May Death Do Us Part

123 Chapter 123 : Loss

“Aiden!”

Stefan yanked the elven king backwards, “don’t go near him, that energy he’s emitting is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, it could be dangerous.”

Aragon pulled away from Stefan, “this is no time for nonsense Stefan I’m trying to find my daughter and grandchild.” The elven king walked towards the redheaded prince who had been watching them intently. “Aiden-” the king stopped when he saw the pale human who Aiden had sucked dry laying on the ground, he looked up at the young man, there was an emptiness in his eyes as if one was looking down a dark bottomless pit.

“Aiden what happened?” Aragon asked, “son are you okay? What happened to Estel and the baby? Did you find them?”

Aiden cocked his head to the side and spoke in a throaty voice, “Estel...”

“Yes Aiden, Estel, where-”

Aiden grabbed the man by the throat and with a one powerful flap of his wings left the ground with Aragon still in his grip.

“Aiden!” Aragon groaned as he struggled to pull off the prince’s hand from his throat, “stop..” it was clear that something was very wrong with his son in law, he was not himself, almost like he had become possessed or something. “Aiden please...”

The prince only made his grip tighter around Aragon’s throat, and the entire time his face was flat and devoid of any emotion. Suddenly someone hit into Aiden making him let Aragon go.

.....

“Catch him!” Stefan yelled as he locked his son’s hand behind his back.

One of the nosferatu soldiers took to the sky and caught the elven king before he hit the ground. They flew back to the rest of the men and watched as Stefan struggled to subdue his son.

Aiden was screeching and hissing in defending tones of pain and anguish that were almost pitiful. Had the prince gone mad over the loss of Estel? The men could only guess. After minutes of struggle, Stefan finally managed to lock Aiden’s wings behind him and pushed him downwards. The duo plummeted to the ground and landed with a loud crash not too far from where everyone was standing.

“Aragon a sedation spell, quick!”

Aiden was struggling and kicking like a wild animal caught in a cage as his father used his every strength to hold him down. Aragon drew a cascade of symbols in the air and whispered some incantations after which Aiden’s body froze before he went out like a light. His wings disappeared and the little horn on his forehead shrunk in size right before his body went completely limp.

Kaiser Stefan moved away from his son and knelt beside him, he pushed his red locks from his handsome face and sighed heavily. “Get me the most powerful mages in the kingdom..” he spoke as he stroked his son’s hair, “now!”

*

Stefan rose from his seat when the elven mage walked out of Aiden’s room towards the study and met him half way, had he found out what exactly was wrong with his son? And had he found a way to cure him?

“What is it?” He questioned the mage, “is my son okay?!”

The elven mage slowly shook his head and sighed, “I’m so sorry Kaiser, but what has happened to your son has nothing to do with magic so I cannot cure him.”

“What?” Stefan grabbed the man by the shoulders and shook him desperately, “what do you mean it has nothing to do with magic?! I know the humans must have put a curse on him, check again!”

“What your son has become is as a consequence of devouring the sinful blood of humans,” the mage spoke firmly, “it has corrupted him, if I didn’t sedate him again he would have blown this entire place away! His powers are like nothing I’ve ever seen before, your son has become some sort of... some sort of demon!”

Stefan’s hands dropped to his sides, “you’re saying you can’t save my son...” tears stung the Kaiser’s blue eyes, “my boy, you’re just going to let him stay like this?”

Feeling his heart ache for the Kaiser since he too was a father, the mage gave Stefan a friendly rub on the shoulder, “the only thing I can offer you is advice,” he spoke softly, “you have a choice of either locking your son up here and sedating him every few hours so he doesn’t harm anyone, or you need to to send him far away where he can’t hurt anyone.”

Stefan cupped his face in his palms and began to sob, oh gods his son, why was this happening?

“I’m so sorry Kaiser,” the mage spoke before turning to leave, “I wish you luck.”

Marceline saw the mage leave and rushed to her husband’s side, when she saw droplets of tears on the floor beneath him her heart sunk, “Ste- Stefan, please tell me my baby is alright..” her beautiful red lips were quivering and her eyes had become misty, “Stefan what’s going on with our son?!”

The Kaiser turned to his wife and embraced her tightly. With tears now running down both their faces he whispered, “we’ve lost him Marceline, the humans have taken our son away from us.”

*

That day a dark cloud had settled over Ervelon, even though they had won the battle against the humans there was nothing worth celebrating. Back at the palace Tauriel was inconsolable, she weeped for hours over her daughter and grandchild, refusing to leave the bloodied chambers until Estel was brought back to her. Marceline was also devastated, spending hours outside Aiden’s room speaking to no one on particular, it was depressing.

A team of soldiers was dispatched to search the entire continent for Estel and the baby, their instructions were to not come back until they had found her. Days turned to weeks, and weeks to months, and the soldiers did not return, neither did they send any word back to Ervelon. After eight months of hearing nothing, everyone begun to lose hope that they would ever see Estel and the baby ever again.

The whole situation was difficult for everyone, especially for the elven king Aragon. He would come almost everyday to Aiden’s room, who was now sedated everyday for the past eight months, and speak to him about his daughter, even though knowing very well he would get no answer from an unconscious man. No one stopped Aragon, maybe it was a way of coping with the reality that Estel, his beautiful baby girl, was lost possibly forever.

Over the months king Aragon lost a lot of weight and his mood got gloomier and gloomier as the days went on. Stefan had tried to help his friend out of the dark place he was falling into but to no avail, the depression was swallowing him whole, he couldn’t cope with losing his daughter and grandchild and finally, the great elven king succumbed to his depression and passed away in his sleep.

Stefan was heartbroken, he had lost his brother and best friend all because of the humans. His hate for them deepened and he became even more determined than ever to wipe their race off the face of the earth.

A grand funeral was held for Aragon, his body was laid at the top of the mountain on whose side the marble palace was built, and by virtue of that, Tauriel moved into the palace so she could be closer to her husband. Despite the elven king’s death being circumstantial, Tauriel blamed Stefan and his family. She insisted that if Estel had never met Aiden both her and her husband would still be here.

Tension rose between the nosferatu and the elves until finally Stefan decided to pack up and leave Ervelon together with all his people. Edron who had become very close to Stefan during the months Aragon battled with depression decided to move with him in fear he too might succumb to the cold hands of depression.

Before Stefan left, he spoke to Tauriel about the plan Aragon had made to bring the humans down with the help of the mages of the rocks.

“My husband was a very organized and tactical man,” Tauriel spoke as she stroked the headstone of her husband’s grave. “He told me everything so I know what I must do.” She sighed as a tear rolled down her cheek, “it was as if he knew he was going to die.” She rubbed her massive tummy as tears rolled down her face, she couldn’t believe all this was happening, but she had to be strong, for the kingdom and for her baby.

That evening the nosferstu and the lycans left Ervelon for the snow covered lands in the south of the continent.

By Tauriel’s orders, the elves erected a thick forest around Ervelon embedded with powerful magic that would later be known as the wondering woods. The elven queen was going to take every precaution necessary to protect her kindom from now henceforth, she vowed never to lose anyone from her family ever again.

A few days before her expected labor date, Tauriel was informed by the midwives that she was going to have twin boys and it was honestly the best news she had ever heard in almost a year. Considering she had to sacrifice her child to save her people, she was glad she would at least have one of her children with her until his brother returned. These two boys would be her whole world and she was going to protect them with her life.

“What are you going to call them your majesty?” The midwife asked.

“Gareth and Finwe,” she responded as she rubbed her belly lovingly, “Gareth will be the oldest, named after my husband’s father, and Finwe the younger one, named after my father.”

“They are beautiful names,” the woman spoke, “they will be great men.”

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hey guys, if you’re battling with depression or have just been a shitty mood and need someone to listen, you can reach out on discord @Bee1429 or insta @author_bee1429 . I’ve been there and I know how crazy it can be, so I hope I can be able to help someone out. Much love