Iron of the Innocent: Mistress of Agony (Vol 2)

Chapter 25: Devourer

274 I.C.
Sacren
Solorn Kingdom
Solorn Province
City of Clendon

Orange light flickered outside the large, bedroom window behind the light green, thin curtains. The room was still, and it looked the same as it did every night. The old hair brush lay on the side table next to the bed. The sitting chairs with their light hued cushions were empty. Nothing different and nothing new. The woman in the small bed lay beneath warm linen and a quilt. She lay there looking up at the ceiling, motionless. The muffled sound from outside the bedroom door was distinct. Footsteps approached.

The knob turned and the door slowly opened, its hinges creaking loudly. Someone walked into the room at a slow pace, coming to the foot of the bed. The figure was tall, lit from the side by the dim candle in the hall. Sesha slowly moved her eyes that direction. The first sounds of yelling and screams from outside echoed in the distance as flames roared up across the city. Sesha suddenly sat up in the bed, facing the stranger.

As soon as the woman moved, a hand rose as if grabbing for her. The woman felt her body gripped by an invisible power, and she struggled against the arcane bonds. The tall figure wore a long, dark cloak, and the man's other hand drifted up to pull his hood back. Sesha's eyes widened as she looked at him. He reached behind his head and loosened the black cloth that covered his eyes, letting it fall down to hang around his neck.

The shadows welling up in his eyes made the empty sockets look skeletal, the eyelids hidden beneath the surface of the darkness. The pale colored skin and black veins, visible in the low light. He moved his hand and the woman lifted up out of the bed into the air, the linens sliding off of her. She attempted to fight once more, but even with her enhanced strength, there was no escape. "I can see you," Kaedres said quietly. "All of you."

Fear filled the woman's face as her eyes erupted with red light, and she snarled as she stared back at him. The once passive face looked bestial. She screamed as she was unable to move, and hate filled her features. "Who are you?" she growled in multiple voices.

"The son of Lady Corsornos Blacksword and Arathan Ruin," Kaedres answered simply, "and I wish to speak to the one who arranged my conception."

Sesha's face relaxed and a wicked smile spread across her features. "Oh yes, I knew your mother," it said in a deep, malevolent voice. "So sweet. So pretty. So willing. I see you turned out well." A slow laugh echoed from her. "Now if you would kindly release me, my cohorts and I have some butchering to attend to tonight."

"Tell me why," Kaedres ordered, his voice hard and demanding.

Sesha tilted her head a moment confused. "Why?" Then she laughed once the beast realized he referred to his conception. Her face twisted into a sick, demented mask of torment. "I will tell you nothing," it said, drool dripping down Sesha's chin. "Release me!" it screamed at him, spittle splattering across the bed.

"If you will not tell me, I will just have to find out for myself," Kaedres said.

"What do you mean?" the beast within Sesha asked.

Kaedres eyes stirred and the darkness parted as red fire erupted within them. When he opened his mouth the shadows recoiled, replaced with the same glow. The elongated fangs showed in silhouette, and the red orange light continued to grow in intensity with each passing moment. The flesh of his face illuminated from the burning light within, and the beasts inside the woman screamed in anguish. "No!" they cried, "Release us!"

"I am the devourer," Kaedres raged in a horrible voice that shook the room, causing dust to rain down from the ceiling.

The demons cried out in anger as shadow vomited up out of Sesha's mouth. Bodiless voices screamed as shadow poured forth involuntarily, dragged across the space between the two. An irresistible pull, drew the shadow into Kaedres' waiting, burning maw. The woman's jaw cracked at the hinges, her mouth forced open beyond its capacity, the flow of darkness writhing and twisting. Clawed hands of shadow reached for her, trying to hang on with every ounce of strength as the beasts succumbed to extraction.