Reborn As Cursed Alpha's Mate
Chapter 223: Disruption In Magic

Chapter 223: Disruption In Magic

They resumed their journey on a high note, excited to see what lay ahead. Although Aiko was happy for the couple, there was a permanent ache in her heart and her neck throbbed whenever Faris touched her.

He felt her apprehension through the bond while driving the carriage as she perched beside him, covered in a thick blanket.

"Talk to me, Aiko. What’s bothering you?" He promptly asked.

She huffed out a frustrated sigh. She didn’t want to come off as desperate to her mate.

"Nothing, really. Just the mate bond messing with my head."

His hand went behind her back as he managed the reins with only one. He gently rubbed her arm.

"I understand, it makes you feel incomplete."

"Hmm!" She mournfully nodded, trying to swallow the lump forming in her throat.

Faris’s eyes wavered to her while he kept his head straight.

"Aiko! I don’t want to rush into this. This is important to me and I want to do right by you. I won’t wrong you but let’s wait for the right time?" His assurance bathed her in calmness and a slow smile erupted on her face as she placed her head on his shoulder.

An affectionate kiss he placed on her head and let her rest.

The landscape around them began to drastically change and everyone noticed. The horses began to neigh as the forest became denser and the temperature rose.

"Be careful, I can sense that we are entering different lands," Siroos called out as he tried to cover everyone with his shield but failed.

The horses neighed again becoming jumpy, raising their legs and refusing to move.

Razial’s horse almost threw him off so he halted and jumped off as its hooves clamoured on the forest floor covered with foliage. The horse fearfully fled.

"Are you all right?" Lotus called out in fear, seeing the frantic display of the horses.

"Yes!" Razial was quick to scamper to his feet

The carriage came to a halt, as Faris tried to control the maddening horses too.

Reining in Shadow, Siroos quickly climbed down and rushed towards the carriage to help the ladies.

Razial did the same. Everyone safely dismounted from the carriage and made sure no one had been hurt in the process.

"What’s going on?" Aiko asked, slightly unsettled by the eerie and gloomy atmosphere and the loud noises horses were making.

"I think we have entered Grimhollow. We will have to travel by foot from here. The horses won’t go any further." Siroos protectively stood in front of them as he assessed their surroundings, trying to listen to any danger that might be lurking or approaching.

"We will have to abandon the carriage here."

Most of their essentials were already in Lotus’s satchel; some of it was in the carriage, which they shifted.

Cassandra moved ahead towards the horses and tried to calm them down using her powers. Their big bulging eyes held unknown fears which she tried to dampen.

"We need to set them free. They can make their way back to the village. The villagers will take care of them." Cassandra turned to her mate and he ambled forward. Razial joined him as both of them began to unhitch the horses from the carriage and set them free.

As soon as they had been detached they ran back in the direction they had come from, the way Razial’s horse had initially gone.

Only Shadow remained, waiting for Siroos’s command but even he couldn’t stand still. He uncontrollably shuffled.

Siroos made his way to his loyal horse, grabbed his cheek strap and placed his hand on Shadow’s head.

"Go, Shadow, go to the village we came from and be safe. I will return for you."

The horse nodded and rubbed his face against Siroos as if understanding his master’s command.

It turned and galloped away following what Siroos had instructed him.

"We should keep moving, the night will fall soon and we will need a secure place to stay," Razial said, taking the satchel from Lotus and placing it around his shoulder.

Aiko tightly clutched Faris’s hand while Razial crossed his fingers with Lotus. Cassandra took her mate’s arm as they began their journey through the dense forest.

Animals of various kinds were howling in the distance. Both Siroos’s and Faris’s wolves were on the surface, listening in and remaining on guard.

Their respective shields worked at times, and at other times, they disappeared; something here was disrupting the magic they possessed.

"This place is creepy," Lotus scoffed, swatting away at an insect from her face.

"Ewe! So many legs." She threw it on the forest floor and Razial stepped onto it, crushing it under his boot.

"My shield is not working," Siroos complained.

"Nor are mine." Lotus had noticed that the pendants she had charmed were not protecting Faris and Aiko.

"I will see if I can open a portal." Aiko swiftly moved her hand but nothing happened. She sighed in disappointment.

"Let me try mine." Cassandra let her lilac shield shoot out through her and let it envelop her companions. It spread like a wave, and the few insects that were trying to bite them instantly flew away, unable to touch their skins.

"It seems like only your magic is working." Siroos sighed in relief that at least they had someone’s magic to rely on.

"She is a goddess; of course, her magic will work," Faris chuckled, seeming proud of his sister-in-law.

They continued, keeping their conversation light so their minds wouldn’t be overcome with fear.

Soon a hissing sound had Siroos halting. He had heard it way before others due to his heightened senses.

’There is a snake nearby and it seems quite large from the rustling sounds made by his slithering body,’ Siroos’s wolf warned.

"Be careful, we have company. There is a snake headed our way."

Their eyes frantically darted in all directions. The hissing grew louder and now all of them could hear it.

Siroos’s ears detected where the sound was coming from, his eyes swept up and a huge snake lunged at them from the branch above with its mouth wide open.