Return of the Fallen Volume 5 Chapter 1
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch1
Directly after the battle between Degra and Triska had concluded, Far to the northeast, Reya had hidden deep within a mountain range.
She carved out a relatively small cave and collapsed to the floor. Not from exhaustion but rather from fear. Her mind replayed the battle again and again. She was on the verge of death against a weak human. She had been cleaved in half. Following that, she had been dealt another terrible blow and had her head separated from her neck with a frightening blue flame. She had come far too close to death and all for what.
Reya reached into her pocket and took out a small golden compass. The item she had to obtain no matter the cost, for her master. She gripped it and sighed in relief. After her falling out with Triska, she found it wasn’t worth it to continue the fight. All she needed was the compass and Kazuki’s death but with her master not here, she could just say Kazuki died. With his strength, Reya figured he would never be a match for her Master and he would die by Triska’s hands anyway. Besides, her master wouldn’t know Kazuki was still alive if Reya didn’t tell her otherwise.
Reya lifted her hand up and admired the ring she wore. It was a gift from her master and held two purposes. One was for locating the compass. She had trouble at some point or another but things worked out in the end. The second purpose was to communicate.
(This doesn’t have much power left but it should still work even this far away.)
Reya was not a creature that had magic. However just because one could not manipulate the elements did not mean one could not use magic. Reya grabbed the small gem embedded in her ring and removed it from the ring. Flipping the tiny jewel upside down, she simply reinserted it into the ring.
*SHINE*
The jewel lit up like a small red sun filling the cave with crimson light. As soon as it started to glow, Fera noticed it.
Reya called out excitedly into the ring.
“Master, Master I’ve done it!”
*FWHOOSH*
The clouds high above the mountain started to concentrate and swirl into a large shape. They darkened to a shade of blackish-grey until they formed the face of a woman in the sky.
Reya climbed out of the little hobbit hole she had made and knelt down in plain sight. Cupping her hands into a fist she saluted.
“MASTER!”
The face in the sky looked down on Reya and with a parting of her lips, the air boomed as she spoke.
“Reya. I assume you’ve reached out because you’ve succeeded in your mission, correct?”
Reya nodded repeated and beamed upward with a bright smile.
“Yes, Master. I have done exactly as you’ve said and have completed my mission.”
Reya then reached into her pocket and pulled out the golden compass, raising it above her head for Fera to see clearly.
Fera outstretched a tendril of energy down below and touched upon the compass. The compass in return emitted a soft glow and it was confirmed to be real.
“Good. You’ve done well.”
Reya’s smile only grew brighter hearing her Master’s compliment.
“And what of my brother? Where is his corpse?”
Reya’s smile faded and she went quiet. As she did this, an agitation could be felt in the air as Fera could tell something was wrong.
“Reya, answer me. Why do I not see my brother’s corpse?”
Reya swallowed hard but put on a fake smile.
“His body, your brother, he was destroyed and…and nothing was left. That’s the reason you do not see his body.”
The world became quiet for a moment and Reya felt a hidden pressure befall her as Fera stared down upon her. The clouds parted slightly and Fera spoke once more.
“Dead you say. Hmm, how interesting. Reya, you were supposed to be my most loyal follower, and yet, you lie.”
Reya felt her blood run cold and just when she was about to say something, a gale of wind came rushing down and slammed into her.
Reya didn’t dare resist it, rather she couldn’t even if she wished to. The force from this wind alone pushed her into the ground until she was flat on her stomach and her body was completely pinned down to the ground. The air pressed her further and further and the ground beneath her began to crack, even then Reya could only lay there and take it.
Lightning began to gather in Fera’s cloud-like eyes and her voice boomed like thunder.
“YOU DUMB LITTLE BITCH! YOU ACTUALLY DARE LIE TO ME!”
Blood began to pour from Reya’s ears and spill out around her head as Fera continued.
“DO YOU HONESTLY NOT REMEMBER THE DAY I SENT YOU TO FIND KAZUKI! I TOLD YOU MYSELF THAT HE WAS ALIVE! DID YOU NOT WONDER HOW I KNEW THAT!? DID YOU THINK I WOULDN’T KNOW IF HE WERE STILL BREATHING!?”
Reya gathered all of her willpower and screamed out in misery.
“MASTER, MERCY…MERCY PLEASE!”
“MERCY!”
Fera looked at the mountain beside Reya and the lightning in her eyes shot out.
*CRACK-KA-BOOOOOM!*
Half the mountain shattered in an instant and disappeared. What was left held an afterglow from rocks that had been turned molten red. Hundreds of miles away if there were people even at this distance, they would have clearly spotted a glowing half mountain and awed at the sight in dread.
Fera extended tendrils of wind down to the already immobile Reya and injected some type of energy into her mind. As soon as that energy tapped into Reya’s head, Reya screamed out in a panic.
“PLEASE MASTER, FORGIVE ME! ANYTHING BUT THIS!”
Fera ignored her words of plea entirely and proceeded to rip her limb from limb. Reya was an Azirian and felt no pain but once this energy from her master seemed into her, She could feel every sensation as though she were a normal human being. Feeling her limbs torn away was excruciating in itself but it didn’t stop there. Fera’s power invaded deeply and caused Reya to experience everything at a greater level than a regular person would.
Every fiber, every ounce of flesh being ground and ripped, every broken bone and twist that came with it, Reya felt it all and so much more.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Reya screamed at the top of her lungs and beyond. She destroyed her voice in an instant but continued past that until she was coughing and spitting up blood.
*Snap Crack.*
Finally, when every limb was taken away, Fera stopped.
Reya’s rate of regeneration was incredible and she began to heal and regrow body parts at an extraordinary rate, however, each time she did with her body now experiencing sensation, the growth of bone and flesh was pure torment. When Reya was fully healed, and all of her purplish-black blood returned to her, she still felt the after-effects and could only lie there in throbbing pain.
Fera’s voice boomed in the sky once more.
“AGAIN!”
Reya’s eyes widened and she wanted to beg for mercy, beg for death, anything to not have to go through that another time but she could muster no strength whatsoever.
And so began a loop of torture. Fera would tare Reya apart and wait for her to regenerate only to tare her apart again. This went on nearly a dozen times before Fera stopped. Reya laid on the ground, her consciousness on the verge of falling apart.
Fera retracted some of her energy from Reya and spoke with disdain.
“I held back quite a bit and didn’t kill you, this is my mercy to you. You will find Kazuki and take his head before you return. You do this and redemption will be yours. Fail me once more and you will suffer like this for one thousand years. Do not fail me again!”
Fera’s voice echoed out into the distance before fading away along with the clouds above. She was gone.
Reya lay there on the mountain top, her entire body still writhing in pain. It seemed Fera removed some of her energy but not all. A lingering effect that would last for quite a while. A warning for Reya to not mess up. Reya couldn’t move and every breath was heavy and difficult. She constantly coughed blood and every time she did, she would feel it from head to toe. Tears of blood streamed down Reyas face as she thought about the torture she had just experienced.
When Reya thought about this, she couldn’t help but wish for death but when she thought about taking such a route, she felt as though she were betraying Fera. Reya lay there motionless for several minutes but because she still felt the pain along with the freezing cold from the mountain air, her consciousness began to slip away. Her linger though just as she passed out, even after everything she just went through was for one person and one person only.
(Ma…Master. Please…Please forgive me…..)
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