Chapter 10
MORRIGAN
Fire. Flames. And screams that were so loud they embedded themselves into my ears in a hollow echo.
The memory played in my head over and over, similar to the nightmares I used to have when I was a child—running from Cain, Azrael’s heart beating so loud you could practically hear it, the bridge, then…
As if someone struck me in my gut, I sucked in the most painful breath I had ever felt.
My lungs were dry and begging for air, like I hadn’t had any for so long.
I was hit with the sensation of ice scratching my insides the more I inhaled, but it quickly subsided and morphed into a dry, coughing fit.
Something crunched beneath my palms as I sat up, trying to regain control over my body.
But somewhere nearby, I could hear softer coughs.
It took every ounce of my strength to peel open my eyes and search for the familiar sound. “Az…” I tried to say, but my throat scratched itself like sandpaper with each letter.
Eventually, what started as blurry shapes slowly sharpened, and I realized that we were outside.
The bridge… We fell… There was fire… When Azrael coughed again, I shelved every thought in my mind and crawled toward him where he lay against the white ground.
His blindfold hung low around his neck. It had slipped down his face at some point as Cain chased us.
“Az,” I cleared my throat, “Azrael… I’m here.”
His tiny lips wobbled as they parted. “Princ—”
“Don’t speak. It’s fine. I’ve got you,” I rasped, sliding my hands beneath him to lift his body.
I paused when I realized that the white substance—which appeared to be snow on the ground—wasn’t actually cold.
It was such a small detail to stump me, but an unsettling feeling began to blossom in my chest. Why would the snow not be cold?
I half expected him to answer for me, but my subconscious seemed to be vacant at the moment. When Azrael stirred again, I shook my head and picked him up. My legs wobbled as I tried to stand.
“W-Where are w-we?” he choked out, his frail voice like a whistled whisper against my ear.
“I don’t know.” Naturally, my eyes trailed upward, searching for the source of white flecks that still fell from the sky. “But at least we’re outside.”
“It’s snowing,” he whispered against my shoulder, reaching out a hand to feel it. “I’ve never seen snow before.”
Opening my palm, I let a few flakes fall onto it, then wiped it with my thumb.
A long, grey streak smeared across my skin where the white particles had been.
“This… This isn’t snow.” That’s when it hit me, the taste in the air that left my tongue dry—making it nearly impossible to swallow. This was ash.
The sound of a branch snapping had me clutching the boy to my chest and spinning faster than my eyes could track.
Everything blurred again for a moment, but then I got my first good look at our surroundings.
The trees were withered and tilting, half leaning, some already fallen.
However, it wasn’t their state that had my brows pinching together; it was their color.
Grey. A kind of grey that didn’t even look real. I wasn’t aware that trees could look like that.
Swallowing the trees was a thick, misty fog that blinded most of my visibility. But within it, a small figure began to emerge.
“Morrigan?” the older voice called through, feminine but thinned with age.
I knew that voice.
“Shae?” I answered. The moment she came into view, my heart fluttered with relief. “Shae, you’re—”
“What are you doing here, princess? You… You can’t…” she panted as if she were out of breath, and my skin chilled at the sight of her now.
Her eyes were sunken, and her cheekbones pushed against her skin in a way that made my stomach turn. She looked sickly. As Azrael turned around to look at her, I felt his body tremble against me and remembered what had happened.
“Shae…” I whispered. “You’re—You’re dead. How are you—”
“This place is death, princess. You mustn’t be here.” Her greyish eyes appeared worried as they darted across the empty clearing.
This place is death.
I gasped, clinging harder to the boy in my arms. “Did we—Are we… Are we dead?”
Shae quickly shook her head and continued approaching us.
“No. No you’re not. That’s why you can’t be here.
If they…” She turned her head weakly to the side, as if peering behind her.
And when she faced forward again, I noticed a slight raise of her nose before her eyes fluttered closed.
After a long inhale, they opened once more, and the fear and trepidation seemed to disappear.
“Come with me,” she said. “I’ll get you somewhere safe. ”
“Princess,” Azrael whispered in my ear, “I’m scared.”
I shushed him and placed him down gently, grasping his hand in mine. “It’s alright. Shae is a friend. She’ll help us.”
“Yes,” she agreed, stopping in front of us. “Gods… Look at you, Morrigan. Look what’s been done to you.”
I had to bite back the slight quiver of my lips as her fingers brushed away curls from my face. “Me?” I laughed bitterly, placing my hand on her arm. “Look what he did to you.” My voice shook heavily as I spoke, and a single tear escaped.
But Shae, in her normal Shae fashion, smiled at me. “You’ve been through too much, sweet girl. They should have protected you.”
Heavy with emotion, and utterly drained, I could no longer fight the weight in my chest as I pulled her in for a hug. One simple embrace. I had been deprived of far more these past few weeks. But I just needed to touch something… someone.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I cried, clutching the fabric of her tattered gown like it was the single last thread of my own sanity. “I don’t know where we are… How to get back… I don’t know how to protect him.”
My breath hitched in my lungs as Shae returned the embrace. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “Just let it out, princess.”
My sobs were heavy, freeing the tension that had coiled so tight from Cain’s daily abuse. It felt as though my anguish poured from me, heightened and intense. I barely even noticed the change in her voice.
“They did this to you, Morrigan,” she said in my ear, pulling me tighter. “They used you. They caged you.”
Yes, I thought to myself. Perhaps all of my emotions were draining me, but my eyelids grew heavier. They did this to me. None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for them. I could have been normal… I could have lived a normal life.
“Princess?” a small voice called out nearby.
“They deceived you. They lied to you, sweet girl,” Shae continued.
Lied… Yes… They… I was so tired. My arms dropped to my sides, and my head fell limp onto her shoulder as she rubbed my back with her hand. They took advantage of me. They used me to get what they needed and didn’t care what happened to me in the process.
“They didn’t love you, Morrigan.” Shae’s voice felt closer somehow, like her words scratched the inner walls of my mind in a gentle caress. “They didn’t even want you. Lord Kaiden hated you.”
Hated… Y—No.
No, Kaiden doesn’t hate me.
Overcome with sudden dizziness, I tried pulling back a little to deny her accusation, but she held me firm.
“Poor, poor child… Your own mother died trying to protect you. How do you live with that?”
I swallowed the guilt that was suddenly crushing my chest.
“Princess?” that voice said again, but it felt so far. Something was tugging at my hand, too, pulling against numb fingers I could no longer move.
“How could you forgive him, Morrigan? He sat there and watched that priestess murder your mother. He did nothing to stop her.”
A deep part of my heart twinged in rebellion. No. He helped me. He carried me away. He…
“No more burdens, Morrigan.” Shae’s voice was no longer her own. It was a growl, deep and terrifying.
“Princess!” It was Azrael.
My eyes snapped open, my brain clearing the hazy fog that blinded it.
It was like I had left briefly, and had only just returned to this world.
When I tried pulling away, I couldn’t move an inch.
Not even my head would turn. Straining my eyes, I looked as far as I could to where I laid on Shae’s shoulder, before realizing my skin had been…
glued to it. Like she was… absorbing me.
“Shae,” I whispered, my voice trembling with fear.
“Princess! We have to go!” Azrael pleaded, yanking my arm as hard as he could. “M-More! There’s m-more!”
That’s when I heard a strangled snarling sound from around us. “Shae,” I tried pulling free again, “let me go.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I… I have to…”
As Azrael tugged at my hand, trying to pull me away, I searched for the small flame that hid inside of me. It had been gone for so long… But after drinking Cain’s blood, it had added just enough fuel to light the fire deep in my chest.
“Shae,” I begged. “Please!”
She wouldn’t budge. I was sinking deeper and deeper. And I knew, if I didn’t stop this, Azrael would die as well.
And, at that moment, that little boy was the only thing I cared about. I would keep him safe, even if it fucking killed me.
“Princess!”
The sound of his cry made the heat in my arms a blazing fire, and I could feel the energy buzzing as my hand reached up to Shae’s face. “Forgive me,” I begged her, and let out a guttural scream as I pressed my palm into her skin and released my fury.
Within seconds, her entire body lit in flames, and Azrael cried out as he grabbed onto my waist. Black veins covered my skin where I had been stuck to her now-burning body, and I had to shove down the guilt as she fell to the ground.
I’m sorry, Shae, I cried to myself as I picked Azrael up and held him tight against my chest. I’m so sorry.
“We have to go! There’s more! They’re coming!” he panted.
It was hard to focus on anything but Shae’s screeching as she convulsed on the ground, the fire consuming her body. Her lips began to move, trying to speak, but it came out in silent stutters.
With one final scream, I could make out the word clear as day. “Run!” Then, her body went limp.
The snarls around us grew louder, closing in on the clearing. I knew better by now. There was no time for sorrow or grief, not when Azrael’s life depended on it. I turned on my heel, and ran.
We raced through the woods, trying to distance ourselves from those creatures.
It all felt like a big loop—a never-ending pattern of trees, clearings, trees, clearings—and the snarls never got any quieter.
I didn’t know how many there were. I didn’t know how close they could be.
All I could think was to protect Azrael.
We could have been running for minutes or hours, and I wouldn’t have known. I didn’t stop until my feet touched stone, and I slid to a halt just before the edge of a cliff.
“What do we do?” Azrael asked me, clinging to my shoulders.
I spared a glance over the edge, and all I could see was black smoke—almost like a fire burned beneath it, releasing the ash into the air that fell like snow. “I don’t…” I breathed heavily. “I don’t know.”
Just when I thought I could rest for even a second, the snarls began again. My head snapped around, and I saw more of those… things. They were filling in the tree line one by one. Some looked like Shae, almost human still, but others… They were no more than walking skeletons.
“What are they?” Azrael’s entire body shook with fear.
Why do they look familiar? I asked myself, narrowing my eyes. I’ve seen them before. Not in person, but in drawings. In a textbook Harley had given to me.
Necroviants… Soul Eaters…
But necroviants only existed in one place…
Oh, gods…
This wasn’t Andonia.
This was a place made of death and ruin, filled with the worst kinds of creatures—ones that wouldn’t hesitate for a second to kill either of us.
The Netherworld.