Chapter 15 Azahara
Azahara
They would kill him. Kaed would die here, and that would be the end of her. With his life ending, all her happiness and whatever hope she had left, gone.
As the rain intensified, it added an extra layer of dramatic intensity to the already dire situation.
They dragged her mercilessly across the sodden grass, her back scraping agonizingly against the unyielding rocks and rough soil.
Despite her body’s resistance, it remained pressed to the ground, struggling to break free.
The grip on her hair was so unrelenting that she could feel it tearing from her scalp, each strand a painful reminder of her helplessness.
One fact remained unaltered: she refused to scream. She was determined not to grant them the satisfaction of hearing her pain.
They swiftly bound Kaed’s arms behind his back and forced him to kneel at a considerable distance from where they had thrown Azahara.
She hit the ground with a painful wince.
The world around her blurred and merged into a single indistinct mess, as if everything had been swirled together like paint on a canvas, making it impossible to distinguish a tree from a person.
Her vision was deteriorating rapidly, and she could feel her consciousness slipping away.
It was a small blessing that she had managed to stay awake for this long.
“I asked you a question.” She heard Ku’luk behind her. He wasn’t talking to her but instead to Illyan. “The Elf, or the human?!” They didn’t speak.
Illyan losing their magic, the wards being down, it was all too coincidental. What was happening beyond her lands?
Illyan cast a fearful glance in her direction, and from the corner of her eye, she glimpsed the terror that had gripped them. With her head resting on the ground, she cursed the gods under her breath, her frustration and helplessness echoing in the depths of her entire being.
“I have ways to make you talk, boy. I know torturing your kind is impossible, but what about your friends? Starting with the girl.”
His fingers snapped, and she watched as one of his soldiers approached her. Kaed screamed so loud she swore lightning struck. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”
Azahara expected a knife to the stomach, or a blade to the throat, but she never imagined what they would do. There was torture, and then there was this.
The Vaeragi forcefully flipped her onto her back and pressed down on the open wound at her chest. The pain was excruciating, and she might have been able to suppress her scream if that had been the extent of it.
However, it wasn’t until he began to part her legs and positioned himself between them that a profound sickness overcame her.
“Get off! NO!” she screamed, her body surging with a sudden rush of adrenaline. The pain that had consumed her a moment ago vanished as she unleashed a torrent of punches and kicked her legs violently, desperate to dislodge the Vaeragi and fight back.
Kaed’s screams were drowned out by her own overwhelming fear.
Although she was agile, the Vaeragi were overpowering.
Her body felt as fragile as paper in their grasps, and the reminder came brutally as they seized both of her hands and squeezed.
She counted each finger as they broke under the sheer force, each agonizing snap accompanied by a gut-wrenching cry that echoed through her pain-stricken body.
“Father,” a female voice emanated from the shadows.
Ku`luk whirled around to find a Vaeragi woman standing near the edge of his soldiers.
She stood as tall as Illyan, suggesting her youth.
Her dreads were tied back in a ponytail and adorned with golden jewelry.
Unlike her father, her eyes were not black, but an endless pale gray.
“This is not our way,” she declared, her gaze unwavering as she addressed him.
He scoffed, looking at one of his soldiers who stood nearest to Illyan. “Escort Zhal home.” Without hesitation, another Vaeragi moved and went to Zhal’s side. “Continue.”
“I will not stand here while you do this. We have never raped; we do not hunt in this way.” Zhal dared a glance at Azahara. A look she couldn’t place sent both sorrow and pain through her.
Ku’luk trudged over to his daughter and delivered a forceful fist, striking her across the jaw. Zhal didn’t flinch, instead, she took the hit and met his gaze unwaveringly.
“You dishonor her name,” she seethed, her voice filled with anger. “She would not have wanted this.” Zhal spat at his feet, turned, and begrudgingly stormed off.
Azahara caught Zhal gazing at her again. When their eyes met, she flashed back to that day in the forest, when she stared off into one of the Vaeragi’s soulless eyes. The eyes that approached her in the darkness. They had been hers.
Sympathy. That is all she could see in her gray, hollow eyes.
“As I said—”
“Please,” Azahara called out desperately.
“What do you want... a life won’t bring her back.
” She felt the Vaeragi tearing at her clothes when suddenly Ku’luk emerged behind him.
He forcefully grabbed the Vaeragi and threw him aside.
Her body trembled at the sheer size and presence of Ku’luk as he towered over her.
“Then you bring her back,” the Vaeragi hissed menacingly.
“I... I can’t,” Azahara replied, her voice filled with defeat. “I wish I could.”
“Wishing is for children!” he screamed, and Azahara flinched so suddenly that the wound in her chest tore.
Illyan spoke. “Stop, please…” The hurt in their voice could have stopped her heart right there.
Azahara whimpered, “No…”
“The half-Elf killed your mate.”
Azahara rolled onto her stomach, tightly crossing her legs together. She raised her head to see Kaed, consumed by pure rage. It seemed he had managed to break through his restraints, but now three Vaeragi were holding him down on the ground.
“But Ku’luk, you mustn’t strike the Elf,” Illyan continued. She wanted to look at her hands but feared what it would cause. Two were broken on one hand, three on the other.
“I did it. You want me dead,” Kaed screamed, his voice filled with desperation, and one of them delivered a brutal punch to his side. Azahara attempted to scream, but no sound escaped her battered throat.
In a moment of weakness, Azahara closed her eyes, surrendering to the encroaching darkness. She awaited the warm embrace of death, but instead, a sharp blade pressed into her leg, breaking the skin. Her eyes shot open, and a muffled whimper escaped her lips.
“Stay awake, kitten. Fae, continue.” He wanted to keep her alive, to watch Kaed die.
“If you kill the Elf, you will be hunted by Katára tou Theoú. For eternity.” Every single one of them froze. The blade that had been inched into Azahara’s leg pulled back, and she let out a painful sigh.
“The Fae lies to save them—”
“No, I am not saying do not get your revenge. It just cannot be with him.”
“Me…” Azahara said her voice horse. “Kill me.”
Kaed cried out. “Don’t you fucking dare, Azahara! No!” He continued his rampage of words, trying to fight, but she ignored him.
“Ladybug, do you want me to sing to you?” She heard Illyan begin to hum a soft melody. It broke in places as they cried.
At least your singing is better than your cooking…
“Death is security,” she said as Illyan continued to talk to her through the winnox.
“Come back to us, okay?”
“A suffering for mere moments.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“I’m so sorry, Ladybug...”
“You will suffer for the remainder of your days.” She would die here, again.
I love you. Were her last words to Illyan.
“As will he, for you taking me from him.”
“I love you, too.”
The scream that escaped Kaed shattered her resolve. The strong facade she had maintained crumbled, and tears streamed down her temples. This was his worst fear, manifesting right before his eyes. Though she desperately wanted to reassure him, she couldn’t offer any comfort.
As Ku’luk stared down at her, she smiled. “Take my life—”
“No!” Kaed cried out. “Please!”
“—and the debt will be paid in full. Katára tou Theoú will not come for you or your people.”
The seed that had been planted flourished, and she closed her eyes—listening to the melody that Illyan sang in her head, allowing it to drown out the noise around her.
They were smart, even if Ku’luk’s decision tonight was anything but. He knew that messing with the Katára tou Theoú would sentence his people, and any future generations, to a life of nothing but running and death.
As she was the Katára tou Theoú; the gods curse.
The familiar pain of flesh ripping came swiftly. Her eyes were fixed downward, observing the long blade that had pierced her heart; it hadn’t missed its mark like the arrow. It hurt, but only briefly. Once her body understood that death was mere moments away, shock set in.
There was no cry of pain as the blade was pulled from her, only the taste of metal filling her mouth. Death was there, and she could feel its warmth enveloping her, much like it had done so many times before. She couldn’t hear anything, but she could sense frantic footsteps around her.
It wouldn’t be long now; she could feel the darkness encroaching behind her eyes, ready to claim her. A pair of hands reached out and grabbed her, these hands were familiar, ones she had come to love. They pulled her lifeless body into an embrace.
Kaed.
He finally came into her vision, and he was yelling at Illyan who was then by his side. Grief and desperation filled their tearful eyes.
What are you saying?
Kaed grabbed Illyan’s collar and shook them. He might have been begging for Illyan to heal her, to take her through the portal to an Outpost, but Illyan knew deep down it was too late. No, he can’t do that. Death was already here; it was just waiting to be allowed to see her.
She saw her hand raising to Kaed, pressing it against his cheek and moving his gaze to her.
His eyes rounded at her words.
“It’s okay…”
Illyan grabbed hold of Kaed and attempted to pull him away, but Kaed resisted. He swung his elbow back and struck the Fae in the nose, but it didn’t deter them. Illyan wrapped their arm around Kaed’s neck and began forcefully dragging him away.
Tears streamed down Illyan’s face as they desperately wanted to stay by Azahara’s side, but they knew they had to go. They couldn’t be there when the inevitable moment came, when he would come to collect her body. Reluctantly, they dragged Kaed away, leaving Azahara behind.
As she took her last breath, a beautiful darkness enveloped her. Death had been waiting for her with open arms. She embraced it without a flicker of fear.
“I’ve missed you,” Death said with a radiant smile.
“I’ve missed you, too.”