Six of Ruin (Heirs of Irenwell #1)

The cuts on my skin still burned, but the blood stopped flowing. I felt unsafe walking through the forest with Ace, but I also felt like I had no other choice.

We didn’t even see his magic coming. I knew something changed in the air, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. If it had been some other mage, we’d be dead. We were weak, untrained and unfamiliar with magic as a weapon, which was a serious problem, considering there was a High Mage at our heels.

And the High Mage in our own group turned untrustworthy.

I pouted all the way, “Why did you do that?”

“I like watching you squirm in pain.” Ace pushed away the branches which became thicker and dryer the further we went. The warthog hopped ahead, still carrying our luggage.

“That’s cruel.” I mumbled.

“Cruel?” Ace laughed out loud. “My father used to torture me to teach me endurance. You haven’t seen cruel, Princess.”

“So?” I stomped angrily towards him, “You’re adamant to repeat the cycle?”

“Life is a cycle, deal with it.”

“Sure, when you refuse to change.” I crossed my hands on my chest, not even caring a couple of branches almost cut my face.

“Change isn’t real.” He was a few trees away from me and I barely kept up the pace.

“Goddess, you’re infuriating.” I whined, unsure how to feel.

On the one hand, I was angry beyond belief. On the other, I knew my anger would be met with nonchalance and indifference. Ace did this all the time; he disregarded one’s feelings, making one ultimately feel like a fool for having any in the first place.

“What do you want me to say?” Ace pushed a branch out of his face. “That people change? Grow? Become better?”

“Yes!”

The mage turned around, something almost melancholy shimmering in his wild eyes, “You’re young, you believe in change. I know change is nothing but an illusion. The world has always been and will always remain the same. It will shed you and me like old skin and continue its everlasting repetition.”

I brushed off a strange blue bug that flew in my face, “You know what? You have a habit of projecting your own flaws onto the world.”

Ace cocked his head, a bored frown clinging to his brows.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that.” I put my hands on my hips. “You know I’m right. The great wizard is immoral, therefore the world is immoral. The great wizard doesn’t change, so the world doesn’t change. You’re the one who’s continuing your everlasting repetition, Ace. I bet if I had met you five hundred years ago, it would have been the same you I know now.”

His eyes flickered with surprise. It disappeared as quickly as it came.

The mage nodded. “You’re trying to read me like you’re reading a sex-deprived stable boy. Think deeper, Princess.”

“Well,” I refused to give in, “There’s a sex-deprived stable boy within us all and he’s blaming the rest of the world for his own flaws.”

“Gods,” Ace laughed, “You remind me of your great-grandmother. You Lorenth women are all the same.”

“What did you call me?” I buried my feet in the ground, refusing to move. The warthog would have to drag me further.

“Lorenth.” Ace came a step closer. “There’s another side of your ancestry and it hasn’t always been so royal. Your female ancestors were filthy whores.”

I gasped.

Shock gripped my features, “How dare you, you stupid magician!?”

“Oh, come on!” Ace rolled his eyes. “Your mother hung out with Fae Folk. Everyone knows you don’t just hang out with Fae Folk, you either fuck them or they kill you. And judging by the number of Fae trinkets you carry around, it’s safe to say your mother did a lot of... surviving amongst their kind.”

“Fuck you, Ace!” Angry, spiteful tears pricked my eyes. “You know nothing about my mother!”

“Oh, I know enough about your entire family.” Ace sneered. His eyes glinted with enjoyment. “Things you don’t know and things you would never want to find out. Now, do you want to debate my principles and values, or do you want to find a damn witch, convince her to help us and save this wretched world full or ignorant, self-absorbed pricks such as yourself?”

He pushed a branch out of his way and disappeared behind a tree.

Energy coursed through my veins and the need to fight him no matter what prevailed, so I followed the bastard, “Oh, the great magician’s fragile ego is hurt and he doesn’t know how to cope so he’s lashing out and trying to offend me.”

“You’re not nearly as smart as you think!” The mage shouted, now even further away. The asshole was running away from me.

“And you’re not nearly as mysterious as you’re trying to appear!” I pushed the strength into my muscles and ran after him. “Face it, as soon as someone dares to call out your bullshit, you’re ready with a counterattack, which sometimes narrows down to exclusively name calling.”

I almost bumped into his calm, stern form.

Ace looked down at me, “And how about I call out your bullshit, witch? We’ll see how you’ll feel after this conversation.”

He moved the branches away, uncovering a small clearing surrounded by thick, dark trees and a beige-coloured cabin in the middle. Lonesome, silent and eerie. Dry, thin branches covered the roof, held together with unfamiliar, brown-red, oily daub. I squinted, taking in the structure of the facade, calloused, blotchy, carved, patched together.

My stomach flipped upside down, the half-digested meat returning to my mouth.

“Is that...?” I swallowed and pushed down the vomit.

“Skin.” Ace stepped onto the clearing. “The cabin is made out of skin. Well, at least on the outside. The structure is supported by bones.”

Visceral, human terror crawled through my spine, chilling me to the very bones. Frank wouldn’t come any closer; he stayed near the tree line while Ace walked ahead. The eeriest part of the view was sunshine spilling over the disgusting roof and down the skin walls.

I pinpointed the weird feeling; the house was out in the open. Whoever lived here wasn’t hiding underground, in the darkest, deepest corners of the world, in the shadows.

The fact the occupant of this home wasn’t afraid or ashamed made it all the more terrifying. Such a thing was normal in the Spirit territory.

“Liliana!” Ace shouted and whistled. “I’m bringing food!”

“Food?” My eyes snapped at him. “What exactly is food?”

The wooden, or at least I hoped parts of the house were wooden, door creaked and opened, revealing a shrivelled old lady, normal-looking, dressed in deep blue finery. Silver shoes peeked behind the sparkling hem of her dress, which dragged across the cobbled pathway in front of her house.

The top of her head was grey, starkly contrasting the midnight black hair ends. The blue in her irises was foggy and dim, the wrinkled eyelids falling over them, squishing her eyes in to the point I wondered whether she saw us. Deep creases covered the rest of her skin almost like they would cover the crust of an old tree; hard, sharp and eternal, representing the number of years she’s been alive.

She caused the same feeling within me as the man back in Balr who tried to rape me.

The woman came closer, “And why are you bringing tasty young girls to my humble home, earth mage?”

“Well,” Ace came even closer, “I’m teaching her a lesson and offering you a deal. Frank!”

The warthog hesitated, his large, dark eyes flew across my face, and I knew exactly how he felt. If this woman ate people, what did she do to pigs?

“Frank.” Ace grunted.

The warthog bowed his head and tail and approached. Ace dug through the luggage and took out a sealed, skin-made container filled with dark liquid.

The old lady’s eyes slightly widened, a ravenous glint appearing under the fogginess, and her nostrils flared as she breathed in deeply, “Ah, young.”

Disgust trailed through my veins.

“Very young.” Ace mumbled. “And fresh, too.”

“Not many humans wander through the Spirit territory.” The lady approached the liquid container. “It’s harder to find food.”

She reached for the liquid, but Ace moved away, “A deal first, Liliana.”

“Ah,” Liliana batted her eyelashes, hidden under the thick layer of old, wrinkled skin, “Deals cannot be made on an empty stomach.”

Ace grunted under his breath, “Your word then, that you will do as I say.”

Liliana laughed politely, calmly, and her eyes landed on me, “What did you do to her soft skin? It’s scarred and red and bloody. Darling, aunty Lily will keep you safe from this grumpy, old man. Just say the word.”

“Uh, I’ll take my chances with him.” I mumbled, pushing down the sheer horror of having her eyes roam across my skin.

“How about a consideration, Liliana?” Ace said and the witch finally stopped looking at me. “It would be a mere moment of your time.”

Liliana cocked her head, “Alright, earth mage.”

Ace gave her the liquid satchel. Fortunately, the smell did not reach me. The old woman licked her lips and bit through the skin, red liquid coating the edges of her mouth. She drank greedily, drops of blood smearing her neck and cleavage.

The wrinkles flattened one by one. Her skin stretched. The fog disappeared from her eyes. When she was done drinking, she raised her head, stretched her neck and breathed in deeply. Just like that, an old lady turned into a gorgeous, midnight black-haired, icy blue-eyed woman with plump lips and a healthy red glow on her cheeks.

Her lips parted, revealing blood-covered teeth, “Thank you, earth mage. It will be much easier to hunt down human men this way.”

“Glad I could help.” Ace sighed.

“Although, male blood gets boring after you’ve tasted a few.” Liliana ran her delicate fingers through her hair. “Strong, direct, but ultimately simple. Like salt. Female blood, however, layered, acquired, complex. Like truffles. Nothing like young blood, though,” Her eyes lingered on the empty satchel lovingly, “With just a hint of freshness.”

I shivered.

“Yes, yes, save your culinary expertize.” Ace stole the satchel from her. “I need to ask you a favour.”

“What is it that you need, my young friend?” Liliana stretched her legs, like she had just woken up from a long nap.

“Send a message to aether.” Ace went straight to the point, “Tell them we live. And tell them to beware of the pixies.”

Curiosity sparked through me, but I said nothing, hoping the mage would answer my questions unknowingly.

“I’ve heard some Gyorg seer mumbling about it.” Liliana cocked her head. “I thought she’d gone insane.”

Ace’s cryptic words chilled my blood, “Power is rising where it shouldn’t be. It’s better to err on the side of caution.”

“Very well.” The woman nodded. “But you haven’t come all the way here with a bag of blood to ask me to be a messenger. What do you want, Ace?”

Ace’s grey head leaned towards me, “Read her.”

“What?” My eyes widened and I took a step backward. “What does that mean?”

The witch grinned, flashing a set of perfect white teeth, “Don’t you trust your companions, earth mage?”

“Not one bit.” Ace moved aside, his green eyes sliding over me, “Especially not her. She’s too important to kill and too manipulative to ignore. Also, her ancestral tree is full of raging bitches.”

Panic surged through me, biting at my insides, gathering around my heart muscles. I felt betrayed, in a very selfish way, like Ace shouldn’t want to do this to me, not to me. The woman came closer, her proximity shutting out the upturning feelings towards Ace.

Her icy blue eyes glinted with sharpness and focus. I tried to move away, but I couldn’t, not when I felt something clawing at the inside of my head. Fingers glided across the surface of my brain, touching, prodding, uncovering.

I was aware I could move, nothing held me in place, but my mind felt captured in her hands. She could break my mind before I’d blink and take everything I’ve ever been for herself; my memories, my emotions, my thoughts. I stayed put, afraid to breathe in too deeply.

“What are you?” I said through my clenched jaw.

“Same as you, Princess Irina of Irenwell.” The witch moved her head to the side, fingers in my head squeezing my brain tissue harder. “I’m a mind mage.”

My mouth fell agape. Was this how Rixen felt when I entered his head without permission? Did he feel my fingers grazing the most intimate corners of his mind?

“Ask her what she wants.” Ace said, leaning against the terrified warthog.

“What do you want most of all, little lady?” The witch asked, a caress flowing down my brain and my spine.

The words coated my tongue, forming without my consent, but I deliberately bit down, drawing blood from the soft flesh of my mouth.

“I want everything to return to normal.” I said, the burning sensation spreading down my throat, all the way to my lungs.

Slimy, oozy feeling covered my brain’s surface, almost like the witch licked it. I shuddered; cold sweat covered my skin. I thought she would destroy me, my very self. With my mind in her hands, she could obliterate me from the very existence, or she could use me to do whatever she wanted. I wouldn’t even know.

“You’re lying to me, little lady.” The witch said. Pain cut through my brain, like she scratched it with her nails.

A shriek fell off my lips, followed by mumbling words, “I want to rule Bastia!”

“Cleaner!” The witch shouted.

“I want to rule!” I breathed out, unable to stop the words, unable to help myself. “Alright? It doesn’t matter what, it doesn’t matter whom. I just want power!”

Surprise jolted through me. I’ve never said it out loud.

“I knew she was a loose cannon.” Ace pushed himself off the warthog with a sigh. “What does she know?”

My eyes went wide. My heart hammered in my ears. Deep inside me, where currently terror ruled, there was a glimpse of magic, trashing itself against my barriers. Desperate, I reached for it and pulled it up, letting it cloak me.

“Hmm,” Liliana cocked her head again, causing another wave of pain to my brain. “Her magic is responding to mine, it’s cute.”

Energy clashed into my shield, cracking it into pieces. Once again, I was bare and exhausted, my mind turning into a mushy mess of scattered thoughts and feelings.

“She thinks you want to start a war between Bastia and Irenwell.” The witch looked at the mage, the grip around my brain slightly loosening. “Is that true, earth mage?”

“Would you care, Liliana?” Ace asked. “Who is she loyal to?”

The witch shrugged, her gaze returning to me, enveloping me with a tighter grip. My heartbeat raged, beating faster and faster, until it reminded me of a fluttering hummingbird trying to reach the skies.

My words were a whisper, “Irenwell.”

The witch laughed shortly, “Lie. She’s good at lying.”

Black and red and yellow dots danced before my eyes, “Humanity.”

“Lie.”

Exhaustion overwhelmed me, my legs gave in and I collapsed on the ground.

“Who is it, Princess?” Ace repeated his question. “Danilo? Rixen? Tell me!”

I shut my eyes tight, sharp pain biting through my flesh.

“Myself.”

The pain ceased. My hands fell by my sides. Disappointment flashed through me, and I felt as if I finally looked in the mirror, only to face a reality I tried hard to ignore. The witch’s hands left my mind.

“I’m only loyal to myself.” I admitted, feeling weak and empty.

A smug smile emerged on Ace’s lips, “How does it feel to have your shit called out?”

Amidst the mess the witch’s magic created, I found the raging bundle of my own magic and gripped tightly, using all the strength I had left. It felt different, more potent, angrier. Without knowing what I was doing, or how I was doing it, I aimed all my magic towards Ace.

And I let it loose.