Chapter Nineteen Run and Live #2
Adan didn't understand why, until she peeked out to see Illias covered in blood.
It dripped off his blade onto the marble floor as he stalked forward.
Adan squinted, and her jaw dropped when she saw that it was their father's blade that he carried.
"What have you done?" Luka asked his voice pitching.
"What my true king has asked me to do." Adan knew in her bones that her brother was not referring to their father.
"He wants our family to be nothing more than ash. Who am I to refuse him."
Illias lunged for Luka, his sword out and ready to strike.
Luka was weaponless, but unleashed his fire on his own brother--he had no choice.
Adan watched from the darkness as her two brothers fought.
It took everything in her to not lung for them.
She knew this was no normal brotherly fight, knew there was something wrong with Illias.
She curled into the smallest ball she could muster, sinking into the corner of the alcove and covered her mouth again. Adan did nothing as she watched Illias strike down Luka.
She knew if Illias found her she would be next.
Luka lay bleeding out on the floor as Illias stepped over him, like he was nothing, and walked down the hallway.
Adan waited until she no longer heard the clipped steps of brother and rushed to Luka.
"Come back." She begged as she placed her hands on her brother's stomach. His insides had spilled out, and she tried to shove them back in. His intestines slipped from her small grasp and tears filled her vision.
Adan's world blurred, every frantic thought swallowed by the chaos of the moment.
She was trembling, unable to understand the nightmare unfolding before her.
Luka grabbed her wrists, stilling her movements, lodging the sob in her throat.
"Promise me you'll run, Narrie" He brushed his blood covered fingers over her forehead and pinning the fallen curls behind her ear.
"Run and live." His hand dropped to the floor in a thud, and Adan's heart bottomed out with it.
Luka, her protector, the one who had always been there to watch over her—now lying lifeless before her. The weight of his blood on her hands felt like a curse. She sobbed, her chest aching with the weight of grief and helplessness.
She wanted to scream for her mother, for someone—anyone—to hear her. But she knew that the castle was full of screams already, the sounds of battle, of lives torn apart, of everything she once knew being ripped apart in front of her eyes.
Her world, her family, everything she had ever believed in, was crumbling.
It was all wrong.
She pounded on her brothers still chest as her tears fell down her cheeks onto his lifeless body.
Why wasn't it working?!
She loved her brother and her tears were supposed to bring him back--her mother told her so! Why wasn't Luka, or Ma, coming back?!
They could if they wanted too-- they could come back and help...
When Luka didn't move, she took her brother's final command to heart--she ran. She knew it was only a matter of time before Illias would come looking for her too.
She stumbled away from Luka's lifeless form, her legs unsteady beneath her, and moved as silently as she could. Her heart was beating wildly, but her instincts were sharper now—her mind racing with thoughts of survival.
She slipped on her brother's blood, and landed face-first into the marble floor, effectively breaking her nose.
She couldn't stop the shriek she let loose on the impact, but quickly regained her footing and began running again.
Leaving a trail of blood behind her. She was sprinting blind as tears filled her vision.
Her bare feet sliding across the floors as blood dripped off her nightgown.
She had to run.
Run and never stop.
The thought echoed in her mind, Luka's words repeating over and over: Run and Live.
"Oh! Little sister!" Illias voice echoed throughout the castle, as he hunted for Adan. "Come out and play, Inara." Illias taunted.
She had never heard her brother's voice so cold and cruel.
Adan's heart hammered in her chest as she ran, her bare feet slapping against the cold marble floors.
Blood, her own and her brother's, was pooling beneath her, staining the halls of Nixcader.
Every step felt like an eternity. Every breath she drew was ragged, filled with panic and grief.
Luka's final words rang in her ears, but the pain was suffocating, threatening to drown her.
Even if she made it out of Nixcader, she would not survive the tundra.
She had to choose between dying here, and dying out there.
At least out there she could keep her promise to Luka--at least the running part--living would have to come after.
Her world was a storm of confusion and terror, her mind spinning faster than she could process. But she would come back--she had too. She couldn't let the death of her parents and brother to be all for nothing.
Even at the age of eight, her parents had instilled in her a strong, unbreakable will. She never stood down--It was in their blood. Not only because the Fuere House was one of the last of the firebirds, but also the mixture of dragons blood.
The two creatures were known for their unyielding will and stubbornness.
Her nose was throbbing, her face slick with tears and blood. She could barely see through the haze of her vision, but she didn't stop. She couldn't. Luka had made her promise, and she would honour it—she had to live.
But Illias was hunting her. He was closer now, his taunts slicing through her walls, and Adan's panic grew. She could hear his footsteps echoing behind her, the sound unmistakable.
"Sister! I will find you and bring you to our High King with your ashes in a box."
Illias's taunt hit her just as she managed to swing open one of the massive front doors that lead to the courtyard.
Wind and snow whipped her hair around her face, but she did not stop running.
Freezing cold nipped at her bare toes--she might lose them.
She ran past the gates, the guards long dead, the cold already freezing their bodies.
As Adan ran through her family home, she noticed that Illias had not left a soul alive. The only sound she heard was her heart in her ears. The screams had long died out, only the silence of the night followed her. She unfurled her wings of fire and--