The Devil's Cursed Witch

'No, this is just an illusion--'

Immense pain told Draven otherwise. That person stabbed his chest, the place over his heart where he had once been stabbed in his forgotten past.

Was he unable to dodge because of that face? Since he had been focusing on flushing out the toxin of Glass Mist Flower, his other senses had dulled.

However, the pain heightened his senses once more, and the effect of the Glass Mist Flower dispersed.

Draven looked at the owner of that hand, and even with a blurry vision, he could identify that the person was a woman. The hand holding the dagger let go of it and the person stepped backwards, with her fake wooden leg taking a first step back.

'Thala Grimsbane?'

Draven could not believe his own eyes.

The Witch of Destruction, the war hero of the White Witches? Why would she attack him?

No, she would never do it. Draven refused to believe she was an enemy. She was someone who cared for this kingdom and fought for its peace.

But then, he remembered the words of the vision he heard at Zelda's place--a woman with resentment would create a weapon of hatred, and she would use that weapon to stab him.

'Thala Grimsbane resents me. She has always shown her dissatisfaction towards the result of that war but...never to the extent of wanting to kill me.'

That prophetic vision of his death came to reality, but something felt off, though he could not quite put his finger on it.

His mate, was she alright?

There was no reaction from the bond. Did he do it right by coming here on his own, which saved his mate from getting harmed? If that was the case, then he would gladly embrace his death.

Draven lost all his strength and fell on the ground. Though it was but a single stab, it was draining his body's strength.

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A weapon created out of pure hatred, made of divine power for the purpose of killing its intended victim. It should have the ability to destroy the energy core of even a divine beast.

His red eyes never left Thala's gaze, his gaze full of questions.

Did she hate him that much?

The Witch of Destruction looked at the fallen king with a gaze which had not a tinge of regret in it.

"Your Majesty, does it hurt?" she asked, as she stood in place, looking down at him with a quiet expression.

"Why?" he managed to force out a word through his gasps. He could feel his heartbeats slowing down.

"Why?" she repeated with deliberate slowness, chuckling a little in the end. "To make you feel what I and so many of your people had felt but could not say a word. Your Majesty, we could only swallow our helplessness because you are too overwhelmingly powerful to receive fair punishment for your sins."

Draven could only stare at her without a word, and he heard her chuckle again. "I have done my part. It's time for me to leave."

As he watched her turn around, Draven struggled to move his body, putting effort to raise his hand.

"S-Stop..."

Thala obediently stopped, but she did not turn back to face him.

"This...this is not...enough...not enough to kill me..." Draven said with much effort.

The old disabled witch finally looked over her shoulder, her expression light.

"I never said it was to kill you, Your Majesty."

Under his gaze that was on the cusp of losing consciousness, she continued to speak softly.

"I am here only to fulfill your destiny of being stabbed by a divine weapon in the hands of a woman full of hatred and resentment. Someone else will fulfill the destiny of that divine weapon in your stead. If you can remember my answer to your 'why', you can understand what I meant.''

Draven tried to recall her earlier words--

'To make you feel what I and so many of your people had felt but could not say a word. Your Majesty, we could only swallow our helplessness because you are too overwhelmingly powerful to receive fair punishment for your sins.'

At this point, Draven had already lost his eyesight. He could only hear her voice echoing inside the chamber as Thala continued to say various things.

"To make you feel how it feels when the one important to you sacrifices their own life to save you. To make you feel how it is to be the one left behind, the one to be protected...

"How pathetic it feels when you are forced to live at the cost of the life of someone important to you.

"Do you know, Your Majesty? So many of us have been living a life under someone's shadow. That pain for more than a hundred years, and now, it's your turn to feel that pain. I wonder how it will be for you, to miss that person who sacrificed their life for your sake.

"A life of regret, that's what it's like. Every breath, every second--from the moment you open your eyes in the morning, till the time you close them--you know that life you're living should have been someone else's. You will regret living every moment of your life."

As the effect of Glass Mist Flower essence was flushed out of his system,his mind started to become clearer...various clues from her words and...and the Glass Mist...

'It can't be.'

Realization struck him.

"Don't..." he gasped, his tone pleading, "don't...no...don't..."

Thala didn't waver even for a moment as she stared down at the man who had been robbed of his senses. She casted a spell over his body, among it was a spell protecting him from the piercing cold.

"I wish you a good rest, Your Majesty. That divine weapon won't kill you, but it will keep you in your weakest condition for a long time. Take this chance to rest as you won't be able to leave this cave anytime soon. Maybe if you are at your peak strength, you'll have a chance, but given your state, you will remain imprisoned in this spell casted with divine blood.'

She turned to leave once more, the sound of her uneven footsteps muffled by the snow.

Draven let out a groan, as if asking her to stay. Despite his lack of words, it was as if the witch could understand his pleas.

"The deal has been already done," Thala said and she took a look at Draven for the last time. "Have a good life ahead. I wish that you feel pain, Your Majesty. Maybe not as much as I felt  after losing my sisters, but I will settle for this."

Thala left the cave after casting another layer of isolation spell.