I will strip her of magic and power, and I will leave her to hide amongst the mortals with the knowledge it wasn’t worth it.That she will never destroy the system, never achieve her dreams because I took them from her the way she took everything from me.
I reach into her jacket and find what I’m looking for.Interitus stiffens as my hand grips the soft, feathery wings with serrated edges.
“No, no, no.Don’t take her,” Interitus pleads, hysteria wrapped around each word.
But it’s too late.There are no other possibilities.
Black fibrous threads whip through the air.They shiver and tremble around Interitus, faster they twirl and spiral until…
“Yes, there it is,” I smile for the first time as I locate the thread that connects the Severed Moth to Interitus.
I hold her gaze, hate pouring into my stare as I reach out to the middle of her wings and yank out a feather.
She screams in pain, blood trickling down her black wing tips, the gap in her wing stark.
“Fitting.A feather for a feather,” I snarl.
She struggles harder now.Wriggling and fighting the threads of power.But nothing can stop this.I’ve gone too far.
She broke me, tore my insides apart, and now the years of pent-up resentment festering inside me have unleashed themselves.
I slide away from her, pulling the moth with me.
Interitus wails.
Each step I take my sister cries louder.
The moth wriggles faster in my hand too.But it’s mine now.I just need time to convince it.
“Please,” Interitus begs.“I’ll do anything.Just don’t take her.”
Another step, another foot.Another, and another.
Blood wells in my sister’s eyes, it pours from her nose and even leaks from her ears.
Good.I want it to hurt.
I hope it’s agonising.
Further and further I move away, far enough that the bond between them starts to scream.The moth wriggles a furious dance, wings beating against my fingers.Perhaps my only regret is that for now, I am causing it unimaginable anguish.A trust that will take a long, long time to repair.But I will.I am patient.I have nothing else to live for but vengeance.
Interitus drops to her knees.“Please,” she says, her voice cracking.
“Remember this position, sister.Because on your knees is where you will spend the rest of your days.”
I stare into my sister’s eyes, revelling in the way she pleads and begs.But my feet clank against a body and the pleasure I felt in Interitus’s pain dissolves.
My stomach twists and bile claws up my throat as I realise whose body it is.
I glance at Gellara.Lifeless.Still.Even the wispy red smoke has dissipated now.I can barely smell the scent of woodsmoke and ocean, and that makes my chest ache all over again.
I whip Interitus’s feather through the air, slashing at the bond between her and the Severed Moth.I know the moment the feather hits the bond because my swing slows as it encounters resistance.My teeth gnash against each other, my jaw flexing as I hack and sweep and yank the feather through their bond.
All the while Interitus screams and writhes on the floor, her face wrinkled in agony and blood.
The bond snaps.
It’s a wave and a shiver that ricochets through my entire body.The propulsion forces me back with a sudden jerk.I’m not expecting it and stumble over my feet.I crash into something soft, my stomach dropping out as I realise notwhatI’ve hit but who.
