Tragic Innocence

Chapter 57

“Yessss--” a spine-chilling voice purred contentedly.  “I captured him and kept him, to call you back to me; a perfect design to lure you into my fortress.  And it has worked ever so beautifully!”

            Pentulla instantly leaped to her feet, engaged into a fighting stance with the dagger pointing at Rolac.  She appeared every bit a fierce warrior from her glowering gaze, snarling lips to tightened muscles that jumped every so often, like a coiled snake ready to strike at any given moment.

            “Stay where you are!” she threatened in a low-pitched rumble.  She felt the joint in her jaw harden and anger bubbled up her spine.

            Rolac, within the obscurity of his cloak, chuckled mockingly.  His red glowing eyes scowled.  “Do you realize how long it has taken you to find…your beloved?” he sneered with rising disgust.

            “Stay away!” she spat like a wet feline, shifting nervously as he slowly glided closer.

            “My sweet Elondra, you and I shall consummate our reunion.  How joyous this event is for me!”  He stabbed the black air with twin fists, feeling euphoric in his success in bringing her back into his fold.  He laughed thunderously.  “But we shall complete our work, you and I, for we are not yet done.”

            “No, we shall not!”  The dagger quivered within her moistening hold.  Fear gripped her thudding heart and vivid images of her family’s destruction weakened her resolve.

            “Yessss.  I see that you have more strength and now more than you had before.  It matters not, for the vessel shall still serve me well.”

            Pentulla gulped hard as her throat flashed.  She closed her eyes for an instant and heard their echoing screams, felt the heat of the flames roaring.  “No!  It won’t work!”  Her eyes flew open as a light glowed within their depths.  Her chin lifted in a jerk and her nostrils flared defiantly.  “Not this time,” she growled.

            “Elondra,” his caressing voice seamed to plead.  His approach was deliberate, graceful, as it tightened the space between them.  “I can feel your heart beating true and fast as the day you had become mine!”

            “I said stay away!”  She retreated, her legs tense and aching.  Her taut muscles groaned in protest from her excessive strain.  Sweat sheathed her skin into a sleek green reflection from the pulsating orb behind her.  Pentulla tossed the obtrusive locks of silvery hair from her face, her chin a stubborn jut beneath burning eyes.

            Pentulla felt her power stirring deep inside the pit of her stomach, a thrill of determination empowering her tentative courage.  Names swamed, crying out vengeance for their lives, she could hear them all.  She lowered her lashes for but a brief moment and saw each and every one of their faces; from her beloved father to the stranger who had tried to valiantly protect her kin from utter obliteration.  Tears stung her eyes.

            Rolac laughed and slid closer still.  “Elondra, we belong together, you and I.  You shall reign by my side, and I, your king.”

            The only reaction she gave him was a hard swallow, her courage fluctuating.  Instead, she lowered her brows in anger as she restrained from showing fear.  The dagger began to tremble.  The magic slowly crept up, warming her torso and shoulders.

            “Do you recall how you would bid me a good morning after a hard days’ work of annihilation?” He slowly turned his back on her, eyes scanning the deep sundering of the ceiling dipped in blackness.