When Dorian spied the mass, his heart stopped. He had seen those things before, in the castle. He remembered it as if it had happened yesterday. When he'd followed Aelin, or Celeana as she was known then, into the tombs beneath the library, at the time he had been to distracted to really process its existence, he caught sight of a creature in one of the many numbered doors. The thing had no eyes, no mouth, no other humanoid aspects to it other than its figure. In a way it reminded him of Manon, with those deadly nails and stance of pure unbeaten strength. The only rational explanation his mind could come up with to describe what he was seeing was that it was a wealth of blood particles clustered together and somehow caught in a suspended animation a few inches of the floor. It was revolting.
His immediate thought was Manon. He glanced over to where she was and was surprised to see she hadn't noticed its unsettling presence yet. Mustering all the confidence left inside of him, he strode to her side, tapped on her shoulder and flinched at the deadly glare she shot his way. He knew he was a king and shouldn't show fear or weakness but Manon had an eerie way of being able to wipe every lesson on manners of king-hood from his mind. He ignored it and pointed at the mass.
Manon went rigid next to him, slipping into what Celeana would have called the 'killing calm'. That was when his head exploded. He had little time to process the carnage around them but he saw every witch around him, bar Manon, fall to the floor clutching their heads. And so did he. The pain was like being shot and stabbed and hit at the same time. It was excruciating. He swore Manon looked nervous as she steeled her shoulders, not looking down at her legion.
The pain dimmed enough to hear Manon ask it:
"What do you want?"
*
Manon's heart raced as she stared at it. Why was she the only one still standing. She didn't have time to consider it as it approached. Instead she steeled herself, making sure there was nothing but pure rage in her voice as she asked it
"What do you want?"
The seconds seemed to last a millennia as she waited for an answer. She could almost feel the Presence's attention focus fully on her, and was glad for the centuries worth of training as it stared her down and she did not flinch, did not yield to it's glare. She released a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding as it seemed to release the grip on the others and replied in a rasping inhumane voice
"I want revenge of the witch who murdered my mate."
And then the mass shifted, transforming into a stunningly beautiful woman, wrapped in a cloak of red.
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Realm Of Ashes (Throne of Glass #7)
FanfictionA cold stone settled on her already dying heart. She was going to die here and no one would save her, no one would come offering freedom, just as Chaol and Dorian had, no one would tell her to shut up when she made one of her witty comments, just li...
