The Heroine of Irlesoph (FIRST DRAFT)

Chapter Twelve

Laylis fell to her side and I winced, the closing of my eyes pushing more tears down my face. I stomped at the ground in frustration, me being stuck, chained to this wall, and only a few feet away from a seemingly increasing body count. I knew I had to bring them back, but how could I? That... thing, whatever she was, she made it clear that if we died we weren't coming back. I guess Laylis was more proof of that than I needed. I hate saying that out loud, it's horrible.

I looked up at the cuffs around my hands. I tugged on them to pull my hands out but my thumb extruding from my palm created a barrier which prevented it. My book was on the ground just barely out of reach. It could've helped a lot with my situation.

So I was stuck for at least a few minutes to sit and stare. Her body had fallen over Zinkah's in an embrace. Zinkah's shirt was soaked red with blood from Laylis' wounds. Laylis' skin, which before had always been bright red, was now a muddy gray, and the blood which pooled beneath them both had gone stagnant, the last sign that they ever even lived.

Despite the stimuli I remained a professional composure. I still had Samoo to look forward to, the only person I had left. My thoughts as I sat, almost alone, were selfish. I wondered why it was Samoo I was to be stuck with, of them all. I didn't even have faith she was even going to find me, leaving me to brace myself for the worst. My sweater had been removed and slung over Zinkah before she stood up, so being this deep into a mountain, I was freezing to say the least.

And who knew where the Queen went, anyway. Only thing I knew was if she died then any spell cast would go dormant, leaving Laylis and I able to come back after dying. She wasn't the only one who could, actually. We all could. The Speaker told me that it's a popular way Affinity chooses to support His soldiers. Therefore, if Laylis had it, so did the rest of us, almost certainly. I already knew I did, I had died before. As the Speaker trained me to use the book and win battles he knew he had very little time to do so, only a few days. He opted to brute force it, knowing I would come back in the event that I died. There was no time for easing into things, everything was thrown at me all at once until I finally managed to overcome the challenges. The great thing about that being that I could do it all in one day, just repeating. The terrible thing about that being that it was terrifying.

Dying once is scary enough, but dying several times over and over again... It becomes desensitizing. I'm no longer afraid of dying, but it's not because I expect to come back after, but rather because my own mortality has been seared into the front rows of my mind. I still can't help looking out for my friends, though, even knowing they can't die either. Having your own mortality at the forefront of everything almost makes you appreciate other's lives more than your own.

"You were right, he's right here!" A male voice called from beyond my vision. I hesitantly looked up to see who had spoken, and emerging through the doorway was Samoo and that guy Laylis was with. 

"Delzri? Are you okay?" Samoo knelt down next to me. She smelled like... Flowers?

"I'm fine, I guess. Could you help me out?" I shook my hands.

"Okay," Samoo took the steel cuffs and tore the metal apart almost effortlessly. I massaged my sore wrists and Samoo helped me stand back to my feet. My body trembled sullenly. Taysa stood just behind Samoo and had his attention caught by the girls in the center of the room.

"W–... I..." He hadn't managed to say anything, although it was apparent he certainly wanted to. To be fair, what could he say about it?

"I'm going to bring them back." I assured them. Although I wasn't lying, if I had said I knew how I was going to do that, then I would've been.

I could say anything I wanted but it wouldn't have mattered, no one could managed to tear themselves away from the grim scene. I feel like we were all losing ourselves in thought, although Taysa had just met Laylis, so I had no idea what the Hell he had to mourn. He couldn't possibly understand. I knew Laylis longer, I've known her since the very day she was dragged out of the woods by the Speaker of Archwright.