" Going somewhere?" Corvin asked flatly, blank with no trace of emotion.
Iris considered for a brief moment who was asking the question, and she knew for sure that wasn't Corvin asking. After all his mind had been infiltrated, and the others were nothing more than living and breathing puppets. Not good.
" Maybe," Iris shrugged, nonchalantly, peering back into those glowing purple eyes, silently daring him to step forward. She wished she would be able to say that she wasn't there to hurt them but, that was far from the truth and if the hatchling was poking inside their heads he was already aware of the truth.
" What do you want?" It was a fair question, all things considered, but at the same time not all that keen on hearing the answer.
Silence settled in, the hatchling hadn't mastered his power yet, or perhaps he was the only one able to poke inside human minds.
" A home," Simple, and at the same time not possible.
" Seven Seas belongs to the humans," Iris pointed out, not taking her eyes off the hatchling.
" We know," For a moment the hatchling's gaze strayed away beyond the forest," But is ours too, now," Using Corvin as a medium was a little unsettling but she brushed that feeling away rather quickly.
Iris hummed pensively and followed his line of sight, wondering if it would be possible for them to live in peace. Perhaps Dakran was wrong, and after all, they could. It was a risk. They had been silent for moons, but only because it was breeding season and once that was done...
" Not Seven Seas," She had made her decision, knowing that they might not come out of the forest alive. Not that it mattered. There was no escaping death, might as well make the most of it while she waited.
The hatchling remained silent as the others began to move towards Vellai Castle while Covin dragged her behind him.
The sisters sighed in her ears, miffed, exasperated. They were along for the ride after all.
" Such a shame," One of them cooed in her ears," Well, Sweetness.. you were a hoot but I'm afraid we must bid you farewell," Another added with a cackle making Iris roll her eyes. Goodness gracious.
" I have to say, it breaks my heart parting ways with you," Iris deadpanned, as she followed behind Corvin. She had to figure out what she would do once they were inside the castle. At least they won't have to climb the mountain-high wall.
If the young shikari was the only one to exercise such power then she would only have to rid herself of him and break them free from the spell he'd cast on them.
The castle loomed, getting closer and closer, as did the shikari guarding the gates of the castle pacing, undisturbed by their approaching presence.
They only stopped, so they could get in. Surely, the Queen would like to have a word or two, or perhaps sever their heads just because she felt like it.
The familiarity of the castle grounds was just that, familiar. Vellai had stopped being her home, a long time ago, before any of this had begun. The vaulted arches, and the open corridors, that once were pristine and enviable, are now, in ruin.
The beautiful white stone had been marked, scarred and chipped, and the windows had been shattered sprinkling the floor with tiny shards, twinkling in the sunlight very much like the stars on a moonless night. The crunching under their footsteps was the only thing that filled the eerie silence.
The throne room, yawned before them, filled with cocoons hanging from the ceiling and more shikari tending to them checking the life within them.
It was a beautiful and yet terrifying sight. There were hundreds of cocoons, each paired with one full-grown shikari tending to it.
The thrones that once belonged to her and Ian had been shattered, while a shikari stood in the gateway that once led to Ellora. Did they want her to open the gate?
The shikari paid no mind to their intrusion, there was no need. The Queen's gaze roved over them briefly while Corvin pushed her to the front of the group. She had been unaffected so far. For how long it remained to be seen.
The Oueen's gaze drifted to the hatchling that had dragged them there and nodded in assent.
" You dare challenge us," Corvin spoke like a broken toy, surely not his words but the Queen's. Oh, bother.
" No," Iris sighed, " Just trying to do some spring cleaning," She quipped while the Queen frowned, which quickly turned into a scowl.
Silence settled, while the Queen looked over her cocoons and gently caresses one that hung close by. She was a mother after all who would stop at nothing to protect her offspring. Not that she would know anything about it. She wasn't one of them.
" What do you want?" Iris asked impatiently when the Queen kept stroking the cocoon, unbothered by their presence. After all, there was nothing that they could do.
" To be left alone," Corvin finally answered, and the Queen turned her head to look at her.
" It's hard to do such a thing. You are a threat and have sowed destruction in your path. If it's not us, there will be others that will come and challenge you. This," Iris took a deep breath, " Is not the home that you seek," She finished while keeping her gaze locked on the Queen who glared at her.
All the other shikari paused and turned to face them, encircling them. So many. Her breath hitched at the sight. Not only their size, and their ferocious appearance but at the way they move in unison. One mind.
A shudder rippled through her, and she turned her attention back on the Queen who took two steps forward.
Something white peeking between her legs. It looked like a person dressed in an all-white attire.
Curious, Iris craned her neck to see further but the Queens frame took most of the visual field towering over the others.
" I can offer you a trade," Corvin spoke again. At least she wasn't entirely unreasonable.
" You have nothing that I want," Iris snapped while the figure behind her began stiffly to move to her side.
A tuff of brilliant golden hair and the celestial blue eyes that vacantly stared into space was enough to make her stomach drop at her feet, and her heart stumble on herself.
" Azra," It was a wave of emotions that could hardly be contained. Fear, joy, terror, excitement and so much more swirled all at one crashing within in violent waves. He was alive.
" I gift you, your son, in return for this realm. Abandon the foolish quest, and I shall return him to you," Once again, she spoke through Corvin, while she pinned Azra with her gaze searching for a sign that he could see her.
That he was still in there. Vacantly staring into nothing, pale, although he looked a little more mature than he had since she'd last seen him. But the same juvenile features lingered on his face, just a little sharper now.