From the Ashes

Chapter 44 ~ Scraps of Hope

    Morana crashed out of thin air and into a patch of brambles, but she was up and running before her cuts even began to sting. Blood roared in her ears and her heart pounded harder with each breath she gulped down. She'd brought herself back to the Vidar, but terror still held her in its grasp, promising that Astaroth and his warriors were coming for her.

    She stumbled over a tree root, a sob tearing from her throat. She'd left Tarion there. She'd left him and run, like a coward! Just as she had run the night of the attack, leaving Koen and Vesna to their fates, and Neeri...

    Her foot snagged in a hollow and Morana went careening to the ground, pain splintering up her leg. Noxbane and Orilight flew from her hands and landed in front of her. Morana heaved herself upright with a hoarse cry. She didn't dare risk removing her boot now, but if her ankle was sprained or broken...

    She hobbled to her feet and tried to set her weight on her leg. Fire scorched her nerves and she dropped back down with a gasp. Morana squeezed her eyes shut against blinding tears. A few still managed to escape beneath her lashes.

    Only Tarion's face lingered in her mind. The horror and guilt that had simmered in his eyes. The pain he'd been trapped in, until he had no choice but to yield to Astaroth's control. She'd known the moment her Prince had been replaced by Astaroth's Angel.

    Astaroth's Angel. His most lethal assassin. A brutal and heartless killer. That was who Tarion was. He'd been bound to Astaroth the whole time and never told her. Never warned her.

    Had it been his plan from the beginning? To lure her into a false sense of security, help her grow more powerful and retrieve the weapons that posed a threat to Astaroth, then feed her to him like some sort of sacrificial lamb?

    But if that were the case, why had he tried to make her leave? Why had he resisted to the point where blood had poured from his nose and she'd heard the terrible beating of his heart, certain that it would rupture at any moment. Had he changed his mind?

    Morana cast a shield around herself and buried her face in her hands, her sobs growing louder. Was this what it meant to be the Phoenix? To lose everyone she would ever care for? Be betrayed by those she trusted? To never know safety or true belonging?

    She wept harder, knowing that was exactly how Tarion had felt. Why he'd pushed her away for so long and hidden so much from her. No, whatever his reasons for keeping this a secret from her, it was not from intent to betray her. She couldn't bring herself to think otherwise.

    But he'd disobeyed Astaroth and now he was back in his clutches. Because she had abandoned him. She had left him there, and now gods knew what they could be doing to him. Horror stilled her heartbeat and crushed her breath within her lungs as she recalled those wicked words Rhidian had spoken.

    Oh gods, that male...he had... Morana's hands covered her mouth, silencing her choking coughs. Tarion had told her what Astaroth had forced him to do to others...not what others had been allowed to do to him. What Rhidian had said...how many times had he...he had forced Tarion. And she'd tried to argue with Tarion about the benefits of trying to save him.

    Rage ignited flames within her palms, burning hotter and hotter with the depth of her horror and confusion and pain. Tarion had lied to her. He had betrayed her. She had abandoned him.

    She had left him, and Neeri, in the hands of Astaroth. In the hands of Rhidian. Oh gods, what if that male had done the same to her friend? What could she do? How could she lead an army against Astaroth? How could she save them?

    "Oh gods, I'm sorry," Morana breathed. "I'm so sorry." Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks once more. She had left them there. She had left them there! Neeri and Tarion. Her best friend and her...