17 Devourer

Yeah. I know. Took too long? Hopefully this long chapter will make up for it. Do skim through previous chapters to realive the forgotten passages. Once again, an immense thank you for your patience.

P.s. unedited. Will be polished soon.

I have hands.

And fingers.

Fisting them i suppress the snooting jabbers of a professor who bore false teeth, long beard and contempt for peering at me with every sentence his voice carried across the classroom. His behaviour identical with the students who regard me in means of a mystic creature, futile to blame them as I watch my hands flatten across the fancy desk that I share with another girl, I feel her hectic gaze on me- I return her action and got rewarded with a flirtatious smile.

I wink.

She blushed.

I resume gazing at my hands. Flexing my gloved fingers. Accepting that I was pretty established within the female community, true enough that if I retire from this class for an esteemed break, I might come back to my bag brimmed with presents and flowers. Also some prominently hostile emotions from general population of youthful boys.

Morally, I could either be disgusted at the outcome of my lies or I could devour the ripe apple a senior girl approached me with this morning. This is my preceding to evil or madness. After what had happened at valutare three days ago- the lines of care and disregard had burred into a mush of what I am in present. I look around- a distilled observation of people here, so unsafe from me, a touch and I would waltz into their spirit with the qualities of termite that I bear.

Perhaps the thought would be treacherous in past, but Arran has made it a lot harder to be oneself. Not when I perilously kept convincing myself of it to be a lie. Of him to be a lie. The events of valutare are imprinted on my head and I can't escape, I can't tell and I cannot fathom. but I bask in the little glory of being left alone after that night.

It's been three days since Ezdan hauled me back to his chambers in his arms, too weak to protest, too strained to keep my eyes open I had let him take my shoes off, undo my hair and help me out of the coat. He sat by the foot of my bed, arguing with me to eat the food that was tasteless on my tongue. I felt like my body was drained to the fatal inch of my blood. He offered me his shoulder when remaining seated became a chore.

The last I felt of him was his hand on the back of my neck, cupped. Caressing the tense spine with a delicate tinge that should be illegalized. I had moaned with a sob at how painful the whole experience was. I had stared voluntarily at his steely eyes, they overflowed with emotions and he made no effort to repress them within.

He was letting him be seen.

Seen by me.

"I cannot do this" I cried to him. "I won't survive"

His hold on me vices.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to"

His thumb circled reassuringly beneath my ear. He tucked the strands of hair by the valley of my ear. His fingers passionate with care.

"But I need to" I whine like a child. I limp in his arms- he tucks me up again. Playing the anchor once more. "You don't know what I saw" my whisper is met with a fierce stare. My heart is erratic as I pull him near with a clutch to his collar.

"If you saw what I did, you won't reassure me. I have no other option Ezdan" my toes curl as I stifle my whimper "Not if I want blood of innocents on my hands"

He avoids my confession and pulls me into it. Into an embrace that is a spoken volume, because this touch is not lethal like that of valutare. This one brings me to life and hope. But then in the depths of my failing consciousness, I think I hear him speak, promise.

"I will take the blame if that's what it takes"

I stare at my hands. I glance at the professor in question. Our eyes meet once more. He steals them away as if a monster had issued him for his firstborn. Is that what they see? Unhinged me? Humans fear what they do not grasp. while I fear myself too- it's oddly hurtful to witness so many others judge me for it. They don't know my powers yet- the Lord had let me loose for some reason. I heard a rumour mill that Morana abandoned me after realizing the failed potential in me.

But mistaken were they in depths because he wasn't tired of me. If anything, the manner he watched me after I had caused wreckage was infatuation. An obsession with power. He was a a child in festival and I am his fair. If I could be allowed to smack the greed on from his face, I would. But I am afraid to touch him.

To even accidentally fall into his pile of memories that might be designed with blood. And who is aware of what else dirty nuisance lurks there. The class ends and I creep at the professor accessorily with a sleazy smile until he leaves the room in a rush. My mirth drops the second he was gone.

He must have a conspiracy theory for me, something similar to the subject he teaches. Or he most inevitably suspects that I rehearse witchcraft.

Retiring from the class I walk through the hallways, I see students take turns to brush their archery skills. On my right was a group of aspirants striding ahead. I squint when they come to a halt and circle me. The tall one in the middle had his smirk plastered halfway. He is spawning his ego with a belief that he has intimidated me. As mall crowd is compelled to navigate towards us. He nears and his stench is absurd, he smells like Forrest. I look down at his feet, and there it was.

Grass and flowers spurt from the lines of concrete by his steps. a manipulator of Flora. Lovely.

"Take a look at the ever-isolated and mighty Timo Kasper," he says as I retreat a step back at his advancement. His smile is slick with evil and childish intentions. His long hair only reminds me of Arran- and I am suddenly angry at my display of weakness. so I push my feet into the ground and watch him bare his pale yellow teeth "You think you are better than us don't you?"

"Since I am more proficient than you, I had neither that time to think nor to marvel about a person whose name- I do not know. Who are you though?" I arch my brow, horrible decision.

The sun is bright this morning, accentuating every little ugly detail of this boy as his bulky fingers crush my neckband, I feel the sole of my feet almost lift from the ground. But I maintain a pleasant face.

"What are you without your core? Oh, yes. by the daggers the power that you play the mysterious sophisticated Lad role with to lure girls around" he says, shaking me a little and I blink at his spineless ferocity.

"This for a girl?"

He morphs into a red ripe tomato.

"Fight like a man. No foul"

With that he kicks my ankle and I fall on my behind, my palms flat on the hard floor. I relax my neck with a tilt. When I get on my feet his fist are on their way to relate with my face, I duck- he punched air.

The blaring sun enjoys this encounter, it peeks through the cloud and I look at it for answers. It laughs at me. At my destiny.

So I mock at it's lonely fate.

The boy said no fouls.

Sadly I was a person full of lies. I take off my gloves and with every one of his hits, I predicted the next. I defuse them. I dodge them. Like a tiny annoying rat in barn that chews up the stock- I nibble with his self-esteem. The crowd that once belonged to him- now chants for me. I feel blood trickle up my chin.

He did shut my mouth once when I giggled at his tumble. He was successful.

But my powers weren't enough to hang with my diminishing energy. Though it was a mere near future I glimpsed into- it still sucked my strength. soon he twisted my arm, my grunt of pain was visibly loud. I managed to use my skull for once, bobbing it with force and rupturing his nose. the squelch of it was disgustingly sweet.

I wobble away with one good foot, his hand was lathered with blood from his broken bridge of a nose. His eyes watered with rage- he then extended his arm to do the one rule he stood against.

Foul.

His arm changed into a large truck of wooden lance, he came at me- wild and fast.

Then he slipped-

He danced in confusion at the slipperiness beneath his shoes where layers of white crystal formed upon the concrete. wide-eyed, without much to balance on, he fell. Face to ground. Right by my boots.

My gaze lifts to meet the intruder who stood there by the parted crowd with his hand raised, monitoring the build of his creation. He tucks them back in his suit and walks to me. carefully stepping over the boy stuck to ice only moving his eyes around for help. He comes and stood by my side to inspect his aftermanth with distaste.

"Disappointed I had to interfere. Only if you hadn't played dirty" Erix Morana notifies the boy who decolourized when he comprehended who it was. The rest were no better "Snowflake here was phenomenal until you let your resentment consume you. And also I am not particularly peaceful with situations that intend to harm something or rather someone associated with me"

The still nameless boy mumbles a series of incoherent words that sounded apologetic and terrified in nature. But Erix widely conceded the other students with a fancy smile.

"I hope this will abide as a lesson on discipline and commitment fellow aspirants" he lets his threat or lesson or what on surface it is settled among them before switching to me "And as for disrespect towards my Ace, consider this a warning for ones own well being"

It's sheer luck that I don't end up shivering at his words, instead, I thrive with satisfaction as he walks away a few steps. He then turned to look at me with a tired lid.

"Do you require an invitation to join me snowflake?" Sliding and clinging to his aura I look at the melting ice soaking the boy in, he lifts his head and looks around for his friends for aid. But they walk away from him without a single consideration. In Falls, everyone fends for themselves, it's the intent of it. But my dependence on these Highbornes only relies on till I have learned to host my power. Once done-

I need to go back. I have to read the past where the future resides. I have to know what I am- and who he is.

I need to see Arran.

And for that- I need him to train me.

Morana takes a secret passage similar to the one Ezdan took on the night of valutare, not one single soul visible from Moranas mansion till the silhouette of his chamber cane into existence- despite my state that wise, I had felt it. This place was a maze, the highbornes know the tricks to escape, they have a whole life down the ground beneath the surface and when we ascended from the route it was a narrow opening at the beginning- then the fence greets me. A large opening of grassland, a portion far away from Falls. A private sector.

"I cheated first" I confess when the silence got unbearable. I had used my ability times before he did.

"I know"

"Then why did you blame him"

"Because I could" he shrugs, opening a door to the fence where numerous horses strolled "Why did he fight you anyways, what did you do?"

I was surprised at the crippling interest he had in my story. Slowly I joined next to him. His steps were lenient, drilled even.

"It was because of a girl he fancied. I think she found me desirable instead of him" I say smugly, I need to treat my head.

"Must be blind"

Yes. He is annoying.

"Many do. Many girls fancy me"

He is thoughtful for a moment, what word his mouth follows is mean. Very mean.

"I see the standard has reduced to a very drastic level"

His jaw is chiselled and its invites a meaty slap on his face in my lawless imagination. But his declarations don't end there- there are more that he has reckoned and he has not a hair of shame in sharing it.

"But if they admire you for the leverage you carry, I approve them" he chuckles, his eyes light and pleased "Trust me if you were a girl I would have wedded you myself. Why leave such an alliance to waste? Imagine the heir born of such power"

A pain shoots through my ankle and I applaud it because it stopped me from imagining his predicaments. I dab my wrist against the cut on my lips, the blood has dried and so has my fear for him. Erix morana takes the form of a strange highborne I have had the honour of meeting as he snickered at his gag and brushed the hood of his horse.

"Is power everything that you think of my Lord?" His movement halts, his cold stare is a plunge to my bravery. The demeanour morphed so quick that I forgot the numbers to count.

"What made you think you can ask me such questions?"he eyes tapers, perhaps I hurried to limit his nonchalance.

My lips seals and I swallow. Harsh. My palms sweat and his range turns cold. Do his emotions regulate his temperature? Similar to how dorin claims he does?-

"I- I did not. I mean Lord-

His stony face breaks into a civil smile and I am struck at the vigour of his to appear so unreal. He is a murderer and yet something about him feels wrong. Or is it me who seems to hate him less by the moment when I must be loathing him for his deeds?

"Ask me anything, except about my greed" he pats his horse, and it nips on his ears. He lets her do so "It's something I exude. Desire is better witnessed than told"

There is a sinister tone to his every truth. He inherited the Lordship at the tender age of nineteen, but tender is not a term to associate him with. He is ambitious like the rest of his kind, but the only difference is, he is honest with it. He is ethically bare with his longings that it's envious to know a person could be so bad and yet is admirable-

-To have a freedom like his.

"Can you ride?"

He puts one of his feet on the saddle and I nod fervently.

"Good" he snaps his fingers twice at a beautiful black Friesian and she is delighted to catch his signal and gallops to us "You shall use her for the return" with that he claps once and the friesian sprints to him, he leaves on his horse with the wake of soil flicking around.

Mormentarily I am stunned at the scene as he disappears into the fog of trees that pave into the forest.

Few seconds pass.

Then-

I frown. I brace. I run.

***

The seconds change to minutes and minutes to hour. The time, distance and grove that he vanished into only had embossed a trail in mud which I slice through. It was my map. My focus never deters once for I believe in myself to do it. My first test will define me- if I am able enough to hold, I might be just an inch closer to finding Arran in the past. I can die while securing answers. As they quote it-

It would be a waste of ability with a weak body like mine.

My breath comes off in quick huffs when I come to a halt. Bending over with my hands to knees the instance his white cluster and his mighty white horse peeks through the opening. He sat on a rock, a mat unrolled upon protecting his stark clothing.

I retrieve a thin branch from my hair, infrequent leaves from my body I dust as i walk to him. I see the lake behind him, the slant lands and greens that surround us- the evening air kisses my skin like dew does to leaf. I am reminded of why I had craved my freedom every moment of the decade I had lived and why I still strive to fight for it.

Up near the virtue of nature the silvers and whites of Erix Morana were delicate. They don't remind me of swords or snow anymore. But of a lone moon in sky, too many stars surrounding him but all disloyal and far. All a show.

While Ezdan had reduced himself to someone less than a prince in exchange for friends and cause. Morana has raised himself up to ambitions that will leave him alone in the end. He is someone who will sell his mercy for power.

"Must admit," he says playing with the link of his cuffs on his wrist "I am impressed"

Murderer or not, to hear a compliment from him bought a sick joy-

"I am impressed at how long it can take for one person to get here. You just set a record"

May he bald before he reaches the ripe age of twenty-five.

My head arches, and I clasp my hand in obedience. Pest or a Monster, he still was my teacher. By the experience with the old man I have aced with my service to the pretentious snobs.

"Will strive to better My Lord" my voice is biting and daring. His eyes flicker to my ankle and a searing pain shoots through it. A small smile wake by his lips. Genuine.

"You are better" he angles his head to side with a sweet grin, my resolve crumble with an unwillingness to believe his effort at bonding. My scepticism was overruled as he came over and crouched on one of his knees to inspect my ankle. I cross it behind my other before he could reach me. Amused, he cranes to question me in silence. My cheeks heat.

"You are not wearing a sheath sir," I say. His fingers twitch with a vague emotion. He us simply so pale. His eyes, ridiculously more vibrant than the sky.

"Saving yourself from a trauma?" he says, attaining his full height "Clever. I will be afraid to have a glimpse at my future too" reluctantly I step away. sliding off my boots and sock, and folding my trouser I dip my leg into the water. I wince at the sensation of the warmth the lake has borrowed from the morning sun. But it changes like a season, its temperature. Soon numbing my wounds with it chillness. I don't allow myself to counter or thank him for his assistance.

I am arrogant for that.

"The thing with being born with a proficiency is to accept it as part of you and the elements that comes with it," he says, a blank unexplainable page takes over his visage- almost as if he was reliving a moment in his narration. "With you- it's time. it must be hard to accept it as your own. many lost lives trying to master it because it became harder to remember where they had come from. They forgot to return to existence. To their present. But with you- it's different. You seem like you are born different"

My toes tingle at the seamless numbness from ice-cold water, I shift to understand him. His words. He stared ahead awaiting my bundle of queries.

"What makes you think that I am different?" I ask nervously, prepared for what he has to say.

"For once, you are still alive" I nod, solemnly confused. he crosses his arms and his jaw clipped "And you had a vision when you were tested with valutare"

The plaque- though they don't know what I saw, it must have been evident that I had lost myself in time as he mentions it.

"The room of Valutare is earned of Ezdanian blood. You breached through its barrier. valutare is merely there to evaluate the energy, it's not made to pry into it. Its an impossibility. You...are an impossibility. You are against the law that keeps the balance" he announced. It wasn't a choice, but my body numbs to its last cell and I hear the commotion at the night in orphic. Of what Marlon Saga had claimed when I had breached through the fence. A foul then. A foul now. But there is something funny in this scenario for Morana as he grins widely "It also means that Julian isn't immune to you. Let alone the sarkim. The one thing that makes the Ezdans distinct, are not special for you"

With all he revealed, my mind could venture mere into a single aspect.

The ezdan knows.

He must have known of this for a while now.

Not once had he been in my vicinity without his sheath, unlike morana who doesn't seem to worry with it- The Ezdan had been cautious. I hadn't seen him since two days either, and I had that night latched it up as a dream for his emotions felt mythical. but I had woken up in his chamber, I had dressed for the day and returned to the university because that was what he demanded of me with a note by the ink desk.

'Resume your schedule'

As per his edict, I returned. I continued. I never waited for him as Arran had taken up the little space in mind to think for. But his wonder was a constant shadow of mine.

But now as I listen to Morana Something stirs in me. the unfamiliar dread of blindness. What was he hiding?

Why is he hiding? From me.

"It's also strange that he was supposed to be here for the session. But he isn't" he strolls to the rock, glancing over his strong shoulder he continued "He did not tell you that he is equally a mentor to you as much as I am? He was ready to raise a council when I denied the offer. Surprising"

I don't speak. I don't move. Not until he called me over and I walked barefoot. He noticed but didn't blow a remark., But gestured at the mat- I sat on it with a meditative pose at his lucid instruction. He picked a long stick from the storage hood of his horse and stood in front, facing me.

In a subtle awkwardness, I raise my brows in question.

"Concentration is the key snowflake" he taps the wand with his free hand. Twice "If your focus slips, this-" he waves the cane " will remind you of your mistake"

I scowl, I chew on my bottom lip and I nod unconvinced.

"Any last question?" he asks, his blue eyes ablaze with curious expectations.

"What do you drive your energy from?"

"Ivyaki" he misses the stone I have become, his words are sharp and cruel - But to him, it's a fact as he continuous "The Glaze is the heart of my core"

Peeling the rotten layer from my face I smile, closing my eyes to the world as I search for an image to concentrate on. I grow reluctant when I felt his stare on me and the unconditional stillness of the atmosphere. I open my eyes in a wink to peep when a long minute passed.

An indignant strike lands on my arm, I cocoon back to my attempt with an apology.

"May I ask what I should be concentrating on my lord?" I ask, my eyes darting beneath my closed lids as if I could see his response. it comes quiet in a form of another hit to my left. "Why would you-" I whine in complain.

His knuckle, this wise raps atop of my head -

-And I seal my lips with a bitter twitch.

"I can see you still. And I saw that" I squirm awaiting another hit when it doesn't befall-

My posture sighs in relief.

The whack comes sooner than my own breath.

"Ow. Why was it this time?"

It earns me another.

Invasive fear of more smacks cause me to drowse in silence. Lest be hour I sat their impersonating a sculpture, I gave up on the voyage to find my energy and improvised my mood by anticipating the dishes that they might serve in quarters tonight for dinner.

Thus in the fit of hunger I began to wonder of time and it's infinite powers that cannot be stopped. It goes and with it us. It heals and it wounds us.

These voiceferrous impressions soon leads me to a strange sensation, initially my body clogs into a dense state, like something was filling my lungs with more air then in needs. And then- and then-

-I bloom like a flower. A posture of relaxation where I found an aggressive serenity tapers the rest of my consciousness. The stone grows light under me, or Was it me? So light like a feather, unaware like fish in water, Like a world of my own. Free. free as a stream or river, as a baby's sleep I stay such listening intently to the gush and harmony of everything that surrounds me. My heart. The lake, the bird in sky and the wind in Forrest. I drink in the emotion hungrily with ecstasy so greedy that I wasn't willing to let it go.

And then I hear him.

Erix.

"You can wake up"

It's an echo. From directions all around me. He sounds far yet close. But so powerful. My eyes move beneath my closed lids.

"But it's been just few minutes since I....since i-" I say, reaching desperately for the calmness that withered as a result of his intervention.

"Open your eyes snowflake" this was dangerously sharp an utterance. I do as he said and I am welcomed by the last streak of sunset across the black sky. My eyes are hostage to the night in front of me. I feel his composure beside me, sitting on the rock with a couple of wooden sticks in his grasp that he tossed at the fire he had lit. one at a time.

"How?"

my whisper is met with a feline smile. I gulp the brisk horror in my mouth, my heart thrilled at the idea of what I had experience.

"The time bows for you. It is you and you are her" the fire eats up another strip of wood feds it's way. "Don't bury your doubts, play with her until she plies to your command" he then pats my shoulder not so gently to mark his tutorship with a proud grin.

And all I could do was play, play with ideas on what could lead me back to Arran.

Because he has answers that I seek and I have time that I can deter.

***

Erix morana allowed me the horse he bought with him, how gracious of him to care of my worn muscles as he took us to mid-town. An area bustling with men and women of high houses who recognised him with respect and me with disgust. when I took a peek at my uniform and face in a shop glass nearby, I understood why. I pick out a yellow autumn leaf sticking sourly atop my mane of a hair. Cuts and dust paint my cheeks and the blue rich fabric of my coat. The dried blood might be the stickiest of all.

Morana was porcelain and I was a porch smudged upon by a duet of buffaloes. I probably even smelled like them. I must glorify my achievements in silence but here I was comparing their outer refinement with mine. It's scary how quickly this city could change one's priorities. Like bees to a flower, a flock of girls in ornaments and scarcely wrapped gowns rush the moment Morana entered a lavish building, lit around with exotically dressed women and men embellishing the hall themselves. There's faint music being played from somewhere.

Music.

A luxury that one could never afford in Ivyaki. The skill wasn't enough for survival- the world too grey for such vibrance. The closest one could ever be recited as music was a mothers lullaby sang to their child. Sadly most of us weren't lucky enough to have one. A mother.

I look at Morana with disappointment masked with shock. he is occupied, speaking to a girl's ear which causes her to fitter in giggles. He is amused himself at her reaction, but soon they leave him with dreamy eyes and he once again is guiding me in.

"Is this a brothel My lord?"

"It certainly is"

A girl fans her fan, a sultry squint my way causes nausea to run through me.

"Should I perhaps leave for the palace My Lord?" he is mobile, unlocking doors to pretty hallways and prettier men and women. our footsteps aren't louder than the bystander's exclamations and unrest. But unlike the Ezdan and his ever-sealed lips, the Morana speaks. He describes what he intends because the sooner we reached his designated space- I hear him.

"They have decent baths here" he sinks on a seat, crossing his arms, he leans by a chaise lounge while I, in despair watched the water titillate by the colossal pool house. Glasses painted with angelic women made up the walls and the ceiling reflected us, entirely stacked with mirrors the scent from melting candle wax drifts in when I inhale tightly. My chin dipped and my brows lowered at the scene. Perplexed.

"Unfortunately the water isn't trained to come out and wash you Snowflake. you have to get in" He said. I pause.

"So the bath isn't for you?"

"Do I appear filthy?"

His brow peaks and not a tint of dirt cheeps through his lapels. His blue eyes are bored now- So is the tone of his utterance.

"Get in. Take your clothes off. We have to return back in time for dinner" at the end of his impatience two girls sauntered in with silk robe, they fastened either side of mine- slipping off my cape and coat- leaving me in my shirt. Flailing away from them a shriek escapes me. The girls weren't demotivated. They stalked me in. Morana chuckled finely, his humour apparent as he grabbed and flipped a book open to read. His head dunks and I warn the girls to stay far away from me.

"I can do it myself" I glare.

"They are paid to help" comes his annoying interruption, he still had his gaze latched to the book.

"I don't have money to pay them"

"I do"

"I wish for privacy"

"I wish for the throne" he tilts, there's a cool calmness in his eyes "But it's seldom do we get what we wish for" the corner of his mouth lifts the slightest. The book once more wins his engagement. But this time he had an order-

"Leave him alone. He is not a man yet" their faces fall, and they stare at Morana longingly- most probably the money that may come from him- but he not once glanced their way, after a crucial display of aggravation towards me they swivel to leave- but an ear-shattering boom morphed their silent retirement into screaming chaos. The painful ring in my ears is as alive as the blood in my body and the dust in the room.

Grey - a storm of it.

My stumble is a consequence from the furious yank of my shoulder as an arrow cuts through a place I vacated- Erix flicks another such weapon with an icy pike while his hand claws at my arm.

When the smoke settles it leaves a terrible spice on my tongue and two bodies on the floor with a man who stood in between with his sword smeared with blood. The scarf masking his face wasn't the sole inkling of Edzans disguise, but the coldness with which his eyes regarded us to hide his fury was breathing in me. The pulse of his emotions- it beats with my heart.

"There are more," he says, curving his wrist to twist the sword. The two girls huddled by the corner seek shelter by fleeing. It certainly, was an action that we should be mimicking as well, but the two men stood they're protecting their honour and I believe I was witnessing Ezdan assassinating two men in armour under a film of mist. The awareness of them being predators from birth hasn't been so real as of this moment, so when the glass shatters and threats pour in, the Lord and the Prince organize into a stance- Erix with his arms drawn up with a sinister smile- and Ezdan with his sword lax in boredom.

It shifts the second they charge.

Unlatching my knife from the buckle of my boot I breathe with my mouth, Tired from the day and pissed at the attackers for ambushing at such an odd hour, more angry than afraid to do one thing I have learned to be good at-

Defending my life.

It has become a chore by now.

So when Erix freezes their vision, the one immune to his power breakout. They had Ezdan awaiting them with a special form of fling that cut through their life or limb.

"May I ask who these guests are your Highness?" asks Erix with a stagger. "They here for you?" Pike of ice crystals rise from the bed of water, impaling their feet, their anguish was wild from their screams. But the Lord's doubts came not from Ezdan but from one of the men.

"Grab the boy" hollered the assailant, A light blinds me and soon a girl had my wrist bound behind. I gasp, feeling the knife slip from my finger, her movements are quicker than a wings flap. Unnatural. High blood.

She is a wagon running at the pace of a thunderclap. Fast-unimaginably fast for everyone else. Everyone else, but me.

It's a privilege to find my footing as the time stalled, its pace suspended by me. The mayhem around us slowed, people and glass in the air. Weapons took their time to drop. Bullets in the air lazier than a sunset and my abductor clear as the day.

She was free of armour, her power perhaps had always been her camouflage. but tonight it was foolish of her- She was so young, no more than my age. The shock of the situation is an apparent flaw in her eyes. She must be used to dominate the duel with her shadows. With her speed. The speed that is controlled by time. The time, that's mine.

But now, I stood there with her.

In her time.

In her limit.

When I punch her, I listen to the crack in her jaw as the rope she had furrowed to bind me with falls to the ground. She wasn't a good fighter, like a bat in the day she blindly clapped her arms to cease me in. I move away before she could feel me, despite being inexperienced she still was bigger than me, and if tackled- I might not be able to expel myself.

Then nausea kisses me. My head is light as I fumble from my spot. The moment and noise seeping back into normalcy. I see them fighting. Erix and Ezdan. I see them winning. I see their concern. but it's too late, the corners of the bath press into my calves and my body fails.

The cold water knocks shock and consciousness into me. I hear the splash as the water soaks into the fabric of my clothes. Fervently weak even to break through the surface I let the water wade me in- but an arm snatches the tranquillity away as it jerks me up.

Ezdan.

The selfish Ezdan.

Drunk in the ecstasy of fatigue I torment my heed towards the unconditional silence around us. broken glasses, frozen bodies, impaled figures and injured men who would rather die than be alive in Antarian prison loiters the chamber. Morana watched me keenly as if his stare hardened even a spectre would shatter me. I am sluggish, I am drained.

"You don't look fine" I am forced to look at Edzan when he shakes me to attention. His grey eyes are erratic as if searching my face and my stature, my soul for any damage.

What ill is he looking for while he is the cause?

"Was I ever?" I whisper resonating a snort, he stilled. His eyes are million tales at once as they met mine. The cold from Moranas powers is merciless, My lips tremble and my body shivers- Ezdan shrugs the coat from his shoulder and wraps me in it. Spreading it across me gently. But gentle wasn't the utterance of Erix Morana that cut through severely.

"You knew"

It was a statement. For Ezdan. Who refused to acknowledge something which sloughed me with confusion. A paranoia until I shift to meet my reflection in the mirror. It revealed my true self without an ounce of disguise- the water had washed away every last of my facade for him to see. Them to know.

For Erix to interpret.

And He does it with vanity.

"You knew she is a girl. It's the reason you were so protective of her" I snap my neck to meet Moranas shameless stare, he watched me as if he was memorizing the sculpted detail of me in without a clause. A confident smile houses his lips as Ezdan, who kneeled beside me closed his eyes, his frustration an emotion strong enough for me to feel. "Is it why you won't let me be alone with her?"

My blinks hinders, a beautiful sleep seduces me and I look down to see Edzans sheathed hand upon me. He was governing my heart- he was putting me to sleep. but I stay awake, I force it when he picks me up in his arms.

My gaze slits as my head rests on his chest, he stops by Morana and I cease feeling the weight of his words. But I hear him.

"Hurt her in any way, and you'll be known for your untimely death"

A/N: so...the cat is out of the box huh. What do you think Erix will do next? :)