Killing Death

Chapter | 6 | The Oardis Saga

When my eyes snapped open, I was sitting on the edge of the chair. My back was hunched over with my legs spread apart. My elbows resting on my thighs, as my hands lifelessly dangled in between. I kept gasping for air, forcing myself to breathe through the trauma that Davina had inflicted upon me. 

"Alora, are you okay?" Evaline asked.

I winced. Her voice sounded like grating nails on chalkboard. The temples of my head were painfully throbbing, beating, drumming at the rate of a machine gun.

"She's fine. She's just being a drama queen."

Drama queen? I wanted to slap Davina across her smug little face, but my body wasn't having it. It shook with fervor, sending waves of chills up and down my body.

"She's not okay." Evaline pressed her hand to my forehead and muttered something in a language I could not understand.

Soon, a blanket of relief swept over my body. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs up with as much air as I could possibly intake.

"Feeling better?"

I slowly bobbed my head up and down, moving myself back up against the chair. With an exhale, I offered Evaline a look of gratitude.

Faeva placed her hand on Evaline's shoulder, compelling the green-eyed woman to take a step back.

"What did you see?" Faeva's eyes were brimming with curiosity. Her pupils dilated with anticipation as she stared into my eyes.

"Her death," I spoke through gritted teeth, "but you already knew that, didn't you? That was cruel."

Faeva's eyes narrowed. "Need I remind you that you came to me?"

"I didn't ask to relive my past."

Or see things that were meant to be forgotten. Those golden eyes would now forever be etched into my mind.

"You asked for answers, and that is precisely what I intend to give you, so as long as you cooperate with our methods of—"

"Of torture?" I hissed, cutting her off.

"Of investigation," she corrected.

I scoffed, rising to my feet. "Investigating someone's mind through such measures is called torture."

Evaline quickly stepped in between the two of us, grabbing my shoulders in the process and gently pushing me back down onto the chair. "Alora, I would like to apologize on Davina's behalf. She stepped out of line. We all did."

"As if!" Davina interrupted, crossing her arms. "There was no other way! Time isn't exactly on our side."

Evaline's eyes never left mine. "We should have, at the very least, warned you. For that, I am really sorry. But you should know, if there was another way, it would have never come to that."

The sincerity in her voice pulled on my heart strings. I desperately wanted to believe her words, but cynicism had its claws wrapped me.

"Then why put me through that?" I questioned.

Evaline's eyes widened in surprise. I couldn't blame her. Even I was taken aback by my harsh tone. She opened her mouth as though to speak, and then closed it—a look of hurt plastered across her face.

"Necessity," Faeva answered in her place. There was no sign of remorse in her eyes. In fact, she looked ticked off. "We told you that the accident marked the beginning. You needed to relive it, to see the abnormality of the situation. I imagine you witnessed something unusual toward the end of the vision?"