Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 80: Power Struggle

Chapter Eighty: Power Struggle

When Xaphile woke up, it was in a warm, dimly lit cavern made of petrified wood, and the first thing his mind registered was the excruciating amount of pain in his body.

Slowly opening his eyes, he found that he was completely nude save for a few bandages covering his wounds and a bizarre loincloth that didn't actually belong to him. He groggily attempted to turn his head, but something around his neck prevented him from doing so.

He carefully shifted his eyes.

What he saw confused him.

He was being held in place by a thick stone collar, and from what he could gather, his arms were shackled high above his head in a similar manner.

"Where am I?" he mumbled, struggling to move; he instantly doubled over and gasped when agony seared through his back. "Ow... shit... shit... ow..."

Blood had stained the bandages wrapped around his body dark maroon and had trickled down to the white brick beneath him.

"You're awake," a familiar voice purred. "Good."

Xaphile's skin prickled with fright and he snapped his head as far to the side as he could in order to look at the speaker. Sitting not even three feet away from him was the man who'd pretended to be his father.

If he'd been pretending at all.

After all, his attacker looked completely identical to his dad, from his aquiline nose, to his thin mouth, to his exotic bone structure... even down to the shape of his eyes and the thick black brows framing them.

They looked exactly alike, in the same way that Ella Richardson and Ella Rochard looked alike.

Although, there were some extreme differences.

Two extremely long, ram-like horns curved out of his skull and back around his elfish ears, a long, thick, lion-like tail and enormous ebony wings extended from his muscular body, and a strange furry mane ran down his spine.

He most certainly wasn't human.

"Who... are you?"

The question came out of Xaphile's mouth before he could stop it.

The man's eerily familiar aquamarine eyes flicked up, but instead of saying anything, he chose to prop his head on his hand and stared at Xaphile with an intense expression.

He looked a little disgruntled.

"Vordt," he said simply. "As I have said before, I am your father's brother."

Xaphile's brow knit until everything came rushing back.

The fight, Ella's attack, everything: his eyes widened as a rational amount of fear swept through him.

"Where is Ella?! And Zelphira?! What have you done?!" he barked, struggling against his bonds. "Where am I?"

For a long moment, Vordt looked him up and down with an expression of disgust.

"Brash and short-tempered. How shameful."

Xaphile's hackles rose and he snarled, tail puffing out.

"Brash and short-tempered?!" he spat, nose wrinkled with outrage. "Bitch, get the fuck out of here with that bullshit! You possessed one of my traveling companions and tried to kill me!"

Vordt smirked.

"Indeed I did," he agreed, tipping his head back in a cocky manner. "Then again, I'm prepared to do anything if it means protecting my people from a threat."