Lucia's Point of View

Unknown Location

How long had she been spying on us? How long had she been spying on me!? So many questions raced through my mind about what she might know and why. None of it matters at the moment, though. Trying to focus on the here and now, my eyes looked around futilely for where she might appear from.

“That doesn’t matter! Arthur will-“ I tried.

Suddenly appearing at my side as she leaned on my stomach, she looked at me with a smug expression. “He’ll what?” She asked mockingly. “Come for you? He doesn’t even know where we are.” I felt her hands on my stomach, making my skin crawl as she caressed me. “Truly, Arceana must be powerful if she can tame such a man, but I feel confident I could face her now.”

My eyes widened at that. “You think she-“ I was cut off as she giggled.

Walking fingers up my stomach, she replied. “Naturally, facing Arceana, Elincia, and this ‘Arthur’ would certainly prove to be too much even for me.” Then she chuckled. “But divide and conquer?” Leaning in, she whispered to me. “Elincia and Arthur are gone, aren’t they?”

“That doesn-“

“It does matter. Even General Kheri is gone, but it’s doubtful she would’ve been much of a problem.” She stated firmly. “That Arthur Pendragon, though, he was more of a pain than Arceana. Those eyes of his being able to see through us was an issue. One I will eventually address in due time.”

She moved away from me, and I started to move. My restraints tightened slightly as I was shifted into an upright position. Looking around the room, the first thing I immediately noticed was that we appeared to be underground. Crystals of some kind illuminated the room, and there was blood everywhere.

With wide eyes, I followed the blood to a table that resided in the middle of the room and seemed home to many severed wings. Zugal wings. One pair overly seemed especially familiar to me. While I couldn’t quite place whose they were, it unnerved me even further.

“A nice little collection, don’t you think?” She asked me. “We’ve been adding to them almost daily since your scouts have been continually caught unaware.” Her mocking tone was borderline cruel. “One after another.” A small shrug was all she gave. “Nice thing about Zugal is that they’re weak against magic. Especially if they’re not airborne.”

“What have you done?” I whispered in disbelief as I had to stop myself from vomiting.

Standing next to me, she rested her hand on my head. “The drug you were under was a bit of a lighter dose compared to everyone else. Well, everyone else but one.” Then she tapped my nose again. “Makes it impossible to smell all the blood around you.” Her finger rested on my nose before she removed the restraints on my head so I could move my neck. “Or the dead body right next to you.” Pointing to my side, I gasped in horror as I looked.

Nothing could’ve prepared me for seeing Kine’s mangled body. His wings were the ones on the table. Parts of his body were missing. Fingernails, toes, wings, teeth, and even his nose. One of his eyes had been plucked from its socket, and the other was bright red from having his eyelid cut off. Blood puddled underneath him as he was stripped of all his clothes. His body was practically painted in his own blood.

It was horrific. My eyes stared at him unblinking in disbelief. We weren’t necessarily friends, but I saw him almost every day. He was a student of the Priestesses… Part of me didn’t believe any of this was real. I almost couldn’t. This changed everything. Turning away quickly my mouth closed as I tried to stop myself from vomiting. It didn’t work.

“So messy.” She said in a faux disappointed tone. “He didn’t really know much.” The women commented from behind me.

“Do you realize what you’ve done?” I asked her breathlessly.

Moving around to my front, she caressed my cheek. “I do enjoy pretty things. Things like Arceana. There is a natural beauty to Elves, is there not?” She asked. “All I’ve done is merely take that first step, and you, Lucia, are going to help me.” Softly rubbing her thumb across my lips, she continued once again. “I really do enjoy pretty things.” Her thumb then slid under my lips, and she used her nail to cut my gums which caused me to cry out in pain. “I enjoy slowly changing them.”