Rise of Fire: Dragons Reborn [COMPLETED]

Chapter 11

Talia quivered violently enough that she was almost certain it translated over to her body rather than her nightmares. To be certain what she was experiencing was a nightmare. She knew she wasn't awake, she couldn't be. But the scene that lie before her was too twisted for words, even for a hardened killer like her.

She held up her hands, looking at the red staining them. She knew the color of blood, it was the color of her hair after all. She had it coating her hands time and time again and yet this time was different, far different. She took a shaky breath willing herself to wake up, willing the images that affronted her away. Yet no matter how hard she tried she couldn't escape the smell, the feel, the horror.

"W... Why?" The whisper was so feeble it was almost pathetic. Yet Talia's heart wrenched in pain at the sound of it. She looked down into the eyes of her sister Midnight. They may not have been related by blood but they grew up together as the two most powerful assassins under Hephatus's guidance.

Midnight was a beautiful woman to be sure, midnight black hair, dark black eyes, pale ghostly skin, and the face of a demi-goddess. Talia was certain at times that Midnight was a demi-goddess, but it couldn't be proven. Midnights beauty was matched by her skill in espionage, combat, and assassination. Talia had always regarded her as an equal.

"I... Can't..." It was all she managed as she pulled her sword from its sheath. She watched in horror as her body moved forward, her left hand grabbing Midnight by her hair and her right drawing her sword up to the woman's throat. Part of her delighted in the sound of metal against flesh, the feel of an artery playing closely to the edge of her blade. There was paper between the edge of her sword and the thick swollen artery pumping beautiful crimson, skin was nothing to her. A distraction.

"You betray the fami..!" Talia cut her head off before she could even utter the next sentence. It took only a split second, and then another shower of blood ensued. Who was left? She had killed them all at that point. Half of her was twisted in disgusting glee, the other half was so horrified it couldn't function. Why would she ever betray her family? Why would she kill them? Why would she like it?

"Because ite flame... Because deep down you belong to the darkness." This voice was new, slimy, oily, disgusting. She writhed away from it, desperate to escape. Yet the feeling followed her. The feeling of utter sickness. There was no face to the voice, she was certain it was in her head. But if it was just in her head, did that mean it was her? And if so, how could she have such thoughts?

"I am a part of the darkness, I do not belong to it." She hissed, turning away from the scene of violence beneath her. She tried to run away, desperate to get anywhere but there.

"Vekkar owns your soul, giantess." The voice answered seductively. She threw her sword away, it clanged on the stone walls of the tunnels she had grown up in. She slammed her hands over her ears, screaming to drown out the voice. But no matter how far she ran the tunnels never ended. The voice never got any farther away.

"Just wake up!" She screamed, punching herself in the chest. The only good that did was to cause a blossom of pain all over her body. She seized momentarily, groaning and gritting her teeth as a savage mountain of pain began to crush her. For a moment she thought she'd die, but then a gentle coolness filled her and drove away the heat. Had she been burning? Was she suddenly no longer immune to flame? Had the dragon burned her alive and she imagined victory in the moments before death? And what of her meeting with Hephatus? Was she condemned to damnation?

She stopped suddenly with that thought, choking on tears at the notion. She had served faithfully, she loved the goddess for helping her escape her bleak life as a slave. She'd done everything perfectly, walked the fine line and dedicated her life to serving Hephatus and her family. What could she have done to deserve punishment?