Revelation - Chapter 37 (Patreon)

Remus

I didn’t realize how much I missed her. Not until this moment. And seeing her with her mind twisted under Braith’s control kills me even further. I can’t bring myself to attack or even move for that matter. So I just keep my gaze focused on her, taking in every feature that I can until I devise a plan.

“You, your highness, are one tough bastard to kill. I thought for damn sure we had done it. We had finally rid the world of you. And were so much closer to ridding it of your kind.” Braith laughs humorlessly.

“I see why you are called celestivine. You truly are a divine creature.” Braith speaks as he comes up to me. I glance at him over Iris’s shoulder. His gaze is filled with so much anger.

“Why won’t you fight me yourself? You’d rather drag an innocent into it, that’s under your control? How much of a coward are you?” I hiss. Braith only laughs.

“Goad me all you want, . I’m no coward. I’ve watched you the moment you came back into the kingdom. You adore this human. I’ve seen it in how you watch her, how you protect her. How you react to every single thing someone does that has any effect on her. I know you wouldn’t dare touch her. No matter how hard she hits you.” He laughs and I can’t help but grind my teeth. He’s right.

But if I want to get her back, I have to do the unthinkable, and something that Braith won’t be expecting.

“I’m sorry.” I murmur. I use all of my strength, grabbing her arm from around my throat and twisting it. It snaps instantly, the loud pop echoing off the trees. She screams in pain and the sound hurts my ears and digs knives into my heart, but it’s necessary. I immediately form a force of energy from my palm, aiming straight for her chest to throw her off of me.

She cries out in more pain as she’s sent flying across the greenery, and I see Braith’s shocked expression out of the corner of my eyes. I don’t waste time. I sprint towards Braith colliding with him, making sure to wrap my arms around his waist and hold him tight. I see the edge of the cliff out of the corner of my eye and keep moving until the ground is no longer beneath me, and we’re both falling.

Braith uses his elbows to bring force down on my arms, forcing me to let go of him as we fall, but I make sure to land a blow in his chest before we hit the ground sending him hurtling to the dirt before me. The breath is taken out of me on impact, but I immediately stand up looking around. My vision blurs ever so slightly making it difficult to scope my surroundings.

Rage fills me up inside and I can feel myself slowly losing my own consciousness. My gaze zeroes in on Braith. He’s slowly rising out of the dirt, his hair wild, his face bloodied, but it’s not enough for me. My mind is leaving. And I can’t do anything to stop myself from becoming consumed by it. The rage. A part of me I always keep suppressed to keep others safe. Or else I would become like them.

All the hurt and pain he put not only my people, my kingdom, and my family, but Iris through as well. He’s going to pay for it. Death would be too easy for him. But when I finish with him, death will be what he’ll be begging me for.

I slowly begin walking towards him, making sure to soak up the life out of any and everything along the way. I feel the energy as it crawls up my veins, spurning me even higher until I feel like I'm going to explode. The last thing I recall is my body at high speed towards Braith.

~

Iris

My arm is on fire. It’s broken. I know it is. Not only that, but there’s a deep rumbling in the distance. And I know it’s Remus. I try and get up, but stumble and fall. I’m too weak from being controlled. I feel the hair on my arms stand seconds before something is thrown inches in front of my face.

I immediately follow the trail of blood and dark energy as it collides with the mountainside sending a crack up the entire rocky ledge. I see Braith, trying to catch his breath, his body battered and beaten. And when I look up in the direction he came from, I see him. Remus. But it doesn’t look like his usual self. I feel a chill ripple up my spine as I take him in. He’s walking towards Braith, his gaze black.

Even the whites of his eyes are pitch black. It reminds me of that day on Earth. The day he lost control and almost killed me because he found out about Jude. And I know as I stare at him, he’s lost control. The grass around him slowly shrivels and dies as he walks towards Braith. His sinister gaze giving no room for pleading or even recognition. He looks menacing.

His hair is slowly turning black at the ends, creeping up to the roots of his hair. His veins are beginning to darken under his skin turning the same black as his eyes as he emanates evil. Then, he does the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. He smiles. It’s cruel. His gaze is focused on Braith.

“I hope you’ve made peace with your body. I’m about to rearrange it.” He growls. I can’t help myself. I shiver. I look over to Braith. His gaze is wide and filled with fear. He can’t move. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s that broken or that paralyzed from fear. As I look at Remus, I feel paralyzed. Afraid. It makes me realize how much he held back from me. No matter how often I defied him.

“Remus.” I try. My voice comes out a broken whisper. And he doesn’t turn his head to me. I feel shame at the relief I feel from him not looking in my direction. I look over to Braith and even though I know I shouldn’t, I feel pity. He only wanted what Remus wanted. And they were no different in their quests for it. I slowly try and stand as Remus gets closer to me. I can feel his darkness as it pours around him and simultaneously sucks everything away from itself. It’s petrifying.

I move, flinching from the pain but ignore it as it shoots up my arm.

“Remus, no,” I say again, but my voice still comes out as a pathetic squeak. I look down at my stomach, placing my good hand over it and listening to the sound of the small heartbeat. I don’t want this child to be raised by the monster Remus can be. I want it to be raised by the man he is. I open my eyes standing and I begin to hobble behind him.

I can feel not only the Earth around me but the planet we’re on as a whole. If Remus continues this, he’ll kill everything on it. It’s the complete opposite of the conversion. I ignore the pain shooting up my arm and run.

Even when I feel the pain of my flesh being peeled away by the energy Remus is exerting. I reach through the mass, placing my hand on his back.

“Remus… please…” I murmur. I’m not sure how, but he hears me. It’s as if the world stops. Remus’ entire body calms down, as does the world around us. My eyes widen as I take him in. He’s trembling in front of me. And I realize with happiness that Remus is here. And not dead. My Remus.

I smile softly letting the tears fall down my face at the joy I feel.

“Remus.” I say his name again, just because I can. Not because it’s a memory, but because it’s a calling for the being in front of me. He slowly turns to face me, his face slowly returning to its normal state. I can’t help myself as I admire his beauty. How I missed his face. A face only hours ago I believed to have killed.

His brow furrows as he takes me in. He slowly reaches up, placing his hand on my cheek.

“Iris?” He whispers. He smiles and it turns into a soft laugh as he pulls me into his warm embrace. I want to enjoy the feel of him around me, but I immediately cry out in pain from my arm. He pulls away from me with a frown as he realizes why. He looks down at my arm, immediately moving to heal me. He tenses, as do I. We both feel it. Braith’s energy.

Remus shoves me out of the way, but the blast hits him full impact as I collide with the ground. I cry out in pain, quickly scrambling up. Braith is emanating evil energy that matches the one Remus had moments ago. His once broken bones are healing, his face twisted in anger.

“I will not let you win so easily!” He shouts. He immediately forces a blast around him, surging for miles as he kills everything within range. Remus jumps back placing his energy around me to protect me from the blast.

“Remus!” I scream. I suddenly feel a presence behind me. I turn around seconds before I see Braith’s blade of black energy aiming at me. I don’t have the time to dodge, but Remus is way ahead of me. He’s in front of me so fast, his hand colliding with Braith’s. The backlash from the blows sends a gust of wind rippling around us.

Remus pulls Braith towards him, his hand lighting up with energy as he collides his fist with the side of Braith’s face. Instead of letting him go, he keeps a firm hold on Braith’s fist and kicks him as hard as he can sending Braith in the opposite direction.

Remus looks at me, worry crossing his features.

Are you ok?” He asks. He immediately begins working on my arm and I feel a familiar warmth trickle up my arm as he heals it. I nod my head, looking behind him for Braith who could appear at any second.

“Wha-“

He cuts me off as his lips come crashing down on mine. I can feel the joy, desperation, relief and everything in between in his kiss. His fingers thread through my hair and he holds me tight as he kisses me.

He pulls away meeting my gaze head-on.

“Just in case I don’t make it Iris, I need you to kno-“ He stops midsentence, his gaze turning into a confused one as he looks at my face.

“You-“ He looks down at my stomach, his eyes widening. He looks back up at me, pure shock.

“Iris…?” He whispers. I nod my head slowly, tears spilling over my cheeks as I smile. He’s happy. I can see that he’s happy. He laughs softly, placing his hand down my stomach. His smile widens, and he continues to laugh softly.

He places his hand on my cheek looking me in my eyes. He smiles, nodding his head at me.

“I don’t have the words.” He whispers. His face immediately shifts, becoming void of emotion.

He turns away from me seconds before I even sense that Braith is near. He forms a blade of light from his hands, seconds before making it collide with Braith’s blade of dark. The force sends another energy surge around us.

But Braith wasn’t aiming for Remus. He was distracting him. He rotates his body instantly, his fingers finding my hair as he rotates around Remus. He yanks me so hard I'm forced back. His arm comes to a rest around my throat as he cuts off my air supply, and his blade hovers in front of my stomach.

“No!” I scream. But I can do nothing as I feel Braith’s hold coming over me. My world is blacking out like it did the last few times Braith controlled me. I see Remus’ terrified expression, his voice coming out as clear as day.

“Iris!” He screams. I can hear Braith’s evil laugh as my world goes dark, and the future of me and my child is taken from my grasp.