The Icon Unbound

Chapter Thirteen, Part B - The Icon

This concludes the first third of the story. So here we have it: all the major players (except one) are now on the field. We have two brothers at odds. A mother who is a murderer. A Chosen with evil intentions. A sister who is missing. And a rouge drakys pulling the strings of an army of twisted. Let's take a look at the fall out. A few major revisions to improve readability. Tell me what you think in the comments, and leave me a vote if you can! --Elizabeth, UPDATED 05/31/2017

Afterward, the silence was deafening.

Nadir coiled around her, his teeth and mouth red with blood and black ichor.

"The Saints still listen to prayer, you still have heart. Release the elements, my Icon."

It took every ounce of discipline she possessed to let that warmth go, let the strength leave her, and look around. Numbness returned, and a chill that she...no, she couldn't hate anything like this.

All of the others were there, Rigel bleed from a gash in his cheek, and Ethan's arm hung limp at his side. Otherwise, none of them seemed hurt.

"The drakys was not with his creations; it was controlling them from afar somehow. I felt the breach on the part of the wall that makes up our most southern boundary. It's all the way on the other side of the range. Perhaps it is waiting there. When it discovers its handiwork has been destroyed, it may move so we will have to hurry."

She paused, noticing that no one had spoken a word.

They stood there, in a rough semicircle. Ethan clung to his arm, Rigel held his bow like a shield, and even Saiph looked pale and surprised. They all stared at her.

Nadir made a clucking sound in the back of his throat. "Your skin, my Icon. I suppose there is one less secret."

The Icon flinched and looked down at herself. Somewhere in the fight, the sleeve of her dress had torn off completely, leaving her entire arm and part of her shoulder bare to the world. Funny, she had been so careful of her veils all this time and she should have been worried about the seams of her dress.

"What is this?" Corwin whispered. "What are you?"

"This is none of your concern, Chosen." She had just gone through a battle, and she still had to find and fight a drakys. Saints, this veil was a needless vanity, and a barrier between her and the world. With fingers like claws, the Icon tore at the thin material away from her eyes. The clasps snagged on her hair but she yanked it away at last and let the veil flutter to the ground.

"Icon..." Saiph gasped.

"By my red blood, you're a girl. A child!" Corwin's voice sounded as high as Meissa's. His dark eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

The Icon felt annoyance pierce the cool pond of her emotions. "I am the female of our species and I am of age. Even in with my veils, how could that have escaped your notice?"

"You...you shuffled everywhere, your voice, everyone implied that you had been the Icon all your life, and that you took office a long time ago... it's not unreasonable... you're display of power, it should be impossible for someone so young."

She threw up her hands. "This is exactly why I put on the thrice damned veil in the first place!"

"What?"