Chapter 48: Chapter 48

MIKHLAS

Mikhlas felt a cold shiver run down his spine as his mind went blank. James coughed once, blood on his lips as more blood flowed, his shirt instantly red.

Mikhlas heard Isabelle scream out, but it sounded far away. He sagged and tried to breathe. His lungs felt tight, unable to take in any air.

“No! NOO!!” Izzy screamed out as she watched her son’s body fall to the cold, gray floor.

This felt like the worst moment in his life.

~I’ve seen so many children killed in the Realm. I’ve been the cause of so much suffering and pain over the years of the Dark King’s rule.~

~Exchanging my own life for others because I followed the orders of a madman and his psychopathic whore. Yet never before have I felt so much pain~.

Kasana placed her foot on James’s back and leaned toward Isabelle. “Now. Would you like to try again, or shall I have your other son brought in?”

“Go fuck yourself!” Izzy shouted at her.

“Bring the other boy,” Kasana said to the guards.

“No! No! I’ll do it. Just, leave him alone. Please. I’ll do it,” Izzy said between sobs.

“Good. Hurry up, I don’t have all night,” Kasana said and Mikhlas heard her move to stand behind Silian.

Izzy closed her eyes. She sat still for a moment, and Mikhlas heard a row of cups on a table behind him begin to shake. The cups spilled, and water came splashing down to the floor.

It snaked together and flowed under him, wetting his legs before some rose into the air and levitated toward Isabelle’s mouth.

~“Do not react, Mikhlas.”~

He blinked at the cool voice in his head that sounded like a bubbling stream. His conscious mind felt like it split.

One part watched as a cupful of liquid flowed into Izzy’s mouth. She swallowed it, and then opened her eyes. They were a bright turquoise color, and he saw the water move in them.

The other part of his mind felt the presence of an enormous consciousness, vaster than anything he could have before imagined.

He felt the water in the room, contained in the bodies of those around him, pooling beneath the body of James. He felt the water in his own body, somehow bathed and purified by this other immense consciousness.

He could almost reach out and move the water in the bodies of those around him.

~“NO! We are not ready. You have done difficult things before. Now you must face the most difficult trial of your life. Do nothing. Say nothing, no matter what happens.~

~“The fate of the Realm rests on this. Trust the Sentinels, Mikhlas, and wait.”~

Mikhlas closed his eyes and felt the cooling presence of Aquaria within him, immense power like a dam of water held back by his will.

“Good. Now we just need Prime. Morkai should be here soon,” Kasana said, stepping over James’s body.

“I need a break,” Izzy said.

“Is that so?”

“These drugs you gave me, they’re making it hard to hold onto them.”

“Then try harder. Now summon Prime.”

“I thought she was everywhere.”

“That is just her extension. I want the Sentinel.”

“Okay,” Izzy said and dropped her head.

She closed her eyes, and Mikhlas watched her try to summon Prime.

Mikhlas’s ears picked up on Silian’s heartbeats. They were beating faster, stronger now. Like they usually did. He glanced at Silian, but the man still hung his head down.

“It’s not working,” Izzy whispered.

“Bring the others,” Kasana ordered.

“No. Please. Don’t do this,” Izzy said.

“All you have to do is summon Prime. And no one else needs to die,” Kasana said, walking behind Isabelle.

She flicked her hair with the tip of the bloody knife she still held in her hand, and Izzy shook her head away.

~Don’t react. Trust the Sentinels. Don’t react. Trust the Sentinels.~

“Why would the Sentinels choose someone so weak?” Kasana asked as she let out an evil laugh.

As the door opened, Kasana looked up and smiled as men dragged Amy, Iry, and Lucas into the room.

Lucas saw his brother first. “James!” he shouted and tried to run to him, but the guards held him back.

“Oh, God! No!” Amy shouted when she saw. “I’m going to kill you, you crazy bitch! You hear me? I’m going to rip your fucking head off!”

Kasana stepped up to Amy and slapped her across the face. “Ahh, there is a fire in this one,” she said at the glare in Amy’s eye. Kasana leaned forward, showing her sharp teeth. “But you still don’t know your place.”

Mikhlas saw Iry pause at the sight of James. ~I’ve never seen her cry before,~ he thought, but now, thick, dark green drops welled in the corners of her eyes.

“Put them on their knees where these traitors belong and then leave,” Kasana said, stalking behind him and Silian. The guards did as instructed and left.

“Now, let’s continue, shall we?” Kasana said. “You’re going to die here, Dakira. I’m going to kill you once all the Sentinels are trapped within you. Only then can I take your powers.

“But how many of these others die, and how they die is up to you. You can spare them pain and suffering. I can give them a merciful death like I gave James, or I can be even more merciful still, and allow them to live.”

Izzy closed her eyes again and focused. Mikhlas watched her try, but nothing happened.

“I need a break. Just a few minutes, please,” Izzy said, opening her eyes. Her nose began to drip blood.

“Fine. I will give you five minutes,” Kasana said, frowning at the blood dripping from Isabelle’s nose. She walked out, and a few of the men followed her.

Isabelle’s beautiful face was expressionless. She sat there, looking at her son’s body lying on the floor. He wanted to say something—to reassure her.

He knew they would survive this if they trusted the Sentinels, but Aquaria’s words echoed across his mind. ~The fate of the Realm.~

Mikhlas began to feel a strange feeling in his shoulder. It was tingling, like pins and needles. He shifted around a bit to get the blood flowing again.

“Izzy. Izzy, look at me,” Amy said.

“He’s dead,” she whispered.

“Izzy, don’t look at him. Look at me,” Amy said, and Izzy raised her eyes up to her.

~They look dead.~ The life that had always danced in her eyes since the moment he met her, just gone.

“Look at me, babe. Don’t look at him,” Amy said again, but Izzy’s eyes drifted back to James.

Lucas cried loudly next to Amy.

~Don’t say anything. Fate of the Realm.~ He ran the mantra through his mind and as he tried to weather the storm of emotions that ran through him.

“Iry, are you okay?” Amy asked. Iry tried her restraints and slumped down.

“I’m sorry I am so useless, Lady Amy,” she said and dropped her head. The door swung open again, and Kasana strolled through the door.

“Shall we?” she asked, going to stand behind Amy.

“You remind me of McMillan. I’m going to fucking bury you,” Amy said to her.

“You will not have the chance, I assure you,” Kasana said and grabbed Amy by the hair and placed the dagger by her throat.

“You’re going to kill us all, anyway,” Izzy said.

“Perhaps. That’s up to you, Chosen One. I am willing and prepared to do it. I’ll even enjoy it, yet if you do as I ask, there is hope for them yet.”

“Why are you doing this?” Isabelle asked, her eyes dead as she looked at James.

“Because it’s my birthright.”

“No. It’s not,” Isabelle said, turning that thousand-yard stare back to Kasana, “The Sentinels choose the next leader. That’s how it’s always been.”

“Not anymore,” Kasana said. She used a claw to select a lock of Amy’s long black hair and then sliced it off near to the scalp.

“For too long the Sentinels have ruled, pushing everyone around to do their bidding. It’s time for a change.”

“Killing the Sentinels will kill everything in the Realm.”

Kasana looked up and smiled at Isabelle. “Is that what they told you?” she chuckled to herself, slipping the knife into her belt and used the long black strands of hair to make a tiny noose which she waved in front of Amy’s face.

“How stupid and delusional do you have to be to believe something like that? You are not from the Realm, so how did life begin on your world?

“When the Sentinels are dead, life will continue, just as it does on the millions of worlds across the Universe not connected to the Realm.

“Besides, even if that is true, it won’t happen for a long time. I will be dead and gone by then.”

“So, you would kill billions just to be in charge for a short time?”

Kasana used her claws on Amy’s chin to force her mouth open and stuck the little noose inside before turning to Isabelle.

“Of course! Now playtime is over. Summon Prime, or she joins your son,” Kasana barked out and pressed the bloody knife into Amy’s throat.

“Don’t do it, Iz,” Amy said, spitting out her own hair. “Fucking psychopathic bitch is just going to kill us all, anyway.”

“I have to. Everyone I love is sitting in front of me. You know I have to,” Izzy said and closed her eyes.

ISABELLE

Izzy screamed in her head, begging Prime to come, but only silence met her.

Aquaria swam in her head, causing her thoughts to drift, and she felt Infernia begin to wake. The nanites and drugs in her made it hard to keep them both out of her thoughts.

“I see you need another push,” Kasana said, and Izzy opened her eyes just in time to meet Amy’s terrified eyes and see Kasana dig the knife into Amy’s throat cutting her from below her left ear to her right ear.

~AMY! I’m so sorry,~ she thought, but the words would not come out.

As the crimson blood poured down the front of Amy’s chest, she gurgled, spitting up blood as Kasana still held her hair, tilting her head back.

Kasana watched with a grin as Amy’s body grew limp and she took her last breath. Kasana released her hair, and Amy fell to the ground.

Izzy stared at the pool of blood gathering around her friend. A hollow, numb pit cocooned where all her emotions once were.

Her eyes drifted to James’s body, then to Lucas. She looked at his sobbing face, his eyes shut tightly and his little body trembling. She moved her gaze to Mikhlas, but he held his head down.

Kasana stepped over to Lucas, wiping the knife on his shirt. “Try again,” she said as Lucas squirmed away from her.

Izzy didn’t feel anything anymore. She couldn’t hold on to a single thought. She closed her eyes and begged Prime to come to her. Instead, she felt Infernia stir.

~Why isn’t Prime answering me?~ Izzy screamed out silently in her own head.

A gentle, musical voice in her mind said, “~Fear not, Isabelle. Prime is already here~.”

“~Where? She’s not going to stop~,” Izzy said, thinking about what Kasana had just done to her family.

“~Fear not,~” Aquaria said and went quiet.

Izzy opened her eyes and looked at Mikhlas. Kasana now stood behind him. She so badly wanted to tell him what he meant to her. She could see from the look on Kasana’s face that he would be next.

Kasana grabbed his hair and pulled his head back. He met her eyes, and she saw a bright-green-blue color in them, but his gaze felt distant.

“I love you,” she whispered to him, and he smiled.

“And I, you,” he said just before Kasana ran the knife over his throat and deep into his skin.

The blood poured out, and Kasana pushed him forward.

Izzy shut her eyes and turned her face away. ~I can’t bear this anymore. I don’t care if Kasana kills me now or not. She isn’t getting what she wants.~

“Do you want them all to die?” Kasana shouted, waving the knife around at Lucas, Silian, and Iry.

“Screw you!” Izzy mumbled.

“What?”

“I said, screw you!” Izzy said louder and glared into the evil heartless cunt’s eyes.

“Well, well, well. I believe it’s time we moved on to my favorite part of this exciting little party,” Kasana said with a smile. “Bring in the doctor.”

One of the men by the door darted out, and a moment later returned with a short, round Orbanite man in a white suit holding a black briefcase in his hand.

He placed the case on the table and opened it. Inside Izzy saw a collection of shiny silver tools.

~Those aren’t medical tools.~ ~Not any that I’ve ever seen.~ ~Torture~, she thought. ~Because simply killing my family isn’t enough.~

The round man went over to Kasana and crossed his arms over his chest, bowing low. “My Lady,” he greeted her.

“Start with this one,” Kasana gestured to Silian, “Hurt him but don’t kill him yet.”

The doctor nodded and motioned for the guards to take Silian. Izzy watched them drag his slack body to the table, his head still hanging low.

He stumbled to keep up with the men, and when they paused by the table, he fell to his knees again. The men picked him up and cut open his restraints. They laid him down on the table and he moaned in pain.

“Once he begins, he will not stop. Summon Prime,” Kasana said.

“No.”

“Do it, or he will suffer for days.”

“You want Prime, summon her yourself.”

“You do not care for this man?”

“I do. More than he will ever know,” Izzy said, looking back at Silian as the men restrained his arms and legs. “But I can’t give you what you want. I can’t let you destroy everything.”

“You and I will be long gone from this Universe when that happens. The Sentinels ~will~ die, sooner or later.”

“I vote later,” Izzy said, following Kasana with her eyes.

“This is of no concern to your race. You are far from all of us and have never even left your solar system. You have no say in the dealings of the Realm.”

“Yeah, I do. See, they chose me as the Queen, not you. They are inside me, not you. I might not know anything about the Realm, but I do know this. There is no way you are ever going to rule it!” Izzy said.

“Wrong! I will rule. I was born to rule. I will have that throne!” Kasana’s pale-orange skin took on a deeper bronze tone, and within her, Izzy felt Infernia stir even more.

The flashpoint of anger drew closer with every second, and Izzy could feel Aquaria trying to keep her at bay.

“I can’t change what you are going to do, but somehow, I will live to see you ~burn~ for this,” she said, spitting her hate toward the woman.

“You have quite the imagination. You humans are creative, I will give you that. But sadly, you are wrong. The way this will end is your son will die. Then he will die,” she said, pointing to Silian.

“And if you don’t give me what I want, I will leave you alive, in the prison below the Palace, for a long time. You can relive this day over and over in your mind as you wither away, slowly going insane.”

“You don’t get it, do you? The Sentinels would rather see me dead. Why do you think Prime hasn’t come to me yet? She knows exactly what you want to do, and she’s not stupid enough to fall into this trap.

“She would rather watch us all die than let you take control of this Realm. You have been weighed, measured, and you have been found wanting,” Izzy said, quoting one of her favorite movies.

“How dare you speak to me like that? You are nothing in this world. You could never understand what this Realm needs.”

“No. You’re probably right. I don’t have a clue what the Realm needs. I don’t know how to rule.

“And yet, I am still the Chosen One. Over the billions of people that live in the Realm, they chose me. And who am I to argue with that? After all, I’m just a nothing,” Izzy said.

“Enough of this. Summon Prime, or I will put your son on the table.”

“She isn’t listening to me. Neither are you. I have tried to summon her, but she’s ignoring me,” Izzy said.

The burning fire of Infernia and the gentle cooling of Aquaria boiling inside her made it hard to think. She could feel Infernia wanting to destroy everything around her, to burn them all, but Aquaria restrained her.

“Begin,” Kasana said, and turned to the doctor.

He nodded to her and went to his case, pulled out a long, thin spike, and walked over to Silian. He placed his hand on Silian’s forehead and slowly pushed the spike up his nose.

Silian let out a howl of agony and thrashed on the table. The doctor removed it and waited.

Izzy sobbed at the sound of his pain. She wanted so much to make this all stop, but it seemed like the Sentinels had chosen to abandon her.

She wept as Silian calmed and turned his head to look at Izzy, blood dripping out his nose. She met his eyes and saw only a virulent-green color. ~Green is for sadness. ~He looked through her as if she was not even there.

The doctor came back to him, this time holding a small hook on a long shaft. He went to Silian’s midsection and placed his hand on his stomach.

He brought the hook down to Silian’s belly button, and just as he was about to dig into him, Silian winked at her.