Devouring Hollow Hearts || ONC'24

》Chapter Sixteen《

Striding through the halls of the palace, Chyrie felt like a stranger to the crystalline walls.

Her parents' portraits were removed, the throne room sacked and burned. Each long running rug had been ripped up, every painting covered along with the fine art her parents had forged and blown for Courmasse.

There were no spectators assembled to watch—a surprise considering how vague she'd known Anryth to be.

Approaching a wide clearing with white chalk outlining an octagonal boundary, the space sat before one throne. The craftsmanship was beyond Chyrie's recognition.

"Do you remember what I taught you?" Xiran whispered in her ear as they stopped.

Chyrie nodded, casting a worried glance behind them. Asa and Iden were chained and assisted by two guards, herded like sheep as if they'd tried and failed to escape before.

She couldn't let herself think about it.

Cathan was more gently manuvered by another guard, his focus trained on the floor. His shoulders were still slumped and exhausted, his determination waning.

"Now," Anryth began. "It would seem we have five of you, an uneven number for battle. So I'm imposing a sudden death."

"What aren't you imposing," Iden muttered.

Anryth's smile grew.

He gestured to the set of guards behind her and Xiran, masked completely in black with nondescript armor that only unsettled Chyrie more.

Asa and Iden were thrust into the ring first, their chains disappearing upon contact with a strange barrier.

"The swords," he called, gesturing toward two pillars.

Iden didn't look at the weapon, lunging for the chalk line only to be rebounded.

Anryth tsked, chuckling to himself. "You thought it would be that easy? The only way out is through your beloved, General."

To Chyrie's shock, Iden paled. He slowly shifted to see Asa standing with her broadsword already, smirking like a cat. The vision was positively horrifying, amplified by the dirt crusting her features.

"Asa..." Iden said. "I don't want to fight you."

"Unfortunately, I don't believe you have a choice," she replied.

The ease in her tone unsettled even Chyrie.

She barely recognized the sweet, tender woman with a heart of steel. Her best friend was a changed woman, surely. But a killer, not.

"This has been a long time coming," Xiran answered her thoughts again, reading them straight from her expression.

"Asa nearly killed him last time," Cathan agreed.

"Last time?"

Cathan wedged himself close between their shoulders. "They brawled in the prison, bloody enough the Ceirvani involved themselves, but neither had a weapon. Asa bested him bare handed, I doubt Iden will survive this."

"They hate each other that much?" Chyrie asked.

Xiran nodded once.

"Iden is a tool, but he doesn't hate her. Asa, though? She's been waiting for this moment to be free."

Cathan's hushed words lingered between them as the couple circled one another in the octagon.

Upon the first clash of blades, Chyrie was enraptured by the assurance in Asa's steps. She commanded the battlefield, ignoring Iden's pleas to find a loophole. Without needing to speak it, Chyrie knew this was Asa's loophole.