A Gift from the Goddess by Dawn Rosewood novel Chapter 101

Chapter One Hundred & One 

...Dead? 

No... that couldn‘t..... 

I could feel my heart racing at hearing her words. 

Why would she have done that? Why do something before... 

Unless... unless she expected me to rush into war regardless of whether she used him as bait. Because she knew I wouldn‘t have any way of knowing he was alive and would assume that I would come for him blindly anyway. 

‘It‘s just another move made to hurt me. 

During our stay in the cabin, I‘d always avoided the topic of Aleric marking me. I hadn‘t wanted to tie him t o me knowing I might not be long for this world, and I didn‘t want to put him through feeling that pain upon my death. But I hadn‘t anticipated for the reverse to now become detrimental to me. If only I‘d actually done it, I would have known the minute it had happened and saved everyone from rushing in to save him 

So then, was he actually... dead? 

And the most guttural, animalistic growl then escaped my lips, forcing several people nearby to flinch and shy away from the pressure. 

This wasn‘t how it was meant to go. 

He wasn‘t meant to die from my own failure to save him in time. 

He wasn‘t meant to die before me. 

I could feel Thea‘s eyes watching me closely, feel the smirk on her face. 

...And suddenly I knew what I needed to do. 

My legs started sprinting towards her, pushing myself to move faster and faster. Several people were fighting between us but I didn‘t let that distract me, manoeuvring around them with ease without breaking stride even once. 

“Aria!” I heard someone yell. 

But I wasn‘t stopping. 

This was because of her. It was her fault. She needed to pay. 

I kept on running to the treeline, towards the figure waiting for me there. Nothing would be able to stop m 

...Not even the ten or so rogues I could now feel following me. 

They were trailing behind just close enough that they would probably catch up soon, having the advantage of four paws over me But just before I could make it to the trees, I sensed as one of them went to lunge at my legs, trying to pull me down. 

Not that this would be nearly enough against me though. Not when I could see their next move. 

Teffortlessly dodged their attack, countering with a dagger into their side, and their body slowly rolled to a stop two feet away. 

The others became frenzied at seeing me kill the rogue and began circling around me, snapping and 

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Chapter One Hundred & Une 

growling towards me as they waited to strike. They were now laking their time to size me up as their pack mentality kicked in. 

But I didn‘t have time for this. 

I looked up towards the trees, now close enough to meet Thea‘s eyes, and a mixture of frustration and desperation consumed me. I needed to get to her in time. To catch her before.… 

And then my heart sank as she did exactly what I feared, 

With a final smirk at my situation, she quickly turned around and began running into the woods, away from the battle. 

Fuck. 

“Get lost already!” I yelled at the rogues angrily. “I don‘t want to fight you.” 

Clearly, they took this the wrong way though as I watched them begin eagerly approaching closer. They stupidly ignored what I‘d just done to their comrade and took my words to mean that I was afraid of fighting so many of them at once. 

....Something they then acted upon, attacking me under that false belief. 

Without any further hesitation, they all began to charge me, trying to overpower me with sheer numbers. Unfortunately for them though, I saw every one of their attacks, 

‘Left... dodge... Swipe....‘ 

I moved around all the rogues fluently, swiftly taking them out one after another. 

‘Drop... side–kick... stab....‘ 

And before even five minutes had passed, soon I was all that remained. Standing in a circle of dead rogues around me, covered in their blood as I looked down with distaste. They‘d failed to land even a single scratch on me. 

All they‘d accomplished with their lives now lost was wasting my time. Time that could have been better spent going after Thea. What a meaningless death indeed. 

Aster one final look at the bodies around me, I then resumed running towards the woods, tracking Thea‘s disgustingly sweet scent through the trees. I could feel as the branches scratched against my skin as I ran through the foliage, not caring to take the extra seconds needed to slow down and avoid them. My mind was set on one thing, and one thing only. 

Thea 

“Suddenly, another clearing came into sight, opening up into a large empty plain. I could see how the trees surrounded the area in a circular way, giving it the appearance of being almost like an arena. And yet. something about this place felt familiar. Something that was impossible given I‘d never travelled anywhere near here before, 

However, I didn‘t get the chance to think on it further as I finally caught sight of Thea, standing in the centre as is waiting for me. Expecting me to attack. 

...So much confidence for a woman now isolated from her army 

I approached her cautiously, gauging her carefully for any sudden movement, but she remained completely still. Her demeanour was telling me to face her, wanting me to close the distance. And I obliged her request willingly 

“Aria,” she greeted with a smile, sending a chill through me. 

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How I hated that voice. Despised the way my name sounded on her lips. 

But I didn‘t waste time with pleasantries though. No, I decided to immediately get to the point instead. W e both knew there was only one question to be asked here, one that she would be expecting from me. 

“Is he dead?” 

And I held my breath as I waited for the answer, my heart beating deafeningly loud in my ears. 

It was as if the seconds that ticked by were actually hours, dragging on so excruciatingly slow. I could feel the heavy weight of my impatience crushing me, needing to hear the confirmation more than anything 

But Thea barely reacted, appearing in complete contrast to myself. 

She merely tilted her head to the side slightly, her eyes watching me closely. 

“...Yes,” was all she said. 

And, instantly, I exhaled as if the wind had been punched out of me. 

She‘d answered me so plainly. As though the question was as simple as the answer she‘d provided. None of our lives mattered to her, I already knew this. But it felt like salt in the wound to hear her confirmation a s if we were only discussing the weather. 

“...I‘m going to kill you,” I whispered under my breath, staring at the ground in disbelief. 

I could feel as tears stung at my eyes but I barely acknowledged it. 

“What did you just say?” she asked. 

“I said I‘m going to kill you!” 

I repeated the words loudly, looking straight up at her with a burning hatred in my eyes. All I saw was red, saw my own anger and the blood on her hands. The blood of every person she had ever killed. 

Slowly, I then took a few steps closer and pointed my dagger up towards her, my hand shaking. 

“Enough is enough,” I said. “You have taken everything from me. Everything. I don‘t care what it costs anymore. I‘m ending this. Now.” 

She immediately laughed at my words, finding it more amusing than anything, and it only acted in fuelling my fury inside. 

Fuelling the bloodlust pulsing through my veins. 

...And, without even taking another moment to think.., I charged at her. 

I saw as her hand came up in defence, looking to deflect my arm by hitting it to the side, but I read her like a book. Using my other hand, I then unsheathed a second dagger and brought it up to strike at her side, aiming for her ribs. 

Only she caught on at the last second, narrowly missing the attack to leave merely a small scratch behind. It was barely more than a surface wound. 

I thought that was going to be it and tried to move back to begin my next attack, but somehow she moved faster than I expected. Before I could stop her, she caught me on my retreat and kicked the second dagger out of my hand, wielding it for herself instead, 

“Interesting,” she noted, finally jumping backwards to create some distance. “This dagger seems familiar. Wasn‘t this the same weapon I killed your friend with?” 

And a low growl escaped my lips menacingly. 

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! DIUCU UI 

“The only death you need to be concerned about right now is your own,” I warned. “After all, the last time we fought, you had to stab me in the shoulder first to make it even.” 

Her eyes immediately narrowed at that, no longer finding the situation as humorous as before. 

“Don‘t mock me, child….” 

There she is. The real Thea. The one who speaks how she really feels. As if we‘re all beneath her. 

Quickly, before she could do or think anything else, I then charged at her again, moving faster and faster a si tried to land multiple different blows on her body. Pushing myself to hit her even once. And, before too long had passed, soon only the sound of our daggers colliding filled the air as they matched perfectly. With every strike, it was as though she was somehow able to narrowly dodge or redirect the attack. 

...As if she could sense my moves as I could hers. 

...Oh. 

I looked up to see her smiling at me once more, confirming the answer I‘d just come to. 

She was in my head. 

So, this meant... this meant the fight was basically impossible for me to win. 

We were both mirroring and anticipating the other person‘s moves. All she had to do was wait it out until | reached my absolute limit, something dangerously close already after ordering the rogues. 

“Die already!” she finally screamed, jumping back to rest a moment. A drawback of her mortal body, I was sure. 

“And yet you‘re struggling this much,” I noted. “Almost as if a mortal were of equal power to you. Really makes you think, doesn‘t it?” 

“...What was that?” she then suddenly asked, walking over to me. 

She frowned and closed the distance between us. 

“What are you...,” she started, a frown forming between her brows. 

are 

answers. 

I screamed against the ugonising Intrusion but resisted giving her what she wanted,