lights, and she heard the angry screeching of Nadesha.
Awkwardly, she pushed herself to her feet. Her right leg was still not responding and when she looked down, she had to fight down the urge to throw up.
The flesh was ripped apart, making her leg resemble something from a slaughter house. It was broken in several places and was hanging limply in an unnatural angle.
She staggered to the wall, so she could support herself against it. The claw-like marks on her arms were stinging, but it was nothing against the pain in her leg.
Suddenly she heard a piercing scream. She turned her head just in time to watch Nadesha throw herself in front of Ilyan, just as a blast of green flames was about to hit him. Selissa watched as her body fell limply to the ground. Even from where she stood, she could see Nadesha’s eyes stare lifelessly into the air from where she lay on the ground.
She could not hear what was said, only watch as Ilyan picked up the Nadesha’s limp body and held it closely to his chest. She could see his lips move, but she had no idea what his last words to Alassane were, before he disappeared into the darkness of the temple corridors.
The blood loss was making her light headed, but she fought to keep upright. She wanted to run when she saw the skeletal form of Alassane approach her.
The flames in his eye sockets died out and pale skin slowly started stretching across his face as he came closer. Eyes started growing back and the look in them was apologetic.
“Selissa, let me explain…” He said quietly as to not scare her.
“Get away from me!” She screeched. She backed away as quickly as she could with her wounded leg, but she still had to support herself against the wall.
Alassane’s appearance had now returned completely to how she remembered him, but the image of stark white bones was burned into her mind. She could never look at him the same again.
“Please just calm down and let me explain.” He begged. She had never heard him beg before.
He stepped a bit closer and she snapped. “I said get away from me!” She shouted and sent a ray of magic towards him. It hit him square in the stomach and sent him flying to the ground. It hadn’t been enough to seriously injure him, but he still didn’t try to get up.
“I have had enough, do you hear me?!” She yelled. Fear, frustration and fury surged through her, and she felt angry tears run down her cheeks.
“I don’t care anymore!” She shouted, letting out all the frustrated feelings she had locked away the last few months. “I don’t care about demons or angels! I don’t care about rituals or a symbol that supposedly makes me special!”
Alassane opened his mouth to protest, but Selissa didn’t want to hear any of it. “You’re just as bad as any of them! I don’t even know what you are!” Her throat was getting sore, but she kept yelling. “I’m done here! I’m done with all of this and I’m done with you! You dragged me into this without telling me anything and now you’re on your own!”
Her fury seemed to melt together with the magic coursing through her body. White light shot out from her hands and seemed to circle around Alassane. It wrapped itself around him and held him down.
Her fury was numbing the pain in her leg and the flow of magic kept her going. She turned around and started to walk away, deaf to Alassane shouting her name.
She didn’t look back even once.
Several Weeks Later
32
She was surrounded. Red eyes watched her from the shadows, beast like faces snarling at her from everywhere. Claws ripping into her, trying to tear out her very soul.
The sound of giant wings beating. Angel wings...
A grinning face without skin, burning with the fires of Hell… The sound of screams piercing through the air…
Selissa woke with a start, the scream dying on her lips. Her body was shaking slightly, and when she looked at her hands, they were covered in cold sweat.
She was no stranger to nightmares, but she couldn’t pretend they were merely dreams anymore.
She threw away the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Long, white scars met her eye as she looked down at her leg. The wounds had long since healed, but the pain was still a vivid memory.
The morning sun was peeking in through the window and bathing the inn room in a soft light. She went to the window, not even bothering to get dressed, and threw it open. The cool morning air washed over her and helped her calm her racing heart. She took in a deep breath, letting it clear her head, before turning to get dressed.
After pulling on her clothes, she made her way downstairs and smiled shakily at the elderly innkeeper. He was an old man who had trouble walking, so he let her stay at his inn for free in exchange for her running errands for him.
“Good morning, my dear.” He said as she came down the stairs. “Slept well?”
As much as she hated lying to him, he didn’t need to worry about her. “Just fine, Elias.” She told him smiling. “Do you have anything I need to help out with today?”
“The brewer needs to get his payment for the last shipment today, so I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to bring it to him.” Elias said apologetic. Selissa couldn’t help smiling at him. Even though he let her stay there free of charge, he felt bad for asking her to go to the other end at town.
She told him it was no problem and accepted the payment for the brewer, before leaving the inn. She looked back at it over her shoulder as she walked away. She had stayed there for a few weeks, and she knew she had to leave soon.
She sighed resigned. She had just started liking Elias. All the more reason to leave.
She hadn’t heard anything of the Demios since the encounter at the temple of Cadeyrn, but she wasn’t naive enough to believe they had given up on her.
After she had left Alassane, she had briefly considered returning to the temple of Issara, but she knew she would only bring the people there in danger. From now on, she was on her own.
She forced her dark thoughts from her mind. She wouldn’t get caught up in it again.
‘You can’t run forever.’ She gritted her teeth in anger.
“Shut up! I want nothing to do with you!” She sneered, earning her several alarmed looks from passing people. “Just leave me alone…”
Cadeyrn’s presence faded away, but kept lingering in the back of her mind. No matter what she did, she couldn’t pretend he wasn’t there.
She tried not to let her bad mood show as she entered the brewery.
The brewer was a grumpy, middle-aged man. She had only met him a couple of times, but he had already made it clear that he didn’t like her. At all. He made an annoyed huff, when he saw her enter.
“What are you doing here, gal?” He asked surly and scowled at her. Selissa merely smiled at him.
“I’m here to deliver the payment from Elias.” She said calmly. Being around Alassane had really done wonders for her temper. She felt her face turn grim as his name popped into her head, and she immediately plastered a fake smile onto it. She was not going to think about him…
The brewer grabbed the bag of coins from her hand without a word. He grumbled quietly to himself as he counted the content. He looked up at Selissa, who was standing silently in the doorway when he was done.
“What are you standing there for? Get out!” She supposed that meant that she didn’t need to bring any messages back to Elias, and she silently slipped out the door.
With nothing more to do, she started to make her way back. Deciding to take a short cut, she strayed from the main road and went into one of the side alleys.
The small alleys were deserted, and the sounds from the busy main street quickly disappeared as she made her way through them. The town was run down like so many other Sinarian towns near the border, and most people didn’t want to venture into the small roads and away from the crowd.
She understood why when she heard muted footsteps behind her. She didn’t slow down, and she didn’t look over her shoulder, but she knew
someone was following her.
More sets of footsteps joined in, and she knew she was in trouble.
She picked up her pace slightly and turned abruptly into another side road. Maybe she could shake them off…
She kept on changing direction, hoping that they would lose track of her. However, the sounds of footsteps didn’t stop.
A couple of men stepped into the street in front of her and blocked her path. The look in their eyes told her clearly that they weren’t just passing by.
She turned around, only to discover several more men closing in on her from behind.
This couldn’t possibly be good.
ℓ
She was surrounded and unarmed. In no way her ideal situation.
Seven to one. Selissa admitted to herself that she might have a slight disadvantage. But there was no way she was going down without a fight.
“So, are you going to give us what you have, or are we going to do this the hard way?” One of the men asked. She scoffed. He had no idea what the “hard way” was in her world.
“I don’t have anything for you. Go find someone else to play with.” She said and stared at him as calmly as she was able to. He stiffened for a moment when he looked into her silver eyes, but he quickly tried to cover up his uneasiness.
“Nah, I think we would rather play with you…” He sneered and drew a short sword. She made a mental note to never go anywhere without her swords again.
He signaled the others, and one of them charged at her with a drawn sword. She spun out of his reach, before kicking away his feet
Resounding Echo Page 22