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 natural hot spring surrounded by snow-covered 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 paddled over to her and started playing with her hair. "Piss off," she grumbled, swatting its hand away. A giggle drifted into her ears. She locked eyes with one of the macaques and frowned. "Did you just—"

"Over here, silly. To your left!"

Octavia turned her head and gasped as a tiny pair of hands cupped her cheeks. "Breena," she whispered. "Why'd you let that deer push me?"

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

She shook her head. "How did you get here?" she asked. "We're a long way from your forest. Did Nidawi send you?"

"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 would you need to . . ."

"You're dying, my darling."

Octavia was lost for words. Breena pressed her body against her cheek and hugged her. "I'm sorry," she said. "Those wicked shadows just don't know when to quit. At least you have time to say your farewells. You have your magic to thank for that. If it weren't for them, you would've been dead by now."

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Three days," Sesshoumaru replied.

Octavia glanced up and saw him sitting beside the hot springs. 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 kept coming back for more. Despite his obvious irritation, Sesshoumaru was uncharacteristically gentle with the baby monkey. Whenever it crawled too close, he picked it up by the scruff of its neck and placed it farther away, restarting the cycle. How long had he been sitting there?

"What's going on?" she asked. "I feel fine. A little drowsy, maybe, but it's nothing a decent nap can't fix. Why are you both looking at me like I'm a lost cause?"

"Open your kimono," Sesshoumaru said.

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 the truth."

Octavia waved Breena out of the way and peeled open her yukata. The valley between her breasts bore an intricate tattoo that consisted of interconnecting black spirals, which moved on their own. It looked like leeches were suckling at her skin, except they were underneath, causing havoc in her ribcage. She raked her fingernails across her chest, trying to claw them off, but they were inked deep into her flesh. "Is anyone gonna tell me what the fuck that is!"

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

"Claimed by who!"

"The creature who 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. 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 spread until it has covered your entire body, and then it will kill you. You won't be able to fight it off for much longer."

Octavia's eyes burned with tears.

"Stop it!" Breena 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. "Her kind are all the same. They don't understand what it means to suffer. They're nothing but spoiled brats."

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

"Mind your tongue."

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

He grabbed her in his fist. "That's enough, you insolent beast!" he boomed. "Remember your place."

Squirming, Breena smacked his hand with her miniature fists. 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 Sesshoumaru's jaki poisoned 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 gaze and 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 and hoisted her out of the water. Her legs wobbled as she put them to work for the first time in days, but she refused to give up. Gripping Sesshoumaru's hand, she planted her feet on the snow and looked at Nagisa.

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

Nagisa's grey eyes glittered with tears. "It's too late. I'm sorry."

Octavia turned to Breena. "What about Nidawi? Can't she do something?"

The yosei shook her dainty little head. "Nidawi-sama may be wise, but she cannot work miracles."

Miracles, eh? Octavia felt her eyes being drawn to the goddess towers in the distance. Breathing hard, she pointed up at the sky and said, "I bet they can."

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Sesshoumaru didn't leave her side as they travelled towards what remained of the temple. She was deteriorating at an alarming rate. Her skin had turned pale and clammy, and the dark circles under her eyes were even more prominent than usual. She swayed a few times on her feet as she climbed over the rubble towards the altar. The debris made the path difficult to traverse, which led to her tripping over a misplaced stone. Sesshoumaru reacted like lightning, catching her by the arm and yanking her upright. She flashed him a tight smile and waited for him to let go, but he wouldn't be able to even if he'd tried. He draped her arm over his shoulders and supported her 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 had. He could tell that it wasn't a recent development.

"I don't want to die," she whispered.

"You won't," he said, holding her tighter.

The wall behind the altar had been destroyed and the ceiling had flown off during the storm. The only things that were unaffected were the four brass statues of the God Stars. The sea dragon sank to her knees in front of them and bowed her head. The yosei flapped her wings and landed on one of the statues' heads. More of the pests 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 stronghold's gardens. Never trust a youkai who 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 tiny balls of light, which they deposited into the chalice. "What is that?" Octavia asked.

"It's called kibō," Nagisa answered. "A sleeping draught."

"She has slept for long enough," Sesshoumaru argued.

"Trust me, Sesshoumaru. I know what I'm doing." She turned back to Octavia and said, "Give me your hand."

Octavia winced as the sea dragon used her claw to slice open her right palm, then squeezed a few drops of her blood into the chalice full of kibō. She trembled as Nagisa thrust the chalice into her hands and told her to drink. "Can I at least ask what the blood is for?"

"There is power in your blood," the sea dragon replied. "It'll give you the strength you need to overcome this hurdle."

The yosei called Breena flew down from her perch on the statue and kissed Octavia's cheeks. Sesshoumaru's stomach tightened at the blatant display of affection. After taking a deep breath, Octavia lifted the chalice to her lips and downed its contents in one go. His pulse quickened as her eyes glazed over and she staggered backwards like a puppet whose strings had been severed.

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