Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Still angry, Decius argued with Oriah until Lehvine interfered and tried breaking it up, but it is said that when Lehvine touched Decius, his anger was so powerful that Lehvine’s hand turned as black as coal and his arm lost its strength. Lehvine retreated and managed to get Decius away, but it would not be the last time Lehvine saw him.
Decius had gotten a taste of Lehvine’s power through his wrath, and he craved it more than he did the bond with Oriah. He wanted all of Lehvine’s strength, so Decius returned to Blackwater, the land Lehvine ruled, appearing twice his size, with arms as large as Lehvine’s. It was there when he attacked Lehvine, wrapped his hands around his head, and sucked the life from him to become even stronger.
Once Lehvine was dead, his body hollow and cold, he gave Oriah an easy solution. She could be with him now that Lehvine was gone and they could continue to procreate, but Oriah was mortified. She’d watched as Decius took the life from her mate and felt a pain she’d never felt before. Her heart was breaking, and she became freezing cold.
She shivered as she ran away with her son and hid him in the fields, and when Decius found Oriah and she still refused him, he clasped her head in his hands and drained the life from her too, and he felt full.
Realizing what he’d done, and that Selah would soon come, Decius fled and went into hiding. And when Selah visited and found two of her Tethered dead, she was brokenhearted.
Selah figured out who’d done it, and she sought to destroy Decius immediately, get rid of the abomination she’d created, but it was too late. Decius’s hunger for Tethered souls became too much for him to bear, so he found Rotan and Busk and drained the life from them too. And then, when he became hungry again, he went after Jesha and Valkee, all of whom had procreated. Jesha and Valkee had created twins, and Royan and Busk, a daughter. With no more Tethered to take, Decius hid, and Selah collected all the Tethered babies, casting a protection spell over them.
Selah knew once the babies grew, the spell would weaken because of the strength of the Tether, and that Decius would come out of hiding to hunt them too once they were of age, so she created three uppers, known as The Council, who could also procreate but could not be harmed by Decius.
The Council had children, and their children had children. Some of the children were born with gifts to further protect themselves and their families from Decius and beings like him, and they are known as the Gilded. The Gilded were once pulled together to create an army, but as time progressed and Decius revealed less of himself, the army dispersed and lived normal lives.
All of The Council’s children and the Gilded procreated, filling up the world of Vakeeli, just as Selah had planned. Then, when the Tethered babies were old enough, she blessed their souls with the power to be reborn and used all that was left of her energy to send each baby into hiding. Two of the babies remained in Vakeeli and were looked after by the Regals and The Council, while the twins were sent to a different universe, one Selah had never ventured to, but figured was best in order to keep them safe.
However, these precautions did not stop Decius from finding them. The four Tethered babies remain, and each time they are killed by Decius, they are born again months later. According to the text, Selah did not want to destroy the babies because she wanted to find Decius and destroy him only, so they could live peacefully and carry her gift on. She could not create anymore Cold Tethers. She didn’t have the energy or power to do so. Because of this, each baby was reborn again and again until she could find a solution.
For centuries, Selah protected the cold Tethered from Decius each time they were reborn by allowing them to mate, and once mated, she’d harness the power of their Cold Tether herself, which in turn would weaken Decius and allow the Tethered to prosper as normal beings for as long as their lives went on.
However, Selah’s disappearance has counteracted that. Cold Tethers are still being hunted and drained before they can procreate, and it is said that Decius may have gotten strong enough to place his own attack on Selah, which has resulted in her disappearance.
The Cold Tether continues to be studied. It is a sacred bond, passed down from the highest Regal. Some believe it to be a curse, while others consider it a gift…
I stare at the last page of the book. I’m can’t even form a coherent thought. Decius was originally a Tether created by Selah…and now he’s Mournwrath?