Chapter 41 #2
I can’t recall the last time I felt pain.
Or exhausted, for that matter. But as I try to keep my father at bay, I can feel it creeping up on me.
It radiates from each injury placed on me, and I’ve lost the ability to heal it.
Each time I touch him, or he touches me, he siphons more of my power.
He is powerful, and at this point, he is content with simply wearing me down.
Once that happens, he knows he can do whatever he likes.
“Why are you fighting me? Can’t you see I am here to help you?” he says in irritation as he approaches. There’s barely a scratch on him.
I grimace as I stand.
“Strange words coming from someone who chose to fight before even introducing himself,” I say.
He raises a brow, laughing after a moment.
“You chose to fight, Remus. I only tried to calm my children when they attacked me for freeing them from their prison,” he says.
I narrow my gaze. He’s speaking of Ezra. He must think we’ve been manipulated into serving him.
“From where I’m standing, it looks like you tried to kill our brother, and weaken us so that we can't fight back,” I say.
He continues to watch me, trying to figure me out. If what he says is true, and he is our father, then our mother has done more than just tamper with recent memories. I have no recollection of this Celestivine.
We both sense the sudden presence at the same time.
His amusement vanishes as he looks in the opposite direction.
For the first time in weeks, I sense my mother.
And it isn’t just a presence; it’s a force.
She’s letting this Celestivine know she is here, and that she isn’t going down without a fight.
I must be weak, because I don’t even see him move.
There’s suddenly a hand around my throat, and before I can try to wrench free, my body is flying to the ground.
I cry out in pain as the force of his attack pushes me layers deep, but he doesn’t let go.
He lifts me again, smashing me back into the rock, doing it again and again and again and again.
Until I am bloody, gasping for air, and my bones are numb.
My breath is shallow by the time he is finished, and as he holds me in the air, he finally decides to speak.
“Apologies, my son. I need you to pay attention now,” he says. The world suddenly shifts around us and only once we are in a new location does he release me. I am too weak to hold myself up, so I collapse at his feet.
I suddenly hear Xion’s voice.
“Remus!” she screams. But she sounds far away. I don’t have the strength to lift my head, but I feel my father’s fingers in my hair, ripping me up to my knees as he forces me to look at the scene in front of us.
I was right. My mother has returned. She’s kneeling over Ezra, her expression shifting into a murderous rage when she sees us.
I frantically look around for the human I saw earlier using what little strength she had to drag Ezra from the danger.
She’s a few feet away from my mother, with another unconscious human in her arms.
She looks frightened as she clutches the unconscious human to her chest, but her fear isn’t for herself as she looks at me.
She’s worried for me. I fight the urge to tell her it’s okay, tensing as I notice the cracks circling her.
The dirt and rock surrounding her continue to break away, making her sink lower as it threatens to give way.
I look away from her to Xion, my stomach knotting. She’s bound by bright blue beams, the sight forcing memories to flash over my mind. My mother used the same beams on me that day. I know instantly Xion won’t be able to break free. Our mother is holding her hostage.
“Me’Rite.” The patience in my father’s voice is all but gone as he addresses my mother. She slowly stands, her power radiating on top of her skin. Usually, I would be able to sense it. But right now, I can only watch with weak breath.
She steps over Ezra, keeping him protectively behind her.
“Kuron,” she says.
“So this is what you’ve done with your freedom?” he asks. “Betray everything we stand for?”
She doesn’t respond for a second, but I feel a light tremble beneath us, and I know immediately it’s her. She shifts her attention to me, hatred in her gaze as she moves closer to Iris.
I struggle against Kuron’s hold, as my mother shifts her attention to him.
“You can have your children. Leave my son out of this,” she says, referring to Ezra.
Kuron chuckles humorlessly behind me.
“You’ve forgotten yourself in your reckless state. I will be taking my children. But leave this alone? Never. You will face consequences for what you have done,” he hisses.
My mother scoffs. “You don’t know who they are, Kuron. You don’t know what makes them obedient,” she says.
Iris screams as the ground beneath her cracks more, causing her to sink a few more feet.
My mother’s going to take out the entire mountainside to prove a point.
My body is moving, however, as I try to get to her.
I turn threateningly, using what little power I have left to form a weapon.
It’s weak, but it’s enough to cut the strands of my hair he holds in his grip.
He releases me in shock, my hair falling around me as I cling to the desperation I feel to save Iris. She screams as my mother uses her power to pull her into her arms, a weapon of pure energy forming. As I near them, my mother glares at me with a smirk, and I know I’ve stepped right into her trap.
“No!” I scream. I don’t know where the panic comes from. I still can’t remember this human or why I should care. But seeing my mother hold her weapon, seeing the fear in Iris’s eyes is debilitating.
My hand is outstretched, but I have no access to my power. I am too weak. I can’t pull her and I can’t transport her. The most I can do is move to her physically. I am too late as my mother stabs her using her weapon.
Iris’s features contort in pain, and my mother releases her, letting her collapse at her feet as blood rapidly stains the dress she wears. Before I can reach her, bright blue beams rip from the ground, wrapping around my arms to hold me hostage less than two feet from her.
“Iris! Iris!” I scream her name as she looks at me in fear. Her eyes are wide, tears spilling from them as she focuses on me. Her breathing is short and desperate. Each struggle she has taking in air makes my chest squeeze tighter.
The ground cracks as my mother steps past me, continuing her bargain for Ezra’s life.
“One word, one small threat, and he will do as I say,” she says, gesturing to me.
“He is mine, Kuron, until I release him. If you take my other son, if you try to make me go with you, I will take both of your children,” she says, emphasizing her threat by the heavy rumble of the ground giving out beneath us.
“And the future you dream of will never be realized,” she says.
The ground gives way and the entire cliffside begins to crumble.
Our mother is going to take everyone with her to their graves if he doesn’t leave Ezra and her alone.
The beams around me are taking my energy too fast, and I feel myself waning in consciousness.
I slump slightly, keeping my focus on Iris. I am helpless.
Kuron laughs.
“You always were so arrogant,” he says.
My mother forms a weapon, holding it high above her head as she attempts to attack me this time.
I feel the heat of it as it approaches my skin.
But Kuron is faster. He’s between us, catching her attack, easily holding her at bay.
He wrenches her arm, pulling her close to him as he murmurs something in her ear.
I am too weak to hear it, and I am too focused on Iris to care.
My mother screams in rage, and I can see the battle between them as they try to siphon one another’s energy.
The ground cracks violently, breaking apart and we all begin the slow descent into the ocean below.
She’s losing, but making good on her threat.
She is going to take us with her. She would rather die than return.
“No, no!” I shout. Iris is only a few feet from me, her eyes dull as she continues to watch me, her body descending with the falling rock. I can’t move. I am a prisoner, as is Xion as she screams as well, desperate for someone to release either of us, so that we can save them.
I note that my body isn’t falling with the rocks. The familiar barrier of a forcefield holds me up, and I look around me in panic when I see that it’s true. Kuron’s protecting us, but not the ones who truly need protecting.
“No!” I shout again and again as I watch Iris plunge into the crumbling cliffside. Xion and I remain where we are, our parents locked in a battle that has a clear winner, and our mother is so blinded to that fact, that she doesn’t realize her actions are causing Ezra to join them.
Our screams are drowned out by the crash of the rocks as everything we’ve ever cared for disappears into the ocean below.