Nyles shouted with mind numbing pain. "Aaaahhhh!" Blood spurted everywhere. She was nothing but a vegetable. She had such elaborate plans about killing the girl because of whom she was punished by Maple, was reprimanded by her family, and was separated from the man who would have made her a noble. And now… "No! No!" She couldn't let her dreams fail. 

If only she had some time away from her, she would be able to regrow her limbs. After all, she was an immortal. But how could she do that? Her chances to survive were so less in front of Anastasia. If she wasn't tended to immediately, the pain was so enormous that she would die because of it. She had to somehow sustain it. With a crazy look in her eyes, she scanned her surroundings. Was there anyone who would help her? 

Suddenly, she remembered that when Maple had started their journey in Sgiath Biò, she saw her sneaking away from the group on two occasions. She would simply leave them all on the pretext of taking a walk. Her curiosity had risen, so when Maple sneaked away on the third occasion, she followed her and was shocked. Maple wasn't strolling. The woman was summoning the rogue spirits. She had hidden and watched how she had summoned them. As soon as Maple had chanted the spell, she raised her hands in the air and the spirits rose from the ground in white and black smoky forms. 

Nyles closed her eyes and through the pain, she tried to remember the spell Maple had chanted. Under her breath she chanted, "Duhavi prizi… vaju…" She was hoping that the spirits would come, but none came. She chanted it again. All she needed was one single distraction, and somehow she would escape. 

Anastasia towered above her fallen body. She looked at her sword and then ran a finger on its blade. She said, "Do you know why I used this sword to dismember you?" 

Anastasia was ensuring that her death was slow and painful. "Kill me," she rasped almost to the point of fainting. "Please…" She still couldn't believe that Anastasia had become so powerful in such a short time. With half closed eyes, she looked at her. Anastasia belonged to the pure bloodline and a force to reckon with in her true form. No wonder Aed Ruad and Etaya wanted to suppress her magic. 

Anastasia glared at her with purple eyes. "This sword is made from Evindal soil. It is an elven sword. It is created to fight amongst elves. Your limbs will never regrow." 

Nyles stared at Anastasia with disbelief. "You are lying," she said in a barely audible voice. "You are lying." She shook her head. 

"Why would I lie to a person like you?" Anastasia said in a menacing voice. "Are you so important that I am going to waste my morality on you? In fact you belong to the lowest category of living beings. And I would never invest my energy to lie to you." Anastasia circled her and then knelt behind her. There was so much blood around Nyles that her boots squelched. "When I was trapped in the cave in Ivorpool, how many demons did I kill? About three or four hundred. I killed so many rogue vampires and Yardraks. However, I always felt a tinge of pain after killing them, but I always assured myself that I was doing it for my survival. It was either them or me." She coiled her hands around Nyles hair and yanked her head off the ground. "With you it was only your survival, only your benefit. Not even once did you show compassion. Even when we were getting out of Sgiath Biò, you only wanted me to go back. You were not once bothered about my well-being. You were bothered about yourself." She put the sword on her neck. "When I am going to slice that head off you Nyles, I won't feel even a tinge of pain." 

"No, no!" Nyles whispered. "I am sorry…" 

Anastasia slashed her neck. Her body rolled as her head came in her hand. She rose to her feet with her handmaid's head in her hand. The feeling was strangely… satisfying. She didn't feel any compassion for Nyles. She didn't know why… Anastasia scanned the whole area. Her anger quenched, she closed her eyes. Her magic that had spread around her body like white halo started to ebb. She dropped her head near the torso and closed her eyes. The halo started receding as her heart soothed. The sweet taste of revenge calmed her nerves. On the inside she knew that this was far from over, but yes, this was a beginning. 

When she opened her eyes, she saw white smoky shadows all around her. The air became icy as if she had suddenly been exposed to a strong chill. The shadows circled her like cold clouds of irregular shapes. They screeched and howled. One of them came right in front of her with contorted looks, mouth dropped and fangs bared, hissing like a large serpent. Anastasia gasped as she stilled. The spirit whooshed past her, giving her an eerie chill that pricked her skin to the bones. All of a sudden there were at least five more with exposed canines and darkness in the holes of their eyes. They whirred past her. 

Anastasia froze, feeling rooted to the spot. Her breath came out in vapors. Her leg muscles tightened. Where did these spirits come from? And if they were trying to scare her, then they were definitely not friendly ones. Realization dawned upon her as she connected the dots. They were rogue spirits. This meant that Maple had called them to aid her to fight against her. But why did they show now? Did Nyles summon them? 

"You will repent this," they all said in unison in a disembodied tone. 

"Who are you?" asked Anastasia, masking her trepidation. She wanted to know how they could affect those around her. 

"We are legion," they said. They started circling her speedily as if trying to merge into one. "We are going to punish you by entering you and then make you bleed yourself to death." They looked like a thick dense cloud rotating like a typhoon around her. Strong gusts of wind slapped her cheeks. Suddenly a whip lashed so strong that it ripped her arm and blood oozed.

Anastasia smirked. "What makes you think you can enter me?" She was not sure if they could enter her but she didn't want to take chances. 

A spirit came in front of her again and bared its fangs in retaliation. But Anastasia closed her eyes and focused on controlling her magic. She made the clever decision. She had a feeling that only if the halo around her waned, she would be able to become corporeal. Once she was in her physical form, they wouldn't be able to harm her. 

She could hear them flying and hissing around her, but she didn't let that affect her. Cold lashed her as if she was being whipped by it. The only thing that would help her in this situation was her husband. She remembered his face, those twin globes of golden eyes. Her heartbeat steadied. With a piercing screech, the spirits started towards her mouth.

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