Page 88 of A Rising Hope

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed hard, and I wanted to sink my teeth into her tender flesh.

“Do you not see the monster that I am, Zora? I am no honorable valiant knight. Every fucking inch of my body, my mind, my soul is corrupted. You ask me to erase a memory, but there would be no end to it. My powers would devour every single piece of you, gorging themselves until your existence iswoven into mine. The sheer pull I feel towards you makes me question my own fucking sanity each time I am near you. The chains and shackles I restrain myself in, forcing myself to comply with reason, knowing full well that when it comes to you, I fucking have none.”

“So leave then,” she barked.

I let out a tight scoff at her words. Her eyes darted between mine, daring me.

I brushed my lips against hers, savoring the wicked taste.

“You push me, and I come crawling back like a starved dog every single fucking time. You destroy me and I fucking ask for more. You torment me and I call you my salvation. Oh, how I wish for nothing more than to feel the redemption of your love. I would trade the very last ounce of my soul to the most wicked of demons for a glimpse of the world where happiness exists for us, Zora.” My thumb brushed the bottom of her lip. “But I live in this world, where my affection, my devotion to you is treated with so little regard that you mock it, casting it to the winds for a cheap truth telling trick.” A deep frown etched on my lips as I watched her soul buried deep behind the glossy wall of the Numb. “But I am a monster and a selfish one, for I’d rather you destroy me than for me to lose my most prized possession.”

I lowered my lips to hers, but I didn’t kiss them. No, instead I let the treacherous words spew out of me like poison.

“Zorianna Thynirite, you are hereby declared guilty of treason for the attempted murder of a high-ranking commander in the Destroyer’s army. You are stripped of your duties and you have lost your command. You are placed under arrest, to be imprisoned until the final verdict for your crime has been decided.”

“Orest—” Her eyes widened at my declaration.

I took a step back, forcing my heart to beat, my chest to rise. My flames roped around her body.

“Guards!” I shouted down the hall until two soldiers tumbled in, unsure. The looks on their faces caught between surprise and confusion. “Take her to the cellar and lock her up,” I snarled viciously, wiping away a stream of fresh blood that trickled from my nose. The soldiers nodded, reaching for Zora.

“You can’t do that! You will fucking regret this!” She fought against their hold, screaming at me as I followed them, watching her being dragged down the stairs. “I am your Commander! I demand you stop and release me!” She barked at the soldiers, but with their heads slumped, they executed my command, taking her to the lowest levels of the vast old building.

The ceiling of the cellar was too low, I could not stand up straight. I ducked my head, lighting up a small fire.

“There.” I pointed to a small iron door. My fiery ropes illuminated Zora’s look of utter loathing at my voice, at my presence. Her face radiating pure hatred as she fought against my hold. But Zora’s magic was no match for mine, with her blades gone and her shields exhausted, there wasn’t much she, or anyone else for that matter, could do to stop me.

The cold chamber was nothing but a hole dug out of the dirt, creating a narrow, sloped room, no light, no windows—a living grave. I scanned the space, looking for any potential danger to her; reassured that there was little she could use to harm herself, I signaled to the soldiers, and they forced her in, closing the iron door behind her.

There were no locks, no keys to the rusty door, so I did the only thing I could think of and I welded the metal hinges shut.

“Bastard! I will never forgive you for this!” Zora pounded against the door. Each sound a dagger in my heart, but I stood firm. I stood tall.

“Go,” I directed to the soldiers, and they hastily left.

“I’ll never forgive you for this, you hear me?! I will hate you for all of your existence for this!” she shouted, like a wild animal entrapped and wounded.

“Good. I hope you do, Zora.” I stayed near the door, agony blinding me, her screams deafening me. “I hope you hate me with every inch of your being,” I snarled back through the barred opening at the top of her door. And I meant every fucking word. I hoped she’d hate me. I hoped she’d loath me, be abhorred by even the notion of me. Because if she did, it’d mean she’d feel something. It’d mean she clawed herself back to reality from the Numb.

And if my affections were not enough of an anchor for her to hang on to, then I truly hoped her hatred would be.

Zora’s violent shouts paused for a moment.

“You are wretched, Orest, that is why I could never truly love you,” she spewed the hateful words.

“Then so be it. Love is too honorable of a feeling for what I truly desire,” I replied.

“Not everything is about you, Orest.”

“No, but it is about you.” I stared at the iron door, my mind slipping into the abyss, the darkness coating the only reprieve I felt. “Look around Zora. Look at what’s left of us. Our armies are destroyed. The ashes of those we’ve lost will stain the air we breathe for generations to come. There isn’t a single soul that isn’t wounded. The Ten, or what’s left of them, are nothing more than carrion. Half of my battalion commanders are yet to be found, and the amount of bodies we must burn by tomorrow morning will be insufferable. We were at the mercy of the fucking elves, Zora. We survived, but we were defeated. Welost.” My vision blacked, chest caving in as I looked beyond the small bars. “And yet, I find myself here, near you. Buried in the depths of utter hell, searching for an absolution.”

Zora didn’t reply. The silence like a chasm grew wider and deeper between us.

I took a step away towards the narrow hallway.

My feet froze on the threshold, each muscle protesting, refusing to leave her there.

“Goodbye, Zora,” I said over my shoulder, letting my fires burn out, taking away the last flicker of light, leaving her in complete darkness.

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