to make sure that they had a clear path away from possible dangers or obstacles.

[Amon agreed to have a stopover in the Kingdom of Zion to wait for us.] Bartos informed Jayra through their bond. [We'll be stopping there as well to resupply and meet up with them.]

Jayra simply hummed in recognition of that fact. She was currently on her husband's back as she rode on him in his wolf form, and that was the only way they could communicate at the moment.

In the end, their entourage ended up traveling in their wolf forms while Jayra used a last minute spell to improvise a way to secure the caravans onto the wolves' backs. That way, they wouldn't be left too far behind since she really wanted to catch up with Amon's entourage without delaying their travel speed. Based on their estimates, they should reach the Kingdom of Zion by early tomorrow morning. From there, she would just cast a spell to have the caravans be pulled by horses. Or maybe it would be best to simply retain their current arrangement. That way, their convoy would look more untouchable with how many wolves were guarding the line.

[Let's stop for a while,] Jayra told her husband. [I saw Skyler. I think it brought a message from Xenia.] Immediately, Bartos signaled for his men to stop running for a quick rest. Likewise, Jayra moved to approach the royal pigeon that somehow caught up to them.

"Oh hello, Skyler!" Jayra greeted the bird with a smile is it quickly perched itself onto her shoulder. "Hmm… Let's see what you have for me…" Jayra hummed as she grabbed the small parchment tied on Skyler's leg. Quickly reading it, however, the smile on her face disappeared as she saw its contents.

"Heavens," she gasped.

[What is it?] Bartos inquired through the bond.

[According to Xenia, I should check on Amon immediately. Queen Mineah detected Devon's energy inside of him, and that warrants an immediate investigation,] Jayra explained. [Queen Mineah has the ability to see one's life force, so this piece of news is alarming. She also has this theory that Devon's blackthread wasn't completely destroyed by Helena's blinding light as she tried to save Osman that night. It only destroyed Devon's shadow mist supposedly, which probably helped conceal the blackthread inside Amon's body and allowed it to lay dormant until it finally has a chance to harm him.] Her face paled further just as she finished stating the obvious. Again, all the possible scenarios this could bring flooded her mind. [I can't believe this, but if there's really a piece of Devon's dormant energy lying inside Amon's body, then this theory might prove true,] Jayra added. [We need to hurry so that I can have a careful look at Amon's inner energy. Again, this is very dangerous. It's either that the bloodthread could kill Amon once it suddenly reactivates, or… No… The worst could be that Devon might overtake Amon's body and claim it!]

Bartos growled at the warnings. [Hold on tight now, my wife,] he warned her. [We'll be traveling ahead of the rest. I'll assign Beta Janus to lead the caravans for now!] From there, he then ran as fast as he could with Jayra on his back. He could feel his wife's emotions through their bond, and he didn't want her getting stressed at all right now. Still, he couldn't help but ask, [Is that even possible? King Ezekiel already destroyed even Devon's soul and spirit, right?!]

[It is since there's still a trace of Devon remaining. That bloodthread has a fragment of his soul and spirit, so it should be possible,] Jayra weakly muttered. [Like I said earlier, it's either that the bloodthread will kill Amon, but knowing Devon's greed, he will probably use it to claim Amon's body and live in it.] She could only hope that they could get there fast enough. In her opinion, the latter was the worst since Devon would once again be able to bring destruction to the land all while using Amon's body.

********

Meanwhile, Amon's eyes were bloodshot as he killed the last remaining bandit in front of him with his bare hands, tearing the man into pieces as he turned to the direction where he last saw his wife. Growling, he was about to get on the nearest horse to run after the rest who had his wife when his body suddenly froze.

'That's it. Be furious with your incompetence. You should feel anger and fear because of what happened. You failed to protect the woman you love!'

He closed his eyes as he tried to move, but he ended up slumping down on the ground as he clutched on his head. He felt a sharp pain drilling holes all over his head as he heard Devon's voice. What was happening to him? Why was Devon's voice taunting him like this? It wasn't just his voice too. He could even feel him inside his body as if he had power over him.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Devon maniacally laughed inside his head as if he was enjoying his suffering, and he could only grunt as various emotions mixed up inside of him.

[Bella!] Amon called out for his wife through the bond. Unfortunately, there was no response. He could feel her emotions well though, and he could at least tell that she was somewhat calm despite everything that had happened. That confused him. How could she be so calm at a time like this? He was going haywire at this point, and he could only do his best not to panic as he tried to communicate with her again through their bond.

"Your Majesty? Are you alright?" he heard Commander Lucia's familiar voice.

"My mother, how is she?" Amon asked while his head was still on the ground. The pain was just too much.

"She passed out," Lucia reported. "Casimir is already checking on her…"

Amon shook his head, his body trembling as he muttered, "I lost Bella. I can't even communicate with her through our bond."  He could still smell that strong metallic scent of blood all over as well, and he didn't know what to do to himself other than to bear the pain he was feeling right now.

"They have a powerful sorcerer with them, Your Majesty," Lucia commented. "Also, you don't look too well. Let me escort you to Casimir so he can check on you." Amon raised his head, and that was the only time he noticed how much blood there was everywhere around him. He himself was bathed with a lot of blood that wasn't even his.

He frowned at the horrendous sight before him. All the bandit bodies that were torn to pieces just made him sick.

"Did I…" he stammered as he looked at his own hands. "You went on rampage…" It was Lera's voice who approached him this time. "You only snapped out of it the moment you saw Her Majesty being taken. Don't worry. They all deserved this."

"I should go after them. They have my wife," Amon said as he got back on his feet. "You take charge from here, Lera. I must save my wife."

"They want you in exchange for our Queen," Lera informed him. "I believe this is the same dark witch that approached King Moler, actually. Apparently, they killed him and left no one alive…" Seeing her cousin's look, Amon followed her gaze towards the well-guarded prison carriage where they once put Moller and the rest of the men responsible for his ambush before. They were all dead, and his soldiers were currently gathering all of their lifeless bodies for disposal.

Shaking his head, he then read the parchment they left that Lera handed him. It indicated the time and place where they were supposed to meet for the exchange of his wife in return for his surrender.

"This is a well-planned ambush since they obviously want you alive. I believe that they're planning to kidnap the Queen Mother and the Queen in exchange for you," Lera added. "Something is off though… Why would they need you alive?"

"I… I'll kill them all!" Amon grunted through gritted teeth as he went back on his feet. He was about to get his horse and follow the enemy's tracks, but Lera along with Rendon and Lucia quickly blocked his way.

"In times like these, you should calm down first," Lera scolded with a frown. "I am confident that they will not harm Her Majesty, so for now, we must plan for our next move. This is so unlike you…" Amon once more shook his head as he composed himself. Yes, he was someone who was always calm before. He never once lost his temper, but right now, he could feel how his blood was boiling with anger. He was intent on killing everyone who took his wife and leave none of them alive!