Page 94 of Pet: Torment
“Xion?” Noah calls to her as she opens her eyes. I look back at the venue as a deep rumble sounds. They’ve moved out. This is our only chance. But Noah is too preoccupied with Xion waking up to listen to me.
“Fuck!” I shout, my feet moving before anyone can stop me. I hear Noah shouting my name, but I ignore him. I don’t have time to waste. Ezra needs help, and with Remus occupied and Xion barely conscious, it falls to me to be that help.
The ground shakes and I look up just in time to see a cloud of rock and debris flying away from the venue. It must be Remus. The sound of the battle thundering in the distance is accompanied by the ground continuously shaking beneath my feet. It feels like a much further distance than it truly is as I push down my fears, letting adrenaline fuel me.
My heart accompanies the roar of my blood rushing as my adrenaline spikes. I finally cross into the venue, stumbling slightly as I take in the damage, but I quickly put it out of my mind, looking for Ezra’s unconscious body. I find him a few feet away, grabbing the fabric of his shirt as I try to drag him.
“Ugh!” I cry out from the weight of him. He’s heavy, making it that I can only drag him a few feet and not as fast as I need to. He’s dead weight, making it impossible to pull him
“Come…on…ah!” I scream as a blast of wind rushes past us.
I look over to see Remus standing from another hole in the ground, his attention flitting to us briefly before theCelestivinecomes back in full force, shouting at Remus in a language I can’t understand. My chest heaves as the Celestivine realizes I am a few feet away from them, giving me his full attention.
He glances from me to Ezra, his eyes narrowing slightly as he takes a threatening step toward us, giving Remus the distraction he needs. Remus shouts, and suddenly a powerful blast that wipes out the entire half of the remaining venue sends the Celestivine flying in the opposite direction.
I look at Remus in shock, noticing the thick blood dripping from corner of his mouth as he pulls in a shaky breath.
He’s injured.
He looks in my direction, his expression shifting from anger to disbelief as he accepts my decision.
“Get him out!” he shouts, seconds before launching himself in the direction of the Celestivine to give me a chance to get out with Ezra.
My muscles tense in pain as I use all of my strength to drag Ezra from the tent. By the time I’m out, and in view of Noah and Xion, I am a huffing sweaty mess. But Noah is up, closing the distance between us to help me, as we pull him the rest of the way to a now conscious Xion.
Tears are in her eyes as she shifts to her knees, hunching over his unconscious form. She gently presses her palm against his cheek, murmuring something I can’t hear before moving to his chest where she lifts his shirt, and I bite back a gasp at the damage done. His veins have turned black beneath his skin, stretching out from the hole created by the beam of light.
I quickly look away, unable to bring myself to ask as Xion goes to work. I shift, moving next to Sky who is still unconscious before looking back at the damage done by Remus and this Celestivine. I know nothing about this battle, or the endgame that will result from it. I didn’t even know Remus was battling a Celestivine until he exited the venue after throwing Remus from it.
The blast carried me and everyone else out before anyone had shown up, making wonder why and more importantly, how this Celestivine showed up without warning. I can’t help but feel it has something to do with their mother. For now, I hope Remus can defeat him.
I wipe the blood trickling from the wound on Sky’s head away with the torn sleeve of my dress as I listen to Xion panic behind me. Tears slowly form while I listen to her, and I close my eyes, squeezing Sky as the realization of what her panic means settles in.
Noah’s loud gasp pulls my attention. My skin suddenly prickles, and the air grows heavy, forcing me to turn to acknowledge the chilling presence that has suddenly arrived. My breathing catches as the woman who caused all of this appears.
She’s as terrifying as she was in the vision as she stands over us, resembling both Remus and Xion. Her expression is cold, holding no compassion, no joy, no pity. It shifts as she notices Ezra. I involuntarily clench Sky closer to me as their mother moves to him, ignoring all of us, except Xion.
Blue beams suddenly spring from the ground, wrapping around her. Noah protests, but is blasted so far away, his body goes easily over the edge of the cliff. Xion can’t break free as she screams for him. Her mother is holding her hostage as she places her hands over Ezra, healing him herself.
“Voltan kyuman, Xion,” I tense as her voice comes out in chilling rage. But I understand what she said.
“You failed your purpose, Xion,”
I don’t know what I thought I would do if I ever met her in person. I never truly wanted to. I had always hoped Remus would be the one to confront her. She is as emotionless as she has turned him.
I gasp as the ground around me trembles, but it isn’t from Remus’s battle. The ground cracks slightly, and I scream as it drops a few feet, a fault in the rock circling to surround me.
“So, you’re still alive.” My heart drops into my stomach as Remus's mother acknowledges me. She looks away from Ezra, her full attention making me shudder as I look into eyes that glitter brighter than any jewel I've ever seen. The purple of her gaze shines bright as she looks at me, her beauty deadly.
“Not for much longer,” she says.
I cry out as the ground cracks more, making us dip slightly as gravity takes hold. I hold Sky close, closing my eyes as terror I’ve never felt before comes over me. If these are my last moments,and Remus is still her puppet, then I have failed. And that makes me feel worse than facing death.
I can only hope that Remus somehow makes it out okay.
Remus
I can’t recall the last time I felt pain. Or exhausted, for that matter. But as I try to keep my father at bay, I can feel it creeping up on me. It radiates from each injury placed on me, and I’ve lost the ability to heal it. Each time I touch him, or he touches me, he siphons more of my power. He is powerful, and at this point, he is content with simply wearing me down. Once that happens, he knows he can do whatever he likes.