Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

World 4.35: Vanora

**Disclaimer: There is some gore/violence in this chapter.**

Meanwhile, somewhere deep in the forest outside, Vlad was still holding onto Vanora in his arms but now with an alarmed look on his face instead. The moment he saw the bangles, he instantly knew they were bad news so did not bother with keeping up with the farce and teleported themselves out of the house.

"No no no no no. Stay with me, stay with me." Tears sprung forth in Vlad's eyes as he held her face tenderly with one hand.

He still had not acted fast enough.

Vanora's body was now glowing dimly with white sparkles occasionally leaving her body and disappearing into nothing. Each time it did, the edges of her body faded away like she was being eaten up. Vanora gritted her teeth as she tolerated the burning sensation she felt. "Vlad...!"

Vlad could hear her fear and sadness in her strained voice. Hardening his heart and holding back his tears, he hushed her and stroked her head. "Hold on, I'll make you feel better soon. What you're going through now is the obliteration of your soul. The angels must have gained some power up from winning the war or something. But what matters is I won't let them have their way. You'll suffer less if you let me consume you instead. Do you trust me?"

Vanora nodded with difficulty.

Just as he leaned back in towards her neck, he heard her whisper with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry... I couldn't do anything..."

Vlad's heart wrenched and he could no longer stop his tears from falling. "That's nonsense. You've not only done plenty for me, you've also done plenty for the children and your parents. I'm sure they'll be proud even if you die here. You didn't just survive without a care for others, you've lived, like they asked for."

"... Do you really-" She winced in pain as another wave of intense burning sensation consumed her entirety. "Really think so...?"

"Of course. I'm sure my love for you helps me understand their sentiments even better." Vlad smiled kindly among the tears that were now flowing freely out of his eyes.

Vanora smiled from her heart amidst the pain she felt. "Perhaps...!"

Vlad kissed her on her lips before biting into her neck. Vanora grunted a little as she was hit with a wave of ecstasy that she recognised. It felt weird to be feeling both a burning sensation and ecstatic but it really did help by taking her mind off of the burning sensation, giving her something else to focus on. She panted but her breaths were shallow and weak. The light in her eyes slowly became dimmer as Vlad merged her soul with his.

Just as she thought to thank Vlad once more, she felt a completely different pain wreck through her body. It felt like she was being torn, shredded, and churned to bits. Fuck!!

However, to Vlad, Vanora's body simply turned cold in his arms in less than a second. In his grief, he did not realise the slight oddity of her passing. She should have taken longer to die if it was due to being consumed by him. 

He could not hold back his sobs as anger and grief filled his entire being. He hugged Vanora's cold body so tightly  as if he wanted to meld her body into his. 

He could not help but cry out in agony as he recalled their time together.

It had started off as a mysterious but simple infatuation, an obsession. He simply wanted to own and have her. He let his unexplained anxiety and paranoia dictate the way he treated her. However, the more he learnt about her and understood her, the more he grew to respect her and genuinely like her for who she is, the more he learnt to treat her the way she would like to be treated. As time passed, like grew to love. He became aware of his feelings and was sure that she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, however long it lasted before the time came for him to fulfill his purpose.