Chapter 3: The Betrayer
Disclaimer: I own no one. They all belong to Garth Nix.
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I arrived at Mornan three days later. I'd spent the last few days wishing I were dead, with all my siblings. But I would force myself to remember that Astarael and Yrael were still alive, and they needed me.
As I approached the gates a great bird flew overhead, it's silhouette moving with ease through what seemed like dense air around me. It brought another tear to my eye. I leaned against the gates, my stomach remembering as it faithfully has these last few days to protest, and they opened with a moan. I walked inside, the footsteps of my erratic limping gait echoing through the marble halls. They were too long. Gradually I reached the cells where Yrael was. My breath was becoming labored, and I could feel the gash in my head begin to open again, the blood trickling gently within my bandages. Yrael sat in the corner sleeping. I took a deep breath, hoping for the best.
"Yrael," I said. He looked up at me and pretended to go back to sleep. I had decided what to do with him on my journey, and nothing was going to make me change my mind. The vision I had had was too strong to be just chance"Yrael wake up." He groaned and rolled over. He stood up and walked to the end of the cell opposite of me. "Yrael!" I said, my voice raised to a yell, "you're fate has been decided."
He walked to where I was, his face unchanged. "So?" It wasn't sarcastic, just frank.
"So, you shall be bound to the service of the Children of the Seven, the Abhorsen. The Abhorsen will return the Dead to their proper place, in a world where the Dead roam free. You will serve them until you have made up for your crimes, and aid the Seven."
My vision had told of a girl in a great river, with seven bells and a large sword that was decorated with marks foreign t o her.
He chuckled under his breath, his white robes rippling as his body shook. I whispered the mark to unlock the door. He was already bound by a spell to keep him from fighting, but I had made another just in case. I could feel the blood dripping down my face, tickling my skin. A drop rested on my eyelashes, almost willing my eyes to close. I concentrated on making the spell to bind him to the Abhorsen, trying to force the little food in my stomach back down. I was almost done when he leapt on me, a cry of rage escaping his lips. I fired the spell of binding I had already made, and tried to keep the other one in the meanwhile, my brain trying to hard to shut down completely. He punched me hard where the hole in my stomach was, and I doubled over. I coughed, blood spraying out and staining his white robes. The spell took effect though, and he was forced to be still. The spell nearly escaped me again, but I forced myself to concentrate. I was beginning to panic. My head was bleeding freely now, and my stomach felt like it was being yanked out slowly, piece by pieve. I released the spell, and Yrael rose. There was a flash of bright light, and that was the last thing I remembered before I died.