Author's Corner

Sorry for the cliffhanger last time! I know you all love them ;) Thanks for sticking around and still reviewing, it's always nice to hear what you guys have to say about what's happening. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in a review or drop me a message on here and I'll answer them (unless they're spoilers lol). Please enjoy your read and remember that feedback is always appreciated, even if it's literally only a word like "yay" or "boring" lmao. Have fun!

The title of this chapter is a reference to a quote from Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor (which is absolutely spectacular): "Dread, she thought, was a pale-haired goddess who came to take you away. Away where? No one knew, but if it were nice, surely she'd smile when she came for you." If you haven't read either Strange the Dreamer or Daughter of Smoke and Bone, do it now because they're honestly modern masterpieces. They somehow manage to feel like actual magic and the prose is out of this world!

EIGHTH BLOOD

Chapter 33: A pale-haired goddess

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Octavia was surrounded by heat when she woke. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, she looked down and saw that she was in a small hot spring surrounded by trees. She was still fully clothed, which she was thankful for when she noticed the family of macaques that were bathing alongside her. Her head throbbed as one swam over to her and started playing with her hair.

"Get lost," she mumbled, but her tone lacked the bite it usually carried.

A giggle drifted into her ears.

She locked eyes with the macaque and frowned. "Did you just—"

"I'm over here, silly! To your left!"

Octavia turned her head and gasped softly as a tiny pair of hands cupped her cheeks. "Breena," she whispered, meeting the yosei's bird-like gaze. ". . . Why'd you let that deer push me?"

Breena giggled again and leaned in to kiss the tip of Octavia's nose. "Apologies. You weren't hurt, were you?"

She shook her head. "How did you get here?" she asked, eyeing the yosei's delicate little wings. "We're a long way from your forest. Did Nidawi tell you to come?"

"Alas, she did not."

"Then why are you here?"

"I wanted to see you. Nidawi-sama believes that your fate is sealed, so I came to say goodbye."

"Goodbye? Why the hell would you need to . . ."

The sombre expression Breena adopted startled her. "Oh, my darling . . . You're dying."

Octavia was lost for words.

Breena pressed her body against Octavia's cheek and hugged her. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Those horrid shadows don't know when to quit. At least you have time to say your farewells. You have your magic to thank for that. If not for your powers, you would've been dead in a day."

"How long have I been out?" Octavia blurted suddenly.

"Three days," replied Sesshoumaru.

Octavia glanced up and saw him leaning against a boulder beside the hot spring. An infant macaque kept trying to crawl into his lap, but he was having none of it. The macaque, however, was determined to reach its desired destination, and continued to come back for more. Despite his irritation, Sesshoumaru was surprisingly gentle with the baby monkey. Whenever it crawled too close, he simply picked it up and placed it farther away, restarting the cycle.

How long had he been sitting there?

"What's going on?" she asked. "I feel fine. Why are you both looking at me like I'm a lost cause?"

"Open your kimono," said Sesshoumaru.

Breena held the folds of her yukata shut. "Don't!" she hissed, baring her teeth at him. "She doesn't need to see that, you savage mutt! Show some compassion for once in your life!"

He issued a warning growl. "Silence. Withholding the truth won't make matters any worse, you little rat. She deserves to know."

Octavia pushed Breena aside gently and peeled open her yukata. The valley between her breasts bore an intricate tattoo that consisted of interconnecting black spirals, which moved independently. It looked like leeches were suckling at her skin, except they were actually underneath, causing havoc in her ribcage. She raked her fingernails across her chest desperately, trying to claw them off, but they were inked deep into her flesh.

"What is it! What's happening to me!"

"You've been touched by evil," Breena explained. "Your ancestors called it the Mark of Erebus, after the ancient word for 'darkness'. It means your life has been claimed."

"Claimed by who!"

"The creature that branded you."

Octavia shivered. The water in the hot spring might as well have been ice cold. She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes, not wanting to see the brand between her breasts. Her throat burned as she whispered, "How do I get rid of it?"

"You can't." Nagisa emerged from the trees like a wraith. "It's not something that can be undone. The mark will continue to spread until it covers your entire body. You won't be able to fight it."

Octavia's eyes burned with tears.

Breena hugged her neck protectively. "Stop it!" she screamed. "Can't you see you're scaring her! You've even made her cry!"

"Would you rather we lied to make her feel better?" Nagisa asked.

"Yes!"

"Don't waste your energy arguing with them," Sesshoumaru said harshly. "Her kind are all the same. They've never understood what it means to suffer. They're nothing but spoiled brats."

"That's rich coming from you, Lord Sesshoumaru," Breena snapped.

"Mind your tone."

The yosei didn't heed his warning. She snarled and flexed her sharp talons in his direction. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this. She was your responsibility! Why did you even bother protecting her all those other times if you were just going to let her die!"

His hand shot out and grabbed her. "That's enough, you insolent beast. Know your place."

Breena squirmed and smacked his hand with her miniature fists, but it was like watching a fly trying to tear itself out of a spider's web. The macaques squealed and evacuated the hot spring as his youki soured the air. Even the infant that had been brave enough to approach him saw the error of its ways and scampered into its fleeing mother's arms.

Octavia reached out and touched his arm. He met her watery gaze and slowly loosened his grip, allowing Breena to slip free and hover in the air above their heads. His expression was racked with what could only be guilt. A tear rolled down her cheek as she slid her hand into his.

"Help me up."

He used his other hand to support her back as he hoisted her out of the water. Her legs wobbled as she put them to work for the first time in days, but she didn't give up. Gripping Sesshoumaru's hand, she planted her feet on the snow and looked at Nagisa, who'd been silent for far too long.

"There must be something we can do to stop it from spreading," she said. "Or at the very least slow it down. I'm not just gonna sit around and wait for it to kill me."

Nagisa's grey eyes glittered with sadness. "I'm sorry, but it's too late."

Octavia turned to Breena. "What about Nidawi? Is there really nothing she can do?"

"She may be wise, but she cannot work miracles," the yosei answered.

Miracles, eh?

Octavia could feel her eyes being drawn to the crystal towers in the distance. As an agnostic of sorts, she'd never been a big believer of miracles, but most religions were built on them. That had to count for something. If the God Stars truly did exist, they'd surely have more experience with miracles than she did. But what if they weren't real? There was only one way to find out.

She pointed at the sky weakly and said, "I bet they can, though."

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Sesshoumaru hardly left her side as they travelled through the woods to what remained of the island temple. She'd deteriorated rapidly since leaving the hot spring, as the sea dragon had predicted she would. Her skin was pale and clammy, and her breathing was noticeably more laboured than usual. The dark circles beneath her eyes were stark and unsettling.

She swayed several times as she climbed the many steps leading up to the temple. The splintered stone made the path difficult to traverse, which led to her tripping on a particularly large crack.

He reacted like lightning, catching her by the arm and pulling her upright. She flashed him a tight smile and waited for him to let go, but he knew he wouldn't be able to even if he tried. He draped her arm around his shoulders and held her firmly by the waist. As they walked the rest of the way together, he realised how slight and scrawny she was. Her body was bony and hard, lacking the softness that most women her age typically had. He could tell that it wasn't a recent development.

She brought her lips to his ear and whispered, "I don't want to die."

"You won't," he assured her.

He wouldn't allow it. The Tenseiga had made him the god of life and death. Whether that had been his father's intention or not, he would use the sword's powers to enact his will. It didn't matter what the cost was. He already owed her a life debt for what she'd done inside the mountain. He vowed to repay her for her kindness that day, in whatever way he had to do it.

They entered the temple through the front, avoiding pieces of debris as they made their way towards the altar. The wall behind it had been destroyed, and the ceiling had been torn off during the storm. The only things that hadn't been affected in the slightest were the four brass statues of the God Stars. The sea dragon sank to her knees in front of them and bowed her head in respect.

The yosei flapped her wings and landed on one of the statues' heads. More flew in from outside and swarmed around Octavia, tugging her towards the altar. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed as the sound of beating wings filled the temple. Evil little devils, he remembered his father saying after he'd kicked them out of the castle gardens. Never trust a youkai that despises other youkai. They're almost always bad news. Especially spirits. You never know what to expect with those.

Once she'd finished bowing, the sea dragon produced a golden chalice from inside her robes and beckoned a few of the yosei over. They each spat into their hands and rolled their saliva into balls of dazzling white light, which they subsequently deposited into the chalice.

"What is it?" she asked, scowling at the strange fluid.

"It's called kibō," replied one of the yosei, "Hope in liquid form."

"It's also a sleeping draught," the sea dragon added.

Sesshoumaru intervened. "She's slept for long enough," he argued.

"It will help her connect with her spiritual side. The God Stars won't hear her if she doesn't believe." She turned to Octavia. "Give me your hand."

Octavia winced as the sea dragon used her claw to carve a deep cut into her palm. Positioning the chalice underneath, she urged Octavia to close her hand into a fist and squeeze. Blood trickled into the chalice and mixed with the kibō, making the light shine brighter.

Octavia trembled as the chalice was promptly thrust into her hands and she was instructed to drink from it. "Can I at least ask what the blood is for?"

"Your blood is immensely powerful," replied the sea dragon. "It'll give you strength."

She swallowed and stared into the chalice, biting her lip nervously. Sesshoumaru wished he knew how to ease her worries. Show some compassion for once in your life. For the first time, he resented his inability to console another person. He'd never felt inclined to before.

The yosei he'd almost squashed flew down from her perch on the statue and kissed Octavia's cheek. His gut tightened miserably. He would never stoop to doing something so disgusting himself, but he envied the yosei's ability to make her smile so effortlessly.

Octavia lifted the chalice to her lips and downed the contents. Sesshoumaru's pulse quickened as her eyes glazed over and she fell backwards like a puppet whose strings had been cruelly severed.

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