Resounding Echo

by Michelle Louring

“If you leave now, they will never stop hunting you.”

  She clenched her jaw and looked away. She didn’t want to hear it, but she knew he was right.

  “What do you want me to do?” She asked in frustration.

  “As long as he is alive, he will come for you again.” He said softly.

  “So you want me to kill him?” She asked.

  “It’s the only way to be free of him.” He said calmly. She looked at him, feeling lost. Killing came so easily to him, but she had never intentionally hunted someone down to kill them. She didn’t know if she was strong enough.

  She looked at Calen, who was hanging limply from Ardeth’s shoulders. They had kidnapped and tortured him. All because of her. And if she didn’t end this, they would do so again.

  “He’s in the basement, isn’t he? In the ritual room…” She said slowly. For some reason, she had a feeling he was waiting for her. He had not come after her personally, but sent his undead minions. He would be there.

  Ardeth watched her silently, knowing that she wasn’t waiting for an answer. She turned on her heels and started walking back the way she came.

  She would end this tonight.

  46

  The candles’ flames flickered slightly, when she opened the door and entered the ritual room.

  Ardeth had left Calen upstairs and was following close behind her. Her eyes roamed the room, and the first thing she noticed was the body of the Devourer lying bleeding on the floor.

  She kneeled down next to it, already knowing it was dead.

  “I’m sorry.” She said quietly. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

  It had died protecting her, and she wouldn’t let its sacrifice be in vain. Too many had gotten hurt because of her.

  “I see you have come for me.” Ilyan stepped out of the shadows as she stood up. For once, his appearance didn’t strike fear into her mind. Now there was only determination. She had come to end this, and she would.

  She drew both of her swords and slowly lowered them in front of her. The only sound in the room was the muted sound of the blades scratching lightly against the floor.

  “It ends here, demon.” She said with surprising calm. Ilyan wasn’t fazed by her audacity. He laughed, a laugh that made the air turn cold.

  “You call me a demon, like it is a bad thing.” He said mockingly. He stepped closer, the light illuminating his scarred face.

  She tightened her grip on the sword hilts, but he didn’t come any closer. He led a hand to his own face, slowly tracing some of the white scars.

  “You have such faith in humans.” He said. “You see everything in black and white, and in your mind the humans will always be on the good side.”

  He let the hand fall away from his face and looked at her with his cold eyes. They were almost as lifeless as the creatures’ he raised, but a deep hatred was burning behind them.

  “It was humans who gave me these scars. They did gruesome things to me, simply because I was blessed with a unique ability. They cast aside everyone who they deem unworthy.” He said, his voice sending chills down her spine. “Before you condemn the demons, you might want to look at the true nature of your precious humanity.”

  The truth of his words pained her, but she held his eyes defiantly. She had seen the dark sides of humans. People had shied away from her, simply because her appearance unnerved them. They would mistreat children after seeing a black tattoo on their face, believing them to be worth less than themselves.

  Humans lied and deceived others. She knew very well that some humans were as cruel as the demons they feared. But no matter how much proof she had of human depravity, she refused to give up on them.

  She wished to believe everyone had something good in them. In fact, she needed to believe that.

  “No matter what humans have done to you, it doesn’t justify this.” She said calmly. He had let countless people die for his delusions, and she knew many more would follow if she didn’t stop him. Including herself.

  She tensed when she saw other figures slowly emerge from the shadows. She stared into the eyes of the animated Demios as they came to stand besides Ilyan like obedient dogs, waiting for him to give his orders.

  When she had first seen them in the hallway, she had thought they looked almost alive, because of the lack of decay. But looking at them now, she could see that there was no way most of them could still be alive.

  One of them appeared perfectly healthy, but the gaping hole through his stomach showed otherwise. Another had had his throat slit so thoroughly that his neck was nothing but one huge, open wound. Yet another had had his eye gouged out so roughly that the hole went all the way through his skull.

  Swallowing the bile in her throat, she looked at Nadesha, who was staring emptily into the air to her left. Her body was still whole, as it had been a magic spell that had killed her.

  Selissa knew it wouldn’t be long before her body started rotting and falling apart, and just the thought of someone actually having to experience the decay of their own body made her sick.

  “Let them go.” She said, her voice strained with disgust. “They already died for you once.”

  “Why do you care about them?” Ilyan asked amused. “They are the servants of Azarial after all.”

  It took every bit of her self-restraint not to lash out at him. She flexed her fingers around the sword hilts, trying to resist the urge to bury them in his chest.

  “They still deserve to rest in peace. No one deserves being ripped from their graves.” She said lowly, her voice dangerous. She felt Ardeth shift closer to her. He still hadn’t said a word, but knowing he was there made her feel slightly better. Slightly.

  “They’re just empty shells.” Ilyan scoffed. “They feel nothing.”

  Her patience was wearing thin. “Release them.” She said.

  She heard Cadeyrn whisper softly in mind, but she couldn’t make out the words. She knew he was responding to her anger. Power was surging through her, erasing all traces of exhaustion.

  “I said release them.” She repeated, when she got no answer. She was vaguely aware of magic leaking out from her body and covering her skin like an aureole. She saw Ilyan’s eyes widen, and she could swear she saw fear in them.

  The magic surrounded the sword blades, and the white light seemed to glister against the steel. She held one of them up in front her, pointing it at Ilyan. It shone brightly, making the light from the candles seem incredible weak.

  She could feel Cadeyrn’s presence melt together with hers, and she reveled in the feeling. It felt like every fear and doubt she had ever had was being chased away by the bright light that was filling her body.

  “Last chance.” She said. Her voice didn’t even sound like her anymore. It was lighter, but still more powerful. “If you won’t free them, I will.”

  She didn’t wait for an answer. She lunged at him, blades swinging around her.

  She saw Ilyan raise his hand and immediately, one of the undead came to his aid. She didn’t have time to stop, before her swords slashed into Nadesha’s chest.

  She froze, staring into Nadesha’s lifeless eyes. She had swung the swords with enough strength to cave right through her body, and only the blades embedded in her chest kept it from falling apart.

  She had to remind herself that Nadesha was already dead. She might have looked alive, but she wasn’t. The blades in her chest didn’t kill her.

  Selissa took a deep breath, before stepping back and letting the swords slide out of the body. Nadesha’s mauled corpse staggered for a moment with nothing to hold it up, before collapsing in a heap on the ground. She was just about to step over it, when she realized it was still moving.

  The torso was almost severed from the rest of the body, but Nadesha’s corpse still tried to pick itself up from the ground.

  Selissa stared in bizarre fascination, as it desperately tried to stand up. The legs were flailing uselessly, while the arms tried to
push the body up from the floor. Each attempt was spoiled as it collapsed to the floor again.

  She dragged her eyes away from the sad sight and looked up at Ilyan, who was slowly backing away.

  He locked eyes with her. “Kill them.” He said, and it took her a moment to realize that he was addressing the undead.

  She rushed at him, only to be stopped by dead hands grabbing her. She struggled against them, while she watched Ilyan slip out the door at the other end of the room.

  “Come back here, you coward!” She yelled, while trying to pry the fingers that were holding her in a death grip off. She felt them release one of her hands, and she looked up to see Ardeth slashing the corpse into pieces.

  She swung her free hand at the other one holding her, and the sword went right through its neck. The corpse released her when its head got separated from its shoulders and hit the floor with a sickening sound of bone and flesh.

  She kicked away the headless body, and it fell to the floor like an old ragdoll. Several more was approaching them, and she stepped closer to Ardeth to avoid getting separated from him.

  “You need to go.” He said, when she had her back to his. Everywhere, lifeless bodies seemed to be coming at them. She was getting really tired of being surrounded.

  “Are you kidding me?” She asked and cut off an arm that was reaching for her. It didn’t stop its owner, however, so she promptly cut of its legs, so it tumbled to the ground.

  “I will hold them down. You go after Ilyan.” He said and threw a bone after another corpse. It hit its