Chapter 52: Chapter 52

IRIS

They moved toward us, not like beings of flesh and blood, but like darkness come alive. Their footsteps left no trace on the mossy ground.

Instead, they seemed to glide across the surface, while the air around them condensed into blackish swirls. A quiet, sinister crackling sound accompanied their every movement, as if reality itself were splintering under their touch.

Then the visions assaulted me.

They flickered in front of my eyes—and suddenly I was standing there. My image, the bloodstained face, the empty eyes.

I wanted to look away. I had to look away, but my gaze slid downward as if guided by an invisible power. It was Avery.

His body lay torn apart before me, his clothes in tatters, his flesh ripped open like paper. His eyes, those warm, vivid eyes, stared lifelessly up into the sky.

His mouth was slightly open, as if he had wanted to call out my name at the last moment. I screamed.

A shrill, animalistic scream ripped open in my throat. From somewhere I heard Aidan calling, but his voice was a blur, like it was coming through water to me.

The creatures froze. Their ghostly silhouettes slowly turned to face me.

They smelled my fear. I could literally feel them soaking up the cloying scent of my panic.

From their guttural depths came a horrible rattle, like dry bones scraping against each other.

“Iiiirisss…” they hissed.

Their voices weren’t sound, but an icy poison that ate straight into my brain. It echoed in my skull, intensifying with every heartbeat, until I could no longer trust my own thoughts.

“Iris!” shouted Aidan.

His voice broke through the nightmare, as sharp as a blade. But it was too late.

The creatures had left Ava standing there. Their attention was on me now.

And with each passing second, they drew closer, while the shadows around us came alive, greedily wrapping themselves around our ankles…

I staggered back, stumbling over my own feet and landing hard on the mossy ground. My breath hitched as I looked up, and right into their faces.

There was no face. Just an abyss of black flesh that melted away like molten wax.

A maw with no lips, no nose, just these eyes, two milky, lifeless orbs staring back at me. It was grinning.

A crack opened up in the formless flesh, wide, across to where ears should be. A laughter without joy, without warmth… just the mute triumph of a hunter already yielding his prey.

Aidan charged forward, his sword flashing in the pale light, but one of the creatures only raised a bony hand.

An invisible power struck him. He was hurled through the air, crashed against a tree trunk, and slumped to the ground, gasping.

His sword clattered into the undergrowth. My eyes were pinned to my brother.

His face was a mute mask of pain, every muscle in it twitching and contorting as he desperately tried to straighten up. But the invisible force of the creatures pinned him mercilessly to the ground, as if he were nothing more than a toy.

His body lay motionless, shackled by a force that pressed him into the ground like a leaden weight. Not a finger obeyed him anymore.

Then our eyes met and there was such fear in his eyes it robbed me of my strength. Silent, desperate, as if I were his last hope, unable to express it.

Ava stepped forward, a purple inferno pulsating around her raised hands. The air around her shimmered, as if reality itself were shaking under her power.

With a movement that was more like an earthquake than a step, she planted herself between me and the approaching horrors.

“Get back!” she ordered.

Her voice thundered, not a command, but a force of nature. The trees shook under her power, leaves dissolving into ash before they even touched the ground.

Her purple aura flickered around her like a protective shield, her hands clenched into fists.

She placed herself between me and the creatures, her breathing quick but her voice firm.

“Get out of the way…She-Elf,” it rang out.

The creature’s voice wasn’t a sound—it was a scratching, like someone driving rusty nails across a tombstone. Every word seemed to poison the air, freezing my blood in my veins.

Ava didn’t flinch.

“If you want them,” she shouted, “you’ll have to get past me first!”

She was so brave. So fearless.

And in that moment…something changed.

The creatures suddenly froze…their ghostly heads jerked to the side at the same time, as if they were responding to a call that was beyond our perception. Their milky eyes widened, the black maws of their mouths opening in silent screams.

~Something~ had called out to them. Something only they could hear.

The air between us vibrated suddenly—not from Ava’s power, but from a strange, dangerous presence. The shadows at their edges began to flicker like candles in a train wind, as if something was tugging at them from within.

An instinctive warning flashed through me as footsteps suddenly echoed. Something was moving toward us… so fast that the sound could barely be followed.

It whirled up leaves; branches snapped under its force. The forest itself seemed to scream in pain, dazzled by the light it carried.

I tried to spot the source of the noise and held my breath as a figure appeared with unnatural speed. A gust of icy wind swept through the air as the creature stopped abruptly in front of us.

Our hair fluttered wildly as we stared, our eyes wide with terror. A black cloak hid its features, but the power it radiated was unmistakable.

It stood between us, protecting us from the horror that was trying to destroy us.

“If you value your lives … you won’t take another step,” a gentle but chilling female voice rang out.

“You have no permission to be here!” one of the creatures hissed at her.

“I don’t need one,” she replied, and her words made my blood run cold.

The cloak swirled back as she drew her sword—a glistening blade that filled the air with unbridled energy. A breath of power trembled through the forest, as if the heavens themselves had held their breath.

Her blonde, wavy locks fell freely down her back, contrasting with the snow-white dress that clung tightly to her slender figure. Golden embroidery sparkled on the corset like liquid metal, and every movement made the fine seams flash in the moonlight.

She looked petite, almost fragile… but that appearance was deceptive.

The first creature charged toward her, claws outstretched, a guttural growl in its throat. But before it came even one step closer, her blade flashed through the darkness.

The thrust was so powerful that the air trembled, and the creature disintegrated into nothing but black smoke that evaporated like ash on the wind.

The second creature shrieked—a shrill warning—but she was already turning, elegant as a whirlwind. Her sword cut horizontally through the night, a perfect, deadly arc.

The monster’s head flew before its body crashed. But even before it touched the ground, it dissolved into seething smoke.

Only a fading scream remained behind, a hollow echo of nothingness.

Silence.

Slowly, she lowered the weapon as the smoke curled around her boots. She turned to face us, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

The blonde hair framed her beautiful face. High cheekbones and two amber-colored eyes scrutinized me with curiosity.

Then she smiled.

Just a simple, almost casual twist of her full lips, colored in a warm red. But that smile hit me like a punch. It was dangerous.

For a moment, I forgot about the fight, the smoke, the dead creatures at her feet.

“Did you have any more of them chasing you?” she asked.

Her voice sounded tired, almost bored. As if it was all just a tiresome game.

I shook my head. Not because I wasn’t scared anymore. But because I knew there was no escape from her. Only surrender.