A Sacrifice of Names

Chapter 29

A/N: please note that the following chapter(s) will contain mentions of torture and death.

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The first things Earie was greeted with after regaining consciousness consisted of a throbbing pain in her head and the feeling of dried blood staining her hair. A failed attempt to open her eyes immediately resulted in the world around her spinning furiously. Dried lips parted, only for a creaking whimper to rise from her throat, barely registering the thirst for a drop of water her whole body was begging for.

For minutes she did not dare to move, slowly coming to realise she had been through this once before, hadn't she? The slightest furrow of her brows forced a painful throb down the side of her head, but as memories slowly started to come back to her so did her movements.

She had been here before, although not in this place exactly. It smelled foul, not at all like the chamber the fae had brought her to after she had been taken to Aves with force.

Judging by the putrid smell one thing slowly dawned on her, there was no doubt that this was not another one of her dreams. He wasn't here, no one was here but death slowly slithering around her.

The chains that kept her arms tied to the ground felt heavy, yet somewhat familiar, the clashing sounds they made as she tried moving her arms echoed and reverberated through the cave-like room.

"Awake, awake, she is awake."

Her heart dropped. It sounded as if a dozen shadows had gathered around her, all speaking at once. And yet, as she managed to open her eyes just a crack, only one of them approached her, slowly taking shape in front of her. The man looked like he could have been one of the guys she had seen stepping straight out of one of the many cafes back in Daleagh, his face was as pale as most fae she had encountered in the Court of Shadows. However, apart from the large scar running down the left side of his nose, his skin's strange translucency caught Earie's attention. As if he had slowly begun to fade permanently.

He crouched in front of her, the grin on his lips only widening as Earie tried crawling back.

"Oh, she is awake alright."

It was as if every other lifeform in the room disappeared in the mere blink of an eye upon hearing the daunting sound of his voice, down to the smallest larvae crawling over the body chained to the wall behind her. Another ominous silence embraced her.

The voice was easily recognised. Although having sounded distorted before, it was, without doubt, the one she had overheard speaking with Brenhin, not to mention the menacing voice threatening all living creatures in the Quiet Land. Their leader?

Earie's gaze shifted towards the crown of the man's head, his eyes narrowing.

"Anything you are searching for, girl?" There was a knowing chuckle in his voice, but before her lips could part to speak, his fingers already brushed her cheek, lifting her hair slightly to take a good look at her ear.

"Now you have finally woken up, won't you tell me who holds this glamour over you?" He asked brusquely. "The green one, or the one who actually dared to put up a fight?"

Whatever colour was left on her face drained in an instant. There was no need to ask to put one and one together. Her head throbbed, forcing her eyes closed.

"Smart lass, keeping your mouth shut." In perhaps the most degrading way possible, he sounded amused, forcing Earie to make herself as small as achievable.

Her fears were confirmed, they had Keely and Innogen. The ones who had selflessly accepted her despite knowing the truth. The ones who had followed her across various borders while they owed her absolutely nothing.