Truly Divine || LAURENCE ZVAHL

TWO

"Right, I think it's the mess hall for you doll. You need to get some strength back." he laughed a little, jostling Ariella as she did so. Ariella just glared back, thinking up many an obscenity that she wished she could say.

"Oh don't give me that look. This is your own fault you know. If you just accepted the power we've given you, you could leave whenever you wanted. You know you want to. I heard what happened the other week. You were close weren't you? Didn't it feel good?" Sasha was taunting her now. And the worst part was that Ariella couldn't dispute what she was saying.

It had felt good. The power surging through her body as she'd been consumed by her anger and the red had clouded her vision. She worried about what might have happened if the other guy, Laurence, hadn't broken her out of it. She'd spent years fighting back against the Shadow Knights. She wasn't about to give in now.

Sasha dropped her off in the back corner of the mess hall after the two had grabbed some food, then left without another word, clearly in a mood with Ariella. Not that the brunette cared all that much for how Sasha felt about her. She turned to her plate of food. Pork. It was always pork. The abundance of pigmen in the Nether made that easy. But how she longed for the homegrown vegetables of her parent's garden or the freshly baked bread from the local bakery.

As she began to eat, a plate was placed in front of her and someone sat down. Strange. The other Knights tended to avoid her, disgusted at the fact she refused to join their cause. Not that it mattered. They disgusted her for how easily they betrayed those around them for the simple sake of power.

Looking up at the person before her, she was surprised to see the semi-familiar face of Laurence. He looked awful. He'd lost a lot of weight already, and his pained eyes were accessorised with large bags. But she couldn't blame him, remembering vividly how she had felt when she too, had been turned into a Shadow Knight. She raised an eyebrow at him, continuing to cut into her pork. He seemed frustrated by this and got straight to the point.

"You're the one that helped us. Why?"

She gave him a soft smile instead of an answer, hoping to maybe ease the tension a little, but it seemed to have an adverse effect. He slammed his hands on the table, standing from his position.

"ANSWER ME!" He cried, his eyes flickering between red and blue. He grunted in pain, scrunching his eyes closed and holding his head in one of his hands. The room had gone quiet, and the other Shadow Knights had their hands on their weapons, ready for an outburst.

Ariella placed her hand on his shoulder, coaxing him to look at her. His eyes had calmed down, reverting back to a solid blue colour, but she had to get him away from everyone else. The smallest thing could trigger his transformation, and seeing everyone ready to take him down was definitely on that list.

She gestured for him to follow her and used the tables and walls to help her limp out of the mess hall, finding it more difficult without Sasha's aid. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion but followed her anyway.

Ariella led Laurence through the halls, to a secluded balcony around the back of the fortress. It looked over the Nether Wastes, and she could see the striders wandering across the large lake of lava below them. She sat down, letting her back lean against the bars of the railings and catching her breath for a moment. Laurence stood, looming over her.

"Now will you answer my questions?" He asked, hands clenched. She sighed, shaking her head a little and tapping at her throat, hoping to get her message across.