CHAPTER TEN
THE DEMON KING WHO WAITED FOR HER
by C.G.
The Call of Blood
The night Linah decided to leave, the wind would not rest.
It moved through the village like a whisper carrying names only the ancestors remembered. The old women felt it in their bones. Dogs howled without reason. Even the fire in the hearth bent low, as if bowing to something unseen.
Linah stood outside the traditional healer's hut, her heart steady in a way that surprised her. Fear had visited her many times before, but tonight, fear did not rule her.
Purpose did.
The healer emerged slowly, his face marked with white ash and red earth. Around Linah's wrists, ankles, and neck, he tied sacred threads soaked in herbs older than memory.
"These are not charms of protection alone," he said. "They are keys."
He pressed a calabash against her chest, chanting words that made the ground hum.
"You are walking a road walked once before," he continued. "But this time, you will not walk as a victim."
Linah closed her eyes as heat spread through her veins. Images flickered behind her lids—fire, water, blood, love.
When the healer stepped back, his voice softened.
"Go," he said. "The worlds are already opening for you."
From the shadows behind the hut, the mysterious woman stepped forward. Her presence made the air tighten, yet Linah did not recoil.
Instead, her heart recognized her.
Without words, they began the journey.
The River That Remembers
By dawn, they reached the river.
It was wide and restless, its surface glowing faintly as if the sun lived beneath it. Linah felt her bracelet burn warm against her skin, pulsing in rhythm with her heart.
The moment her foot touched the riverbank, the water stilled.
Slowly—reverently—the njuzu rose.
They emerged in silence, their forms shimmering between water and spirit, eyes bright with ancient knowledge. One by one, they bowed low, their voices rippling together.
"Welcome home, our Queen."
Linah staggered back.
"Me?" she whispered.
The njuzu smiled, not with mouths, but with memory.
"You walked these waters before flesh forgot," they said.
"You bled for love where others chose power."
"You were promised back to us."
The mysterious woman lowered her head, unable to hide her shock.
Linah's chest tightened.
Queen?
The njuzu parted the river, revealing a glowing path beneath the water.
"Come," they said. "The ancestors are waiting."
The Ancestors Below the World
Beneath the river lay a vast realm of stone halls and living roots, lit by ancestral fire. Spirits gathered in circles, some wrapped in river mist, others crowned with bones and shells.
As Linah stepped forward, memories struck her like lightning.
A forest.
A wounded man by the river.
Hands stained with blood and herbs.
A crown refused.
A love chosen against law.
She gasped, clutching her chest.
The ancestors spoke as one.
"We foretold this," they said. "When the Demon King's mother fell, her blood cried for justice."
"Our prophecy spoke of a queen born human," another voice added.
"One whose power sleeps until love wakes it."
They circled Linah, touching her forehead, her shoulders, her heart.
"With your return," they intoned, "the balance shifts."
The mysterious woman trembled.
"All this time," she whispered, "we believed it was a man who would avenge her."
The ancestors replied coldly,
"Power does not obey gender.
It obeys destiny."
Linah fell to her knees as visions flooded her—her past life, her death, the betrayal, the blade that stole her breath while love screamed her name.
Tears streamed down her face
.
"I remember," she whispered.
The fire around them flared.
"Then rise," the ancestors commanded.
"Your king waits in chains."
THE LION'S DEN
Deeper still they walked, past rivers of shadow and gates carved from bone. The air grew heavy with suffering, with curses spoken by men who believed power was their right.
Linah felt it.
The pain.
The fear.
And beneath it all—
Him.
Her bracelet burned white-hot.
I'm coming, she whispered through the bond.
Hold on. I'm on my way.
Far away, in the depths of the underworld, Mako heard her voice.
And for the first time since his capture, his heart broke.
Not from pain.
From terror.
No, he thought.
Not you. Not this.
Chains rattled as he lifted his head.
And then—
Linah stepped into the chamber.
She froze.
There, bound by ancient seals, his power drained, blood drying along his skin, knelt—
Boss Mako.
Her world shattered.
The mysterious man.
The king.
The love she dreamed of.
All one.
"Mako…" she breathed.
Their eyes met.
Shock.
Relief.
Despair.
And somewhere in the darkness, something old and cruel began to laugh.
END OF CHAPTER TEN