Thank you to @Ashjin10for giving me this meme, I love it!
Holland
Holland sighed, shutting the door to his hotel room. He dragged a hand through his hair, stretched his neck and tight shoulders. The muscles between his shoulder blades pinched like push-pins pressing into his spine.
Sunlight fluttered through the wide window overlooking the colorful city with its pale, red stone streets. Cream, brown, and red buildings with round roofs lined the streets. He took a seat at the table, ankle on a knee, and watched the river winding through the city with a rushing current of broken branches and debris. Newward was a dry city. They never got more than two inches of rain a year--their only water source was usually from trading and the river--but they had gotten almost a foot of rain two days ago and now the city and several around it were flooding.
A dull, pounding headache beat against the back of his skull. He had spent five hours in a meeting with Cedric and Newward's council and their best doctors. He couldn't actually tell them that Norah had an evil god inside her, but they could give symptoms, say it was a curse or disease. Still, it got them the same answer.
I don't know.
I can ask around.
Give me time to think.
And while they thought and went about their day, Norah was dying. She had already died and Holland hadn't been there. And if Dagen hadn't been there, Norah would still be dead.
Holland's anxiety went up just thinking about it.
He scrubbed his face, sighing. Nothing was working.
He even found the doctor Farren had told them about. The doctor knew more than most, was willing to come back and help for a hefty price. But Holland couldn't bring himself to let the doctor anywhere near Norah. All of the doctor's patients had parts of their brains cut out or ended up brain-dead after his experiments.
No, he would never let that man near his kid.
Rage, depthless, world-ending hatred and anger brushed against the inside of his chest, caressed his ribcage. Holland knew exactly who held that kind of rage. He reached for his phone to check in on Norah but the rage faded.
A knock sounded at his door.
Holland answered it to find Cedric with a cup of coffee in each hand. His friend's lips twitched back at the sight of him.
"It must have been a while since you've worked with bureaucrats--you didn't bring coffee to this meeting," Cedric said. "Never fear, I've got your back."
Holland trudged into the hallway, taking the coffee with a grumbled, "thanks."
He knew the routine. Every night when the meetings were done, there was an hour break before he went to Cedrics room to work. He would call Norah in a moment, she might be training.
Cedric tossed him the key card to his room and Holland held it open for his friend.
The map of the continent was still as they left it last night. Random cups weighed the corners, but they weren't stupid enough to have left all their planning and city pieces on the map. They reset the map, putting fleets of dragon riders and hordes of Thrawlers where they were present and created the multi-faction walls of soldiers at the front.
Cedric braced his hands on the table, his face drawn. "If I were a god, how would I end a planet? And what would I get out of destroying it?"
"Etin's not exactly sane," Holland muttered, arms crossed and a hand propped on his chin.
"He's sane enough." Short, clipped words.
They started at the beginning as they always did. "Etin escaped and he spent a few centuries regaining his strength while Andis slowly falls into chaos and global climates change. Meteors become a regular thing, deserts get rain, tundras begin to melt."
A basic shit show, Holland thought.
"But now," Holland said. "Half of his soul is trapped inside Norah and he and Khalixis want her to give it to him. And he sends his Silent Stalkers after her to find her."
But to do what was something he didn't understand.
That was something they would save for later.
"And his Thrawlers migrate," Cedric drawled, his dark brows creasing together. "He's following the population. Mass casualties would give him larger numbers faster-"
"And cause the most fear," Holland finished. "And what's more destructive and terrifying than seeing a human eat another human and watch two get back up?"
"But you've been to all these places," Cedric said and while his expression was cool and calm, his dark eyes were intense--frustrated. Holland knew he was one of the few people that Cedric felt safe and comfortable enough around to let these emotions show.
"I didn't see them," Holland said.
"They were in the area not long after you." He sighed. "What was there that drew them? Why go there and not here?" He waved to a random spot on the map.
Frustration flowed up from Holland's feet and into his chest. "I don't know."
"Did you notice anything strange?"
Holland's head spun up old memories. "No. Nothing I can remember, well, the animals there were acting crazy but all the animals have been aggressive, even the dragons are getting anxious as Etin gets stronger."
He's training her, Dagen had told him when they had found her fighting a giant snake with Etin watching beside her.
A nail poked him, trailed down his nerves until his skin pricked. He was missing something and he knew it but he was close.
"He's training her," he repeated and brown eyes met his.
"To amuse himself," Cedric answered.
"No--yes," he amended. "But there's something else," Holland felt the thoughts rolling down the hill, felt the answer ready to crash into him like a ball of snow with iron in the middle of it. "He'd need to find things for her to kill."
"So he drew them to her." Alarm sharpened his gaze. "Etin created them, it makes sense that he could do that."
"Or she was drawing them," Holland muttered. "They only came when she was fighting. And Dagen said he could feel her. Said something about knowing where she is because she radiates darkness. He called her a beacon."
Cedric's face dropped, his eyes sharp and calculating. Adding something up. "Which means Etin must have felt her too."
Holland blinked. The words sank in. His chest tightened.
Oh shit.
"He's always known where she was," Holland said and as he checked the maps, the locations where the Thrawlers had migrated. They had been following her. To Khalier. The safehouse. And Norah was on Khalier now, which means Thrawlers and Silent Stalkers were heading there.
A phone rings and Cedric fishes it out of his pocket. "Ingren."
Cedric's posture went rigid and Holland knew it was bad when Cedric searched the room for the remote and flipped the tv onto the news.
"Just now: Dark Mages attack Khalier."
It was an aerial view of the Main Halls exploding in darkness, like someone had unleashed a storm and its only way to go was out. Plumes of black launched into the sky, casting shadows across the grounds. The video cut into the forest where he'd taken students out for day trips. Trees withered and fell into the black sea, the damage spreading and spreading, trying to destroy everything it could. The video cut out again, most likely another dragon flying above and following the action as storms turned to tendrils. Soldiers chased after the darkness and Holland doubted any could survive such destruction.
Etin was pissed.
Holland ran both his hands through his hair as Cedric watched the tv whole simultaneously packing. "I thought they were attracted to Norah," he started. "Why are they running out? Could our theory be wrong?"
Holland could feel his strings of sanity being snipped, one by one. He said, "she shouldn't be in the Main Halls."
They looked at each other before Holland left to pack his things.
------------------
Their dragons flew as fast as they were physically capable of without exhausting themselves. And even with the air whipping at Holland's face, stinging his eyes, his mind felt chaotic. Like everything he knew had been lit up in fire.
He felt Riveta's panic through their bond but felt nothing from Norah. Now he knew why he'd felt that rage, or at least, he knew a little bit. Etin had found Norah.
Riveta had called him until his phone stopped taking her messages. But he couldn't call her, not while they were so high up in the sky. He had sent a text before they got into the air, saying he knew about the destruction and he'd be back soon.
Their dragons landed in front of the Main Halls, huffing and puffing, rustled their wings.
"We'll help with moving the rubble," Galeur said and he and Cedric's silver dragon took off, despite having just flown hours at their top speeds.
Smoke and dust hung heavy in the air. Holland followed Cedric into the halls. Giant, gaping holes let in the cold air and the sharp winds that whistled through the hallways.
The only word Holland could think of as he took in everything was 'destroyed'.
Everything. The deeper he traveled the bigger the holes until entire hallways were completely gone and parts of the building had collapsed. He found floors where he could look down to the level below or see the sky through the missing ceiling. Screams, moans, and sobbing echoed through the halls, over the sounds of people running and shouting orders to drag the injured away. Makeshift cots lined either side of the hall where nurses and doctors tended to the wounded.
Holland found Riveta tending to a screaming soldier drenched in dust and blood. Her black hair was tied back and wrapped tightly, and her dark eyes were focused and sharp.
Her eyes flicked up and widened. But neither moved. They had their duties and couldn't part.
Cedric opened the doors to his chambers, a large room with many bookshelves of laws and legislations and code and war formations; everything a political warrior would need to know.
The inner-circle was already there, talking with strict, tight voices. Everyone but Farren was gone.
"What happened?" Cedric demanded.
"She left," Ingren said, the jagged scar on his face was pulled taut. "Ahren has his people looking for Norah."
"Etin took her," Holland said. His heartbeat so hard it felt distant. Etin had Norah and he could only imagine what he'd do to her when his inflictions could physically kill her.
The doors burst open and Holland whirled to find Farren dragging in one of Norah's guards by the shoulder. His grey armor was matted and shriveled if not completely gone. The edges on his armor were orange with rust and blood ran down the back of his head. Purple dots darkened his jaw, like someone had seized it so hard it bruised.
"Carrington," Holland felt a slither of relief go through him. He would have answers.
"Tell them what happened," Farren snapped, shoving the guard.
The man winced, massaged his bloodied ear before straightening. "I--she killed people. She escaped."
Holland frowned, his arms crossed tight around his chest. He could feel the truth in the words, but the guard was too nervous about something. He was holding something back. Holland squinted at him. "What aren't you saying?"
Carrington hesitated and Farren shoved him. "We don't have time for this. Tell them everything before I do it for you."
"She escaped from her cell."
Had he heard him correctly? "What cell?" Holland demanded.
"After you left, people started talking about how deadly she was," Carrington began, his pale eyes heavy and haunted. "And we moved her to a cell where Blackwell interrogated her-"
"You mean tortured--experimented," Farren snapped. He tossed a leather, bound book onto the desk. "She was supposed to be protected."
He paled. "Yes, but I didn't--I didn't know they were going to go that far. They said she was sick."
For a moment, Holland felt nothing. The world didn't move, sounds didn't exist. And then anger wrapped itself around his spine, filled his chest, raised his voice. "And you let this happen?" he shouted.
The guard flinched. "They said they were going to help her. They said she was sick and then I saw what they were doing a-and it was wrong. I stopped going because I couldn't bear to watch and I don't know what happened this morning but the next thing I knew she was killing people."
He took a shuddering breath. He steadied himself, but his voice was quiet. Like he couldn't believe what he was saying. "She could have killed me and she didn't, and I don't understand because I deserved it."
Holland couldn't breathe. His chest wouldn't move but his muscles shook. His hands clenched so hard into fists they were white. This person was supposed to protect Norah. Was supposed to be there when he couldn't.
You were built to protect and defend, Etin's words slammed into him. Yet you cannot do either. You cannot even protect your own daughter.
The rage swept through him like a flood that demanded blood. It demanded he beat the guard into a pulp, but he had Norah to think about. She was out there and he had to find her before Etin did. If he hadn't already.
"I found her cell below," Farren told them. "On Novak's floor."
"So let me guess this straight." His words shook. His fingers clenched and unclenched. "You took a twenty-two-year-old girl and threw her in some dark dungeon with the most dangerous criminal on the planet because you were scared of her?"
Carrington's eyes fell to the floor. "Yes."
Holland was pacing now. He flung a hand toward the guard. "Get him out of my sight!"
"Farren." Cedric's voice was sharp. Commanding.
The spymaster gave a single nod, his eyes dark and knowing. Holland hoped the guard went missing. Lost his job or something.
Farren led the guard out of the room and Holland ran a hand over his mouth, his hair.
"Where's Novak?" Cedric questioned.
"Did Novak take her?" Holland didn't know if he could handle that answer. But he knew he needed to.
"Not exactly," Ahren said, eyeing him with near-glowing green eyes. He slid a tablet across the table and Holland wheeled around to hover over it.
It was a video recording of the cell floor where Novak was being kept. A long, single corridor with dark, unlit cells on either side. Ahren clicked play and Holland watched as a low, muffled muttering came from somewhere.
Then the screaming started.
Not Norah's to Holland's relief, he had listened to her scream in Aros and remembered how his mind had drifted into numbness, how every time she screamed it left him a bit emptier.
"Get em', Little Lady!" Novak shouted, banging on the cell door. "Fuck them up!"
He saw a bounce of light, a bright gold of tendrils that wrapped around what looked like arms. The was more screaming before darkness erupted out of the cells, shaking the camera and making the video fitz.
A body rolled across the ground and Norah stalked out of the darkness, her dark green clothes dirty and caked with something darker. What he hoped wasn't her blood.
A shadow prowled behind her. It slithered across the floor, rose along the walls until the smoke rose up behind her. Etin bent over her, his arms flowing down hers, his faceless head against her ear.
He's training her, Dagen said and Holland wondered if it had been for this moment.
Flesh rotted away on the corpse until a skeleton rose up to tower over Norah. But it didn't strike her, it just stood there as she went back into the cell and came out with two more and the shadow god.
Holland watched, frozen to the spot as Norah fought off the gas the soldiers threw in. As more skeletons rose, she sent the Silent Stalkers after the guards then turned to visit Novak's cell.
He couldn't hear what they were saying until the screaming and clash of bone against metal ended.
"In another life we might have been friends," Norah was telling Novak coolly. Her face was soft, her lips pulled in a friendly smile despite what she had just done. "Except for one little thing."
Novak was a few feet from her and his wariness deepened. "What?"
Etin was slithering behind her like a shark coming in and out of the black depths. A monster trying to create as much terror it could. "The time you tortured Bram Holland. My dad."
Holland's stomach dropped and twisted.
Novak went on to say something but Holland just saw Norah's friendly manner fade into something cold and cruel, something with teeth and claws that she used to sink into Novak. She threw him against the wall, tore away his skin layer by layer only to rebuild it with gold and destroy it again until only a mangled body was left behind.
Norah destroyed the iron door sealing her in and killed her way through more guards until she reached the stairs to the surface. She climbed to the top, bursting through the door with her skeletons stalking behind and Etin nowhere to be seen.
The camera angles switched to follow her, hall after hall as darkness poured out of her. At first it was only for the people that attacked her then the gaps between darkness and nothing grew shorter. Until Etin was beside her, killing anything and everything he came across while Norah destroyed the walls--the buildings.
And he could see it. He had felt it. That rage. The hatred.
But her eyes gleamed with something else. Satisfaction. Joy. Thrill.
The video cut off when Norah went outside. But Holland knew what she was doing. He shoved the tablet away."Damnit, Norah!" he cursed.
"Where's his body now?" Cedric was utterly still, his face drawn. His eyes went distant with anger and calculation.
"We couldn't find it," Ingren said. "There's a lot of rubble to uncover."
Cedric's words were said carefully, evenly but his eyes were simmering in rage. "With everything going on," he said. "I need you to guarantee me he's dead. Bring me a head or a body, some proof Novak is dead. I cannot have him starting another uprising while an evil god is destroying everything."
Ingren dipped his head and left.
"Ahren," Cedric added. "I want you to kill the remaining Thrawlers. Take Easton with you, make him understand that this war is to be taken seriously."
The door shut behind the general.
In the silence of his chambers, Cedric's cool mask cracked. His jaw tightened, his steepled fingers pressed so hard against each other they were ghost-white. "Our only hope of winning this war is gone," he said lowly. His gaze bore into Holland. "Go find her now."
Holland was out the door in an instant.