Standing on the hill overlooking Fiahthyr Forest at the battle that ensued once the Umayad and Orian armies clashed. Corvin's smile stretched up to his ears as he watched the tragedy unfold before their eyes.
Yes, it was a glorious achievement, having their enemies slay each other, sparing her the trouble of doing it herself, but it didn't ease the guilt that slowly crept into the pit of her stomach.
" Do you think the goddess will show herself?" He asked without taking his eyes off the battlefield. He relished the cries, and the wails of pain, and sorrow staining the peaceful surroundings with death and a heavy stench of blood.
" She will..." She hoped she would, at least" It is our last resort. I can't unleash the sisters. They will grow too strong and I'm afraid I won't be able to contain them any longer," One of the reasons Corvin devised the little plan, of the two armies offing each other. After Ironstone, she could feel her grip on their power waning. One more feed on the sizeable two armies and she wouldn't be able to hold onto the leash. It was slipping out of her grasp. No force in this realm or any other realm would prevent the inevitable. With Shikari deep in the forest, another source of angst for them and a source of precious food for the sisters, if allowed to roam free there was no telling what would come to transpire if Iris wouldn't show a measure of restraint.
" And if she doesn't, " He quirked up a curios brow, in tone with his expression. Amusement danced in his eyes and somehow that terrified her, deeply. Whatever he had in mind it wasn't good, but surely he had thought it through. Other than her heart, he had won her trust.
" We will have to find another way," The screams drew her attention back to the battlefield, while the sisters kept barking in her ears to be released. The answer was a simple, no.
Drawn by the clanging of blades, screaming, and most likely the horrors that unfolded in the forest, the shikari began to resurface from spending moons huddled in the safety of the forest and Vellai Castle.
The ground violently shook as the hoard roared and shrieked announcing their presence. Everyone stilled for a breathless moment, and dead silence settled over the land and the forest.
The air crackled with an undescribable energy. Corvin shifted in his seat, tightening his grip on the reins as the horse grew unsettled at the sheer menacing presence of the shikari.
Snorting, and winning, her brave boy dug the ground with his hoof, shaking his head. Dread fully untangled, quickly spreading as one of them broke from the horde and began spearing toward them at an incredible speed.
The sinister laughter that erupted from Corvin, and the clouded grim expression he wore, deepened that dread to such extent that every muscle locked in place, as she watched him jump off the horse, blade in his hand, poised for battle.
The cursed thing was thrice his size, armed with jagged teeth, and sharp claws, charring the very ground with each step it took.
A shrill, pained scream sliced through the air, breaking the trance she'd slipped in. It came from the forest.
Numbly, Iris jumped off the horse, unsheated the bade strapped to her back, and began trailing after Corvin with heavy steps.
Time slowed as she watched him, slide over the early dew-frosted grass, between the beast's legs, slicing the foot with such precision that the beast didn't even notice that it had lost a foot until it hobbled on its feet losing balance, and nearly toppling over.
Nimbly, Corvin sprung to his feet and turned his attention onto the shikari's other foot. Swiftly, he swiped his blade slicing at the other foot, only injuring the beast as it roared and screeched so awfully that it grated every nerve ending in her body to her very soul.
Sensing her presence the beast turned its attention fully onto Corvin, stomping at him with its truncated foot while Corvin evaded each attempt with sweeps of his blade as he leaned backward, forwards, and sideways, effortlessly.
The beast grunted, and roared, frustrated drawing the attention of the others and slowly, the human screams and wails subsided being replaced by the roars of the shikari. The army they invited to their slaughter, had been ruthlessly decimated and now it was their turn to follow them into the thereafter. Undoubtedly fucked.
Corvin, insidiously grinned as he finally succeeded in severing the other limb of the beast, causing it to finally fall to the ground with a loud thud as the others began charging towards the hill, hearing its painful roar.
Corvin didn't dance around for much longer, and impaled his blade in the beast's chest as it rolled over swiping its claws at him, one jump to the side was enough to avoid being sliced through and through.
Another deep, drawn roar sliced the air as Corvin began carving its heart out of its chest. A gruesome, revolting sight that turned her insides into water.
It had never happened before, being squeamish. The sisters wailed in her ears for some reason. Perhaps, because she had deprived them of such a feast, and they were taking their revenge on her showing their deep disapproval.
As the ground began shaking beneath her feet, Iris swallowed the knot lodged in her throat and began descending the hill, Corvin plunged his hand into the beast's chest and ripped its heart out, without even flinching as the beast released a final roar.
The grin that spread on his lips was disturbing, as he looked at the beating heart in his hand. The purple blood that coursed through their veins didn't hurt his skin as it did with the grass, which wilted and turned into ash wherever they touched it.
" The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Ready?" He quirked up a brow, as he lobbed the still-beating heart a few paces away and licked the blood off his hand. Not his, the beasts. For how long had he been doing that?
" Ready as I'll ever be" Iris blew out a breath as the horde neared at a sickening pace, roaring, screeching filling the air with the scent of the impending death.
At least she died with a blade in her hand, fighting with her last breath to keep them safe.