𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

Ⅺ 𝒕𝒐𝒙𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒑

BREYDON SAT AGAINST THE BROKEN CHURCH WALL. Tears fell from her eyes as she rocked back and forth slightly. Her clothes were tattered and covered in dirt and ash. Her white hair was coated in grey muck, twisted and matted with blood. As were her clothes. Her hands, her arms, her mouth her teeth. She was covered in her sister's blood with flesh between her teeth.

Arleen lay at her feet. The girl that always dressed in total blue who taught her to play the violin. She baked and laughed, she was sweet as sugar and as strong as a soldier. Arleen had grown roses and braided Breydon's hair. She painted and swam with sea fairies. And now her bright red hair and green eyes are lifeless. She was drained of colour and her life. 

In a moment of desperation, in hopes of gaining enough strength to pull herself free. In hopes of eating something that wasn't rats living in the church walls. Breydon ate her sister's lifeless body. The closet parts she could reach. Her arms and fingers. And when Brey could pry herself free of the ruble, she ate her torso, only stopping when her teeth collided with Aleen's ribs. 

Arleen is dead, Brey reasoned with herself, She is dead, there was nothing else you could do. Every part of Breydon felt shameful. She wanted to peel her skin off. Her tongue brushed the skin caught between and she vomited, emptying her stomach of her sister's remains. She was your sister, how could you do this?!

Breydon shuddered, her body rubbing against the wooden floor of Ohval's floor. Ace's hair spread around them, and their skin started to pale.

Ace was in Ravka once again. The Ravkan grass was covered in the blood of both the Ravkan and Shu people. Ace wobbled as they stood. Their hair stuck to their face mattered with blood and flesh. It was an ambush on their camp, neither side was supposed to attack until the following morning. Now the ground was plastered with the dead bodies of their fallen soldiers. 

When the fighting started, Ace was stabbed in the leg and sent to the ground. In a cowardly act, Ace covered themself with another Shu soldier. And the bodies continued to pile until everyone was dead or had ran.

Ace's eyes scanned the grass, hoping to spot the red armour. "Mom?" Ace called, their voice cracking. "Mom!?"

"Ha-Eun..." Their mother croaked. She raised her hands shaky, above the piles of dead bodies. Ace stumbled over, dropping by their mothers's side.

"Mother. Mom I'm here," Ace rambled, pushing the dead soldier off her torso. Ace's Mother had a spear driven through her torso, her right leg was gone and she was covered in flesh and blood. "Mom stay with me."

"You did this," she muttered. Her hand shot out, gripping Ace's arm so tightly that her nails pierced their skin. "Ha-Eun you did this!"

"No, no, no, Mother no," Ace cried. "Please let me help you."

"Bèipàn zhě," He spat and Ace shook their head. "Bèipàn zhě! Bèipàn zhě! Betrayer!"

"Ace wake up!"

Ace shot up with a gasp, choking on the air. Toyla held one of their arms, Jesper holding the other. "Toyla!" Ace cried, falling against his side. "Liú zài wǒ shēnbiān. Stay with me." 

"I am here," Tolya soothed.

"What did you feed me?" Ace coughed, wiping at their mouth.

"Some butterfly."

"Brey," Ace said suddenly. "Where's Breydon?"

"Wylan!" Inej called crouching by the door. "We need another one."

"There- There's no more!" Wylan yelled and Ace could see his shadow moving frantically on the other side of the wall.

"What do you mean?" Kaz asked, leaning his weight on the cane.

"There's no more!" Wylan screeched. 

Ace stumbled next to Brey, taking her hand and supporting her head. "Breydon? Brey, please wake up," Ace pleaded. 

"Wyan what do we do?" Toyla yelled, moving to sit beside Ace.

Brey shook slightly her hand tightening around Ace's. Breydon started to choke and blood started to drip out of her nose and Ace shook her. "Wylan she's bleeding!" Kaz screamed, dropping next to Brey. 

"Uhh... Ace! Is Ace awake?" Wylan asked, pressing his hands to the doors.

"Yes!" Inej yelled.

"Okay, take this." Wylan sid a clear vial through the small hold on the door he created. Inej took it and passed it to Kaz. "Toyla keep Breydon's heart steady. Ace start removing the poison."

"That'll kill them," Jesper shouted in a panic.

"The butterfly will absorb the effects. They'll be okay," Wyaln assured. Ace pressed her hand over Brey's mouth and nose, pulling at Brey's lungs for the flecks of poison. Toyla crossed his fingers and hovered over Breydon's chest, keeping her heart steady. "You'll absorb the poison that already affected her, and then the smoke will follow, put that in the vial."

Breydon choked and coughed as Ace removed the poison. Ace muttered apologies under their breath as they focused. "Vial, vial, vial," Ace ordered, snapping their fingers. Kaz quickly passed the vial and Ace slowly lifted their shaking hand. A cloud of smoke and powder followed their shaking hand. They funnelled the powder inside and quickly screwed it shut.

Ace turned back to Brey and Toyla released his hands. "Did- Did that work?" Inej asked, leaning closer. 

"Breydon," Ace called in a panic, taking her shoulders and shaking. "Brey wake up." Inej pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to steady her breathing. 

Kaz took Breydon's arms, his teeth chattering and his skin became clammy once again. He shook Brey by her arms. "Wake up," Kaz pleaded, his voice weak. "Breydon, wake up!" Kaz shouted, pulling her close. Please, Kaz begged to himself, please not you too. "Wake up!" Kaz shook his head and one of his hands moved to hold her head. He felt so small like he was begging to bring his brother back again. "Breydon. Wake. Up!"

Breydon shot up with a gasp, rolling out of Kaz's arms. Brey gasped, her breaths shallow. "Breydon," Ace called, running their hand down her back.

"Don't-" Brey stood, falling against the wall. "Don't touch me..." Ace drew their hands back, eyeing Brey's figure cautiously.

"Is everyone alive?" Wylan yelled, trying to peer through the door.

"We're alive," Inej confirmed.

"I owe you my life," Toyla spoke up, catching Inej's attention.

"It was Wylan," Inej stammered. "He saved us."

"Wylan did?" Jesper asked, his breath still gone.

"You're welcome," Wylan yelled. 

"We almost died, didn't we?" Jesper asked, standing upright. "But at the same time... I had the most incredible hallucination. Did anyone else get lulled into a comforting sense of joy?"

"I didn't see anything," Kaz muttered, at some point he stood again, holding his cane tightly. 

"Neither did I," Inej agreed. Ace looked to Brey. She was still shaking but she had pushed herself off of the wall and Jesper had moved closer to her. He thinks she'll fall.

"All right, what's the plan?" Toyla asked, drawing attention his way.

"You said there was another heartbeat in the house," Kaz recalled.

"Southeast corner," Toyla confirmed with a nod. "The heartbeat's weak."

"I suspect she built all of this to protect that heart," Kaz thought aloud. 

"If it's so important to lay traps at the entrance, she will have made another entrance," Breydon spoke up, her voice still wobbly. "We wasted too much time, she will return soon."

"How much time do we have?" Kaz asked, watching Brey cautiously.

"Three minutes, give or take a few seconds.

"How do you-"

"So, what do we do?" Ace asked, cutting off Toyla's question.

"We act as if the poison killed us," Kaz explained. "Inej, Ace, hide in the rafters. When she enters Inej take her out, Ace will assist. We get the sword and run."

𓅨

❝ i am never bound by 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 ❞