AUTHOR NOTE: Warning! This chapter gets pretty intense. If you aren't a fan of thriller/mild fantasy-horror, I would be mindful reading further. The Forsyth Arc is particularly intense compared to the other arcs, and I would proceed with caution on this chapter.
Cora moved through the shadows in the hall with ease. The moment Thirteen gave them her blessing, Cora reacted. Anticipation and unrest toiled within her. Something was wrong --- she'd known it since the training room. She'd wanted to take action. And yet, she still hesitated.
Stay quiet. This is none of your concern.
Her fathers' words flashed through her mind, striking her heart like an arrow. She wasn't a child anymore. She understood her hesitation.
Still, breaking free of learned habits was far easier said than done. But then there was Maren's presence. Her words, however frustrated and cynical, eased Cora's heart. Where Cora often locked the doors to her own cage, Maren broke the lock without even trying.
Maren's presence gave her the courage she needed to do what had to be done.
As soon as Thirteen gave the order, Cora could no longer wait. She stood and told them her plan.
She requested a small group of four soldiers to accompany her, and Maren. Commander Vincent requested to be by her side. Besides the honor of serving beside the Ruby Princess' first mission, he wanted to search for Harriet. They'd thought her and Leah would be safe in the Princesses wing, but after some searching, there was nobody there.
Having Harriet's schedule memorized by heart, they decided to search the castle for survivors first, making their way to the royal wing in waves.
They crept through the hallway silently, passing empty rooms that had been ripped apart --- furniture overturned, linens shredded, blood smeared across the floor like someone had been dragged.
How did we miss this? She asked herself. How did we not hear anything? Or perhaps we weren't paying close enough attention.
Cora swallowed. She couldn't let herself be distracted by her guilt. What was done was done, and the best thing she could do now was to help her people.
But even that came with its complications.
The princesses had been trained in combat since they were young, but true experience? There'd never been a need for it.
And their powers were so weak one could hardly call them a special ability.
Cora didn't want her heart to waver.
She had to see this through.
But she wasn't confident enough in herself to truly believe they could do this.
Then, her ears picked up on a sound.
Her arm jerked up, telling the group to stop.
She listened, intently. There was a room just a few feet in front of them, the door slightly ajar. A dim light seeped through the crack, vague shadows moving in the light.
The hairs on the back of her neck raised instinctively.
She glanced back at her group, gesturing to them to follow. They moved, until they reached the door. Cora leaned her weight against the closed door, getting as close as possible to listen without alerting whatever was on the other side of that door.
Without a doubt, something was certainly in there.
Wet smacking.
And a pitchy, restless growl.
It unsettled Cora to her core, but more than that, it alerted something deep inside her. Something she'd never felt before.
Suddenly, heat tore through her veins.
Cora's stomach twisted violently, and her mind warped as adrenaline ignited within her, like an infernal engine. Her muscles engaged, readying themselves before she could understand what was happening.
She blinked, her mouth opening as she struggled to breath calmly. She tried to control her breath, pushing the feeling away, swallowing it down.
Then, a tapping on her shoulder.
Cora turned her attention to Maren, who stood beside her.
She looked at Cora inquisitively, scanning her face and mouthed the words 'are you okay?'
Cora gazed at Maren. Her senses were alight. She was intently focused, realizing she could see every detail of Maren's face — every line, every pore, and even the slight movement in her pupils.
A feeling washed over her, realizing Maren was scared.
Not of her, but of the situation. It was something anyone could have deduced, but Cora could feel it now, like a second skin.
if she was being honest, she didn't know the answer to Maren's question. But Cora was so taken by the feeling that grew inside her, she couldn't focus answering.
Cora swallowed again, and turned her head, ignoring Maren.
She needed to see what set her instincts off like that.
She needed to see what was on the other side of that door.
Her body moved on its own, light as a feather. She moved past the corner of the door for just a single peak over the side. As she moved, her eye caught the candlelight, suddenly incredibly sensitive to it.
And when her vision corrected, the sight of it snuffed out the last of her control: two infected, crouched over, gnawing on the flesh of a maid.
Cora didn't hesitate.
Her body moved in pure instinct, faster than she ever had before. Before she knew it, her sword was drawn, going in for the kill. The feeling that coursed through her was exhilarating, like flying. She could feel her heartbeat in her chest, pumping adrenaline through her body that moved like lightning.
She was faster than ever before, but to her, the world moved slowly, her mind processing in increments. She could hardly see their faces — only able to sense the information that her mind would intake.
Host — dead.
Victim -- alive.
Center of infection — Head.
In a matter of seconds, she was able to deduce the state of the infected:
Too late to save.
And that instinct was enough for her.
The infected barely sensed her, their eyes widening in fear before the edge of her blade made contact. With a silent swing of her blade, she fully decapitated them, severing the infection from its host.
Cora stopped in her tracks, savoring the exhilaration that pumped through her body. She was sick with it, her mind completely enthralled by the sensation that burst within her like fireworks.
She turned; her gaze completely fixed on the center of the infection. \
Her stomach turned with a ravenous pain.
It was like hunger, but worse.
The feeling brought Cora to her knees, and she gazed into one of the hosts. Her vision was extremely blurred to her surroundings, entirely focused on the center of the infection.
And suddenly, she could see it.
The Darkspirit quickly flickered into view, buried deep within the host. She couldn't see its detail, only jagged lines in colorful shades of pink, green, red and purple, a harsh contrast to the pure darkness of the spirit. She could sense its terror when faced with her kind. And that fear alone was beginning to sate the emptiness that grew by the second.
She reached for it, her hand covered in shades of radiant crimson, gripping the Darkspirit drone[1]. It screeched when she grasped it, letting out a sound that wrapped her mind, and blurred her senses even more.
Instinctively, she used her grip to stifle its power over her.
Cora could feel something overflowing from her mouth, her breathing heavy and frantic. She stared at the Darkspirit, trying to decipher what it looked like, but her vision only came in stark, colorful lines. She could no longer see details.
Only the vibrant outline of the being in her grasp.
"Cora!"
Maren's voice.
Cora blinked, her attention snapping away from the spirit, and when her eyes settled on Maren, she was the only thing she could see clearly.
Maren was radiant. She emanated an incredible blue light she'd only ever seen in Maren's eyes at night, when their glow was at its strongest. But now, Maren was doused in every shade of blue — more than she'd ever experienced in her life.
"Maren," Cora murmured, breathlessly. "You're so beautiful."
***
Cora's room was silent, save for the crackling wood that burned. Thirteen sat on the sofa beside Ethan, solemnly gazing into the fire.
Suddenly, Ethan cleared his throat, disrupting the silent tension within the room.
"I have something to say," he said, his tone wavering but filled with resolve.
Thirteen pulled the shawl over her more tightly, not responding. She didn't spare him a single glance. She didn't acknowledge that he'd said anything at all. She knew he would have something to say about what she told the princesses.
But everything she did was out of necessity, not that a child his age would understand.
"You lied to them," he said. "You told them you didn't know how the Emerald Queen disposed of the Darkspirit, but Twelve told me she knew."
Thirteen swallowed, hard.
"Everything I do, I do for a reason."
"That's not enough!" Ethan said, voice trembling. "Twelve's life is at stake! They need to know the truth!"
Thirteen took in a deep breath. She understood his reaction. To him, Thirteen was a liar, or at the very least, someone who withheld the full truth of the matter. But what he didn't understand was the full force of the power of the Starblessed.
He didn't understand the pure instinct that coursed through them when faced with a Darkspirit.
"Twelve has a special bond with Maren," Thirteen spoke. "But that bond has blurred her better sense."
"How?" Ethan cried.
"Sometimes, knowing something before you experience it can be worse than not knowing," she answered, calmly.
"I don't understand," Ethan shook his head.
Thirteen glanced at the boy finally.
The fire popped, and the burning wood settled into hot ash. Thirteen's golden light illuminated the room, dimly. She settled her hand on Ethan's head, trying her best to comfort his worries.
"Worry not, child," she said with a soft smile. "Some things, people need to figure out for themselves. Otherwise, they rely on others too much, never learning to trust themselves."
[1] I called it a drone because of the earlier explanation of this Darkspirit acting similar to the way bees do. Drones are male bees in a hive, and most of their importance is centered around reproduction. So, I used the same word for this Darkspirit Drone, whose main purpose is to spread the infection.