Chapter 11:

Chapter 8 “Verona”

Age of Ember beta



Odrian stood in front of this spiral tower’s enormous entrance. Although he was there for a about a minute or so, he began to hear an alluring melody that was being hummed. It was a mellow rhythmic sound that could touch any heart. It was disarming in an overall eerie atmosphere. He felt as though it was calling out to him telling him and was asking to be found within this fortress.

Mesmerized by this elusive melody, he stretched out his right hand to open the door, but stopped right as he touched the door. Instead of opening the massive oak door, he remembered he had to be cautious. He recalled encounters he had where he was deceived by a relatively calm environment. Somehow, this felt different or perhaps he was being naive. Without effort, he conjured up a tiny dark purple portal that grew large enough to fit him through. He then placed the portal onto the front door. Taking a deep breath before entering, he said:

"Guess I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. Landon would kill me if I got wrecked after telling me to be careful."

Not knowing what to expect, Odrian walked through the portal and into the other side. Once he passed through he took time to search from where he had stood. The layout was incredibly minimalistic by design and the quarters was spacious. He stood in front of the living and dining areas with a spiral stair case made of marble in the background. The sound of the humming was coming from above and by now he figured it was probably all the way at the top of the spiral tower. Before moving forward he observed his surroundings for traps, but it became apparent this was literally a place of dwelling. Nothing about the immediate area looked suspicious. With nothing to note about the area, he ascended the stairwell, following the sound. He proceeded with caution, honing into the building’s environment for anything but this lone humming was all there was. With every 10 steps, the alluring humming became gradually audible and clearer. And the clearer it became, the more haunting and sad it was but it retained its beauty. Eventually he reached the top facing a pink wooden door with golden accents along the frame. An elegant V symbol was engraved on it with words below it, stating:

Behind this door lies our greatest treasure and our biggest curse

These words didn't make any sense to Odrian. A grand treasure and a curse, it could only be one or the other but the source of the humming was behind this door waiting for him. Not yielding to the warning, he decided to enter through the door similar to how he entered the building. His curiosity had dragged him on.

The room he found himself in was pleasing to the senses. The source of the humming was in front of him now. The smell of lavender and honey lingered in the air, the room was bright with windows above shining a light to the room. Just with the atmosphere alone he felt drawn. Examining the area he saw a huge bed in the center, about the size of 2 king-sized beds put together. The frame that held it was classical with peculiar carved designs along it. Large black and lavender-colored satin drapes hung under the top frame. This had stood out before him, more than anything else in the room. But there was no one there. Odrian felt an unusual presence around him, however, he didn’t feel threatened by it. He knew such a presence could be dangerous, so he tried his best to remain focused on what it could be. Behind him a hand appeared with its slender fingers tracing along his arms and all the way to his lips. He attempted to reach for it, but it quickly disappeared.

His instincts insisted he not resist this presence, so he dropped his guard and looked at the direction of the bed again. Where he had seen nothing there before he saw someone laying in the middle of the bed. Their eyes met and he reluctantly moved forward to have a closer look. With her legs crossed and knees bent, laid a voluptuous woman. Odrian had never realized such a perfect figure could exist. Her caramel complexion was flawless. She had a cute face with hazel eyes and long, silky black hair that had white hair entangled within it. As she sat up on the bed, the sheets that covered her chest fell to her waist. She wore a violet bra that could be unhooked from the front. Her chest was fairly large and firm. Odrian pondered whether they could be D’s or double D’s, but it was far from appropriate at the moment. She gently placed one hand on the bed and pat down on it, signaling Odrian to come onto the bed.

Say less, He thought to himself. A woman this amazing couldn't be real. She was so beautiful he couldn’t resist her as he kicked off his shoes and dropped his jacket to the floor before getting into the bed with her. He crawled into the bed, feeling something metal under his leg. He continued all the way next to her, trying to hold back his excitement. She wrapped her arms around his neck and spread her widened wings around them. It left no space for Odrian to escape, but this seemed fine. She leaned into his ear and whispered:

"Mmm, you look delicious. You can do whatever you want."

Her voice was soothing yet enticing to his ears, chills surged throughout Odrian’s spine. Yet as much as he wanted to sleep with her right now, he couldn’t. After all, he knew better than to sleep with a complete stranger. an important life lesson he had learned before. He slowly started to come to his senses and told her:

"Hey, I can't… Not like this."

The woman seemed confused by his rejection. Odrian noticed a metal shackle around her leg that was chained to something. He gently moved his hand along her waist down her thighs and down to her ankle. The moment he touched it, she pushed him back with enough force to effortlessly knock him off the bed.

"D-don't touch that please!" Her voice was still soft although she reacted so strongly to what he had done. She was clearly embarrassed of it because she was attached to it. Odrian pieced things together, from the hums to the chain, but was just scratching the surface of what was really going on. He stood up and sat at the bed’s edge. He looked over at her, just wanting to talk. Remembering the beautiful harmony earlier, he complimented:

"Your humming earlier, it was beautiful. But there was a lot of sadness in it too."

Feeling a bit guilty about pushing him off, she moved back closer to him and put her hands on his face. She responded:

"It was a song my mother taught me. I wouldn’t necessarily think its sad."

She believed there was no bearing on a sense of sadness in its rhythm. Odrian felt that there was something much deeper to it. Maybe she never realized it, or simply dismissed it. He felt as though he had to insist on his assumption:

"It’s not the song, but your voice."

She wondered why he was more concerned about the significance to the song as opposed to having sex with her. She was puzzled as one of her forux is mass attraction. Anything that felt her presence becomes immediately attracted to her. Odrian somehow is one of the few people this didn't effect.

"I don’t understand… Are you not attracted to me?" She asked, confused and saddened by the circumstance. She wondered why he didn’t come onto her like so many others had.

"You got it wrong,” Odrian confessed. She listened intently, curious to his response. “I'm attracted to you. But there’s a sadness and pain that the man in me couldn't take advantage of. You’re worth more than that."

Her heart sunk. This was something no man had ever considered before, not even her father. She didn't know how to react, besides asking him more questions:

"So, you don’t want to have sex with me? Then what do you want from me?"

"I want to know about you,” Odrian spoke honestly. “I want to know why you’re here, chained?"

"Um, alright… If I tell you, will you do me a favor?"

"Sure," Odrian didn’t hesitate to her request. She smiled upon hearing that he would take his request. Unbeknownst to him, his world would be changed forever.

Ana Fowl
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AuthorAtish
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Jio Kurenai
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