My Willful flame

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Tell me he's alive!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as Nohr dragged me by my hair, my voice laced with desperation and anguish. "You bastard, tell me you didn't kill him," I pleaded, digging in my heels and thrashing against his grip, my efforts futile against his overwhelming strength. Grief flooded my senses, mingling with the fear that the boy who had betrayed me was dead. The thought shook me to my core, and angry tears streamed down my cheeks unchecked.

Nohr pulled me forward releasing his tight grip. I collapsed onto the ground, unsure whether to charge at him or accept defeat.

"I'm not sure, my aim has been less than perfect" he finally responded, his hand pressed against the wound I had inflicted. His laughter, tinged with sadistic pleasure, intensifying my distress.

"Was he someone you loved?" his narrowed eyes boring into mine.

"Is he dead?!" I yelled again, my voice raw with anger and desperation.

"Oh sweet Elora, he is dead, so fucking dead and there will be nothing left but a scattered corpse once the wolves catch the scent. So mourn, and cry, and gasp for your breath because it will soon be your last," he taunted with demonic darkness in his eyes.

His gaze shifted, and I followed it watching a looming structure painted black and exuding an ominous aura. The Fortress of the lake. Flames danced atop the tallest tower, casting eerie shadows that sent chills down my spine. A gigantic pyre that burned day and night, signifying the eternal life of the brotherhood. It would never die, and neither would they.

Looking back at him I was speechless, unsure if Laus' fate was something I had rooted for. I was ready to do it by my hand, but not by him. Hearing him boast about it made me furious.

Nohr shook his head, "You truly disappoint me, my queen."

I gritted my teeth, jumping at the chance to scratch out his eyes. A first landed in my jaw and I was on the ground, the world fading fast from view.

Light filtered through my eyelids as consciousness slowly returned, accompanied by a musty, rotten smell that permeated the air. Gradually, I became aware of my restraints, my hands bound tightly at my sides as I sat in a filthy chair stained with blood.

I moaned and put my head back, trying to squint away the throbbing pain in my jaw and the sharp ache in my head.

"Took you a while," An ominous voice cut through the settling light, and I strained to identify its source. My surroundings came into focus—an underground cell with wooden pikes lining the walls and black stone slabs beneath my feet. I had just woken up in the devil's lair. Nohr's grin emerged into the circle of a torch light.

"You bastard," I groaned, closing my eyes. The light made the pain worse.

"I will miss our little spar of rivalry, it's intriguing, and I can't quite tell why." Nohr's voice echoed through the cell, the rest of his form shrouded in shadow.

"What?" I whispered, confusion muddling my thoughts as I struggled to open my eyes against the harsh torchlight.

"You. There is something so interesting about who you are, the way you behave so fearlessly, but if one looks close enough they would see that you are just a frightened little girl. Yet though you risk your own life for people who would never do the same, at least not any more, and you accept nothing in return. A selfless act that is so rare in this world. Most here have called you pathetic, taking bets on who got to kill you." He lowered his head and chuckled, his words cutting deeper than any physical blow.

"Just shut up,"  I shook my head, trying to block out his voice.

"No one loves you anymore, but you still keep fighting for them." He squinted his eyes, "And they could hurt you over and over. Use you to no end and you would still do everything for them. Right?"

Frustration boiled within me, and I lunged forward, my restraints biting into my skin. "What do you want from me?!" I screamed, my voice echoing off the stone walls.

Nohr merely smiled, his expression unfazed, "Fearful loyalty, now that is very rare, Elora."

"You don't know me," I complained and sank back exhausted by his unnatural interrogation.

"And you don't get it. You are alone. Since your very first breath, you've been alone. A tool for others to use, someone no one wanted to keep or love." He said with words that tore into me.

I struggled to not cry, not to show the weakness he had already sensed in me.

"No genuine connection was ever made with you. How does that not just tear out your little heart?" He added and for a moment I couldn't tell if he was enjoying hurting me or feeling pity.

I gathered myself, "I won't entertain your morbid curiosity so whatever it is you want, get it done! Torture me or kill me, I don't care."

"I believe you," he said, rising from his seat, his imposing figure casting a shadow over me. "Because you believe me. You are alone, Elora, just like I am. We are the same."

"We are nothing alike," I spat.

"Made from death and betrayal. Cast out. Forged by an unearthly rage, and driven by revenge. Really?" He asked sarcastically.

I fell silent, unable to deny the parallels he drew between us.

"I thought so," he smirked, backing away from me.

"I am still human, and you will never be again." I countered.

He chuckled slightly, backing off. "Now that is true," he turned his back to me, "I won't care what happens to you from now on, even with my morbid curiosity."

He shifted back to me, finding my eyes, "But you are asking the wrong questions, Elora. What you should consider is how I know so much."

An iron door opened outside my cell and footsteps approached.

"Think about it," Nohr winked at me, a cryptic glint in his eyes, before stepping aside to reveal my visitor.

My eyes widened in pure horror as cold death grabbed ahold of me, and suddenly that frightened little girl I had suppressed for so long came screaming back to the surface.

"Our little warrior, I was hoping you'd find your way here," Djevel's voice filled the cell,

"Good work, son." He said and put a hand on Nohr's shoulder.