Something Immortal

67: Vision of Truth

"Let me go!"

"Do not be impulsive, you're almost done."

With the Harpy and the Strigoi brothers in pursuit, right behind them, and the battle between two gigantic Draconians in their ancient forms up the north, it appeared that the Serpent Peak had become the world in itself. The battle did not cease and no one was allowed to grow tired. Wounded and battered, Stella pushed the elder holding her with all her might and glared menacingly.

"You do not fool me with your disguise," she spat on the ground and tasted blood. "Do you think for one second that I wouldn't see through you, Aster Fay?"

It was at this precise moment that Mica, Marko and Saanvi arrived at the scene. Filled with rage, Marko charged in spite of the limp but the current Rai of the Harpy race stopped him, blocking his path with her spear.

"What do you think you're doing?" Marko exclaimed at her face. "She killed our father; I would kill her with my hands!"

Saanvi looked at him straight in the eyes. "Your father wasn't that innocent."

"HE DID NOT DESERVE TO DIE!"

"And what about her? Did she deserve what happened to her and the bloodline your father had tried to erase?"

Stella giggled from afar. "Let him come...I don't fear the likes of him."

Marko heard this loud and clear and attempted to charge once more but this time, it was Mica's hand who grabbed his wrist. He looked at the younger one, his fury was plain to see. Mica's gaze was misty, "She's dying," he softly stated. "It wouldn't matter much even if you fill the ground with her blood."

When she heard this, she turned to the old man on her side. "Well, what do you reckon? What'll take me first? The injury or the infection?"

The elder stiffened. Zelda's eyes were gray and limpid yet underneath that façade was the envious side of Som, whom he gave power to hurt and betray him. "I'm trying to make things right."

She gazed at him with mild surprise before laughing. Even Saanvi, Mica and Marko went still. However, the elderly's countenance didn't falter and he continued to watch her with weary eyes. When the mirth was over, she turned to him exhibiting a confidence no other woman had shown. Stella, until the very end, clung to her revenge, wearing it loud and proud. "I know what you did, you cold-hearted snake..." she hissed. "I never worship the Phoenix God. In all truth, I do not believe in any of these so-called immortal beings who think they are above us because of their power. Why should I have faith in the likes of them, huh? Where were they when I needed them the most?"

"It wasn't Som's fault that your fate was sealed by the hands of those who ruled your race. He did the best that he could to save each and every one of us."

Another surprise marred her childlike and innocent appearance. "If that is the case, then why did you betray him?"

A pause followed the accusation as the other individuals listened in, waiting for his answer. The elderly stood there, towering above her with an imposing, intimidating aura that did nothing to appease her rage nor remove her doubt. "I was sent here to save you before Som and Kali destroy Lord Phaibun---"

"Stop pretending that you are the benevolent Zelda Galizur because you are not!" Stella growled she was bleeding from the wounds her enemies had inflicted and rotting from the infection that the undead had gifted. All over her body and even her mind, she was filled with nothing, but pain. "In fact, you are worse than him. Those Grand Sages...I always spared them from the deal. Even that Primer of Leshy, Lord Satu. I respected them in spite of our opposing views. But upon knowing what they did, to this world, with the rest of the members of the council and to Lord Phaibun, I started to realize that the Peace Treaty did nothing but censor the rights of the denizens of this world while they ruled its advantage, saving only themselves and their kingdom. It created a divide, a faction, between the powerful and those they considered too 'wild' to control, when in fact, they were the oppressed. Do you think I didn't know? It was Zelda who forced the transformation of the Annis turning them dark. All because they kept the spirit of the Phoenix God in their terrain?"