The Dragon King and His Fallen Star novel Chapter 147

Chapter 147: Crimson Resolve

EVANDER

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The cell was neither stone nor soil nor metal. Its walls pulsed faintly, like something alive, carved from the solid darkness of the blight itself. Shadows slithered at the edges, slick with rot, the stench of decay clinging to every breath.

Evander hung against the wall, arms and legs stretched wide, chains biting into him. They gleamed faintly-unnatural, forged from the same cruel design as Eirlys’ bracelet. His wrists and ankles burned where the alloy touched, every link thrumming with power meant to drain his strength. His shirt hung in tatters, stiff with dried blood, ripped where blades and claws woven of magic had torn through him.

Evander groaned, lashes fluttering as he forced his eyes open. Three figures swam into focus: the witches he had been hunting. Only now, the truth burned bitter on his tongue: he hadn’t cornered them. He had walked straight into their trap.

The first witch crouched down in front of him, her lips curving into a mockery of sweetness. Good morning, Sunshine,” she purred, brushing a blood-matted lock of his hair away from his brow.

The second leaned lazily against the wall, arms folded, eyes alight with cruel delight. “Ready for another round of torture?” she drawled. “Don’t you ever get tired of this game?”

“0

The third stepped forward, her voice sharper than the others-and her face the most unpleasant to behold. “Enough chatter. My turn.” She raised her hands, the air thickening with the hiss of black magic. Her lips shaped foreign words, each one sliding into the air like poison.

The spell hit him like fire beneath his skin. His nerves lit with agony, vision sparking white. He ground his teeth against the scream clawing up his throat. He would not give these witches. the satisfaction.

“You could end this, you know,” the second one crooned, her voice oily as she pushed her dark magic against his mind. “All you have to do is open yourself to me… and give me what I want.”

Another flash seared through him. His muscles seized, his back arched-then his head slumped forward. His shoulders shook violently.

Not from fear. Not from pain.

From laughter.

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< Chapter 147: Crimson Resolve

It rasped out of him, raw, jagged. But laughter all the same.

“Ladies,” he said, voice cool even as his eyes bled crimson, “we’ve been at this since yesterday. Your entire coven would hang their heads in shame. Try harder.”

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He tipped his head back, a smirk tugging at his split lip, fangs glinting in the dim light. “It’ll

take far more than this to break me.”

The witches’ faces hardened. Fury sparked in their eyes. And so they tried-again, again, and again. Pain wracked him, tearing through his body, but every scream that left his throat only twisted into something worse for them. His laughter, mocking them through agony.

Suddenly, a dark wisp of shadow slithered into the room, twisting through the air like liquid smoke. The temperature plummeted, and the darkness seemed to thicken, solidifying around them.

“Morwenna,” the first witch hissed. “Where’s Mirael?”

Morwenna’s eyes glinted like shards of onyx, her voice a sibilant whisper threading through the cell. “The foolish woman?” she drawled. “Sulking.”

She shook her head, a mockery of disappointment. “Against my advice, she went ahead and stalked her beloved dragon during his… honeymoon. Tortured herself by watching them f*ck.”

The three witches cackled, cruel and loud, finding Mirael’s self-inflicted misery hilarious.

Morwenna’s eyes swept over them. “And what of this one?” Her voice was silk wrapped around steel. “Have you gleaned what you needed from him?”

The third witch shook her head, frustration pulling at her features. “This vampire… he’s hard

to crack.”

Morwenna moved deliberately, every step measured, her gaze locked on Evander. “Evander Moren,” she purred, “the prodigal prince.” She circled him slowly, letting the air itself seem to

bend around her.

“Mirael has told me so much about you. Insufferable. Smug. But I must say…” Her finger lifted, tracing a deliberate line along his jaw. “…such a beautiful man.”

Evander’s smirk didn’t waver, even in his disheveled, weakened state. His voice sliced through the chamber, sharp and venom-laced. “And you’re Morwenna… Malric’s wh*re,” he spat. “I expected prettier. Such a shame.”

Morwenna’s lips curled, a shadow of amusement (or was it malice?) playing across her face. If she was offended, she hid it flawlessly.

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<Chapter 147: Crimson Resolve

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Dark wisps slithered from her like living tendrils, snaking around Evander, coiling tight enough to make his skin crawl. Wherever the shadows touched, his flesh seemed to dry and desiccate.

Through ragged breaths, Evander chuckled. “That can’t kill me,” he rasped. “You can’t kill what’s already dead.”

Morwenna’s smile deepened, slow and deliberate. “Oh, but you will die,” she murmured, silky and lethal. “Eventually… after I have what I need. The First Song.”

He met her gaze, unwavering. “Then prepare to be disappointed.”

A dark laugh escaped her. She leaned closer, eyes glinting like shards of onyx. “Ah… now I understand why my cousin is so head over heels for you.”

For a fleeting moment, Evander’s hard expression faltered. Morwenna noticed immediately and savored it, a slow, venomous giggle escaping her. “Remember Olga?” she cooed, voice laced with malice. “The witch who cast the bloodlust spell on you…”

Her words slithered through the air, sharp as knives. “I heard it drove you mad, made you slaughter an entire village.”

Evander’s jaw twitched, a flicker of anger-and Morwenna seized it. “Your sister… Isabella, was it?” she whispered, voice poisonous. “Your poor sister tried to stop you. And she died… because of you.”

Evander’s eyes flared crimson, veins spidering around them. Morwenna’s dark amusement deepened. She pressed on, her voice a constant, sickening drip of poison into his mind, weaving guilt, rage, and horror together. “That guilt… that’s why you abandoned your title, isn’t

it?”

Evander’s teeth ground together, but the crimson fury in his gaze did not waver. “I burned your b*tch of a cousin myself,” he growled, low and lethal. “I heard her scream… watched her skin blister… and I enjoyed it.”

Morwenna’s smirk widened, gleaming in the dim light. “Did you know I taught Olga that spell?

she whispered, soft yet cutting through his defenses like a blade.

For a fraction of a heartbeat, his guard faltered. “I’m going to burn you,” he seethed. “Like your cousin.”

That tiny crack was all Morwenna needed. Dark wisps slithered deeper into his mind, clawing, burrowing, weakening his resolve and straining his body.

The first scream tore from him. “No!”

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< Chapter 147: Crimson Resolve

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