Chapter 61 #2
Without warning, the dagger’s edge pressed against the man’s back and then sank in. The blade dragged downward in one, merciless stroke, carving along his spine and scraping into the bones. Flesh split, blood spilling hot and fast as the man let out a ragged scream that echoed off the stone walls.
Draevyn’s grip was steady as he carved the same line that scarred Esmyra, every inch of the blade paying back the torment she’d endured. Varis’s cries grew higher, cracking, breaking into wet sobs.
Atlas stuck his pinky in his ear and twisted. “That is a bit of a pathetic sound, don’t you think?”
When the dagger reached the base of his back, Draevyn pulled it free and leaned close. “Don’t worry. We’re only getting started.”
The prisoner dragged in ragged breaths through clenched teeth, spit slipping past his lips as his face blazed red.
Esmyra took her taloned finger below his chin and tilted it upward, forcing him to meet her stare. “Why did you do it, Varis?”
“Do what?” he snapped.
Her eyes narrowed, her features tightening. “You had me in the cuffs. Why did you violate my fucking body as I was unconscious?”
Draevyn’s hand trembled from a rage so deep it felt like his bones themselves were burning.
The man snarled. “Wanted to see if you truly were immune to its instant death.” He swallowed. “It appears you were.”
“You knew it could’ve killed her?!” Atlas barked, but Draevyn barely heard the words.
Immune. Esmyra had been in a way, but she wasn’t entirely. And the only reason was because of Kaelypso.
Visions of those days where her future was unknown swarmed his vision.
Her breathless voice telling him how unbearable the pain was, describing how it felt to be powerless with Kaelypso severed from her reach.
And how she trembled in his arms the first time he touched the scar, feeling the shard beneath.
Without another thought, Draevyn plunged his hand straight into Varis’s open wound he’d carved. Hot blood poured, gushing out and coating his forearm.
The man let out a bellowing sound of pure anguish, body writhing as Draevyn’s fingers dug deeper, searching until they wrapped around the hard ridge of vertebrae. He remained perfectly still, holding the bastard’s spine in his hand as his eyes lifted to meet hers.
The screams that tore from Varis’s throat were raw agony echoing through the ship. His body convulsed, jerking against Draevyn’s hold as his eyes rolled white.
But then Esmyra stepped forward, her eyes glowing with that subtle silvery teal, shifting once more. Her voice dripped like honey as she ordered, “Not. A. Sound.”
The command sank into Varis like chains, and he fell silent. His jaw clamped shut with a sickening crack as he tried to fight her magic. His body trembled, veins bulging in his neck as the agony ripped through him.
Draevyn’s nostrils flared, baring his teeth in a savage grin as he pulled the man closer to him. “That’s better.”
Atlas let out a low whistle as he watched, beginning a slow clap. “Much more theatrical than I imagined. Well done, Drae.”
Draevyn met his brother’s gaze, his head cocking to the side. “Oh, I’m not done yet.”
Summoning his power, flame licked up his arm, and into his palm still gripping the spine. The heat built, hotter and brighter, until it engulfed Varis’s torso in a sudden, brutal surge.
The prisoner’s body convulsed violently as fire erupted from within him. Flesh bubbled, blackened, and split open as flames consumed muscle and marrow alike. His chest glowed like a torch from the inside, ribs searing through skin.
Esmyra stood only a few feet away, watching Varis burn with an otherworldly stillness. Her face was unreadable, hard as stone, and her eyes glowed faintly in the flickering firelight.
There was no anger, no joy, or pity.
Just silence.
Draevyn tightened his grip as his fury pulsed, demanding more. Demanding an end that would echo what this monster had done to her—what his own father likely would’ve done to her.
“Send the king our regards.”
With a guttural snarl, Draevyn braced his boots against the floor and wrenched.
Bone splintered, muscles tore, and Varis’s charred frame gave way as his spine ripped free into Draevyn’s fist. The body crumpled forward with a sickening thud, collapsing on the ground in a lifeless, bloody heap.
The flames sputtered out as smoke curled from the gaping wound until the last ember winked out.
Draevyn stood there, chest heaving as blood dripped from the gleaming length of bone in his grasp. For a long moment, the brig was silent, aside from the faint hiss of cooling flesh and the distant waves beyond the ship.
Finally, his gaze lifted again, straight to her. Esmyra hadn’t moved, her face completely still. Her eyes, though, tracked the ruined body on the floor before flicking back up to him, unblinking.
Her lips lifted in the faintest smile before whispering, “Thank you.”
Draevyn blinked, the fire still pulsing in his veins. He gave a slow nod, unable to say anything aloud yet.
The realm thought she was a monster, but they hadn’t seen what he would do in her honor.
Whatever darkness lived in her, Draevyn would meet it with his own.
Esmyra deserved vengeance, and he would deliver it.
If she wanted screams, he would wring them out of every throat.
If she wanted blood, he would paint her seas red.
Because anyone who laid a hand on her, anyone who even thought of hurting the Phoenix’s Wildfire again, would learn that her fury may be blistering flames…but his was a fucking inferno.