Chapter 3
Weeks had passed since Feyra, and her companions had left and the meeting with the mortal queens had commenced. Elain hadn't seen Azriel since but she knew he was near, she didn't know but she felt him close, her life had remotely returned to before that fateful day when Feyra came home as fae apart from the hulking fae that would return to the house every few days to check things, Elain become too warm up to Cassian after a few visits he had returned, she realised his size was more a shield to the kind heart that was buried beneath all that muscle, she didn't quite understand why Nesta was so mean to him but she knew she must have her reasons, it wasn't like Nesta was nice to anyone really.
The night that fully changed there lives was one that started off as it usually did, Elain had tended to her gardens and tried to help out in the kitchen but she had a severe feeling of dread all day that she just couldn't shake, no matter what he did, she decided to go to bed early as she was sure shed feel better in the morning, she couldn't of been more wrong.
Elain closed her eyes and had the worst visions shed ever had, she was sure she wasn't actually asleep so she couldn't be dreaming, but she swore she could hear Azreil's voice shouting her name, he sounded to be in terrible pain, she could see Feyra, Rhysand and Cassian with Azriel in a hall, a terrifying male standing in front of them. She witnessed a arrow strike Azriel in the chest just above his heart, she shot her eyes open and went to scream but felt a warm hand cover her mouth, eyes met hers that she did not recognise, she realised it was in fact one eye as the other was a golden or disguised as a eye, she looked into these eyes with horror and fear, this was no man, they eyes belonged to a male with what she could make out hand golden skin not too far from the shade Azriel and Cassian but this fae had a striking shade of red in his hair instead of black. "Shhhh, im not going to hurt you" the male fae whispered to her, he looked like he would rather be anywhere else then here doing what he ever was doing to her. She saw a kindness in his face but with his hand over her mouth didn't convince her that he was indeed kind. "if I take my hand away promise me you wont scream" his voice was shaky and full of nerves, she slowly nodded and he gently moved his hand away. "AHHHHHHHHHH!" she screams from the top of her lungs as soon as he moves his hand, he quickly puts his hand back over her mouth not so gently this time "stupid girl!" he hisses down at her. She can hear Nesta shotting something and screams coming from downstairs belonging to the workers in the house. Elain feels her eyes begin to fill with tears "please don't cry, I don't want to be doing this but I have no choice" he says to her in a gentle tone to try and sooth her which doesn't seem to work at all, she starts to struggle and he places a hand on her arm to pull her up and brings out rope and quickly ties her hands together behind her back with one hand while he keeps her from screaming, she quickly realises he is far stronger than she is and cant even struggle against him with one hand. He moves his hand away for it to be replaced with a cloth gage "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" he repeats into her ears, she relentlessly sobs and he gently pulls her to her feet and tries to pull her to walk but her legs give out due to fear " I'm so sorry" he says again, his face full of pain due to his actions, he moves behind her and places one arm around her and the other behind her knees and picks her up into her arms to carry her, Elaine mind goes blank, this cant be happening.
The male carries her down the stairs and she see blood and bodies on the floor, she recognises them as the house staff and tries to struggle. The male swears as he spots the bodies " we weren't supposed to hurt anyone! Who did this?!" he shouts at the other fae that are gathered, they look much different then he does, they appear to be in Armor whilst he is in fabric clothing. "We got bored" one of the armoured fae spoke, his voice was harsh and Elain felt her stomach give way, she was going to be sick with fear. Elaine's attention was taken by Nesta being thrown to the floor, she was also tied and gaged but the fae handling her were no where as gentle as the one who had her, this one was much larger than hers and it was clear by his face and Nesta hands that she had successfully fought back " does your bitch bite too?" he turns to the red haired fae, he just growled in response "why couldn't I get the pretty one not the wild bitch?" "pick her up and lets be gone, you and your men have done enough damage here!" he warned and the bigger male smirked and grabbed Nesta by the hair pulling her up " enough!" he snaped and stood Elain up and then gently put her over his shoulder and grabbed Nesta by the waist and placed her over his shoulder, she resisted so he held her much less gently as he did Elain but kept her firm. Before her eyes the room began to swirl and Elain was certain she was going to be sick this time, she felt as if her whole body was spinning, just as it has started the spinning stopped and she noticed they were in a different place all together, the hall of her nightmares.
She felt herself being gently placed standing on the floor, there was no sign of Feyra or her companions. Someone had griped her forearm firmly, so firm I was on the boarder of painful, she turned her head quickly to who held her in their grip as she knew it was not the red-haired male as his grip was far more gentle and somewhat kind compared to this one. She was met with a large male with blonde hair, he was muscle but not like Cassian, and his expression was stern and desperate, Elain knew this fae even though she knew he was not familiar, this was the high lord Feyra had fought for, had died to save and who had taken her as his prisoner after what she had done for him. He was that beast who stole her sister away all those nights ago, the male who changed all their lives. The next thing Elain knew was Feyra, Rhysand, Cassian and Azriel appeared in the room, she tried to scream or shout anything, but she couldn't be due to her gage, this was a trap!
Everything happened so quickly before her eyes, the male who was holding her and now Nesta tightly in his grip brought them forward and many other fae appeared to, Elaine's eyes met Azreil's straight away and she could tell just by his eyes that he was afraid but it didn't feel for himself but for her, her safety, the male holding her spoke and she didn't hear a word he said, she was gazing directly into Azreil's eyes like they were a hundred unspoken words being said between them. He broke her gaze with a jolt and Azriel few forwards.
As soon as he saw her standing there in Tamlin's grip Azreil's heart sank, his face didn't betray his calm composure, but every inch of his body was aching to run to her, take Tamlin out and get her to safety, he promised himself and secretly to her that he would keep her safe. He felt bile run up his throat and the image of Tamlins grip tightening around her arm, a gag in her mouth and her arms tied behind her back, her nightdress strained with sweat and her checks stained with dry and running tears, there was utter fear in her eyes a sight he never wants to see again in his life. At first the pain he felt in his heart he thought was solely from the sight of her, but it wasn't until his body moved and he feel forwards did he realise he had been hit in the chest with a arrow, an inch closer and it would of gone straight through his heart. He fell forwards and felt his brothers catch him, blood was pouring from the wound and he heard a scream, someone was screaming his name, he could hear her in the distance screaming his name, his vision started to go dark.
She started to fight hard against the grip, but it was to no avail, how could a weak little human fight against a fae high lord, she started screaming Azreil's name even though she was still gaged, all she could hear was her own heart beat and her muffled screams and cries. Two hands gripped at her and Elain went limp, she had no fight left in her, she was moved roughly forwards and she tried to fight again, she saw where she was being pulled, there was a large cauldron and she being brought to it, she knew she was being placed in it, she started to cry even harder and tried to look behind her at where Azriel was being held up by Rhysand and saw Cassian lying on the floor in his own blood.
She looked into the cauldron just before she was placed in it, it was boiling and freezing at the same time and full of a green haze, she felt invisible hands grips up her from her feet up to her legs as she was slowly pushed in, the hands moved all the way up her body pulling her under until her head was engulfed. She couldn't see anything at first when she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by a sea of nothingness, there was not sound, no scent and nothing but pitch-black nothingness. Then a vision appeared in front of her, she recognised where she was seeing straight away, it was Graysen's living room, he was stood there much older then she saw him last time and there was two young children cradled into his legs, a boy and a girl, both for handsome children, the little boy had Graysen's face and hair but her eyes, the little girl was a image of Elain as a young child and in Graysen's arms was a new born baby, standing next to him was Nesta and her father, they both looked well and in love with the new bundle of life that was in his arms, it was then that Elain knew she was seeing her heart's desire, these were her children and he was her husband and they all looked so happy, Elain tried to react them, she put a hand you to reach Greysen but his smile faltered and he shook his head "we don't allow fae here, be gone beast" she felt those hands grip at her body again and violently pulled her away from her future. She was thrown into a tent before she knew it and looked up to see the fae male that was by the cauldron he was wearing a crown and she knew then that he was a king, he was beside the cauldron again and stalked towards her, Elain tried to ger to her feet but she couldn't move a inch, the fae king grabbed her by her hair and lifted her to her feet and she felt a fist meet her gut and she fell forward into it, he held her by her hair and felt herself been thrown behind her and landed into a hard chest and then met by multiple hands ripping at her night dress until she was exposed then thrown onto the floor, she saw three men lean down to grip her and she tightly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw Feyra in a house full of furniture and clutter, she was hiding and a woman was looking for her, the next thing Elain saw was Feyra being engulfed by hair and suffocating until her movements stopped and she laid limp and cold, Elain felt herself being pulled away. She landed in front of Azriel who was surrounded by fae males, he looked exhausted, barely able to stand and covered in blood, his wings were shredded into ribbons and she saw the male charge at him, shoving their swords into him while he tried to fight them off, he feel to his knees and a large male stood behind him, the one who had taken Nesta from there home, she watch as this male calved Azreil's beautiful wings off his back and held them up like a trophy and then Azriel bring a beautiful dagger to his own throat and slit it, he feel face first onto the dirt and his blood trailed out. The next thing she saw was Cassian on the floor, his bones and wings broken in multiple places, Nesta cradled him with her own body, Cassian was barely alive and Nesta was screaming but she couldn't hear anything, a sword came down into Nesta and straight through her chest and through Cassian, she lay limp onto of him and Cassian bled out beneath her. She saw Rhysand in front of the King alone, the king hand many men with him, she saw the high lord Feyra once loved and what she could make out were other high lords, the males at once attacked Rhysand, and when they pulled away Rhysand was lying on the floor in his own blood the king standing in front of him and leant down and started to cut at his neck until Rhysand head was free from his body then pulled up Rhysand severed head. After the last scene everything went dark once again and Elain felt liquid enter her mouth and start to fill her lungs, she felt her inside melt, hands appeared on her body once again and she felt them pull at her in different directions, she felt her body stretch and give way, he body was being ripped apart and she could feel every part of it.
The next thing Elain knew or felt was her body hitting the cold floor of the hall where she was pushed into the cauldron, she could hear faint screaming and shouting people talking, her ears were buzzing and her vision was pale, it was like a bright light shinning directly into them. She felt her nightdress cling to her wet body, it felt much more tight then before, she could feel her hair sticking to her head then she felt warmth, something had been placed around her, it was warm and smelt like wood like a camp fire, the smell was overwhelming but it was somewhat comforting, it was better then the nothingness she had felt just moments before for the last few days, how long had they still been here? Her senses were overtaken from the iron stench of blood. She felt what she thought were arms around her again, she tried to struggle but she had no strength left at all to fight, she was being lifted but she still couldn't see or really hear, her sense went black again and Elain passed out.
Azriel barely managed to keep his eyes open, he was struggling to breath, I'm going to die, and I won't be able to save her, someone do something! Fucking save her! He saw Hyberns men bring her to the cauldron and place her into it, he tries to shout her name, and he tried to resist against Rys holding him up, he coughs up blood and spills it on the floor from the strain. This cant be happening! NO!NO!NO! ELAIN! She was under, he never see her again, she was gone, taken from him. It felt like a eternity when the cauldron casted her back out, he saw her gasp and his whole body gave out, he lost all of his strength, she was alive, it took him longer to realise the change of her, he noticed her ears first and his heart sank even lower then before, she fae, it took her humanity from her, it took everything, her choice. He saw Lucien place his jacket around her, that should be him comforting her, he wanted to kill Lucien for even being close to her, a predatory need to protect her over came him and the words Lucien spoke hit him in the heart. " she's my mate" Azriel wished the arrow had struck his heart, it would of hurt far less then this "she's my mate".
Elain felt a sharp pain in her bottom rib, it felt like a hot poker was being pressed into her, she couldn't breathe due to the pain, something was very wrong within her. She felt a comforting hand grab her and she felt the world around her disappear and reappear somewhere knew, somewhere she hadn't been before again, her vision was still foggy and where ever she was now was dark, she could hear voices and she was in someone's arms, this person was warm and comforting but it wasn't Azriel and this person was far smaller then Cassian but somehow stronger, she could feel the male was hysterical and she felt herself being placed down onto something soft and Elain passed out once more.