A New Home

Surrounded by armoured men, relentlessly attacking in groups of two, and at times more. Iris huffed, breathless, as she parried the two lances coming towards her, while from bellow she watched one of the guards bring his dagger forward from under, her guard was open. She retreated just in the nick of time and felt the tip of a lance piercing her back. She swallowed a scream and felt the blood in her veins simmering, searing her bones, screaming at her to be let out. Whatever it was, it thirsted for destruction and chaos. It feasted on pain and suffering. Hers didn't settle its voracious appetite any longer. It wanted more. And the more she gave, the more it wanted. When the tip of the spear twisted in her back she felt her lungs burning, and she couldn't hold it any longer. Screaming, she fell to her knees and with waning strength, the flames erupted and spread like wildfire, it was fast, invasive, merciless, as it wiped everything in its path, plant, stone, man and woman as their screams reverberated around them, in her bones. Once it was satisfied it returned to her, and she finally opened her eyes to see the fall out of its destruction.

The K'arali and the king were nowhere to be seen. They either ran away or they died along with their guards. She doubted that they would stay.

The grounds were covered in soot, the miasma of burned flesh wafted around them as the last wandering wisp of flame crawled its way to her.

There were no words to the sorrow that filled her heart, as she looked around her and there was nothing left of them, of the palace grounds. She was only grateful that it didn't spread into the city. They were innocent. They never stood a chance against it. Whatever it was, it wasn't hers. She could feel it, somehow attached to her, shadowing somewhere, invisible to the naked eye. Undeniably, it was there.

The innocent shouldn't suffer because of the deeds of one. With the last of her remaining strength, Iris bent her trembling arm and pulled on the lance stuck in her back, and dropped it on the blackened ground. Nothing had survived. The horses either ran away or they were dead. And most likely so was Corvin. On wobbly feet, she stumbled around for a few moments, and eventually, she found her footing and had a proper look around. Heads began peeking over from behind houses, and people slowly emerged, treading towards the palace ground, wary of her. Witnessing what she was capable of must've been quite a shock.

Among them, the towering stature of the northerner caught her eye, and the relief that washed over her was tremendously joyful. He ran. He'd listened.

" Arvun and the K'arali are in the palace," He said as he pushed through the crowd that fisted the ash off the ground, amazed, terrified. It was hard to tell.

Iris nodded in understanding and threw a glance towards the palace entrance and then at the grounds. Mortified, she closed her eyes as a tear slipped down her cheek.

" It was them or us," Corvin cleared his throat," I for one, I'm glad it was them" He kicked the lance covered in her blood and then raised his eyes to her, with furrowed brows. His expression had softened, with no trace of the arrogance, and smugness that he usually showed.

" You're injured," He noted, as she felt the last breath in her lungs strangle her and her knees wobble. With one gasping breath, everything succumbed to darkness and everything caved in on her. A quick passover on the events that she'd lived through and then nothing more than utter silence and more darkness.

"Oh," a voice that sounded old and young crooned, "It seems that you have lost your way, " The voice carried on speaking, disembodied.

" Who are you? Or better said what are you?" Among all the cacophony of voices that she'd heard, since that day in the forest, that voice was always the most daunting.

" Oh, but I'm not in a hurry, and nor are you. For you belong here with me. In the endless void, the darkness. Suffering and pain are what I feast on, and you serve no purpose any longer. You have outlived your usefulness,"

The voice cackled, and then silence.

Nothing that she wasn't already aware of. Since she'd passed her powers onto Azra, she was no longer needed. She had served her purpose.

" What do you want?" Iris asked, as she aimlessly walked in the darkness. The floor felt smooth to the touch, her voice echoed as if she were in an empty chamber. So there must be walls. She reasoned to herself.

Reason only obeys itself. Ignorance will follow whatever is dictated.

Exhausted she plopped herself on the floor and waited. It was an unknown entity. Unknown to her. Of all the mythical creatures that have been created over the ages. Of all the realms in existence, she found herself in that one. Her power wasn't hers. She was merely a tool. Another realm. The thereafter. It must be something of the sort.

" What is this place?" She asked, hoping that the voice would answer.

"My home and now yours," The voice replied, a little amused.

" I don't want to live here," Iris touched her back since the pain had disappeared, and she could breathe just fine. She was no longer bound to the body.

" Nobody asked if you want to live here. It is your home, nonetheless," More cackling resonated around, from nowhere and everywhere. More games, more riddles to be solved.

" Who is your master?" If she was stuck in there might as well annoy it. Perhaps, it would get enraged and show itself just shut her up.

" Master," the voice cackled, amused. Irritably, " I serve no one but myself. I'm in no need of a master, for I am the master of all that is dark and empty. Of all that festers within you, all of deepest shameful yearnings which you do not wish to reveal. I'm lust, I'm hunger, I'm power, I'm sin, I'm redemption for those who dare to follow their darkest desires," The voice maliciously sniggered and lo and behold, it must've had a quick temper since a spark of blue flame appeared in the distance and vanished just as fast.

" The Hollow," Iris whispered, and looked around her once more and tapped the floor she was sitting on. Obsidian, she quickly concluded, and a smile crept on her lips. It wouldn't be the first time she found herself dragged into the Hollow.

" I don't belong here," She whispered and the response was quick to come.

" But you do," There was a tinge of anger in the voice, " You have murdered my children and pilfered my home to save a filthy human, "Shaddow Valley, the liantur stone. A monster's life in exchange for Edýia's.

" I saved an innocent life. She didn't deserve to die," Iris countered and sighed. She didn't regret it. Edýia was their last hope in the final battle against the shikari. She had the power to purge the Seven Seas. A chance to start anew, better. She was with child, therefore a delicate matter. She wasn't sure whether the goddess would touch her vessel in that condition. Perhaps, hopefully, she valued life, just as much as she did and wished to preserve it. Who's to tell?

" It is not for you to decide who lives and who dies," The voice raged and once more the light caught life and died, a little brighter this time.