The Last Hope

32 - Sword

SONG FOR THIS CHAPTER - Will I make it out alive, Tommee Profitt. Linked above - you know I love a bit of drama! If you enjoy the chapter please vote and share, it means a lot. Also, I actively encourage commenting and am trying my best to reply to any as quickly as I can. Want a chat? Don't be shy!

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"Your mate?" Mercy asked in confusion, Sebastian's eyes were still wide with horror, focusing on something very far away. Mercy hadn't seen him look so vulnerable since the morning she'd woken up in that cabin.
Colossus grinned at Sebastian's hesitation, "has the Prince been keeping secrets? Not that it's a surprise. But yes, Mercy Solis Moldonaldo, Sebastian has a mate. The other part of his soul, however black and cracked it may be. The only one who might ever be brave enough to love him."
Sebastian was shocked back into life, "Idra is dead."
The firedrake smiled like a serpent, "is she? Are you sure?"
"Cressida has her ashes, she showed them to me. Taunted me with them." Sebastian's eyes raged and his teeth ground together, Mercy glanced between them, unsure who looked more dangerous.
"And Cressida has never pulled any tricks."

"She has something very important to me," that's what Sebastian had said about Cressida the first time he'd spoken to Mercy in her dreams. It had been bothering her since then, but she'd been unable to put her finger on it. Had Sebastian been talking about his mates - Idra's - ashes? Or even Idra herself? And more startling than that, was the realisation that Sebastian had been in love. She thought he was cold and unfeeling, apart from that irritating amusement and boredom. Mercy remembered mocking his hopes and dreams, cruelly, ignorantly, but to find out he'd had a mate? Her heart ached for him.

Colossus smiled madly, "the new trade is this - the sword of Onir for the memory of the first time you met your mate."
"If I give up that memory, I'll have no recollection that Idra was my mate, correct?"
Colossus's face changed as his eyes narrowed, "you will retain your memories of your mate. You will just not know who she is. You will not be able to place her face or name."
Sebastian looked desperate enough to consider it. Mercy gripped his arm hard until he looked at her, "you can't seriously be thinking about this, Bash."

Sebastian shrugged her off, "we need that sword."
"More than you need to remember Idra?"
"Idra is dead. Cressida killed her. Took her from me because she saw that Idra was my one piece of happiness. And I wasn't able to save her. I think about that every time I think about her - maybe this is a blessing."
"What if Colossus is telling the truth - what if she's not really dead?"
Sebastian looked perturbed but rolled his shoulders, the resolve settling in his peculiar eyes "we need that sword."
"You can't-"
But Sebastian cut her off by stepping forward and facing the firedrake, "I agree to the terms of the trade. The sword of Onir for my memory of Idra."

The firedrake made a tsssking sound in the back of its throat, "you must use the exact wording for the contract to be binding."
"The sword of Onir for my first memory of my mate."

"Then so it shall be."

Mercy didn't understand how a firedrake could have magic, but she found herself thrown from Sebastian's mind and locked out. Wind swept through the room, throwing silks and dresses tangled into the pile of treasures around in a cyclone. They whipped at her face and chest, and she ducked out of the way, away from Sebastian. Something unseen forced him to his knees. He roared in pain as Colossus sauntered closer, red eyes glinting like raw garnets.

Mercy couldn't get up, couldn't stand from the crushing air pressure. Sebastian's shouts intensified, Mercy watched his face morph into agony and Colossus's smile grew. A trickle of black blood ran from Sebastian's nose and mouth as the heavy wind ceased and he collapsed onto his side on the floor, sending gold coins sliding over one another.