The Chronicles of Starlyn

The Chronicles of Starlyn: Chapter 22

A/N:

There is one more chapter after this one, and an epilogue. There needs to be a lot of editing throughout when I finish. I'm only going to keep it up here for a short while, and then I'm planning on taking it off and putting it up as an ebook on amazon and the like for $0.99 cents. When I do, I would ask to those of you that read my work and like my writing go over there and buy this prequel to help support me. The more 'sells' I have, may help me out into becoming published with my main series in book stores like I've always wanted. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the darkness of Arria in this chapter. I love my fans, and keep critiquing my writing and pointing out my errors so I can correct them. You've all been so helpful <3, Craig.

Chapter 22:

Arria found everything she needed in the little white book she stole from the elven library. Everything to do with resurrection and cleansing layered the few hundred pages. As far as books went, it was relatively small. The volume had been forgotten about, even in the tight security of the forbidden library. Since elves weren’t permitted to read through the restricted books it went unnoticed by its title. Books titled ‘Death by Numbers’, ‘Destruction of Souls’, and ‘Firelight Madness’ were all under lock and key as they were presumed to be the worst. However, a small little white book titled ‘Life’ remained unnoticed wedged between two volumes of history.

Inside were hundreds of ways to resurrect anything desired. Every spell was simple, hardly more than a few lines. However, the drawback to nearly each one was what came back would be the shell of what it once was, sometimes deforming it. They would be mindless, not able to think for themselves, but more than able to take orders. That was not what she wanted.

Only one spell could bring her mother back to her true self and it was hidden in the middle of the book. There were three parts to the spell and each was in a different location inside the volume. It took a while for Arria to understand the cipher. The spell was much longer than any others inside the book, and much more difficult. It required the sacrifice of three pure souls. She couldn’t use the wood elves she captured because she had seduced and molested them. At first she missed the script and thought the sacrifices needed corrupted souls. With them no longer needed she disposed of them after they held no more energy to please her.

Now she had three pure souls. She went into the land of the wood elves to tempt them from hiding, but they were smart enough not to show. They didn’t credit her ability to track however, and she was able to capture two of them. She had to travel far to find a third. The third was a mere human, describing how far she traveled in order to save her mother, but he was young enough to still have a pure soul.

Slitting the young boy’s throat hadn’t been as difficult as she thought. Her mother was the only thing that mattered, not a life of some pathetic human. His blood tasted sweet in her mouth, much like that of honey, and caused her to crave more.

Arria knew her sister would arrive, but the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. She smiled at her sister as she licked the blood off the knife. Arria prided herself for her stealth, but knew Starlyn was the same for discovery.

Arria leapt to the next pure soul and prepared to slit his throat. Before she could press the dagger into the soft neck of the elf, an arrow penetrated her right leather glove, causing her to drop her weapon. Since the dagger’s blade was made of obsidian, it shattered when it hit the ground. The pain sent a shock through her entire body that caused tears to well up in her eyes. She couldn’t recall if she’d ever experienced as much pain, even in her own death.

“Kill them all!” she screamed.

Blood darker than tar streamed out of her right hand. She tried pulling it free, but struggled with weakness as she realized how deep it was. It hadn’t gone entirely through, but didn’t spare her more than a few millimeters. The pain wasn’t isolated but throbbed intensely through her entire hand.

Arria finally got a good enough grip with her left hand to remove the shaft. The arrowhead itself was missing and understanding dawned on her as she inspected the shards of obsidian embedded inside her skin. She realized why the pain was so intense, and she knew as skilled of an archer her sister was, even she could not make such a perfect shot.

She studied the force Starlyn brought thoroughly and noticed the wood elf. There had been a survivor, she failed to kill or capture them all. Wood elves had unbelievable sight, making them the greatest archers ever known. There also seemed to be a man with long blond hair like that of an elf, but he didn’t wear any elven armor, or armor at all for that matter. He wore only deep green robes – robes that seemed to match the essence of magic he threw at her allies.

There was little time to complete the ceremony and Arria knew she could not waste time contemplating. Without another thought she reached into her boot and pulled out a curved steel dagger. Her left hand wasn’t as steady as her right and so she traced the elf’s neck twice just to be sure. She dared not pause to taste anymore sweet blood, and she only hoped she could finish in time as she collected his blood in her injured right hand to add to the pot.

The army of dragons kept Starlyn and her force busy enough that she didn’t need to worry as she reached the third prisoner – a female wood elf – and slit her throat. As much as she wanted to do it slowly so she could hear the woman’s moan, she dared not chance the time it would take. Arria wanted to take each of their deaths slow to satisfy the hunger in her groin that burned to defile them. Instead, she stood motionless above the steaming cauldron as she poured the remaining blood in her hand into it.

Arria knelt to the three dead naked bodies. Lust boiled in her veins as she studied them, but she compressed it into the pit of her stomach. They needed to be naked for the next part of the ceremony. The blood of three pure souls wasn’t enough for the spell, she needed their still beating hearts – which meant she only had a few moments to cut them out and drop them into the cauldron. The obsidian dagger was no more, so no longer could the cuts be quick, clean, and efficient. She only hoped the spell she used to keep their hearts beating would last long enough.

Sometimes life doesn’t hand you everything you desire. She looked over to her mother tied in a stone chair at her side and took a deep breath. It was for her mother – it had always been for her mother. Only now did Arria realize why her first interpretation of the spell failed. When Starlyn shot an arrow into her back she misspoke and used the word for self rather than mother. She saved her own life instead of her mother’s.

The first time she hadn’t used pure souls, they had been pure before she invited them over, but it was well known how each of them desired her. With her mother being ill, the three men were more than willing to comfort her. It only took a little convincing that they could share, but she hadn’t understood the passage back then. She also didn’t have the courage to kill them. Arria knew she was missing some of herself, her compassion and love were gone, all except for her mother and sister. Blood was indeed thicker than water. She wanted her mother to be the same, unspoiled by her, and living away from her own darkness.

She dared not waste any more time and pulled her steel dagger from its scabbard on her sash. Her dragon spawn would only keep Starlyn contained for a short while. The blood was still warm when she cut into the first chest and gushed out in sprays all over her as she tore through arteries and veins. Her face showed freckles of blood and she grinned the entire time she worked. Each heart continued to beat as she dropped them into the cauldron thanks to the spell she used earlier.

Steam of midnight rose from the boiling pot as the last heart dropped from her hand. Scarlet covered both her arms up to her elbows with dripping blood that she didn’t bother cleaning off. She took one last glance at her mother and Starlyn approaching before beginning the enchantment.

“Astra elkarr…” Arria began to chant over the boiling cauldron.