The Reaper's Wicked Obsession-Chapter 164: Become My Disciple

"How long would she be on this mission?" Isadora asked as the sadness overtook her face.

If Vanya’s mission took too long then Isadora wouldn’t see her. It’d take a whole winter.

The thought of not seeing her for long burdened Isadora.

"Depends. The crowned warriors are given various missions to complete."

"Missions like what?"

"Anything related to the five courts and ensuring defection."

Isadora turned back to him, even now his face was covered in dark fabrics and it made her wonder how he could breathe in that thing.

She knew his eyes were exposed but couldn’t see much of them because of his hood.

"The Raven Court has a grudge against the other courts, I wonder why," she mumbled, puzzled.

The last meeting was about them and it bothered her why Kraven was hellbent on crushing them. Did they do something to him? Or was he preying on them for entertainment?

When Isadora got silence in return, she asked. "Why do you cover yourself?"

He didn’t answer.

"It seems like you’re sticking to this title of yours." She turned to leave but his words stopped her.

"The Faceless isn’t a title."

"I don’t think—" she began, twirling to him but he was gone.

A strong gust of wind swept through, making her long braid twirl behind her. She scanned the area for any sign of him, but he was nowhere to be found.

This Ekko was a mystery person, out of all the ruling council he was the only one who didn’t have an interest in her. He just comes and goes. He was like this mountain, stagnant and mysterious.

The sound of the croak pulled her focus causing Isadora to sigh.

"Fine, lead the way."

~♧~

Isadora followed the raven, the stairs leading to the top of the mountain were endless. It rivaled the Thousand Steps Of Endurance.

After three hours of climbing, Isadora felt faint, but thank the gods the raven came to a stop.

Releasing a sharp breath of relief, she followed through ignoring her aching butt. It hurt far worse than before and she regretted not defying Kraven in the first place.

The raven croaked sharply, the past hours it had been that annoying sound and she was getting sick of it. She couldn’t ignore the urge to shut the damn bird up.

The raven flapped its wings and flew into a corridor. Isadora halted her movement, trying to catch her breath eyeing the place the bird disappeared to.

She gulped, forcing her legs to keep going, suddenly motivated by the last flight of stairs.

The corridor was dark and Isadora was suddenly desperate to get to the moonlight glow she spotted at the opening. Her hurried footsteps echoed through the air.

After a few more steps, Isadora was bathed in the glow causing a relieved sigh to escape from her.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the subtle feel of the light. Slowly, she opened them and gasped.

This was the same place Kraven had trained her for the Hunt.

The vast area—with grasses covering the ground in place of rocks, snow covered the area too. An opening at the top revealed the moon, high to reach or climb.

Hearing the stone jolting close, she turned her attention behind and found the entrance sealed.

Isadora tapped her palm against the cold stone in search of the door but couldn’t find it.

"Hello, love, I’ve been waiting for you."

At the sound of his gravelly voice, she faced Kraven standing close to the peach tree, arms folded, dressed in leather pants, boots, and a black tunic.

Watching him stand there brought back the memories shared in very place. "It’s deja vu." Her eyes veered to the frozen lake where he almost drowned her and stole her first kiss. "Why am I here, Kraven?"

"To prepare for our mission," he replied. "This will not be like the Hunt."

Isadora frowned. "I think I’ve trained enough."

"Have you?" he countered.

She gulped at his words. "You trained me enough to survive, I learned a few things from Vanya too."

A glint of interest twinkled in his eyes. "And what exactly did she teach you?"

A smirk curled on Isadora’s lips. He hadn’t seen her in action when she had altered her aura, in her fight against the Sigil Beast she only had the little opportunity to use it.

The mere thought of Kraven finding out what she could do thrilled her.

Will he be proud of her?

Isadora placed a hand on her waist and said. "Find out yourself."

A dark look burned in Kraven’s silver eyes. "It doesn’t matter how much you train or learn. You’re never truly ready."

"Is that why I’m here then? Because you think I’m not ready enough?"

"Let’s make it official, be my disciple."

She froze at his request or more a command because of his tone. "Your disciple?"

"You already used me to survive, I think we’re way past that now. I want to teach you what I know not just to survive but to become invisible."

She grew nervous at the thought of becoming his disciple. It was a very tempting offer.

But then at the thought of Ekko—she grimaced. "Don’t tell me this means I’ll cover my face and become a ghost."

Kraven chuckled. "Do you want to become a Faceless then?"

"I-I thought that name is simply a title."

"It’s not... it’s a mark."

"A mark?"

"A mark of a Fae who has abandoned all personal attachments to the world and lives solely for the benefit of a Lord. Ekko is not considered a living being, he’s a tool, crafted to serve one master for as long as he lives."

"But that’s cruel!"

"It’s what he chose, love."

Isadora’s eyes trembled at his words. How could someone choose to be a tool, to serve a master for eternity, to abandon what makes you a living being?

"Enough talk about Ekko, what do you say, love?"

Isadora’s pulse raced as her mind dragged back to his earlier request. "What’s in store for me if I become your disciple?" frёeωebɳovel.com

"So greedy," he mused. "I’ll make you stronger, is that enough? I thought I already mentioned that." He pinned her down with a dark look that voiced many things that had nothing to do with training. "By the time I’m done with you... you’ll be flawless."

A shiver shot down her spine. "D-Does this mean I call you master now?"

Kraven’s teeth clenched at her words, a constriction finding his pants as they felt suffocating.

He never imagined hearing her call him master would stir such a reaction.

"You’ll call me that when I deem you worthy." He pulled his sword from the ground, skillfully spinning the steel as if it weighed nothing. "Draw your daggers, love, and come at me with the intent to kill."

Isadora tensed, fixing her eyes on his blade. She had never realized how massive that thing was until now. It was made to suit his physique perfectly, he held onto the sword like a twig.

"Are you scared, love?"

"You’re using your sword."

"Don’t worry, it won’t move from this point unless you force me to. You don’t need to trust me, trust my aura."

Isadora read through his aura, it was calm, not threatening. He controlled his thirst to the fullest, it made her wonder how much energy it took.

She drew her twin daggers from the sheath strapped to the back of her hips.

"Let’s see what your friend has taught you."

Isadora released a sharp exhale and slowly approached him, her heart thundering in her chest, and for a minute he appeared double as her mind crumbled against her.

"What if I hurt you?" she asked.

It was a silly question from her because he had a perfect stance and hadn’t moved from his position but it felt like if given the chance he could overpower her within a blink of an eye.

"Hurt me?" He took a step forward and Isadora panicked as she swung her blade but he caught her wrist with his free hand, stopping the force of her attack.

He chuckled. "How could you possibly achieve that? I can cut you halves before you can blink."

Isadora growled and yanked herself from his grasp, wasting no time before launching a fury of attacks, he dodged each with ease as a smirk played on his lips.

This angered Isadora more because he seemed to be mocking her attempts.

"This would only work if you intend on killing me," he said. "You were motivated last time you were here and left beautiful cuts on my skin."

Isadora swung her blade with enough force but all he did was take a simple step to the side.

"You disappoint me, Isadora," he said as all traces of amusement vanished like a snap of a finger.

This caused a state of alarm for Isadora because it’d been a while since he had easily switched moods, and when he did, death came.

Kraven swung his sword, it descended upon Isadora like a giant.

Her breath hitched as she reacted swiftly, crossing her blades just in time to block the strike.