Kuro: A Land in Eternal Night

Chapter 30: The Reckoning

Felicia Silverstath lay dying. She was certain of the fact. The bright light was fading now, light like she had never seen before, but so reminiscent of the light she had witnessed many years ago, on the day her world was turned upside down and her life was never the same again.

What was that? The faint smell of apple pie in the air. Mother's apple pies baking in the kitchen, bringing along the promise of a new day. A day that had never come.

There it was again, the scent of blood mixing in with the sweet aroma of the apple pie. This time, the blood was hers. It hit closer to home. The pain in her heart was far greater than any physical pain. It was the anguish of knowing that her family would never be avenged, that the Dark Priestess would not be dead by her hand. She had failed the Council. More importantly, she had failed her life's mission.

The blood continued to flow, soaking her silver hair, tarnishing her clothes, covering her in shame from head to toe. She felt the warm tears fall from her cheeks and she hated herself instantly for showing weakness in her final moments. She had wanted to be strong until very end so that the Silver Witch would die unbowed, even in the face of humiliating defeat.

The demons hovered over her. They had survived of course. Their grins were hideous, mocking. They were free now. The instant their will returned to them, they knew. And the time of reckoning had come.

Her eyes were blurred from the pain, but the real pain was yet to come. The demons were here to exact their toll. That they had stayed instead of fled meant just that. Felicia had always known the risk she took, the recklessness of her gambit. And now the gambit had come to collect. There would pain, pain as no human had ever known before. She would pay the price for her sins.

Felicia smiled as the demons took her. In the distance she spied the Dark Priestess, those cold eyes staring at her as the demons swarmed over her. The Priestess did not raise a hand in her defense. She was letting the demons have their way. The Dark Priestess would live on to see another day. Felicia knew then that the pain in her heart would be far worse.

"Mama..." she whimpered softly, a little girl once more. The smell of the apple pie washed over her one last time. Mixed now with the odor of evil, of the demons, and of her own guilty blood.