Chapter 101: Chapter 096 – Heart XI

Teyva marched down the hall, her eyes focused on the opening ahead of her. The pull of her trait had grown so strong that it almost felt like it was tugging her forward. She had to be close. Skeleton warriors filled the hall between her and her destination. Behind her, the Behemoth let out a low growl and she held up a hand. She’d give him a chance to flex his muscles later but right now she wanted to blow off a little steam. She raised both hands and cast [Create Wall], whipping her hand to the right and forcing a slab of stone out of the surface and into the skeleton standing next to it.

The undead warrior was crushed between it and the wall opposite her own creation. She retracted the first wall and created another, then another, slabs of stone jutting out of the walls from all directions, crushing and smashing bone with brutal efficiency. Each exertion pushed her mana closer and closer to zero, sweat beading on her brow as she felt her head swim. She snarled, bringing one last stone down on the final skeleton before she stumbled, and the Behemoth was forced to catch her.

“Thanks, dearie,” She breathed, wiping the sweat from her brow and scowling at the skeletons. “Mommy needed to get that out of her system.”

She’d had a lot to thik about as they walked through the halls. She’d come up with a few answers that felt right, but she still had questions for herself. She needed to see Azrael, she felt like if she could at least see her friend then maybe something would come to her. “Why is this so hard?” She asked, looking into those giant soulful eyes.

The great beast tilted his head at her in confusion and she just chuckled, patting his cheek before looking at her fingertips. She froze, standing up straight and examining her hands. She took the index finger of her left hand between the fingers of her right and squeezed a little, feeling for what she was seeing. “What the hell?” She murmured, rubbing her fingers. Her hardened nails had grown a little thicker and looked like they were growing into her hand as a whole. “When did that happen?” She whispered, opening and closing her hand. Was she still changing? She thought changes only happened when she took on an aspect.

“Queenie,” She called, the little creature crawling out of her satchel and alighting on her palm. “Mirror please.”

The creature complied and she held out the tiny mirror to look at her face. It was mostly the same, thin and white as paper. There were changes though, some of them she didn’t quite like. Her dark horns had begun to tilt back a little instead of just pointing straight up, another tiny set of horns had begun to grow just above her temples as well, angled away from her face. Tiny ridges had begun to form on her brows looking not unlike tiny rocks or even pale white gemstones. She looked down at her neck and saw more tracing around her throat. She reached up and ran her fingers over the beginnings of a hard surface, something inside of her twisting a little. She didn’t know whether she should panic or not which was not a good feeling on its own.

Queenie opened one of her eyes along the surface of the glass and looked Teyva up and down, a murmur of approval echoed through the back of Teyva’s mind and she raised an eyebrow. “You like this?” She asked, surprised. The creature reiterated its approval and she forced herself to laugh even though she didn’t feel like it. “Well, I guess it’s not so bad. A gemstone neck is one hell of a fashion statement, right?” She compromised. “Though I’m not sure how I feel about having rocks growing out of my eyebrows.”

Not willing to stare at herself any longer she let Queenie turn back and turned her attention to the opening ahead of her. She could already tell from where she was standing that the room was huge. She strode over the collapsed skeletons, the Behemoth hot on her heels. She stepped out into the open space. To her left and right were archways that opened up into a set of stairs rising up into what were obviously raised stands. She stepped further into the space, the sound of her steps echoing all around her as she took in the sight of what was unquestionably an underground colosseum. Seats of dark stone formed a ring around the entire space, raised up high enough to be out of reach of whatever was on display. She looked up to the ceiling, wondering just how far below the ground they actually were that this place could be so huge.

What sounded like the bark of a dog startled Teyva out of her appreciation for the architecture and she spun in time for an enormous brown wolf to come bolting out of the hall behind her. Teyva started, wide-eyed, and stumbled backward as the creature leaped atop her, pressing her to the ground while the Behemoth bellowed his fury. The mighty summon was about to rip the wolf off of her when a shout came up through the hallway. “Wait! He’s friendly!”

Teyva froze, if her eyes could go wider they would, she looked at the wolf as it stared down at her curiously before she broke into a wide, toothy smile.

“Well hello there!” She laughed, reaching up and gently ruffling the creature’s fur before a stern voice called out from nearby.

“Kaleb! Get off of her!” Azrael reprimanded, reaching forward to wrap her arms around the wolf’s neck. She tugged with all her might, eventually wrenching the big animal off of Teyva. Teyva scrambled out from under him and got to her feet, brushing herself off in time to be tackled again. This time she maintained her standing position as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her neck. Teyva returned the hug, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and squeezed her friend tightly. “Never again, I promise,” Azrael murmured.

“You found me, that’s what matters,” Teyva said, “Like a proper knight.”

Azrael pulled back, a teary smile on her face, and looked Teyva over, “You-”

“I know, changes are still happening, I don’t know why,” Teyva said before looking Azrael over. Her friend looked tired, she’d been through a lot just to catch up. The thought made her feel warm. She squeezed her friend’s arms and let out a relieved sigh. “Not that I mind but how’d you find me?”

“I followed your scent,” Azrael said awkwardly.

“My scent? You’re serious,” She laughed.

“Yeah, you got a problem with that?” Azrael retorted, punching Teyva in the arm.

“Not at all, good puppy,” She said, ruffling Azrael’s hair.

“Stop that,” Azrael said, suddenly stern, “I’m your knight, not your pet.”

Teyva blinked and lowered her hand, “You’re right, I’m sorry Az, got a little carried away there.”

Azrael smiled, “It’s fine. I know you were teasing,” She pulled Teyva into another hug and squeezed her tightly. “I”m so glad you’re okay.”

Teyva laughed, “I’ve been better,” She admitted, patting Azraels back and putting her hands on her hips. “I’ve had a lot to think about down here,” she said, “A whole lot.”

“You and me both,” Azrael said, rubbing her arms. “You run into Paraklytus?”

“He had some choice words for me,” Teyva said, looking away, “Things he wasn’t entirely wrong about.”

“Me too,” Azrael said, looking down at the ground.

The two of them let out long breaths. Teyva rubbed her arms and looked up at the ceiling. She’d hoped seeing Azrael would give her answers. She knew she’d do anything for her friend, just like Azrael would do anything for her. Her knight. Was she even worthy of having a knight? She wasn’t a queen, she was just Teyva. Teyva let out a sigh and scratched the back of her neck, “I feel like I haven’t been living up to your expectations,” She said.

Azrael frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I mean what am I even doing with myself? We talked about it at the lake and I still haven’t figured it out. All I know is I want to do something worthy of the pedestal you and the others keep putting me on. Right now I don’t feel like I deserve it,” Teyva said, letting out a sigh. “

Azrael smirked, “Remember what I told you? People with potential can’t avoid it. You’ll find it, whatever it is, and it’ll be the biggest damn thing possible I bet.”

Teyva laughed, “I figure Neprhal won’t be satisfied until the entire world knows my name.”

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“Then so be it,” Azrael said, “I chose you for a reason, not just because I owe you my life. I don’t want to be a princess, and yeah I figure it might be because I don’t think I’ll ever live up to what my father is. You could, though.”

Teyva frowned, “Az, I don’t believe that for a second. You’re a badass.”

Azrael grinned, looking down at Kaleb who stared up at her. “Okay, maybe a little.”

Teyva and Azrael relaxed just in time for the roaring sound of applause to fill the chamber. They spun, searching for the source but found the seats to still be empty, except for one. Far at the other side of the chamber, sitting at the dead center of the rising seats was the Archlich himself. Teyva glanced at Azrael and the two of them turned to face their tormenter, marching into the center of the chamber. They came to a stop when they were able to see the eerie violet glow of his eyes and the clapping died down. The lich rose to his feet and crossed his hands behind his back.

“Bravo!” He called out, “I’m impressed with both of you, you’ve come quite a long way already from when you stumbled upon my desk in the library.”

“Where’s Nephral?” Teyva called.

“Safe,” The Lich responded, “I happen to be quite fond of him.”

“Return our friend!” Azrael shouted, “He isn’t yours to take!”

The lich raised his head, “Oh? And what makes either of you think you can command me to do anything?”

Teyva took a deep breath stepped forward and narrowed her eyes, she was getting tired of his mind games. “You listen to me you bony shit-head,” Teyva snarled. Azrael jumped a little and stared at Teyva, wide-eyed. Teyva ignored the look and powered through. “I don’t give a damn how your precious Queen Rani did things, I am not her. I am me. If she wanted to do everything on her own, good for her. She was a bitch anyway, I should know, we’ve talked,” She spat, “So you can forget about trying to play your games and mold me into a carbon copy!”

The mighty Lich stared down at her for several heartbeats, each second dragging on longer than the last. Teyva willed herself to hold his gaze. It wasn’t easy, she hadn’t exactly forgotten what he was. He hadn’t tried to do anything to her before, in fact, he seemed to be avoiding a direct confrontation.

“What are you going to do with this new resolve of yours?” The Lich asked.

“The biggest damn thing possible,” Teyva snapped, glancing at Azrael, “Starting with beating your bony ass.”

The Lich turned his gaze on Azrael, “And you? ‘The biggest damn thing ever’ is that good enough for you?”

Azrael looked to Teyva and squared her shoulders, “I’m happy being a warden and a knight. Her knight. She has more potential than I ever did, it’s frustrating sometimes, yeah, but it’s true.”

Teyva felt her chest tighten a little, did she really feel that way?

“And you don’t hate her for it?” The Lich asked.

Azrael chuckled, “I’m happy for her, proud of her, she’s come a long way. She says some stupid things, some strange things. She does things that annoy the hell out of me. She’s had to toughen up a lot and she’s made mistakes, but I watched her change into who she is.”

“And if she keeps changing? If she becomes a monster? If she turns the entire world against her in her pursuit of whatever goal she decides upon, will you follow her still? What if she turns down a darker path than any before her?” The Lich demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Teyva. “Look at her! She continues to change even now, what will she become if she continues to exist in this world? Even now she treads the edge of that line.”

Teyva felt her heart sink, the lich had a point. She wanted to look away, to close her eyes and cover her ears. Teyva didn’t want to play the hero for anyone. No matter what this big thing was she decided to do it wasn’t going to involve helping a lot of people just out of the goodness of her heart. She wanted to be selfish, she wanted to have things for herself, and she wanted to live her own life without bowing and scraping every time someone turned to her. She’d been nothing more than a mindless drone in her past life, pushed around by others and left to rot. She’d already tread close to a dangerous line once when she fought the Ugroth. What’s to say she won’t do it again? Azrael turned and looked Teyva over, her expression hard, she looked back up at the lich.

“No,” She said, straightening her back, “My oath is my oath, whatever she becomes I will be by her side,” She shouted, “Even if that means stepping into darkness myself,” She declared. “I may be a failure as a princess and a daughter, but I will not be a failure as a knight. It has been my dream to serve a lord or lady with the potential to be as great as he is, just like Yaga Yftha serves my father.”

The lich laughed, “Really? What if she doesn’t want to reach for those heights? What if she never finds a goal to strive for?”

Teyva snarled and stepped forward, cutting into the conversation. She’d had enough. “Let me make something clear with you, jackass,” She swore, “I’m no hero. I am the Mother of Monsters. It doesn’t exactly have a heroic ring to it, does it? I have no interest in playing the cycle’s little game, you can count me out of that.”

She thrust an accusing finger in his direction, and then gestured to Azrael, “I have people I care about, who support me. I’m not a solo act! I’ll use these powers of mine to help them but I don’t owe the world anything!” She snarled, “I’m going live how I want and for who I want. I’m going to be selfish, I am going to be greedy, and I am not going to take shit like this anymore,” She took a breath. There, there was her answer. She’d do what she wanted and damn the consequences.

The Lich stared down between the two of them, “Saying all that is one thing, ladies, but do you have the strength to back it up, or will you just fall back into your old habits? People do not grow in a day.”

“They do if you push them hard enough,” Azrael snarled. “We’ll figure it out as soon as we’re out of here.”

Teyva laughed and looked up at the lich, shrugging, “What are you going to do? I’ll find my way out of this Labyrinth eventually, big guy, and then I’m coming for you. So why don’t we cut the shit?” She demanded, “You clearly aren’t going to try to fight us yourself. I don’t know why. But I’m more than okay with breaking every damn bone in your body.”

The lich didn’t move, instead, his eyes glowed bright and around them small openings began to form in the walls of the colosseum. Skeletons marched out in droves, mages, and warriors alike shambling into the arena and filling the space around them. There had to be over a hundred of them. They all stood in silence, their bodies swaying slightly with the magic that kept them moving. Teyva glanced at Azrael as her friend drew her weapon and then moved to press her back to Teyva’s. The Behemoth let out a roar and Kaleb, the wolf, dropped into a pouncing stance, growling. Teyva’s bag flipped open and the mockeries began to swarm out, ninety of them forming a ring of bloodlust around the gathered party.

“These are the last,” Paraklytus said, “All that remains of the garrison that had been stationed here before the fall of our people. Survive, Teyva Akura and Azrael Unabi. Overcome this challenge and I will return your friend to you as well as allow you to leave this place.”

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