But at What Cost

Part One

"Why are you running Kai? Afraid to face what you've done?" 

The voice followed her through mist, hauntingly sweet and bitter at the same time. 

Her hair was wet, plastered to her head as she ran, wings plucked and dripping demon blood, a trail behind her.

Kai's armour had been stripped away, her under clothes riddled with holes, revealing cut wounds underneath. From her cuts she bled sticky grey blood, nothing normal about it. 

Around her, stone walls rose from the ground, covered in blood spatters, words etched into the rock, not that she stopped to read any of them. She never did.

It didn't take long for the frightened erinyes to lose her way, soon she was stumbling about, taking lefts and rights at any given moment. 

And yet, still behind her came his voice, calling out to her. Mocking her. Haunting her.

"Do you often tell people you love them, and end up taking their life?" 

There he stood, right in front of her, a ghostly apparition.

He stood around 6'8", built like a hero from the greek myths. Though he had a spear buried deep within his chest, black blood seeped through his clothes, in the lines of his armour. It dripped down his chest and pooled at his feet. 

His hair, which used to be kept so neat, was knotted and dirty, mud, twigs and leaves tangled in his shoulder length black hair, some of it in his face.

But perhaps what was worse, was the look in his eyes. She had driven him to hatred. And instead of the old comforting yellow hue, she was met with a dull grey, backed with pain and anger. 

Kai took a step back, shaking her head, tears welling up in her own eyes, unintelligible words falling from her lips. Half assed excuses, guilty apologies, everything in between.  

She hit a cold wall, her wings folded tightly to her back. 

Zael however, had his own wings, or what was left of them, spread out, the mist beginning to shift to a red hue as he did so. 

What was once a beautiful set of wings, scarlet in color but when the sun hit them just right, it was a flurry of fire, was now plucked, burned and cut away. 

"What you've done...will stay with you. I will always be with you Kai. Reminding you of the coward you truly are," 

With a loud gasp, she bolted upright, chest heaving as Kai tried to get a deep breath in her lungs.  She rubbed her eyes gingerly, Zael's form burned into them.

It had all been the same. The nightmare hardly ever changed. 

Slowly, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, feet hitting the cold wooden floor gently. She padded over to the window, pulling the curtain off to the side.  It was still dark. How long had she been sleeping? A few hours? 

At this point, she only had one more day of travel before she would reach her destination. 

This new task...it had come as a surprise to the demon. Usually, espionage esque missions were reserved for higher up demons, and ones specifically trained for it. But her commander was not one to be denied. 

"Pft. Disguise yourself, and meet with literal gods and goddesses. Im more likely to die at this point," She muttered to herself, pulling back from the window and retreating to the bed.