Azure
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(A/N): double update! Chapter 64 is out as well (:
The fighting stopped. I think we all felt the shift in the atmosphere at that moment -- the sense that our victory had been ripped from our collective grasp.
I turned -- along with many others -- and froze at what I saw. Azriel, standing tall and proud. And Kyra, standing in wolf form beside him, wholly still.
My heart stuttered to a stop. No...
Azriel's dark chuckle reverberated across the entire grounds -- a sound felt in the deepest corners of everyone's hearts. Both sides -- North and South alike -- had stopped to observe the scene, waiting with bated breath as to what would happen next.
"You see this?" he announced, motioning to Kyra's still wolf. Her purple eyes gleamed with fear -- the only sign that she was still in there. "This is what it means to have power. I have a fire-wielding Epsilon at my disposal, ready to obey every command. I lead an army of her creation!"
Something shifted in my peripheral, and I looked to see Faelen just several yards to my right, his face white with both fear and rage. He took a step forward, but one sharp look from Azriel had him frozen, seething in silence. Nobody can intervene now -- not while Kyra is under Azriel's spell. He could command Kyra to hurt somebody, or even threaten to hurt Kyra himself. Whatever happened now was in the hands of fate.
I looked back towards my purple-eyed friend, not surprised to find her eyes locked with Faelen's. Then, I looked just twenty yards behind her, and my blood froze. Raina was standing uncomfortably close to Azriel, despite facing his back. And by her cool, calculating gaze, I could tell she was planning something. When her green eyes shifted to mine -- perhaps sensing my stare across the field -- I slowly shook my head. We couldn't do anything reckless, not right now.
"For eight months," Azriel continued, steepling his fingers and taking several steps forward. His smirk made my throat burn. "For eight months, I have sought to reclaim what is mine. For eight months, I have plotted, schemed, and fought -- all to get Kyra back as my companion." Then, his smirk turned into a hateful scowl -- so fast my stomach dropped. "You Northerners locked her away from me. You fed her lies and made her believe she's one of you, when really, she belongs with me and only me. Together we are an unstoppable force -- and I do not care if she has a mate. As far as I can see, she has been claimed by no man other than me. She is mine."
"Psycho!" I hissed under my breath, feeling my anger build with every stupid word. I looked to Faelen to find him just as enraged as me.
A quick flash of silver behind Azriel drew my attention. My eyes widened as I spy Raina in her human form, holding a silver dagger in her palm.
I shake my head fervently at her, but her eyes are not on me -- they locked are on Azriel. No, Raina!
"Come," Azriel says, flicking two fingers forward. In an instant, Kyra rushes to his side -- her movements controlled and robotic. She continues to walk at his heels like a lost puppy as he paces back and forth, the sight alone enough to make anyone's stomach churn. But my eyes are no longer on him. Instead, my attention is glued to Raina, who is watching Azriel like a hawk.
Waiting for the right moment to strike.
I shake my head again, wanting to call out to her, but I know I can't. So, I remain silent, praying that, whatever Raina does, she does it right.
Azriel began gloating again, but my attention was fixed on Raina. She cocked her arm back before letting out a slow breath, just as I'd taught her. Then, she let go, and the world zeroed in on the dagger. I watched as it flashed through the air, hurtling with ferocious velocity towards Azriel's heart.
For a moment, I was hopeful. For a moment, I firmly believed Raina's skill would be enough to end all of this.
But we were not the only ones watching. The Zeta's head snapped towards the dagger, and within seconds, she shifted into her wolf and sprinted to intercept the attack.
"No!" I yelled, but it was too late. The Zeta leapt in front of Azriel just as the dagger was about to impale him, sending her to the ground with a sickening screech.
Silence. Azriel stiffened. Turned. We all watched as the hilt of the dagger rose and fell erratically with the Zeta's chest, and after several moments, she went deathly still.
My gaze snapped to Raina, and as our eyes meet, it felt as though worlds separated us. Like layers of glass and honey lay between us -- obstructions that would take decades to cut through just to get to her.
Slowly, Azriel raised his head, his sapphire eyes burning with fury as they narrowed on Raina. My entire body locked up, and I wanted to run towards her -- but I was hopelessly frozen to the spot. Mortified.
"You wish to play with death?" Azriel yelled at her, shattering my trance. "Fine. Let's have your friend show you out."
The world stopped spinning as Azriel lifted his fingers in a silent command and, without faltering, Kyra began hurtling towards Raina. I could see the absolute horror in Kyra's eyes -- even if the purposeful movements of her body showed every intent to kill.
"No!" I screamed, shifting and running towards them in my wolf form. But it felt as though I was moving through honey -- too slow to do anything, while Kyra ran at the speed of wind.
So, in abject horror, I was forced to watch as Kyra closed the distance. I watched Kyra pounce on the stock-still Raina, burying her canines deep into her throat. A high-pitched, murderous sound left me as they both tumbled to the ground, Kyra pinning her down before mauling her like a wild animal. Blood was everywhere -- on her teeth, on her fur, on the bright green grass around them. Spraying up into the air in droplets. I watched as she tore violently into my friend -- again and again and again -- with the might of an enraged killer.
Raina never fought back.
Everything around me blurred, and I couldn't even register how violently Kyra was tearing into Raina as screams filled my head. I was screaming as well, but I couldn't hear it. I couldn't hear anything but the yelling inside my head -- as though I'd just entered hell, and the devils were waiting.
Once I was within range, I shifted back to my human form and crawled the rest of the way towards Raina -- lukewarm blood licking the skin of my hands and knees -- hoping to save her, but it was too late. The attack finished by the time I got there, and the damage was done.
Kyra stood above her in wolf form, face covered in blood and her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. Her purple eyes were totally, wholly blank. I shoved her aside with a yell and pulled Raina into my lap, biting back a sob. Her throat. Gone. Ripped out. She gaped at me, her blue, blood-stained lips trying to form words that couldn't be uttered. Her emerald eyes locked with mine, afraid and laced with pain beyond comprehension.
I fumbled for my magic, the healing energy I had always relied upon, but now I was lost, overwhelmed by the enormity of the task before me. With trembling fingers, I prodded helplessly around what was left of her throat, not even knowing where to direct my healing magic -- where to start. But her eyes were dimming more by the second, and I had to do something, because I couldn't lose Raina. I couldn't.
A sob escaped me as my hand hovered over the gory remnants of her throat, desperately willing the green light of healing magic to my fingertips. "I'm not going to let you die," I whispered, choking on every word. "I can't. I can't."
I looked into Raina's eyes, still full of so much pain. She shook her head imperceptibly -- as though pleading with me to stop -- as a tear escaped her right eye.
"Please," I whispered, my voice broken. "Don't die. Please don't die."
I gripped her hand with one of mine, keeping my other hand firmly on the remains of her throat -- seeing the green light in my peripheral but not daring a look to see if it was actually healing anything. I didn't know what I'd do if it wasn't.
Her fingers intertwined weakly with mine. I looked into those green eyes again, those beautiful green eyes...
"I love you," I gasped. Her eyes flickered with a spark of recognition at my words, a glimmer of hope. A guttural sob wracked my chest. "I love you and I want to build a life with you, Raina. I want to hold you in my arms, see you smile. I want--" a strangled sound of despair ripped from my chest, interrupting me. I leaned down. "You can't leave me. Not yet."
I gazed into her green eyes, hoping they'd magically light up again, but they never did. Instead, her eyes started to take on that glassy, distant look that I had seen in others who had slipped beyond the brink of life.
"No..." I choked out, my voice barely audible as my heart shattered into a million pieces. Her grip on my hand weakened, fingers trembling and slipping through my desperate grasp.
"No..." I cried. Her gaze remained fixed on me for one last moment, regaining a fleeting clarity, as if she wanted to memorize my face forever. Then, the light extinguished, and her entire body went still.
Just like that. Just like that, Raina was gone, and some part of me had died with her.
I don't remember what happened after that. I think I started to scream again, holding her lifeless body as though my grief and love alone would be enough to bring her back.
But it wasn't, and her eyes never opened again.
...