‼️ TW: this chapter will have talk of sexual assault, do not read if you are uncomfortable. ‼️
Fall Out of Love
By: Illenium (feat. Annika Wells)
&
Burn The House Down
By: AJR
"Kore!" The scream shattered the air, charging her body with static. Nothing in that moment mattered except for Azalea. She's screaming, she needs help. Kore shook her head, confused as to why she was screaming at all. Her concentration broke when the horrible sound persisted, only this time with it were words, images, and pain. Death. Mad with rage, she rocked back, her wings snapping open. Then her eyes fell on the woman in his grasp. Her clothes were torn and bloody, scratches marring her skin. Kore's nostrils flared, and she knew from the hesitation in his eyes that he saw his death in hers.
"It's not real." Elizabeth observed from her place at the back of their shared mind, fighting for control herself. The scene was horrifically close to reality, and she doubted that a lesser mind would be able to handle it."Azalea is nowhere near."
"Please, don't let him hurt me."
Kore closed her eyes and shuttered when Azalea whimpered in fear, the sound imprinting on her memory. Darkness erupted in her chest, staining the ground beneath her black as everything began to die. She tried to hold onto her control, but with every whimper and cry it frayed a little bit more, until only a single strand was left. Her body vibrated with rage, so much so that it could no longer be contained inside her. Black clouds rolled in, twisting and turning into a dark funnel.
"Kore." Elizabeth urged, sensing the goddess's inner turmoil and fear. "It's not real. Breathe, she's not here. You have to fight it."
The false vision that was Leviathan grinned in challenge, reaching his hand around to fondle the breast of this horrible nightmare, gripping a firm handful, his other hand reaching for his waistband, loosening a tie. "Let's see how real this could be." He purred, and then even Elizabeth saw red.
Azalea's eyes opened in shock, and the look of such terror and pain in her eyes snapped the final thread. It no longer mattered what was or wasn't really there. No fully mated wolf would be able to stand by and allow their mate to be tortured in such a way. A fierce roar blasted from deep within her chest when Leviathan suddenly disappeared, flashing her a cocky smile on his way out. Azalea struggled in his arms, her eyes blazing yellow, her skin bruising under his grasp.
"Please, help me, please." She sobbed, disappearing right before her eyes.
The ground shook and Kore crouched, a feral snarl curling her lips, her head whipping left and right as she searched for Leviathan's trail. She was so lost within her desperation that as Elizabeth screamed at her to stop, that it was a trap, nothing would reach her. Not even her very real mate, who stood a block away crying her name, broken and bloody. Her wings spread wide, unfurling like a deep sigh of relief. She looked up into the turbulent sky for a moment, and someone screamed her name, someone familiar but she could not place them.
"She's alive, she's okay." Elizabeth urged, but when Kore looked she saw nothing, and nothing made sense except that her mate had been taken from her. The woman screamed her name again, and this time she paused, a little bit of clarity returning to her.
"Perhaps." Her voice clapped like thunder when she spoke, squinting deep into the shroud of dust and smoke that had become the town. "But there is a little bit of truth in every illusion, my love. Real or not, Leviathan crossed a line. No one threatens what is ours."
"We can't leave her!" Elizabeth spoke, her mental voice was tired, defeated, yet no less angry. "We have not planned months into this war for you to fuck it all up because again, you're choosing power over the one woman who is the most precious gift ever given. Regardless of our situation, Kore, there is only one mate for us. You will not get another."
"Indeed." The second they left the ground, the bond snapped taunt, protesting the distance. Kore's jaw clenched, knowing she had to sever it for the time being, but loathing it all the same. It would be too much of a danger to Azalea and the pack to go into the Queen's nest fully bonded.
"She will understand in time, and so will you. But for now, it is too much of a risk. I need to get to Ravenna before anyone else, and I need your help to do it. Either help me or I will do it myself, but choose fast." It felt like the world had stopped spinning when she closed her eyes and commanded the bond to break. The pain came and she grit her teeth, sucking every last drop of it inside her, sparing Azalea from feeling it. When it was done, she gasped for air, forcing her wings to keep her aloft even as they threatened to fold into her back.
"It is better this way, now I can think without losing my head." She explained and Elizabeth watched shrewdly, feeling the bond sever and fighting the urge to scream.
"If you keep trying to do everything alone, you just might find yourself the last person standing. I know you are used to fighting your own battles, but take it from me, we are more alike than you think. I almost lost her, and I won't go survive that again, and you better be damn sure this is what you want to do because if we lose her I promise I will do everything in my power to torture you for it." Elizabeth warned, nothing but pure honesty in her words.
Kore chose not to respond, but Elizabeth could feel her submit to her words, which assuaged her grief some.
"Rest. I will have need of you yet." Her mental voice washed over Elizabeth laden with gentle power, and so she slept, fading into the depths of her subconsciousness.
Turning her attention to the scenery below, she scanned the rolling hills and valleys when something of interest captivated her. Sharpening her sight, she peered through the fog, her shoulders screaming with stiffness. A woman with white hair stood in a clearing, staring up at her. Coldness emanated from her and was not unlike the icy nature of her daughter.
"But for now, it seems we have a visitor."
🖤
Armor plating rustled gently, resettling to her form when she landed hard in the center of the busy courtyard, folding her wings in to her back, stepping out of the rubble that used to be the center piece of the courtyard.
Her lip curled in disdain as she surveyed the area, catching sight of the stage that Azalea had once been paraded around on, defiant. No one breathed, no one so much as moved as she stepped forward her gaze landing on two large and tall poles, set vertically into the ground. The blood staining the stone was dark now, old, but she knew immediately who's it was. Clenching her fist, the twin pillars and chains erupted into flames, disintegrating before her eyes, drawing a gasp from the people around her. She went for the stage next, wood and metal exploding and sending debris flying every which way.
Her rage held many an intended target when she caught sight of the slaves at their feet, beaten bloody and utterly hopeless. She clenched her jaw. The palace guards swarmed out then, and she waited patiently, folding her hands behind her back.
Her wings rose, the scent of darkness clinging to these men, the scent of death. A man stepped forward, dragging a woman with him, her face so badly beaten that she could hardly recognize her. He was decked out in full armor, a large sword in his left hand, the sigil of a lion on his breastplate. Kore rose a single brow at the bucket of water she held in her broken hands. She trembled from head to toe, and water sloshed over the sides.
"Put it out." Ezekiel kicked her in the back, sending her sprawling towards the pillars and landing not two feet away from Kore, who looked down at her with pity. The woman shook with terror.
"Such a broken creature you are." She murmured softly inside her mind, slipping past her mental defenses with ease. "Perhaps you have learned your lesson?"
She sobbed hysterically. "Yes! Yes I have, I promise. She made me, she made me do it all. I'll never ever try to hurt Azalea or anyone again. Please get me out of here." She begged, tears pouring down her face, one eye swollen shut.
Ezekiel commanded the guards to stand back and he approached, snarling at the girl. "I told you to put it out, bitch."
Kore's lips twitched when she refused. "Broken, but resilient. Very well, I will free you, but your judgment must be made by Azalea, not myself. You are not dead yet, therefore I have no judgment to serve."
"Excuse me? This isn't a dinner party. I expect to be addressed appropriately. I am Prince Ezekiel, heir to the throne." He stalked forward, raising his sword.
Kore's hair blew back from her face when she finally stepped up to face him. Entering his mind felt like she was entering Hell. She supposed she was, in one way or another. She had no doubt that Hades was at work here, influencing the minds of these creatures who claimed to be all powerful but really never wanted anything more than to live their own lives. He did create them, after all, she reminded herself. He would've used them someday. She allowed him to come within ten feet of her before she put up her hand, stopping him. Cara whimpered behind her.
"I will address you in any way I see fit, and I do not see a prince before me. You are a sniveling coward just like your mother, and I have every intention of purging your existence from this realm." He faltered when she spoke in his mind, stopping short. His face showed a mirage of emotion but as her wings unfurled behind her, nearly twenty feet long from tip to tip, the crowd started to disperse, many took to running and locking their doors, though it would do them no good.
"I'll start with you." Kore grinned widely, but there was no joy on her face only a fierce need for retribution for the hell he put Elizabeth through as a child.
"No," Elizabeth spoke from deep in her mind, her mental voice sharp and deadly, albeit a bit wary. "I will be the one to dispose of him."
Turning inward, Kore assessed the soul of her kindred spirit and found it burning for his death. She was tired, tired of all of it. Tired of seeing civilizations rise and fall. She wanted something to stick, and nothing would until the walking memory of horrors that was her brother, was destroyed. It was very simple actually, she truly wanted nothing more than to live her life with Azalea in peace. Compassion filled her heart as she watched a play-by-play of the memories Elizabeth had kept inside of her for so long, memories not even Azalea had seen.
"Is this truly what you want? I can end him quickly and be done with it." But Elizabeth wouldn't have it, pushing against the barrier between them.
"He's mine." She snapped, defiant. "He took everything from me. Now I wish to do the same to him."
Kore knew there was nothing she could say that would dissuade her from this path, so she gave her what she could, her judgment, pure and honest. "For all you've seen, all you've lived, and all you have done, your heart has remained pure. Darkness has temped you and won, but you have not given yourself over to it, you resisted. Elizabeth, first born of Ravenna, you are extraordinarily pure. Your soul burns bright within you, free of darkness. I am proud to call you my kindred spirit."
Elizabeth could say nothing, but in that moment she wished to thank Kore face to face.
"Soon." She promised gently. "The armor and weapon are a gift, use it sparingly and it will always honor you." Her body began to change then, shifting back into Elizabeth's form.
Muscle and sinew reshaped into lethal curves and pale skin. Black as night hair stained hair that was once golden, pooling over her shoulders. Looking down, scaled black armor molded perfectly to her body. Layers and layers of the delicate looking pattern fit snugly to her form. It looked like a metal jumpsuit, of sorts, but when she moved, the suit moved with her, rustling metal grinding in her ears. Sleek gloves covered her hands, and when she opened her eyes, she could still see. As Kore slipped back into her subconsciousness, Elizabeth reacquainted herself with her body, rolling her neck, a sword materializing in her hand.
"Sister." Ezekiel laughed, uneasy. "How nice of you to join us."
Obsidian eyes looked upon him with disgust and anger and she bared her fangs in challenge, enjoying the apprehension on his face. "I am no sister of yours. I've come to reclaim what is rightfully mine. Plus I think I left my favorite blanket here, and I loved that blanket."
"You are spending too much time with Azalea," Kore laughed. "She seems to be rubbing off on you."
"So she is." Elizabeth murmured. Pivoting, she did something she never thought she'd do, she came forward, addressing the onlookers who'd foolishly decided to stay. Her mind was on Azalea, remembering the first time she saw her, bright and powerful. The point of her sword nearly skewered Ezekiel as her arm whipped out, digging the metal into his throat. "This man does not deserve to be prince. He has pillaged, raped, and murdered innocents for far too long. He has been allowed to roam freely at the behest of my mother. But no longer. I will not allow his evil to stain this earth any longer, and neither shall you. This fight is between my brother and I. None shall interfere, although you can have the scraps, if there is any left when I'm done."
"Take up your sword, brother."
She stalked forward and he scrambled to get it, gripping it in two hands, the point ending at her chest. His hair fell unkempt into his face, his eyes were wide and terrified. Her eyes met his then, dark and merciless. She told him the same thing he'd said to her so long ago. The day he lured her away, the day he broke her.
""What's wrong? You're not scared of a little pain, are you?" She roared the words back at him, the gold in her eyes molten. The air charged with electricity, and she felt Kore shift, filling her soul with fire, with power.
"What was it you said to me?" She tapped her lip in thought. And then her voice grew quiet, deadly, a mirage of emotions passing from her to him.
"You're mine now, bitch."
Lunging forward, he just barely managed to bring his sword up in time, steel clashed with steel, crisscrossing, their faces inches apart. Elizabeth spat at him and his eyes went dark with unhinged rage. "Looks like you're my bitch now, little brother."
The ultimate fight 😈 I am so beyond pumped with the progress this story is making! It's all coming together and I couldn't have done it without you guys. Enjoy this chapter! More will come soon 🥰
Love, K ❤️