Skiels ✔[Complete]

Part 3

Her loud and mellifluous voice wafts through the courtyard. Many hover overhead as there is little room left. Noir stands behind her, her head down and eyes closed. Tear marks streak her cheeks and she is a blurry face.

"It is obvious why we have gathered here. This Skiel has broken many rules and laws and killed infinite others. Her time is almost up, as you can see. We have to give her her punishment as soon as possible. For this, a weapon has been made by our crafters. Thank you, crafters." She nodded at Verify and a few others.

"We have not named the weapon, but that is not important. We need a volunteer. A good one. The task is quite simple. Find a human. Use him to kill Noir."

Many voices start protesting. Verity is standing next to me, shaking her head. "Terrible. It's terrible."

"Stop!" Her voice booms and everyone is silent yet again. "I know. Humans shouldn't be in this realm, but we have no choice. Handing her over to the demons or the water creatures would result in an unspoken alliance. I need a volunteer. Someone willing to do the dangerous task and interact with a human. A way to redeem yourself." Her eyes land on me and I gape at her. Why was this my task? Verity shakes my hand.

"She is talking about you! This is your chance! Go!" She pushes me forward, causing me to bump into the others. They look at me with curiosity in their eyes and make way for me.

"Are you sure about this?"

I stare at her. "No..I-well...I mean...I don't...." I stammer and she glares at me. "Yes. Yes. Of course. I agree." Not. I glide up onto the raised platform and stand next to the Zima. She nods in approval. Never had I wanted to slap a person so hard before. I resist the urge and stand still, watching the Skiels, who are all frantic.    

"We have our volunteer. I will need a Skiel welfare minister." At first, nobody moves a muscle. I scan the crowd and see my grandfather beaming with pride. My heart sinks. He couldn't care less about my life. All he sees is that by simply putting myself up to this task, the Skiels will respect us. Respect his wife and daughter. I see some movement from the corner of my eye and move my head in that direction. A very old looking Skiel with grey streaks in his creamy brown hair steps forward. 

"Yes, lady?" He bows slightly and looks up at us.

"How long does she have?" Zima points to Noir, who doesn't look up. 

"I'd say....a day? I will have to check her...properly." Zima nods. She then clasps her hands together.

"I conclude this meeting here. Go back to doing your work. She will be executed soon." Everyone mumbles, 'nalr' which means thank you and start to evacuate the place, save for the minister. Anger flares up in me. How could she talk about Noir's execution in front of her? That was so rude, so mean. She had feelings-no she didn't. My anger is replaced by despair. I want someone to understand, but I feel like I live in a place full of dummies. 

"Come with me, Azura. Minister, take a look at her. I want an answer." The minister nods and rushes to Noir. I follow Zima to a secluded area. "You have to bring a human with a timid, but a strong heart. We want him to listen to us and we are going to accomplish that by instilling fear in him. But we don't want to break his will."

"Does it have to be a male?" 

A lazy smile rests on the Zima's lips. "Of course. Preferably in his teenage years." My eyes widen as I realize that she is setting a trap for me. She wants to see if I would fall for him. Her yellow eyes bore into mine as she waits for my reply. I hesitate. Is it possible to back out of this task now? I could just give up on this dream, do something else. Maybe study the human world. Living a safer life is in my hands, but I cannot simply give up because...I'm scared? I feel this is just so wrong. Noir had suffered a lot. Besides, it was unfair to grab a random human and make him feel guilty for the rest of his life.  

I sigh. "Yes. I understand. Is it allowed for him to see the kingdom? Our world?"

She nods slowly. "He will be given a memory tonic after he has left the realm." So he won't remember a thing. He'd still remember fragments. The guilt will still be there, he just won't remember why. Was it worth it? I want to be in the Throng so badly. I want the Zima to notice me and accept me. After all, the Zima was always right. She knew all.   

"I understand," I repeat. I bow down and wait for her to dismiss me. 

"Also, bear in mind that if he doesn't cooperate, you will have to detain him. And..make him cooperate." I gulp involuntarily. Detain him means torturing him until he agrees. "This is only if he doesn't cooperate and none of the other methods work." 

"Yes."

"Lady," a guard interrupts. "She only has until tomorrow afternoon or so." I sigh. Hardly twenty-four hours.

"Hurry, Azura. If you fail, you will not only fail me but the whole Skiel population. And trust me, you will get your punishment." I sigh.

"I will try my best not to fail, lady. Offer me your blessings." She waves a hand over my head and dismisses me. I fly to my cave. No one is there and I collect my weapons. I cannot afford to fail. I take one last look around; there is not much to see. Soft clouds pushed to the corner to sleep on and a rack made out of wood, which has more weapons. A chest is pushed to the far corner, next to the clouds. A potion for unconsciousness also rests on the shelf and I take it. I don't want anything else. My trusty weapon- a Pernach, is enough. I take a deep breath and snap my fingers.