The Crescent Hour ✓

Chapter 39. The Final Verdict

Clara resisted as they dragged her away from Tamer. She held on to his sleeves, clutching desperately, refusing to let go. They pulled her hands back, threw her aside like an empty bottle cast into the sea. She buried her hands to her face, felt Tamer's blood brush against her cheeks. Clara gasped for air, again and again but everything felt too painful. The pain in her chest, the tears welling in her eyes, the loud beating of her heart. All along she had known the truth and yet she had never known.

The sigils, the marks on his body had matched the ones Naaji's entity had shown her. The reason why Tamer could see visions of the seals before they were destroyed was because he too was a seal. She'd never thought about it. Never considered the possibility that a human could be a seal.

"Why? Why?" Clara gasped.

"It had to be done," Azmand said. "It was the only way."

She removed her hands from her face and looked at the stranger she had hoped would save Tamer. Her vision swam as a wave of nausea hit her. "What did he ever do to you?"

"You now know what Tamizan was. I sacrificed his life for my people. To save them, to end their suffering."

"He trusted you! He trusted you, Azmand! He loved you like a brother and you...you—"

"Stupid human," Enki said, walking to her and pulling her to her feet. He shook her roughly, his face twisting with anger. "What do you know about the humiliation these Shima have faced? The torment they've suffered for thousands of years? The agony of losing those dearest to their hearts?"

"Enough, Enki," Azmand said.

Enki's words cut through Clara, repeating over her mind like static from a broken gramophone. To hear him say such words, laced with anger and sadness shocked her. Enki was a heartless monster, a killer who had no reservations destroying innocent lives. Hearing him say those words made him sound, for the very first time, almost...human. The shock didn't last long though. Clara's grief rebounded with more force, coupled by complete despair. There was no energy left in her. No will to fight.

Tamer's skin had become paler, lips tinged blue. The same paleness she'd seen on her mother. The color of death. Her mind conjured images of him fading from existence, lost from this world forever. She tried to reach for him in a mad rush, to convince herself that he was still there, dead, but still with her, her only companion in the midst of enemies.

Enki held her tightly, his vicelike grip leaving her arms numb. He pushed her to the ground, forced her to kneel. Her vision danced around her, the Shima circling her turning to white ghosts. She closed her eyes, felt the tears burning their way down her cheeks. Her chest ached rom the pain in her heart and the poisonous air she was inhaling.

Tamer would never wake again. He would never smile at her and look at her as if she was his light, his hope. He would never have the chance to become the best swordsman in Aurion. He would never return to Amarant with Rai and Eryx. He would never make peace with the king. She'd known from the subtle looks of remorse he'd shown so briefly, in those fleeting moments when he'd shared his past, that he still cared about a father who had abandoned and betrayed his only son. He would never be a father himself and grow old to see his grandchildren. He would never live to become a legend. So much potential, such endless possibilities all destroyed by a man Tamer had considered a brother.

"Look at me," Azmand said, forcing her chin up.

She opened her eyes and stared at the black veins coursing down his arms, the black fingers holding her chin up. Clara had first glimpsed them in Helima's cottage, when he'd brought milk and sugar at the little tea party the witch had thrown. She also remembered that it was he who had untied Enki from the pole, right before Helima had lifted off the Lakht Curse. The cold realization made her nauseous, how Enki had managed to break Eryx's spells and flee before Tamer could question him. Azmand must have helped Enki escape. Clara angled her face to her right, edging it away from his hand. She felt disgusted by the sight of him, the feel of his blackened fingers against her skin. He'd planned to kill Tamer all along.

Azmand stepped back, kept his gaze on her. "For thousands of years, we have been trapped in Ashura Deadlands, exposed to the filth and poison in this land." He lifted his hands to his chest, palms up as though he was offering a prayer. "This is the curse we are forced to bear, this disease that has destroyed our elders, our parents, our children, and our future. It cannot be cured. Every day of my life, I live in pain, so much pain..."

Remember the tale of the lost tribe? All this time they were here.

Rai's words bubbled up in her mind. Azmand had said his people had been trapped for thousands of years. Did that mean the king had nothing to do with the lost tribe? She'd never heard about them ever since she'd been brought to Findora. It was as if they had been erased from history. If no one dared enter Ashura Deadlands, then nobody could have known that there were people living in there. It was simply too unimaginable. Perhaps it had to do with Naaji and the army of the Ghilan. She had a niggling feeling that was the case. Why else would Azmand and his minions destroy the seals? Thousands of years...an eternity of torment. What had the tribe done to be forced into such harsh banishment?

She was about to ask when she saw it. A flash of green sparks among the trees. No one else noticed...

"Master," the little girl whispered.

In her grief, Clara had forgotten about her. The Impeder. The girl who had left her powerless, unable to stop Azmand, unable to avenge Tamer's death. The girl had doomed her fate. She had called him "master". So Azmand had been the enemy's leader after all. That bastard.

"Believe me when I say this. It is with utmost regret that I had to end Tamizan's life," Azmand said. He knelt down beside Tamer and lifted a hand to his shoulder.

Do not touch him," Clara snarled. "You have no right."

Azmand let his hand fall to his lap, his blue eyes locked on Tamer's still form. "His death will save us. Bring us back to glory. When the army returns, we will be cured of this curse. New flesh to combat the disease. Power to take back the throne that had once belonged to us."

Fury shook hold of her. She loathed him for talking about Tamer as if he was a tool meant to fulfil his goals. Azmand had taken so much from her. He'd denied her a way back home, he'd killed her Tamer and now he wanted to destroy this world.

This is your home too, Tamer had told her.

She had to stop him. As Naaji's successor, it was her duty to protect this world, her home. She searched the trees with her eyes, looking for the green flare she'd spotted moments ago.

"I won't let you bring back the army of the Ghilan," she said, voice unwavering.

Enki burst into laughter. "Empty words from an empty girl."

Azmand stood up, his back turned to her. "Kill her."

Clara heard the sound of bones scrunching and flesh swishing as Enki transformed behind her. A long claw hovered a breath away from her face, sharp as a guillotine. He tilted her head back and brought the claw down to her exposed neck.

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Hey, guys. I'm so sorry for the long wait. Heck it's been months and so much has happened since then. I just want you all to know that I would never drop this story. I'm determined to get TCH done as soon as possible. To everyone who's been waiting, thank you for your patience. You mean the world to me<3