Chapter 57 Pretty in Pieces #2
Luella’s arms shook, but adrenaline pushed her far beyond what she’d ever been able to accomplish before.
Finally, her fingertips felt a smoother handhold, and she gripped it with all her might, toes scrunching on the rocks as she hauled herself up.
She fell against the cliff’s surface with an anguished sob, exhausted and horrified.
The stone was smooth and inclined, arching higher as it pointed out to the harrowing drop below. The wind whipped so harshly around her, she was afraid to stand.
On her back, forearms bracing her, she let her head tip back as she gulped in the air. Her lids fluttered as she stared at the dark clouds above.
"You think it’s that easy to run from me?" The words echoed.
She gasped, shooting upright, palms under her and slick with blood, as she crouched on the ground. Her wings were tucked tight to her back, and the wind ruffled her feathers, making her waver.
Luella squinted into the darkness before her, her back to the drop.
A mass of shadows curled over the rocks. Her eyes hurt from not blinking. She watched as the shadows grew and stretched, a dark hand shooting upward, from the very ground itself, as the Umbra crawled from within the shadowy mass.
He stood, staring down at her frozen form.
The moonlight filtered through the clouds above, illuminating his face. She could see him more clearly now. His hair was shorn close to his scalp, features sharp with anger. He clutched his sword in a hand, the tip dragging against the ground as he stalked toward her.
Luella stood fully, feeling the wind drag through her wings and tug her backward.
She went with it, taking small steps back, back, until her heels scraped against the edge of the cliff, and a gasp was ripped from deep inside her—she had nowhere else to run to.
Open air was at her back, and she didn’t dare turn her head to look down. Afraid to tear her eyes away from him.
He stood before her—they both knew he had her.
Unless…
"I bet you won’t jump," the Umbra said. "I bet your frail little wings don’t even work."
Her wings shivered involuntarily.
Slowly, he lifted the sword, the point dragging against the tip of her right wing. She shuddered at the feel of the steel against her feathers.
The cliff fell sharply into the sea. She heard the roar of the waves, echoing up the side. It sounded like a thousand pained screams.
Tears fell from her eyes, clouding her vision. "Please—don’t—"
"Don’t what?"
Luella shook her head. It was stupid of her to beg him.
"I would say what I want to do to you won’t hurt, but we both know that would be a lie. I bet the sound of your screams is even better than the sound of your cries." He slid the tip of the sword further.
It moved across her tucked wings until she felt it graze her arm, then he moved it across her chest. He teased the sword’s tip at the swell of her breasts, and the sound of her sobs rivaled the crashing waves behind her.
In one harsh movement, he sliced the sword down, rending the neckline of her gown in two.
It scratched her chest, leaving a thin line between her breasts.
She jerked her hands up to cover herself.
The front of her gown gaped open nearly down to her navel, her breasts revealed to him before she was able to hide herself away.
The chill seeped into her. She felt the weight of his attention on her, and her chin trembled. It felt vile and slimy.
The sword raked against her wrists, where she held her gown closed.
"Not much," he commented. "Like a babe. Tell me"—the flat edge of the sword dug into the bones of her wrists—"have you ever been fucked before? Or will I be the first?"
She didn’t answer.
"Answer me now, because I don’t have to fuck you when you’re alive. I can just as easily kill you first. A body is a body."
Her mind struggled to make sense of his meaning, but when she realized, her whole body went cold. She had never heard anything so grotesque before.
Luella lifted her chin, feeling the wind in her hair. "I don’t—answer to y-you." It was tremulous and shaky, but at least she stood her ground.
He took a step forward. She took a step back.
Her heels hovered over the edge.
The Umbra’s shadowed eyes dipped down to her feet and the chasm at her back. "I bet you’d look so pretty in pieces, but if you’re too broken, I won’t be able to play with you anymore." He paused, contemplating. "At least my master won’t be able to have you."
Violent glee flickered over his face, and the stark reality of her situation finally set in.
She would be raped, mutilated, killed—and she didn’t know which would come first.
Or she could jump.
Tortured and used by the Umbra before her, or splattered on the rocks below?
The choice was easy.
She only had one breath of time to mourn what could’ve been. A crystalline tear slipped down her cheek, dropping from her jaw. She tried to control her expression so as not to let him know her plans.
Luella’s lips parted, brows winged in sorrow.
The Umbra’s eyes darkened with triumph and—
She stepped off the cliff.
She barely saw the Umbra’s eyes widen in shock before the air rushed up around her, and she gasped.
Falling…
Falling…
Her wings fluttered uselessly. The jagged rocks flashed by. The sound of waves grew nearer—
She let her eyes drift shut, felt that tether around her midsection, snapped her wings out, felt the air catch in them, and she was airborne.
Luella opened her eyes, legs kicking out as her fall was stalled. She struggled to move her wings; it wasn’t quick enough.
"No!" she gasped, wind howling around her.
She twisted her body at the last moment, seeing the rising sea and deadly rocks below her. Her wings worked, fluttering to lift her, and as she gasped a solemn, "Please," the current of the air began to shift, no longer working against her—but with her.
She felt the currents beneath her wings, helping her catch the wind.
The sea loomed.
Her legs slammed into the rocks, crushing her left ankle. She screamed, upper half rising as her wings beat stronger, lifting her, instead of merely softening her fall.
Water misted her cheeks, and she saw her wide-eyed face reflected upon the dark surface of the sea.
Her wings unfurled behind her, and she closed her eyes, knowing she’d slam into the surface.
She held her breath, braced herself, and… her fall stopped entirely.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, finding that she hovered right before the sea’s surface, legs tucked close, ankle throbbing, arms bundled to her chest. The darkness of the ocean was so close she could touch it with an outstretched hand.
She sobbed, wings still beating behind her, keeping her held aloft.
She had no time to be proud.
As if on instinct, her wings arced sharply up, held by the wind. She was carried upward, away from the sea.
It wasn’t effortless. It was a desperate flight from death’s embrace.
She looked behind her, wind obscuring her vision, as she stared at the cliff in the distance. The Umbra was a wavering shadow on the edge.
Her wings carried her to the only destination she knew, drawn by the tethers wrapped around her soul. She followed them in desperation.
She lagged, her ankle throbbing with every beat of her wings.
Smoke choked her. Coughing, she clutched her gown closed with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. Her eyes watered the deeper she flew into the haze.
A dragon’s roar pierced the night air, reverberating around her.
The threads were tangled inside her, muted by her fear.
Lightning streaked through the sky, purple and dazzling. She saw the flash of the islands in the distance. A dragon circled overhead. Fires burning. She willed her body to veer to the right. The wind carried her on.
The light from the fires offered enough illumination that she could see now. It cast everything in gold and amber.
A sharp whistle cut through the air on her right—an arrow, arcing right where she just was.
She looked around, finding approaching blots of darkness coming straight for her.
Fallen.
She reached out for them as she called, "H-help! Don’t shoot."
Another arrow.
"Please—don’t shoot!" she called.
Three more arrows.
Did they not hear her?
She hovered in midair, waiting, and as the Fallen flew closer, she saw it—the dark anger on their faces, the blood-tipped arrows and spears in their hands.
Umbra.
Her wings fluttered, and she made to fly to Vale’s dragon, but as she turned back, she saw three more Umbra flying straight for her. They fired a volley of arrows. She was cornered.
Luella dove for the side, wings taking her away from the dragon and fires, straight to another island filled with large trees. She could hide there!
Leaves and branches scratched her skin. She stifled the sound of her ragged breathing, trying to hide in the darkness. It was so dark she could barely see in front of her, causing her to slam into trees and towering rocks.
She kept going.
The sound of their beating wings was gaining on her. An arrow whistled, thunking into a tree near her head.
Branches snagged her gown and wings, ripping free white feathers that drifted to the ground far below.
Luella heard them behind her. Slamming into a tree, she grabbed the bark as she swung around it to hide, one foot braced on a thick branch.
The thump of beating wings drew close.
"Princess," she heard a voice call, nearly singing in tone. "Come out now."
An awareness prickled at her back. She turned and caught a flash of dark wings—a Fallen in the treetops, bow drawn. She pressed herself against the trunk.
He drew and fired. The arrow thudded into the bark above her head, showering her with leaves. The sound of her gasp echoed.
A hand pressed against her mouth. "Got you."
She thrashed, her elbow connecting with the Umbra’s stomach, but he only held her tighter, bruising her.