Black Storm - Red Queen Fan Fiction

Chapter 20 - The Moon part III

This is the last chapter, I say it right at the beginning.

Mare POV

She waved her hand. There was a crack and the ticking of the sounder device stopped after all this time. I took a deep breath, waiting for the nagging headaches to finally subside, as Griffey approached me with her heels clicking on the stone floor. I flinched at the sight of her gory hands.

"Angry I haven't destroyed that thing long before?" she asked me.

I shook my head. "You have ... killed them," I said. "Your comrades."

She snorted. "Have I ever given you the impression that I would hesitate to deal the fatal blow in the decisive moment?"

I stared at her, at the claw tattooed on her right hand. She had never made a secret of her capacity for violence, violence that helped me now. Yet I was shocked to see her slaughtering fellow Silvers without remorse. She was so unlike Cal, who had always ... wished to stop the killing.

"Is that the meaning of the claw?" I asked her.

She smiled grimly and raised said hand to look at it. "It's a reminder of the day this hand was stained with Red blood, a necessary evil." She lowered the hand again and stared straight at me. "I had to bring someone justice, because no one else was doing it for me."

"Against a Red," I scowled.

She shrugged. "He deserved it. Now." She came close enough to touch my arm. "This isn't the time for old stories. Let's get these off, once and for all." She flashed her teeth in a vindictive grin. "I'm proud of you, Mare Barrow. You've already been preparing for this."

She fingered the chain linking the Silent Stone manacles and the collar, as Maven had done, only that it finally - finally - disintegrated as she pulled at it. The collar fell off with a clonk, splattering gems and metal links on the floor.

I gasped in relief, but Griffey's smile was replaced by a sigh. "Now comes the hard work. Silent Stone, the great adversary." Her hands glided over my arms, giving me goosebumps as they neared the handcuffs.

"Well. Your arms and hands are delicate enough. But it will still hurt."

"What?" I whispered.

She became serious. "I can't pry them open. I can only shove them off, hoping I won't break your hands with my efforts."

I swallowed. But I wasn't afraid. I would do anything -

"But I can scrunch your hands, so that the manacles will slide off as easy as possible. You just have to keep them that way by yourself in that moment." She paused, waiting.

For my consent.

I glared at her. "Just do it."

She shoved the manacles up and took a deep breath. Then, invisible threads were coiling around my right hand, keeping the fingers straight, making my thumb and pinkie finger meet. It started to hurt, and the pressure still intensified. I flinched and endured. I heard Griffey breathe out, and in one quick movement, she pulled the ring down my arm, over my sore wrist, off my hand. It grazed skin and drew blood, and the Silent Stone meeting blood burned, just like fire or acid.

But my hand was free.

Griffey choked and heaved. "I need a moment." She turned away from me, bend over and vomited into a corner. It took her mere eyeblinks to regain herself, but she was still flushed Silver as she grapped my water bottle and chunked its content down. "How could you stand the stone for so long, without barfing all the time?" she asked with a rough voice. She sighed. "Let's get it done."