Playing with Fire [COMPLETED]

20 ~ a twist

With the war between the Courts in full swing, the skies above are blood red all hours of the day and night. It is hard to discern whether it is nighttime or daytime, but as Ruin and I step into the cold, desolate forest of burned trees, I realize something. This dead, burnt forest's trees are Pain's prisoners. They are people who have been fused into the trees, the rocks, the ground, moaning and crying and screaming. They beg for death which will not come, because I know death is elusive here. Even with the war, Death herself fears to tread here.

Pain's home is dark and cold, much different from Ruin's home. As we enter the huge mansion, I look around, but do not dare call out to Farrin, lest I reveal our location. But we walk through long corridors, the only light is that of a small, flickering orange flame in Ruin's hand.

The walls are illuminated by his flame, and I see a few people here and there, fused into the wall of granite. Their mouths frozen open in silent screams, their eyes trailing after us. My heart twists as I look at them. Pain's corrupted mind birthed these ideas of fusing people to stone and trees, but what of the other Courts? Does Ruin have a place like this one, where his prisoners are tortured daily?

When we reach a fork in the halls, Ruin looks around, his attention flicking from one hall to the next. He finally looks at me, and gestures forward. Confused, I only shake my head. He sighs and walks up, stepping between the two paths and placing his hand against the wall between them. He closes his eyes, and a tremor of power surges through the place, and he steps back as a hidden door opens.

As we walk down the hidden tunnel, I realize that there are no more people fused to the walls or ceiling or floor. I look at him, confused. He doesn't say anything or even look my way as we near a large, glowing rock door.

This door glows blue from within. Runes are etched into the stone, and as Ruin touches each of them, they light up in a rainbow of different colors. He steps back as the ground trembles, and the sound of stone on stone shakes the air around us. The door is lowered into the floor, and Ruin steps up to stand between me and what's inside.

I hear coughing, and the splatter of blood. I hear ragged, labored breathing and the sounds of shifting feathered wings. I smell blood, tears, and cold mold. I step around Ruin and face the room before us.

And immediately lose my breakfast I'd consumed so quickly.

My sister lays on her side, totally naked, her body wrapped up with large, red-feathered wings. She sobs as she lays there, her pale skin covered in bruises, blood, and stitches. Her hair, which was once black like mine, is now the same fiery red as her feathers. Her eyes open, those beautiful blue-green, and she gasps, her eyes now yellow.

"No .... Exie?" she whispers.

"Farrin!" I cry, and run to her, skidding on my knees before the table she's sprawled out on.

"Exie, you have to go," she says, her voice so broken and weak.  "It's a trap."

Ruin is right there. He is assessing the chains around her throat, waist, wrists, and ankles. She flinches when he accidentally bumps her leg, and I try to soothe her. She looks at me, her yellow eyes filling with unshed tears.

"Farrin, who did this to you? Can you tell me their name?"

"Raava," she says.  "She called herself Pain."

"Ruin, we have to get her out of here," I say.

"No! It's a trap!" Farrin cries, her eyes wild.

"Farrin, Farrin, it's okay," I assure her.  "It's me, your sister."

"Exie, you have to believe me. You two must go!"

"Why?" Ruin asks her.

There's a hissing sound. Farrin sobs. And I turn, watching as a huge serpent with bloody scales slithers up to us. Ruin steps between us and the snake. He flares his wings out wide, and claps his hands hard. There's a thunderous explosion as the snake is vaporized into nothing but glittering ash.

"Leave me," Farrin sobs.

"No, not a chance," I snap. "We are taking you home, Farrin. No arguing."

She sighs as Ruin removes the chains from her body, and lifts her naked form into his arms. I look around, but find nothing to cover her up with. But, perhaps seeing my discomfort at her lack of attire, she wraps herself in her wings once more.

We leave Pain's Court without any hindrance. Once we get Farrin back home to Ruin's Court, Maude and Imogen begin to heal her.

I spend the next three days beside her bed, watching her as she sleeps. Farrin is exhausted, no doubt she's been through a hellish experience, and needs time to heal. But with the war going on .... I'm scared. I don't know what to do.

"Go and get some rest," says Imogen one night as she comes in and sees me practically unconscious beside Farrin. "I know you want to stay beside her, but you can't help her if you're too exhausted to move."

"But —"

"No," Maude says as she enters. "Go, Elorha. We will watch over her."

Sighing, I head back to my room. I don't know how long I sleep, but when I wake, Ruin and Imogen are there, both of them radiating fear.

"What? What's happened?" I ask, heart pounding.

"Farrin's missing. And Maude is dead," Ruin murmurs. "And there have been sightings of Erasmus's people lurking the grounds, searching for a way to free him from my dungeon. I have not been able to find Orayn or Zariah. Rune and I have searched everywhere. We need to go, find Farrin, and save her. Then we must face Erasmus and his people, and find out where my Second and Third are."

I look to Imogen, who's crying. She looks at me, her chin shaking. "My mom .... she's dead."

"Do you know what happened?" I ask.

She shakes her head.  "I found her dead, and Farrin missing. I came right to Lord Ruin, and we searched our home for her .... but there's no sign."

"I'll help you look for her," I say.

Ruin takes my hand, and we leave my room, heading outside, where Rune stands in the muddy snow. There's the blood-red sky and snow falls from it, and Rune is rigid as we approach. He points up, his wings unfurling.

We follow his gesture, and I see Farrin, floating in the air. I scream as she suddenly falls, plummeting toward the ground so fast it's hard to see her. Ruin leaps up, catching her. Her yellow eyes open, and she thrusts a blade deep into his chest and twists hard, causing Ruin and I to both scream in agony. I look up, as Farrin and Ruin both land hard on the ground, blood falling from his wound.

"Farrin! Ruin!" I cry, running forward, only for Rune to stop me and shove me behind him.

"That isn't Farrin," he says.

I look around him, and watch my sister laugh. The laugh becomes distorted, and then her eyes turn amber. Her body drops to the snow, and there, standing over her and Ruin's wounded form, is Pain.

"Hello, brother."