i n t h e s h a d o w s - a z r i e l (slow updates)

Chapter 9

Rhys had never seen Azriel cry. In his whole life, he had never seen him shed a tear. He understood his pain but he couldn't let his shadowsinger in the middle of a battlefield without a shield. Quickly, every High Lord winnowed near them, putting a shield around the little group. Seeing everyone around Feyre's best friend reminded him of the death of his mate Under the Mountain. But he couldn't force every High Lord to give a drop of their power again, it would be too suspicious. 

He closed his eyes in pain when he heard Feyre's scream. That, too, reminded him of Under the Mountain when Amarantha was breaking her bones. 

When he finally opened them, he saw Helion giving a drop of his power. It wasn't surprising when he knew what kind of relationship they had, Helion liked Eileánóir, he could tell her everything but Rhys frowned when he saw Kallias doing the same thing. He had no reason to do that other than kindness but the power of a High Lord is everything they have, they would not give it to anybody, surely not after Feyre. 

One by one, he saw every High Lord giving a drop of their power by themselves, without Rhys controlling their minds. He was about to give one himself when he looked at Eris. He hadn't thought of that, Beron was not here. They couldn't save Eileánóir without him, they did that for nothing. He looked at Feyre, thinking about how she would live without her best friend until he saw Eris approaching Eileánóir's body. His eyes widened when he saw the drop of the power of the High Lord of the Autumn Court, Eris had killed his father. He was the High Lord now. 

Rhysand finally gave his drop of power and showed Feyre how to do the same. Slowly they took a step back and waited for Eileánóir to come back. 

At first, she heard nothing, then, there was someone crying. The burn in her stomach had disappeared but her head hurt badly now. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw Azriel looking at her with astonishment. His eyes were red and she understood that it was him that she had heard crying. She frowned as she sat up straight. Something was different with her. The colors were brighter and the noises were amplified. She touched her ears and found that they were pointed. 

She turned her head and saw that everyone was here. Every High Lord was looking at her, wide-eyed. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" It was Eris who answered her question. 

"We gave you a drop of our power to make you fae, you gave it back to us, I don't know how," he told her, still wide-eyed. 

She frowned. That's what they did to Feyre Under the Mountain, but she was sure Beron was not here and they needed him to do that. Unless Eris... She looked at him. 

"How did you..." She began and stopped when she saw his smile. He had really killed his father and took his power. 

"It's to you we have to ask that," said Kallias. 

"How did you gave us our drop back?" Tarquin looked at her, frowning. 

"I don't know," she told them, taking Azriel's hand to stand. She finally really looked at him. Why had he cried? She would have understood if it had been Mor but her... She blinked at him then saw that there was still Hybern soldiers. Nobody seemed to care that they were still in the middle of a battle. 

Eileánóir looked at her hands then at the soldiers who were trying to get through the shields and with just one thought, they all died. Some were burnt, others were drowned or they just became ashes. Eileánóir looked blankly where the soldiers had stood seconds ago. She did it, she killed them with just one thought.  And with that, everything went black again. 

***

She woke up to the sound of someone approaching. When she opened her eyes, she was in a bed, Eris smiling at her. 

"You know that you scared all of our soldiers?" 

She straightened and looked around her. "What happened and where am I?" She looked at the new High Lord of the Autumn Court.

"We're still in Adriata and you just killed every Hybern soldier on the battlefield. We don't know how you did that counting that you gave us our power back," he told her, sitting on the chair next to the bed. 

Suddenly, she remembered everything. She touched her ears and jumped when she felt again that they were pointed. She was a faerie now. She blinked then looked around her bed and saw someone in a chair that she hadn't noticed before. Not someone, Azriel. He was sleeping in a rather uncomfortable position. His screams and cries were echoing in her ears, memories of her own death. She could still see some red around his eyes. 

She stood and as soon as her feet touched the ground, Azriel sat up straight, certainly woken up by his shadows who told them that Eileánóir had woken up. 

"Thank the Cauldron, you're alive," he said, taking her in his arms. In seconds, all of the Inner circle was in the room, to see if Eileánóir was okay. She just had the time to see Eris leaving the room before Feyre nearly jumped on her to see if she was fine. They were all near her except for Mor who was a little bit set back. 

Perhaps she was jealous of her because of how Azriel had reacted? Eileánóir thought. How could she? She had been ignoring him for five centuries. She could do everything, but Eileánóir won't forgive her for breaking Azriel's heart. And by the look on her face, she won't be friendly either.

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I'm sorry if there is no action in this one but I didn't have much inspiration...

Thank you again for all the votes! :) 

Art is Mor by monicaaborg on Instagram!