No, Ithra! You will kill yourself!
ITHRA
Shilhi saw to her words.
I felt the twist of a knife in my back, and I shouted at the pain that followed it.
“How does that feel?” She asked from behind me. “Terrible isn’t it?” She dragged my hair from behind and whispered in my ears. “That’s exactly how the clan felt when you switched sides in the dark forest.”Original from NôvelDrama.Org.
“I never betrayed anyone…” I managed to say, and she pushed the knife further into my back.
I felt the sharp edge scratch my heart.
“Stop… don’t kill her, please..” Watching Zadok beg brought a bitter taste to my mouth.
I felt my wolf whimper at the sight of him struggling to get out of that darned enchanted circle.
Shilhi did a perfect work. After successfully capturing us, the first thing she did was to place a spell that hindered us from transforming into our wolves.
My wolf, Adira, was reduced to a figment of my imagination. I could not feel her anymore. The only thing I felt was the bond between Zdok’s wolf that reminded me that she was still alive, somewhere.
“For someone who is going to die soon, you sure have a lot of requests.” Shilhi hissed and continued her assault on me.
Before me, laid all sorts of weapons. Knives of various kinds, spears and even poisonous herbs. Shilhi took her precious time informing us of the things she had prepared to ensure Zadok had a spectacular time watching.
“Since we don’t have any more spots in your body, I think it’s time we moved to the herbal side of things.” She said, picking up some dark green leaves. “Let’s see how you do with this.”
I didn’t raise my head. I felt like if I moved even a little bit, the knife in my back would kill me. It was that close to my heart.
Shilhi didn’t care. She forced my head up and I felt the knife slice through my heart.
“Arggghhhhh!” I screamed, feeling my heart bleed within me.
“Aww. Did that hurt?” Shilhi said in a mock concerned tone. “I’m sorry. Did it scratch your heart?”
I bit my lips, unable to bear the pain that flowed through my system. Every breath I took led me closer to my death. The pain in my chest made the others feel non-existent.
I was dying. I could feel it. And so did Zadok.
“Don’t…” I heard the far cry of Zadok, “Don’t you dare give up on me, Ithra.” He warned, “Don’t give up on us…” His voice broke at the end of his statement.
I wanted to tell him I had no plans of giving up on him. I wanted so badly to assure him I would fight, but that would be a lie. My body was shutting down and I could feel it.
“Where were we?” Shilhi returned, holding leaves in her hands. “It’s almost midnight.” She announced, sounding sad. “Despite how much I would have loved to hang out with you guys and drag this out, I’m eager to meet my comrades so this would be your last treat before I finish you off.”
I raised my head and the knife in my back scratched my heart further, causing me to cough out blood. “You will pay for this.” I spat. “I promise you will not-”
Shilhi forced the leaves into my mouth, roughly shoving them down my throat. Due to the force exerted, the knife at my back sliced another part of my heart. My eyes widened, and blood dripped in place of tears.
A loud growl made its way to my ears. That was Zadok. “Mate!” I heard him say, and at that moment, I realised it was not Zadok.
Zadok has taken a bow out, and Kir was at the forefront. I forced myself to look at him and his eyes were horrified, and a deeper shade of brown.
I knew those brown eyes. They belonged to a certain wolf I was very fond of. Kir. However, gone was the light that used to be in it. Kir exuded a darkness that I had never seen before.
“I see the Alpha has made an appearance!” Shilhi said, laughing to herself. “I was getting worried I was not using the right technique. You are highly welcome, Alpha Kir. Such a pleasant surprise.”
“Leave her. Leave mate.” His words were straight to the point.
Despite talking through Zadok’s body, Kir’s voice remained unrivalled. Hard, and packing an absolute command.
Shilhi placed her fingers on her jaw, sporting a thinking gesture. Two seconds later, she replied. “How about, No.” She walked towards Zadok, standing a few feet away from the enchanted circle. “You’ve been a very bad wolf, Kir. You killed every single one of my kind you could lay your hands on. It’s only fair I returned the favour, don’t you think?”
Before Zadok could answer, Shilhi gasped. “It’s time!”
I felt my body react to the poison, and my eyes, nose and ears bled.
“No…” I muttered,
Shilhi looked at the sky and smiled. “I’ve waited for this moment for so long.” She turned around and started chanting some words, with her eyes focused on me.
I felt my body swell with power. Suddenly, strength came upon me, so much that I knew what to do with it. In that might, I cut the ropes that bound me, ready to attack Shilhi when a circle appeared around me – hindering me from moving forward.
“Not so fast, hunny.” Shilhi snapped and continued her chants.
The moon shone more brighter than ever and I felt the powers paralysing me. “What are you doing?” I asked in fear, watching half of my body reduce to a paralytic state.
“You may not know what powers you have within you. But I do,” She cackled. “Since you have no use for them anyway, I’ll just borrow them for this night.”
“Rise!” She called in a loud voice, and suddenly, a wind blew around us and the dust rose to the air.
I watched in shock as the dust formed living bodies in their thousands – more than I have ever seen.
“Kill him!” She ordered and some of the rogue wolves headed for Zadok who was lying on the floor, a few inches from the circle, weak and clutching his heart with bloodshot eyes.
“No!” I screamed with power and a protective shield formed Zadok.
Shilhi turned furious. With one glance, the shield shattered, leaving Zadok open to harm. “Leave him alone!” I screamed, a bright light shot out of me and the rogues around him fell to the ground, reducing to a pile of dust.
Immediately, I realised something. They weren’t real. The rogues around her were not alive. They were just walking dead. Just like the ones she planned to raise, and use our blood to give them life.
Shilhi saw the understanding look in my eyes and immediately focused her attacks on me. “Die!” She said, and I felt my heart weaken.
I followed my instinct, and channeled the power within me, shooting them like arrows. Shilhi dodged them with ease. Frustrating me the more.
“The more you use your power, the weaker you become,” She taunted. “Just die!”
A black sword came from her body and pierced my heart. I suddenly felt weaker than I started. I couldn’t keep this up. I looked around me and saw the army rising, as the dust formed them in multitude.
“Give up. It’s over.”
I breathed heavily, examining the situation. If I decided to kill the army, I would die in the process, I didn’t have enough strength within me.
However, if I killed Shilhi, her army would go down with her. But how do I kill the soul of Sarai? There was no assurance that she would be gone forever if I destroyed her host body.
“I will not only kill you, I will shatter your heart to a tiny million pieces, you’ll never have the opportunity to return ever again.” She threatened, pushing the knife into my heart.
That’s it. Her heart.
I gathered every life force within me, as I prepared for my one final shot. If I missed, then we were doomed.
“What are you doing?” She asked, wary of me.
I didn’t answer. I didn’t have breath to waste. My eyes shone a bright red colour and my hair rose in flames.
“Die,” I muttered and shot out every atom of power inside me directly to her heart. “You wanted my power?” I smirked, “Take it.”
“No! Ithra! You will kill yourself!” I heard Zadok say from his circle but I didn’t care.
I was ready to die if it meant putting an end to this madness.