Iona's head swiveled towards Anastasia. Through the battered face, she grinned at her showing her pointy teeth. "She told you that?"
"Yes…"
Iona laughed. It was an aching laughter, but she laughed. "We loved eating your body Masterrr," she said in a voice that came from many Diumbe inside her. So conflicted, so confused, so greedy, so selfish…
"Ionaaa!" Seraph lunged at her but he couldn't even touch her as a blast of shadow blades pierced the fog and sliced his spirit. He yelled in pain and shrank. When he pieced himself together after what seemed eternity, he saw that Ileus had come in front of his sister.
"You do not get to do a thing when her family is there!" Ileus hissed in a dangerous voice. While they were fighting with Iona, they wouldn't allow anyone near her now. They were not exactly fighting with her, they were… playing. They were trying to exhaust her as much as possible.
Through the fog Seraph looked at Ileus and then cocked his head to see Iona behind him. He retreated a little. "Killl himmm!"
And Iona once again converted into dark swirls as did her brother.
Sensing what he was about to do, Etaya shouted, "Seraph, you can't leave me alone. Take me with you. Let us go back to Zor'gan with Aed Ruad. We will strike back!"
But Seraph wasn't listening to her. He looked at Anastasia again. Suddenly he said, "I remember youuu…"
"You do, don't you?" Anastasia answered. "I served Queen Og'drath for a few weeks."
The fog rippled yet again. Etaya shot a glance at Anastasia. And Anastasia—she ripped the armor off her right forearm and revealed the demonic tattoos. "Do you remember these?" she asked. The tattoos seemed to dance on the skin.
Stunned, Seraph came closer to examine the tattoos, but he stopped a few metres away. It was a spell written in ancient language.
"What is written here?" asked Anastasia. "Tell me what is written here!"
Scared. That was the only emotion that Anastasia could feel from the dense fog. The fog shifted back a little, then a little more and with a wail, it whooshed like a gust of wind.
"Seraphhhh!" Etaya shouted. "Don't leave me!"
"Oh, he has left you!" said Anastasia with a feral smile. "He will never return and I guarantee that to you."
Etaya crawled away from Anastasia as fast as she could, but the pace matched that of a snail. "Please, please…" she begged, panting heavily. "I did all this for the Galahar king. I did all this to get freedom from him. Our freedom. I only wanted the two kingdoms to merge and be one. Even if you want the same, don't you? We are on the same side. All I ever was interested in was to marry you to my son."
Anastasia glared at the woman in front of her. "And what would say of poisoning me to suppress my magic?" All of a sudden, she saw that the fae soldiers who were fighting against the wizards, came to a stop.
Yion commanded them to stop after negotiating with Adrianna. The soldiers now formed a circle around Etaya.
Etaya was freaked out. She looked at the men and women around her with panic in her heart. "I— I didn't do that. It was— it was Iona's idea!"
Her patience gave way to anger and she thrust the Evindal sword in left thigh, pinning her to the ground. Her anger was now like a blade that was cleaving her soul. "Iona was only ten when she came to you. For four years, you only let your husband abuse the little child so that she agrees to embrace dark forces. You are such a liar!" She removed the sword from her thigh and Etaya let out a wail of agony as more wisps escaped in the air. "You poisoned me, you shackled my wings and you whipped me!" The last words were full of hatred. She plunged her sword in her right thigh and pinned her to the hard layer of snow, which was so crimson that it hardly resembled its pristine color.
Etaya cried and whined and yelled as she looked at others for help. She shouted, "Yion, you fool! You have made a blood oath to the throne. Come here and get me out of here! I am your queen."
Yion bowed, but not to her. With a smile that reached his eyes, he said, "With all due respect, my real queen is standing right in front of me."
"Yionnn!"
As if in a frenzy, Anastasia continued, "You didn't allow my education to complete, you killed Iskra for teaching me the art of war, you maimed him limb by limb for helping me, you kidnapped a child from her parents and forced her to be your servant. You pushed her to darkness. You spoiled lives of not two, but four kids and two of them are yours. You filled your children with your greed and your ambitions!" Anastasia was panting. "It is time, Etaya. It is time that you get the reward for your deeds!"
"Then kill me!"
"No!" Anastasia hissed dangerously. "That would be so easy for you! You will be thrown in the celestial prison for eternity!" saying that Anastasia's anger burst into a silvery glow around her. Her violet eyes sparkled with silver. Her wings flared wide and she beat them in the air, their sound a menacing boom. A bellow of rage tore from her mouth. She raised her Evindal sword and brought it down to plunge it in her chest.
Etaya shrieked as a new surge of pain exploded in her body and as bright dazzling light from Anastasia danced in her vision, as wispy clouds of magic escaped from inside her. She screamed as magic ripped open her body, her soul and gushed out. Then there was nothing. Nothing. Just her pain and her rage. Etaya had become an immortal without magic. She would live forever, but she would never have her magic back. Anastasia took her sword out and Etaya jerked back, yelping. Red sprayed and spurted over her armor.
Anastasia raised her sword as the clouds above screamed thunder. The battle, the ground, everything in the wilderness of Sgiath Biò came to a standstill as if on her command. "I, Anastasia Lachlan Aramaer Volkov, am your princess!"
She staked her claim.
Every fae soldier who was on the ground or in the air, shot towards their princess. It was a call of the blood oath to their throne, to their king and to his heir. They circled around her as the rest of the army backed away.
The swirling darkness stopped. Ileus stepped out and so did the others.
General Yion came forward. He took his hand to his heart and then knelt on the ground on one knee. All other fae soldiers followed him. They all knelt on one knee with their hands on their chests with heads dipped in a bow.
Lines upon lines.
Rows over rows.
Everyone lowered their swords, lowered their heads, as they bowed before the princess of Vilinski, the only heir of the ancient king, Faelar Aramaer. The only heir of her parents Ian and Áine Lachlan Aramaer.
