Gritting her teeth, Arwen throws her hand up to a dent in the rock and she uses it to start pulling herself up. Every movement is an effort but she finally pulls herself up, wincing in pain as she cuts her hand on the rock. Ignoring the pain she allows herself a single moment of rest before she pulls Klaude up. It takes several attempts but she does it.
Once they are both safely on the rock, Arwen lays him on her lap and puts her fingers to his neck.
A pulse. Good.
She starts pressing her hands over his heart and keeps breathing into his mouth, something she once watched an Umbra woman do when trying to save her son. By some miracle her son had awoken so perhaps Klaude will too.
Arwen hears a cough and a splutter.She instantly raises her head as Klaude spits out so much sea water and gasps for a breath of air. Arwen breathes a sigh of relief as she holds him as he coughs up half of the sea. Still gasping, Klaude wipes some salt off of his mouth and faces her.
He looks horrible.
His face is ten shades paler then usual, his eyes have gone almost colourless and he looks like a living drowned corpse.
"Well if this is heaven then I am quite content to be dead," he says, laughing which causes him to cough up more water.
She laughs in relief and kisses his brow, "You shouldn't joke about such things."
"I'm sorry," he says, trying to sit up but the pain hits immediately with a sharp pang and he immediately lies back down, "looks like I'll be stuck here for a while, you should go and get yourself to safety."
Arwen shakes her head immediately, "no, I won't leave you here alone and injured, I would never do that. Not now and not ever would I ever leave you to face life alone."
"You won't have to leave me alone in life for I could die soon from these injuries," Klaude says, attempting to laugh but ends up wincing as he puts his hand to his side, where an increasing circle of blood has formed, "I would much rather you live than I, you risk dying from the cold if you are out here for much longer, you need to return home and get dry."
She shakes her head adamantly and in determination as she replies to him.
"Don't be silly, people may think me weak but I am stubborn, and I will not let you die, not here and you aren't going to leave me alone to face Cierra's wrath at our recklessness, you and I still have a lot of our tale to tell and explore together," she says but then the light in her eyes vanishes as she spies the worst wound in his side, the blood is already staining the rocks scarlet.
Arwen eyes light up in concern, how did she possibly miss it before? Without thinking she rips a massive chunk of her dress, surprising herself at the sudden surge of strength she gets and presses it to his wound to help staunch the bleeding. It helps a little but blood has stained the white scarlet within seconds. He needs something more to bind his wounds or he could bleed out. But that will not happen. She refuses to let it happen. The injury might not be as bad as it appears, she doesn't know how deep the cut from the rocks runs.
"But your dress," he protests gently, still coughing the last bits of sea water residue as Arwen keeps ripping more of her dress for a better binding to prevent the bleeding.
Arwen rolls her eyes and mutters, "I'd rather you survived than my stupid dress you stubborn ass."
He smirks again, "Good to know I'm worth more than a dress even if I am a stubborn ass."
They both laugh and smile at that, trying to find humour even in a dreadful situation.
That is the thing they can recall before fatigue later hits them both.
Cierra Raduron stands, surrounded by her bodyguards and spies by the rack, where a young girl is currently being tortured.
Her guards caught the band of rogue priestesses who were responsible for nearly killing Queen Arwen and Klaude Vale and rescued them in the rocks amongst the water. It took them a while to navigate but Cierra got a few of the elements who reside in Umbra to help calm the conditions so the two could be reached. She doesn't usually like that some live in Umbra who aren't shadows but it proves occasionally it has its uses.
The guards would have stopped and got to Arwen and Klaude sooner if some war gifted hadn't incapacitated them for a moment. Cierra hadn't wanted Arwen to go anywhere unescorted by guards in case something like this happened. So she found out from Ebony, who she knows always has spies trailing Arwen whenever she goes, where the young lovers had gone and sent guards in tow, to bring them both back and throughly lecture Arwen about the importance of her safety and her stupidity and recklessness.
Cierra couldn't care less about the mainlander boy, even if he does aid her plan slightly and the fact she is sleeping with his father who would likely not be pleased at his heir's demise.
Once the guards got past the war gifted they captured these rogue priestesses and rescued Arwen and Klaude from the rocks. It makes her blood boil to know that her one shot at more power was nearly killed by this silly group of young women. It isn't even the Ascension and already her chance at power could be taken. No such liberties will happen in the future.
She is surprised that anyone would attempt this. Cierra thought most people would be too terrified of her and her family to even dare to try it. It was an oversight, not one that she is going to repeat.
"Poor dear," she says sympathetically, caressing the girl's cheek with faux tenderness, "you look like you're in pain, tell me your motives and the pain will stop."
The brunette on the rack only stares blankly up at her as she says, "We are simply the servants of the Goddess and Arwen is an abomination and she must be eliminated."
Cierra's eyes narrow dangerously and she gives a nod to one of her guards and he turns the rack once more.
The girls screams echo in the chamber but not one of them flinches.
"Tell me everything," Cierra presses, "and then we can stop."
"No," the girls manages to spit, still defiant even as she surely faces on oncoming death. The shadow matriarch sighs in annoyance and gives a gesture with her hand.
The rack is turned five more times and the girls screams become impossibly louder as she sobs and shrieks.
"I can make this even worse for you if you don't cooperate, you see I'm not just an ordinary shadow, I am a Raduron and we have certain powers that not all of the rest have," she says smiling down at the girl, "I can either heighten your pain and make this an even more excruciating experience for you."
The girls eyes flash in defiance at that.
"Or," Cierra says calmly, "I can take your pain away, lessen it while your body recovers."
The girl just sits there silently, still brimming with pure insolence as she spits at Cierra whom only sighs in return as she nods to the guard again who complies as the girl is stretched once again.
Although this time it is different as Cierra concentrates to heighten the girls pain. It is a difficult thing to do but one she is capable of due to her being a strong shadow.
The girls screams are different this time and it is a sound of pure agony.
Within seconds of enduring the sensations of heightened pain the girl suddenly shouts,
"No stop! I'll tell you what you want to know just take the pain away."
And Cierra motions for the guard to let go of the rack as she stops using her gift on the girls pain.
"Now that wasn't difficult was it," Cierra says, her face lighting up with a cheshire cat smile.
"I thought you said you'd lessen the pain so I could recover," the girl says as her eyes still gleam with the aftermath of the pain she has just endured.
"That was before you decided to spit at me so rudely," Cierra says coldly, "so now you can have this pain, relish in it and maybe it will teach you some manners ... now tell me the information I require."
Cierra gestures for the girl to speak.
With her eyes full of hatred for Cierra now, the girl takes a breath she starts,
"The first part is true, I am a priestess and a servant of the Goddess and Arwen is an abomination. All shadow queens are wrong, that is why they stopped being born, the Goddess stopped sending them because they are unnatural, their gift isn't like the rest. The shadow gift is darkness."
Cierra rolls her eyes at that and the girl takes a few more breaths before she continues,
"Our band of priestesses, are a mix of elementals and war gifted. We are loyal to Queen Nalani and the Goddess, elementals for are the true queens, their gift comes from nature and it's been too long since they have sat on the throne. What have these past generations brought us? A war gifted bitch and a pack of poisoner queens, the poisoner gift is almost as rotten and corrupted as yours," the girl spits out venomously to which Cierra raises an eyebrow, looking down at this strange girl in almost amusement.
"Shadow queens are not meant to reign. They're too powerful and will only bring death, darkness and demons where they are permitted to live. Arwen's birth must be to punish the people of the island, for our many sins against her but we, as servants to the Goddess are obliged to kill the shadow bastard. We are not under the jurisdiction of High Priestess Corra, we live only to serve the true Goddess and we do not care if we die, for the Goddess will reward us in death and we will live in eternal heaven with her immortal soul," the girl says, looking oddly proud of herself but she isn't done with her speech yet.
"We have been watching the shadow brat for weeks and saw that she frequently visited the cliffs above Ondina's Cove. We simply camped out on them and waited for our opportunity to strike. When we saw her and that foolish boy fall into the water off of their boat it was the perfect opportunity," she says happily, "Our elementals manipulated the waves to either drown her or splatter her against the rocks. The boy was merely collateral damage. But he's only a mainlander so his death means nothing ... after Arwen's death we would've gone south to Prynn to slay the poisoner to entirely ensure that the true queen, Nalani, a pure elemental would sit on the throne. Even if we die we are not the only loyalists, the people do not trust Arwen or any of you shadow scum, she will not be accepted as queen crowned if any of them have half a brain," the girl finishes to take another deep breath
She goes to say more but doesn't get the chance as in a flash, Cierra slits her throat. The girl coughs and gurgles as her blood spills all over the wooden rack and she looks up at Cierra almost with shock and she manages to choke out a "why"
"I simply grew weary of hearing your demented little chatter," Cierra says with a smile as she watches the girl continue to bleed out and it doesn't take long before she goes still. Dead. Well at least she dealt with a loose end.
"Cierra?" A quiet voice says from the open door and Cierra turns and finds Arwen, now dressed in an appropriate dry black dress lingering in the doorway.
The shadow matriarch immediately goes to Arwen, shutting the torture chamber door behind her.
"Yes child?" Cierra says calmly, trying to hide the torture chamber behind her.
"I want to see the leader of this rogue group of priestesses," she says firmly, her voice laced with a queenly tone.
She has not long awoken with a headache and aching muscles from her ordeal and Klaude is in bed, still fasts asleep and being tended to by maids and his father, who makes sure that his heir is healthy. She knows from the loud guards outside her doors what happened and she also knows that Cierra would've brought those responsible to her favourite torture chamber.
So Arwen simply snuck out of her rooms through her favourite passageway and came here.
Cierra bows her head in an attempt at respect, "I do not believe that is the wisest of choices," she says smoothly, asserting her authority and shutting Arwen down immediately.
Arwen's face and tone is one of unflinching steel as she takes a dangerous step towards Cierra, not breaking eye contact for a second. "You will take me to the leader because I am your queen and today I will not be the poor crying child who wants sympathy, today I am now the queen who was promised and I bow to no one. You may be my guardian but I outrank you in every way and you will not refuse me," Arwen says, her voice self-assured and confident as she stands tall, looking like the powerful queen everyone says she is. The queen she wants to be. And for once she is not afraid of Cierra. Not today. Not when Klaude almost died.
Cierra looks like she is about to protest as she has never seen Arwen stand up for herself in such a way but Arwen sees Cierra's retort and raises a hand to dismiss her, the shadow matriarch's words dying on her lips,
"I command you to take me to the leader," Arwen demands, her voice filled with an assertiveness that wasn't there before.
Sensing a losing battle, Cierra begrudgingly concedes and bows her head in respect, "Of course my queen," she says begrudgingly, her voice lined with an unspoken future threat, "this way."
Cierra reluctantly starts walking, leading the young queen down the hallways of the dungeon to the very last cell.
—
Arwen hates this place.
It is the Raduron Manor, the Raduron's ancestral home and also Cierra's personal and private residence which she inherited as the oldest. It has been in the family for centuries some of the shadow queens of old were even raised here.
Arwen especially hates the dungeons and torture chambers. The dungeon smells of rot and decay. Everything is damp and dark; the only light are the few little lanterns that are hung up. This is one of the places showcasing Cierra's true iciness and cruelty.
Arwen heard everything the girl on the rack said and saw when Cierra slit her throat. How Cierra took a life with hour even hesitating, she kills as easy as drawing breath - if it benefits her.
Although Arwen couldn't bring herself to feel sad for the girl, not when her and their group of priestesses nearly killed Klaude and her. She doesn't care much about her, she cares that they nearly caused Klaude's death.
Now she cannot shake that icy rage that now boils deep inside of her and she cannot hide from the monster within. At least that icy rage gives her the confidence she needs to finally stand up for herself against Cierra, which is something she has never dared do before.
But the time for young inexperienced queens is over, this is her time, the time for her to be the powerful shadow queen she was born to be. She doesn't know how long this strength and coldness will last with her but for now she has it.
Cierra soon opens the last cell door and Arwen sees what is inside.
A young woman, perhaps nineteen or twenty lays there on the dirty floor. Her white priestess robes are torn and grubby and her face surprisingly only has a few specks of dirt. This leader is younger than Arwen had expected but the shadow queen shakes off the surprise and wears a mask of steel as she continues to look at the Priestess.
Her face is beautiful and youthful and not the hard, scarred face that Arwen has pictured in her head.
She has creamy brown skin that is beautiful and soft and her hair is in braids of black that are long and stylish.
"What is your name?" Arwen asks politely but firmly.
"Neela," the prisoner mutters, knowing better than to defy a shadow queen and then she lifts her head up to face Arwen.
Arwen gasps, the girl's eyes are black like her own. No, she thinks as she gets closer, they are an incredibly dark brown. It is a shock though, staring into eyes that are nearly as dark as her own.
Neela notices her shock and gives her a truly sinister smile before she scowls at her.
Arwen can only say one thing,
Why?" She asks simply.
Neela smiles again, the smile too cruel and old for someone of her age,
"I'm their leader but I am not one of them. I'm not some sappy little priestess who worships the Goddess. I don't care for the Goddess and her grace can rot in hell," she says, her words laced with hate.
Surprise flickers across Arwen's face and Neela continues,
"I was twelve. Only twelve when a group of rogue shadows came and murdered my family with their twisted little powers. I had to watch them die, watch their veins turn black as the shadows gift drowned them in darkness itself. There's more to it of course, lots more but it's not exactly your business is it now Your Majesty," she says mockingly, "all I had to do was corrupt some pious idiots and make them hate. Hate is an easy emotion to use and manipulate, and I used it as a weapon against you. I nearly had you, I nearly got my revenge but again, stupid shadows ruined everything and here I am, sat here with you."
She sends another cold twisted smile in Arwen's direction which chills her to the bone.
"Finish her Arwen," Cierra says causally, almost sounding bored at the situation.
Arwen lifts her head at Cierra and sees the harsher unspoken demand in her eyes.Not a democracy then but Arwen doesn't want to save this girl who tried to kill her and Klaude.
Arwen steps forward, she is not completely heartless and she will take away Neela's pain like the Indrid Down prisoner and grant her a quick painless death. More for her own sake then anything.
Neela sees her approaching and continues ranting,
"You are scum and you deserve to die, such a pity that your stupid mainlander didn't die along with you," she says, spitting on Arwen's dress.
Cold rage spreads through Arwen again and the monster lifts its head. Neela said that Klaude should've died and that brings Arwen's monster out to play. "Did you not like that little queen?" Neela purrs, deliberately provoking Arwen, "Klaude deserves to die, deserves to rot and suffer."
Something snaps inside Arwen.Her hands go out and wrap around Neela's throat.
Arwen looks her in the eye with her soulless black ones as she lets her shadows flood through Neela, ripping her apart from the inside as her veins turn black and her eyes start bleeding black.
Neela doesn't make a sound, the shadows don't let her as she silently dies though inside she is screaming as the agony tears through her.
The girl eventually goes limp as Arwen let's go of her body which falls to the side with a large thud.
Black blood is still leaking from her open glassy eyes and it starts staining the floor black.
Arwen is suddenly shocked to feel herself smiling, that she took some sort of sick happiness at having taken a life. Although some part of her feels like this is right. That the scales are balanced. Neela would've killed her and Klaude if given the chance. But that doesn't make her feel any better.
Starting to shake, Arwen looks down at her hands to find them covered in black blood, Neela's blood after her shadows drowned her.
Letting out a sudden cry, Arwen slams the door open, her footsteps echoing on the hard stone floor as she runs.
She races up the stairs that lead away from the dungeon and finds a small empty broom cupboard in a corner.
Still shaking, she opens the door, gets inside the dark space inside and shuts the door, falling to the floor as she curls up in a ball. Arwen closes her eyes and feels something unfamiliar. There are no tears but she feels awful. Neela is not the first person that she has killed but she is the first person that she wanted to kill. As she used her shadows on sNeela she felt her gift growing and pushing her to make the final kill and she did. She didn't take away Neela's pain like she did with the prisoner at the Volroy and she didn't cry afterwards. She enjoyed making Neela suffer and enjoyed killing her. She actually felt like Neela deserved it.
Arwen could blame the shadows, for parts of her gift are so strong it is like they are constantly whispering to her.
Death is the true nature of powerful shadows and this time she embraced it just as much as it embraced her. But she still enjoyed it a little, the kill, it felt like justice. And she doesn't know what that means about her and perhaps she doesn't want to know.
None the less, she unlocked a new part of her that she has buried deep down since she was young. Since her gift grew so strong. Arwen knows that if she lets that side of her rule, then she will eventually become just as much of a monster as Cierra.
Monster.