"No!"
Selene's scream ripped through the chamber, a raw, animalistic sound that filled the air. Her body thrashed against the cold stone floor in a sickening uncontrolled shaking.
The needles, plunged deep into her flesh, pulsed with dark energy, each throb sending waves of agony through her already shattered nerves.
Her eyes, wide and bloodshot, flickered with a frantic, desperate rhythm, mirroring the chaotic tremors that seized her.
Otsanna turned around to look at Zephyr but the look in his eyes said it all. He wanted her to continue.
His hard and implacable gaze, offered no reprieve or hint of mercy. He demanded the truth, regardless of the cost.
The sorceress took a deep breath. She had no choice but to do what her alpha wanted, besides as dangerous as the shadow weaver could be, it was also a defense weapon that could be used against a threat which unfortunately, the daughter of the dark king was.
"Whispers of shadow, and memory's sting, The Weaver's touch, the past will bring. Before the river, before the flow, The last day's echo, begin to show. From fading steps, to closing door, Shadow Weaver, tell what's hidden before."
The shadow weaver's power intensified, ripping through Selene's defenses and tearing at her sanity while forcing her to relieve the horrors of her engagement night.
Otsanna chanted for the second time but still, instead of dark smoke and swirling shadows to emerge from the needles pierced around Selene's body, she kept on vibrating harder.
Then she started to speak.
"No. Don't do this. Please don't do this to me." She cried deeply in a raspy and desperate voice.
Tears, mixed with blood, streamed from her eyes, blurring her vision, yet the vivid images of her past played out with agonizing clarity.
Zephyr's impatience grew.
"What is going on? Why aren't the shadows manifesting?" He demanded in a low growl.
"She's fighting it. Her body is fighting it." Otsanna whispered in disbelief. She has never met one with the ability to withstand the shadow weaver's power before.
Zephyr felt anger rise in his chest.
"Then it's his protection." He said angrilly referring to the dark king.
Otsanna said nothing, she was paying close attention to the young woman before her.
"She's fighting it but she's going through the memories. She's speaking it." Otsanna observed.
Selene's screams escalated, each one a testament to the unbearable pain that tore through her. "Please... make it stop... please!"
Otsanna watched as the young woman's body became a vessel for unimaginable torment. Her gaze focused on Selene's eyes which had now turned crimson.
"She's bleeding through her eyes….The memories are definitely replaying in her head. She's drowning in them" Otsanna said in worry. "She could die. We need to stop now, Alpha." She turned to Zephyr with desperation in her eyes.
"No." He said fiercely and his eyes were devoid of sympathy. "Continue. We have to keep trying till we get something. I need to know how she got here."
Otsanna looked at his emotionless eyes knowing there was nothing she could do and then her eyes dropped to his body and she noticed he was shaking as well and veins throbbed in his temples.
He was feeling some of the pain and pressure of the dark magic due to the mate bond.
Ralph noticed it as well and he stepped forward.
"Perhaps we can try another way, Zephyr. You're getting affected." He offered .
"I'm fine." Zephyr snapped even though his veins were throbbing in pain.
Otsanna sighed and whispered a prayer ro the goddess begging for forgiveness snd seeking help for the one before her.
Her hands moved in a circular motion as she went on chanting the words.
Selene's screams became a symphony of suffering, a desperate chorus of "Please... don't..."
And then there was an abrupt silence. The screams seized and her body stopped vibrating on the ground too.
Everyone froze.
"What's wrong?" Zephyr asked.
"I don't know." The sorceress said but just as she leaned forward, Selene's body convulsed anew, her voice a broken whisper,
"I have to leave... I have to hide... they can't see me..." Blood gushed from her eyes, the shadow weaver's needles piercing her eyelids, her shoulders and wrists, adding to her suffering.
Her body screamed in uncontrollable agony and her soul struggled for relief. Her body was on fire and she had never wished for death so much.
"They can't see me. They can't see me." Selene continued to whisper.
Otsanna's hands moved in desperate circles, pulling the shadows from the needles, thick, viscous tendrils of darkness that swirled and danced, revealing fragmented images: the figures of two wolves heading for a cliff but the shadows were very fast and hazy.
Selene's scream also tore in to the room just as her own figure was shown being off the cliff and in to water.
In a fast whoosh, the shadows disappeared back in to the needle and Selene immediately became motionless.
The room was silent.
"What did you see?" Zephyr's cold voice sounded and sliced through the tense silence.
The room fell silent again as they replayed the hazy display of shadows which had shown Selene being thrown off the cliff.
"Not much." Zephyr answered himself.
Zeeb cleared his throat, his eyes unable to leave Selene's bloodied and motionless body. What he had just experienced was horrific for him.
"Is she dead?" He asked.
Otsanna shakily reached her hand to Selene's neck so that she could feel her pulse.
"She's still alive." Otsanna said with a mixture of disbelief and relief.
"This was useless." Zephyr said darkly.
"We had a glimpse." Ralph argued but Zephyr glared in response.
"We should reconvene in the morning." The Alpha said.
With one hateful glance at Selene's body, he repeated.
"Utterly useless." Then he walked out of the dark room.