Cold hands clasped against Granny's and the dread set in, burning in her veins and spreading through her bones.
"You are not my Nadia." She gritted through the pain.
"I am not a stranger either," an uncanny smile cut across Nadia's face. "If not for your wonderful theft, I wouldn't have had this body to come back to. So perhaps, I should be grateful." Her voice was roughened with a gruff as she pulled Granny closer into a tight embrace, draining her power and claiming it as her own. "Perhaps I should also thank you for being alive too."
"Kestra." Granny's voice was a whisper, the pain was too much. Confusion set in. "You took my daughter's body."
"Mine." Red light flashed in Nadia's brown eyes, but obviously, she wasn't the one speaking.
Granny frowned, anger cutting across her features and evident in her eyes. "Let her go!"
Snap!
Control slipped from Kestra, only for a moment.
Just for a moment.
She fought to regain it, to continue to stay in control of this stubborn body she had now come to possess.
What was going on?
Her daughter had been easier to contain up until now.
Ah, by Ignas, this "Granny" must mean a lot to her than she had admitted!
Words slipped through her foreign lips. Words that she didn't intend to say. Words that were against her plans.
Apologies and a pleading for her new victim to escape, and leave her daughter behind because there was no saving for her.
What nonsense?!
Enraged by the interruption, Kestra seized control once again and continued her draining. Her string would soon be here, she could feel it as it moved closer. She tugged at it roughly, beckoning on it even more to find her.
If only she could drain the witch quicker!
She had so much power, that it filled every nerve. Kestra felt like she would explode.
This should be enough to reverse what had happened on the Blood Moon and make things happen right this time!
So much power!
The witch would probably have been able to break out of her hold if Kestra didn't have the foolish child as a hostage.
"I am so sorry for keeping it a secret from you, I am so sorry for hurting you, my child. I never wanted to---" Useless words poured out of Granny's mouth as she embraced death.
Words Kestra didn't care about.
Instead, she paid attention to the string that kept pulling closer and closer.
Till there was nothing to drain and the woman's limp body slipped away from Kestra's embrace. She could hear her daughter screaming in her head and for a split moment of infuriation, she wondered if she should risk her using her newfound powers to extinguish her forever.
Then she controlled herself. It was something she would risk doing later. When she finally had her string in her hand she would be unstoppable but for now, she mustn't do anything that would make things go out of hand, and make her lose everything she had worked tirelessly on.
"No! Noooooo! You killed her! I regret meeting you! I wish I had never met you!"
Kestra scoffed.
More stupid words.
She balled her fists by her sides.
This foolish child was silent before!
Without thinking, she kicked Granny's fallen body onto the ground which was now wet with dew. The lantern was some distance away, trying to battle the darkness with its small flames, as it brought Granny's translucent skin into light. It almost looked like it was made out of water. Her flesh hugged her bones so much, she looked absolutely skeletal. Still, with the eerie silence that surrounded her, she almost looked alive.
What a crazy illusion.
This must be the effect of draining her strange magic.
Curse her for being so important that her daughter was going out of control!
"Silence!" She finally yelled. "Keep mute or I shall kill you too."
"You have already killed me. You've brought demise to everyone I love. You've used me. You have already killed me."
"Foolish child, you have only yourself to blame for your stupidity!"
Those words made her yelling slip into a silent sob.
Kestra shrugged.
At least this was better than before.
With a smile on her face, she looked down at the red string that was curled around her fingers. It was glowing gently and throbbed like a gentle heartbeat. It also seemed to be attached to something a long distance away from her, thinning and fading away into the darkness.
"You are almost here, I can feel it." She whispered to herself. "Come to me faster, I command you."
The gentle throbbing of the string, increased to something rapid. Kestra's laughter cut through the forest until she felt a skeletal grip that yanked her straight to the earth, silencing her.
She had no time to process things, as her face was merely inches away from Granny's skeletal one. Blue flames had replaced her hair, and weird clickings were her words.
Kestra's eyes widened in fear.
"What are you?!" The question pushed through her slightly clattering teeth.
When she felt herself sinking into the earth along with Granny, she tried to trash around and escape from her grip, summoning spells that did nothing but fail her, as she was pulled deeper and deeper into the ground along with the clicking creature.
Buried alive.
There was no evidence to tell that they were once there, except the lantern. The wind whispered the news of heavy rain, and the red string that was still attached to the earth finally faded away.
____
____
Close by, the horses screeched to a halt and collapsed from the reckless fatigue, the wreckage of a carriage coming apart immediately as the magic that had been holding it through the chaos suddenly vanished into thin air, the red glow suddenly nowhere to be found.
Belladonna shivered, her gaze set on the red string that looped between her fingers, as it was rapidly fading away.
Letting go of Eli's cloak, she ran over the broken wood pieces of the carriage, and straight into the forest ahead, stopping shortly when she saw the lantern and its dying flames.
She slipped to her knees, her brows knitted in a frown as she pressed her palms against the wet ground.
"It was Kestra, she was here," Belladonna whispered, shaken to her core. The reflection of the light from the lantern, glimmering in the tears that had now welled up in her eyes.
"Kestra is dead." Bitterness curled on Eli's tongue, it disgusted him to even say her name. It brought back nothing but painful memories. "She is gone. There has to be someone else, maybe her loyalist--- or maybe someone from skeleton kingdom, maybe the portal isn't totally blocked yet---"
"No! It was Kestra! She was here! I can feel it! She is looking for me." She yelled, turning back to him, her eyes filled with madness before her words reduced to a whisper. "She wants something I have."