The Dragon King and His Fallen Star novel Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Games of the Vile

EIRLYS’ POV

+25 Points

The shock of icy water splashed across my face tore me from the comfort of darkness, forcing my

eyes open. I gasped for breath, the cold trickling down my neck and soaking into my already

chilled skin.

For a heartbeat, my chest swelled with foolish hope-that maybe my prayers had been heard, that this was some cruel awakening into freedom. But the hope withered almost as soon as it

bloomed.

I was still here. Still alive.

Still chained.

Malric was the first thing I saw. He loomed above me, scarred face carved in shadow, the

ever-present sneer etched so deep it seemed part of him.

“Are you ready to give me what I want?” His voice dripped venom, heavy with the promise of pain.

I didn’t answer. Whether I spoke or not, it never mattered. Pain always came. I’d learned that long

ago.

I wasn’t wrong.

He suddenly fisted a hand in my hair and yanked hard. The burn tore across my scalp, sharp and

hot, and I heard the sickening snap of strands giving way. My breath hitched, but I refused to cry

out. Not for him.

Malric’s grip tightened in my hair, forcing my head up until I was staring into those dead, unblinking

eyes. His putrid and sour breath washed over my face, making my stomach twist.

“I forget sometimes,” he murmured, voice mock-thoughtful, “just how much tolerance you’ve built for pain.” His fingers pressed harder into my scalp, digging in until I was sure they’d leave bruises.” Maybe,” his lips curved into a slow smirk, “I’ve been doing it wrong.”

A cold shiver crawled down my spine.

Then he called out, almost casually, “Darling, the girl is ready for you.”

My heart lurched, thudding unevenly against my ribs. I knew that voice was meant for only one person. Morwenna.

For reasons I could never fully explain, she terrified me more than Malric ever could. With him, there was a certain… predictability. Pain was pain. The method might change, but the ending was always the same-blood, bruises, broken bones.

WE H

1/5

Chapter 104 Games of the Vile

+25 Points

Morwenna was something else entirely. She was a different breed of vile. She liked to play, to stitch cruelty into the mind, stretching the torment until it felt eternal. Sometimes, I prayed she’d just get it over with-beat me, break me, anything but those slow, suffocating games she loved to

play.

The screech of metal echoed behind me as the gates swung open again. My breath caught, and I

braced myself.

Her footsteps were slow, unhurried, each one a deliberate tap against the stone floor. Then came the sound I hated most-her low, knowing chuckle.

She was savoring this.

When she finally came to stand in front of me, her eyes gleamed with wicked delight.

“Hello, little star,” Morwenna cooed, her voice dripping with mock sweetness. “Did you miss me?”

I kept my lips pressed tightly together, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a response.

Morwenna’s hand came up, fingertips brushing along my cheek with a gentleness so at odds with the malice in her eyes that it made my skin crawl. The touch was almost maternal. But I knew better. This was just one of her games, the ones that began soft and ended in nightmares.

“I heard,” she murmured, her voice lilting like a lullaby, “you’re being uncooperative again.” Her thumb traced along my jaw, the gesture deceptively tender. “Mmm… but I know how to deal with stubbornness. Don’t I, girl?”

I didn’t flinch. I didn’t answer. I simply waited. Because there was always something with

Morwenna. A hook behind the kindness. A blade hidden in the caress.

She began to move, her boots clicking lightly against the damp stone, each step measured, deliberate. She circled me like a predator toying with its prey, slipping in and out of my sight. I

tracked her by sound alone, every faint scrape and echo sharpening my awareness.

Shifting my weight only deepened the bite of the restraints at my wrists. Then a wrong move sent

white-hot pain lancing through my shattered kneecap, forcing the breath from my lungs.

Then her voice rang out again, smooth and almost cheerful. “I have a surprise for you.”

The words sank into my stomach like lead. Surprises from Morwenna were never the kind anyone

wanted.

From somewhere beyond this miserable place, more footsteps approached. Slow at first, then

heavier, joined by the faint, pitiful whimper that crawled down my spine.

Two of Malric’s men stepped from the shadows, each gripping an arm of the woman they dragged between them. She staggered, her legs buckling with every step, and from the cruel ease in their

grips, I knew they’d already had their fun.

[I]

<

2/5

Chapter 104: Games of the Vile

+25 Points

Her face was hidden, chin pressed to her chest. But the hair… that unmistakable cascade of red,

dulled and matted with dirt.

“Scylla,” I breathed, the name tasting like ash.

Morwenna’s lips curled into something too sharp to be called a smile. A mock gasp escaped her,

pitched high with false delight. “Oh… so you do know each other. How perfect.”

The men dropped Scylla onto the slick, wet stone. She crumpled forward, catching herself weakly

before hitting the ground.

Morwenna’s boot nudged her once, then, with casual cruelty, she kicked Scylla hard enough to roll

her onto her back.

The sight stole the air from my lungs. My knees threatened to give way, and if the ropes weren’t holding me upright, I might have gone to the floor.

Her eyes were swathed in thick linen, the once-white cloth blotched with dark, wet stains where the blood still seeped through.

“What did you do to her?” The words tore out of me

Morwenna tilted her head, eyes glinting with a predator’s amusement. “Just like you, the little seer didn’t want to give me what I wanted,” she said, her tone almost sing-song.

“What do you want with her?” I hissed, the words tasting like venom on my tongue.

”

A sigh slipped from her lips, feigned boredom replacing her smile. “I wanted to know what the seer

sees for the future. But she claimed she saw nothing.” Her voice hardened, dark with satisfaction. So, I just shattered her eyes. Now, she truly can’t see anything.”

My tears came unbidden-not of fear or sorrow, but pure, uncoiled rage.

I had only met Scylla twice, but even in those brief moments, I had known she was one of the good ones. She didn’t deserve this-not the bruises, not the blood, and certainly not the ruin of her beautiful emerald eyes.

The image of them-shattered, stolen-burned in my mind. Heat roared through my veins, every heartbeat stoking the crackle inside me, the one I’d fought to contain.

But this time… this time, I didn’t want to contain it.

“That’s it, girl,” Morwenna purred, delight threading through her tone. “Show me that spark… that crackle.”

The pressure surged, my body trembling on the edge of release. There was no stopping it now.

“No, Eirlys!” Scylla’s voice cut through the haze like a blade.

I froze, chest heaving.

3/5

<

Chapter 104 Games of the Vile

“Not now,” she added, her voice hoarse but unyielding.

“Not now?” Morwenna echoed with cruel laughter.

+25 Points

“Fine. Let’s play the long game.” Her eyes gleamed darkly. “I don’t mind-especially now that I know exactly how to summon your light.” She leaned in, voice low and venomous. “Hurting you doesn’t work anymore. But hurting those you love? That’s a different story.”

Without warning, she snapped her fingers. The two men yanked Scylla off the cold stone floor again, binding her as tightly as I was.

“No!” I screamed, my voice cracking. “Hurt me instead! Please, not her!”

Morwenna and Malric laughed, Malric’s approving nod sharp as a blade. “So clever, my darling.

Always so cunning.”

Morwenna’s smile twisted into a mask of pure malice. “Shall we begin, my love? Will you honor me

with the first blow?”

Malric raised the whip, and with a vicious strike, it lashed across Scylla’s back.

The seer’s cry tore from her lips. But it was nothing compared to the raw, shattered scream that

tore from my throat.

Malric showed no mercy. One strike. Two. Then a relentless cascade, each lash ripping through her flesh. Every blow to her skin stabbed through me like shards of ice, igniting a roaring fury deep

within my chest.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify