ℂ𝕃𝕆𝕎ℕ| Kaz Brekker

Faith of Misfortune

You're where I wanna go

The part of me that's you

will never die

~Lady Gaga~

𝕂𝕒𝕫 𝔹𝕣𝕖𝕜𝕜𝕖𝕣

I WAS UNDER WATER before I hit the floor. My body went limp and my nerves fell cold. This wasn't just some body of water, it was the harbor. The harbor Jordie had died. My eyes flew open under the pressure of the water.

My mind raced, why was I here? What was Happening? Before I could sink to the bottom two arms pulled me up, but as soon as they did I wished I'd just drowned. His eyes were as dead as I recalled every night in my sleep, but this time he was far too alive. Or maybe I was dead.

His face was covered in boils and scars, "did you really think I would go away brother!?"

Then I was under the water again, fear and panic ran through every inch of my body but I did nothing, nothing to push away. Maybe I was frozen, or maybe I knew this was what I deserved.

He pulled me up again. "Who are you without your vengeance!?" His voice changed to a mocking softness. "What is the worth of life, if you have no one left to fight for?"

I was surged under the cold water with nothing but death and terror shaking my bones.

When I peeked above water again I saw a new face. A devilish smile, dark eyes. It was her, the girl I'd dragged across the world with the promise of a life worth living, and now we were all to die.

"Kaz, wake up." her voice was soft. "I need you." Her voice suddenly sounded deeper. "Kaz, wake up!" Her face altered. "Dammit Brekker wake up!"

My eyes snapped open. "Evilynn?"

Instead, I was met with Jesper, hunched over me with worry. "Inej is trying to wake her up, but she's taking longer than the rest of us did."

Without another thought I surged forward to her side. I saw tears streaming down her face at an uncontrollable speed, but still she was not awake. My hands held her shoulders and I shook her. "Evilynn!"

Nothing happened, not even a slight flinch or sign of conciseness. My heart sunk. "Evilynn?" This time she moved, just slightly and my eyes went wide. My mind erased the terror of my own dream as I shook her, repeating her name. My own demons could wait, first I had to free her from hers.

"Evilynn, wake up!"

I searched my mind for anything that could possibly bring her back to reality. "Please! Dammit! Evilynn Anya-Irin Piest, wake up!" In a moment she shot up into my arms.

"Kaz!" Her eyes locked with mine for a few seconds before she looked around. "What happened." She stood up slowly, wiping her face in a futile attempt to rid her cheeks of the black tear stains.

I took a few steps back as memory of my own hallucination set back in.

No one answered her, but Wylan's small voice sounded from the other side of the door. "Is everyone alive."

"We're alive," Inej nodded as she put a comforting hand on Evilynn's bare back. A hand I wished I could offer, but with the fresh memory of my brother, and the disgusting barge, I knew I simply couldn't do it.

"Good," Wylan breathed a sigh of relief.

"We almost died didn't we..." Jesper was standing with his hands on his knobby knees. "Same time, I had the most incredible hallucination. Did anyone else get lulled into a comforting sense of joy."