
                                                                                        <div> Chapter 57: I Succeeded
<p> Mineah slumped down to the ground as she started crying, her eyes glossing over as she stared helplessly at the background. Vulcan was attacking the barrier she had created for herself, and she didn’t know how long it would actually hold.
</p><p> "You bjtch! I’ll crush and destroy you!" Vulcan cursed as it tried breaking through her barrier.
</p><p> Mineah closed her eyes, still sobbing as she recalled something she talked about with her mother. According to the older woman, she failed to call out Ezekiel’s soul while Vulcan tried to attack her numerous times. Her mother’s barrier broke, so she had no choice but to escape Ezekiel’s subconscious mind with his spirit, or else Vulcan would end up not just destroying Ezekiel’s spirit, but also ending her mother’s life as well.
</p><p> Her mother had advised her numerous times to retreat the moment her barrier broke, and it looked like that was exactly what was about to happen.
</p><p> Mineah couldn’t help but feel helpless. She felt like shouting with all of the pent frustrations inside her. She couldn’t possibly fail this. She had to bring her brother back no matter what!
</p><p> In front of her, she could hear how the barrier protecting her was starting to crack. However, she ignored it. Instead of fleeing, she slowly got back on her feet to try again.
</p><p> "I won’t let you take my brother away from us!" she firmly declared as a powerful energy surged from within her body. She slowly raised her head, her fight coming back to her as she stood resolute. Unknown to her, her eyes glowed with a fusion of ice and fire as she gritted her teeth. "Ezekiel!!!"
</p><p> She couldn’t... She refused to give up on her brother!
</p><p> Back in the real world, Tarah watched as Mineah’s body floated into the air, a mixture of red and blue auras covering her body as fire and ice fought over her. The hot breeze inside the cave caused by the dragon all turned into ice, the heat replaced by the chilling cold.
</p><p> Tarah’s knees weakened and she slumped to the ground. Her body suddenly convulsed, and her eyes turned completely white as she weakly murmured, "It’s slowly taking over her now... The curse is starting to envelop her body." Her eyes then darted at the sleeping dragon as she stated, "To save you... the dormant power within her was activated, triggering the curse in her body to spread and consume her and the world."
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                                </div><p> Tarah didn’t know how long it lasted, but a blinding light soon exploded inside the cave. Moving quickly, she stood up and helped Queen Mineah maintain her balance.
</p><p> "Are you alright?" she inquired.
</p><p> "Yes. I’m fine, Tarah... I succeeded," Mineah weakly hummed. "I fused Ezekiel’s spirit back with him."
</p><p> Tarah nodded with a faint smile, "Yes, you did."
</p><p> "But why isn’t he back in his human form?" Mineah questioned, her eyes straining at the unconscious dragon before them.
</p><p> "It might take a few more days or weeks depending on His Majesty’s willpower in sorting everything out inside his body," she explained. "After all, Vulcan’s soul still resides within him. He must gain control over it, or else we’ll just have the same cycle of Vulcan’s soul kicking out Prince Ezekiel’s spirit all over again."
</p><p> Mineah sighed back, and Tarah could immediately tell how exhausted the Queen was just from that alone.
</p><p> "I guess our brother won’t be able to attend our sister’s wedding and ritual of marking," Mineah whispered with slumped shoulders.
</p><p> Tarah was aware of the coming event. Ezekiel’s other sister, Princess Xenia, was bound to marry the Werewolf King of Cordon in two days. They had no choice but to miss that event for sure. It was a crucial time for Ezekiel, so he needed to concentrate on properly getting a firm and stable hold over Vulcan’s soul in his body.
</p><p> "Yes, there’s no other way but for him to miss the event. I’m sure Princess Xenia will understand the situation well enough," Tarah replied. She then took a deep breath before directly reminding the queen, "Also, your chaos has awakened. That’s the curse looming over you. Make sure you control it well."
</p><p> She already saw the visions about it, but she needed to tread carefully on what to disclose to the Queen of Valcrez.
</p><p> "I know..." Mineah weakly stated. "I felt it stir within me."
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                                </div><p> "Your divine energy will help keep it at bay," Tarah reminded, even though she could already tell that Queen Mineah herself already knew of such things. "Be careful not to use this chaos, or else it will consume you and bring destruction not only to you but also to your loved ones."
</p><p> "I understand. For now, I need to go back to where I left Nikolai," the queen gasped. "The spell I cast on him won’t last for long."
</p><p> "Please go. Don’t worry, I’ll look after Ezekiel with Queen Dana and Wizard Lurio," Tarah reassured her. "We’ll stay inside this cave throughout the process."
</p><p> With that, Tarah watched as the queen cast a teleportation spell. A portal then appeared, and the Queen quickly entered before the portal disappeared before her eyes. With the queen gone, she approached the dragon and gently caressed its head.
</p><p> "I know you can do it, Your Highness," Tarah reassured him. "You must gain full control and shift back into your human form as soon as you can. Time is running out..."
</p><p> She frowned as she once again let out a frustrated sigh. She just saw another vision, and it wasn’t a good one. It was King Nikolai, the vampire king of Valcrez who despised Vulcan, finding their hideout while being followed by warlock Zoran who was following Devon’s instruction in capturing the golden dragon. Valcrez wanted to kill the dragon, while Helion wanted to capture it to get its power.
</p><p> From there, things could get complicated. She had made up a few alibis for Devon already like her not finding the dragon the moment it shifted to its dragon form, but that wasn’t going to be enough in the long run. Would Zoran recognize her? They already bumped into each other before but Zoran was not aware of her identity. One thing that somehow made her feel reassured was knowing that Zoran was not the type to report anything to Devon at all.
</p><p> ’What should I do...’ Tarah murmured with a frown.
</p><p> ***********
</p><p> A/N: You can read more about Mineah’s story in a separate standalone book entitled The Crown’s Seduction</p></div>
                

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Chapter 57: I Succeeded

Chapter 57: I Succeeded Mineah slumped down to the ground as she started crying, her eyes glossing over as she stared helplessly at the background. Vulcan was attacking the barrier she had created for herself, and she didn’t know how long it would actually hold. "You bjtch! I’ll crush and destroy you!" Vulcan cursed as it tried breaking through her barrier. Mineah closed her eyes, still sobbing as she recalled something she talked about with her mother. According to the older woman, she failed...

The Crown's Fire

Chapter 57: I Succeeded

The Crown's Fire - Chapter 57: I Succeeded