Distorted Affliction

Chapter Thirty Seven

Vanessa was dead. The rest of our coven was likely injured or worse, and someone needed to pay. Lazarus was still in the snow below, and human, he was no longer a threat. Lucas had taken his opportunity to run, though I would catch up to him and dole him his punishment as well. That was a guarantee. Seline was the only viable target left, so, even if it was unwarranted, she got the full extent of my anger.

The emotions inside of me felt like they would come bursting out, manifested into reality as darkness. As I observed the thought, I felt the energy shift again and watched a mist seep from my skin, forming a dark cloud as I had imagined my fury to be. It was thick in the air, and I felt as though I had heard a ghastly sound come from deep within it as it creeped across the ground, unfazed by the snow and wind.

Seline was screaming, writhing on the ground as she tried feebly to pull herself away, even with her broken bones. My face twisted into a sneer as the deeply satisfying feeling settled into my stomach. I watched with morbid fascination as the black mist, a manifestation of my very own dark emotions, crawled up her body, its tendrils wrapping around her like an octopus might when snatching up its prey. Her screaming intensified, and I wondered absently what it must have felt like, what it was doing to her.

Would it be like acid against her skin, or maybe lava, slow but painful as it crept along her legs and up her torso? Her body flailed violently, the darkness swallowing her entirely. An awful, feral sound escaped my lips as I commanded the mist to end her, and with it came silence from Seline at last.

Once she was eliminated as a threat, my head snapped around suddenly, chin tilting in a manner that must have seemed appalling to anyone left. Except there was no one left. Kettelie and the Priestesses had vanished before I had even realized they were no longer there, and Lazarus's army was a pile of corpses in the stark white snow that was entirely unusual this far south.

Only Sinclair and Demidicus were standing before me, both holding deep concern in their faces as they watched me. Their mouths moved, but I couldn't make out what they were saying, though I imagined they were pleading for my attention. I couldn't make myself focus on them, because the energy, the black mass was shifting again, returning the same way it had come. When it began to crawl up my skin, wrapping around me in dark coils as it climbed my body, it brought an excruciating sensation I couldn't put words to.

I squirmed against it, but it was unrelenting, slinking up the sides of my face until it had consumed me entirely. I recalled throwing my head back, the sound of a piercing scream filling the air, and a sensation of hot coals against my skin before it disappeared entirely. The dark cloud had returned to where it had come from, and was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.

The sensation of falling took hold as I felt the energy around me leave, and I hit the cold ground below with so much force it knocked the wind from my lungs. Red was tinging my vision, and I blinked several times in an attempt to clear it. The warmth of the blood trickling down my face felt odd and alarming in the sudden cold that was pressing against me now that the magic was no longer present to keep the chill out.

"August!"

The sound of my name being called several times registered somewhere in my mind as everything else became silent. My two Mouri had rushed to my side, their hands attempting to steady me as I tried--and failed--to stand solidly on my feet. Exhaustion replaced the feeling of adrenaline, and my limbs felt heavy, the kind of weight you can't shake despite the effort.

Overwhelmed, tired, and feeling like I had been through my own rebirthing, I crumbled against the first steady set of arms that would hold me. Then, my eyes slid shut and I lost consciousness.

The air was crisp around me, the world a dull grey color as I glanced at the unfamiliar surroundings laid out ahead. I was in a clearing deep in the woods, my feet bare as I stepped across the crackling leaves covering the ground. Despite the chill I felt in my bones, my body didn't actually feel cold, though I was wearing a soft dress that would have certainly left me exposed to the weather anywhere else. The baby blue fabric hanging off my shoulders had small wrinkles pressed into it, and the front fell short but cascaded to the ground behind me. This was certainly an outfit I would have never picked for myself.