"Onya, I'm hungry!" the boy shyly said while looking at Iris's features as if trying to memorise them and brought her back to the present, where they were already walking on the castle's grounds.
Iris smiled and hummed, " W- ..." she stopped speaking as she felt her throat tighten all of a sudden, unable to breathe and her mind slowly slipped into darkness, her eyes catching a dim glow coming from their joined hands
" Fie, onya!" Azra said in a voice that didn't belong to a small boy anymore but to a young man.
Ian followed Iris and Azra shortly after they left the chamber, still puzzled by the boy when his eyes fell on Azra, kneeling next to Iris.
Ian ran from his spot and pushed Azra to the side, and pulled her lifeless body into his arms " What did you do?" he desperately questioned, feeling his mind spiralling out of control at the sight of the woman he loved most lying on the ground.
" Fie Babba!" he apologetically said while placing his hand on Ian's shoulder, which was quickly pushed away.
" Don't you dare touch me!" he thundered at the young man without even noticing that he had already grown.
Ian checked Iris's breath, feeling his heart shattering into small pieces; with each passing second, she lay on the ground with her eyes closed. Every beautiful moment they had spent together flashed in front of his eye while the despair and grief in his heart grew larger, with each engulfing his mind and his soul with darkness.
Tears pooled in his eyes and slowly streaked his cheeks, one drop at a time, and fell onto her face while he caressed and hugged her to his chest, chanting the same words over and over.
" Please, come back to me!" he whispered in a grief-stricken voice, utterly broken at the loss of his beloved wife.
" Please forgive me, father!" Azra kept saying the exact words that fell on deaf ears while Ian was absorbed by his pain and grief, feeling utterly broken, holding her lifeless body in his arms.
Ian wept until he had no more tears to shed, and the grief and pain were slowly replaced by hatred towards his son, who was responsible for the loss that he had suffered.
Ian placed Iris on the ground gently and kissed her forehead, and caressed her hair, letting it fall through his fingers; the same way her life had slipped through his fingers, she was within his reach, but he had failed her.
She had become his entire world, and now she was no more, and the only thing he could do now was to accept and avenge her death, even if that meant taking his son's life.
The boy he had waited to meet, the boy he had so many hopes and dreams of, was the same boy who had taken the only person that truly mattered to him, Iris.
Ian gritted his teeth; he couldn't even bare to hear the sound of his voice, let alone see him. At that moment, he felt incapable of accepting that the man who had done this to her was none other than her son.
Ian took a deep breath; his anger was at the precipice, and the only person he had held back for was now gone " How dare you call me your father! You are no son of mine!" he thundered, his nostrils flaring, feeling everything around him slowly fade into darkness.
Azra stood up from the ground with his head down " Please forgive me! I didn't mean to hurt her. It was an accident!" he explained in a pain-stricken voice. Since he had been forced to mature faster than any other child, he had very little understanding of how wrathful his father was, and he now knew that his mother was the only person that could control his fiery temper.
" Asking for forgiveness won't bring her back!" he thundered again while stepping closer to him, opening the palm of his hand, and a ball of red fire hovered in his hand that increased in size with every single breath he took.
" Neither is killing him!" Athan pointed out while checking on Iris, ensuring she was truly gone, that Ian was just blinded by his own emotions, being reckless and taking actions without a second thought.
" We won't know until we try!" Ian sneered while throwing the fireball at Azra, crashing into his chest; the flames quickly engulfed Azra burning his tunic and his skin Azra.did the same as Ian and opened the palm of his hand, and the flames that were burning his tunic gathered in his hand, shifting into a flaming sword
" Ian, he is your son!" Rhya pleaded while stepping closer to Ian, trying her best to calm him down, seeing that he was fighting his son.
Ian snapped his finger, and a flame appeared at the tip of his finger that travelled down as he opened the palm of his and turned it into a sword just like Azra's but his was incandescent blue.
Athan sighed " Just stop. There is no need for more bloodshed! She is not gone! Now stop with the nonsense!" he calmly stated while picking up Iris in his arms, leaving them on the castle's grounds to do whatever they saw fit, he couldn't believe how stubborn Ian was being and how quick he was to fight and destroy before looking further into things.
Azra released a shaky sigh of relief, hearing Athan " Not all is lost. There is still hope!" he murmured while letting go of his flaming sword that disappeared just as fast as it appeared.
Ian closed the palm of his hand, extinguished the blade in his hand, and turned around, ready to follow Athan, when the sound of the castle's gate opening made him halt his steps and turn on his heels, ready to face whoever dared to enter the court and expected to live and tell the tale.
Dahlia walked inside and looked around until her eyes fell on the three people in the middle staring at her.
" If I knew there would be a welcoming party, I would have put on my best dress! I must say, I love what you did with the place!" the witch smirked while she approached them and stopped in front of them.
Ian already knew that by the way she spoke, she wasn't just a regular woman, the witch possessed her, and shortly, there would be more following her.
At that moment, he didn't care for visitors, no matter who they were, friend or foe, and he would make sure to send a loud and clear message to the witch. He was done playing nice!
The only thing that wasn't clear to him; was how she had managed to find her way into the forest when the veil was still powerful enough to hold them off for a good while.
Ian's lips curled up in a wicked smile, he still needed to let off his anger, and the witch couldn't have found a better time to turn up on his doorstep.
" I must apologise for my lack of manners. Welcome to our humble home! " Ian commented in an amused tone waving his hand towards the castle while slowly making his way to where the woman was and halting his steps in front of her.
The woman's lips curled up in a stiff smile " Interesting! You're the same man that saved the three people in the forest not long ago!" she replied in a flat tone of voice, making Ian chuckle and let out a fake sigh of contentment.