Chapter 101 Untitled Chapter

Chapter 101 Untitled Chapter
RINA

When Freida and Samorah had left, she had thought that maybe she and her hybrid could have a talk. 

She was quiet now, her eyes closed. But looking closely Rina could see the bruises that littered her body, and ugly, red welts that were scattered all over the visible skin.

It made her heart clench, despite everything, thinking of the incredible pain she must have been in. And in some way, she could feel the echoes of that pain, even theought it was muted now.

It wasn’t hard to see that however they had captured her, she hadn’t made it easy for them. It caused a vague sense of pride to pass through Rina and subconsciously her lips raised up in a smile.

But still she wasn't prepared for when her hybrid’s eyes opened to focus on her and her first words were, "Who the devil are you and what are you doing with my face?" 

No apologies, no sass, just pure venom.

Then she realized some-thing was terribly wrong. Because for one, while she's never looked into her hybrid’s eyes she knew that they were definitely not this color.

Oh no.

The eyes staring back at her were blazing red and filled with so much rage, it rattled her. And now she could see it more clearly—the slightly feral look, the elongated fangs that protruded from her lips, digging into her flesh with every snarl she took, the wolf ears that her hair couldn't quite hide. 

In the flickering light of the wall scones, she hadn’t been able to notice it but now she did. Oh now she could.

This wasn't her crazy hybrid looking back at her. No, this was much worse. Her wolf had taken over, just like her hybrid had, and it looked just about feral.

This whole thing just seemed crazy to Rina. It seemed like everyone but her was in possession of her body, meanwhile she was in a flaky version of her skin and with every second she spent in the physical realm out if her body, the more chance of her just simply disintegrating into nothing. 

She felt strange inside, like she shouldn’t be looking at her face from outside her own body. It felt dire somehow. And yet…

Rina laughed. Out loud. Maybe she was the one going crazy. The madness had finally caught up to her.

Her wolf watched her with narrowed eyes, her teeth bared in a threatening sign. And all it did was make her laugh so hard, she doubled over, clutching the bars so she wouldn’t collapse.

She laughed because the alternative was crying and she didn’t want that.

"What is so amusing?" Her wolf demanded, hoarse and furious. 

"I don't know," she sputtered, still laughing. “But this whole situation is funny, isn’t it? I’m the one that’s had her body, identity, everything stolen, and yet somehow, I’m still the one at fault. Somehow I’m still the one being threatened. Somehow I’m the one in a fucking cage!”

Her voice rise steadily with each word, ending with a sharp scream that caused the wolf in front of her to flinch. 

There was a tense moment of silence as Rina took a moment to calm down, clearing the tears that had fallen from her eyes. 

Now, was not the time to unravel. A lot of people were depending on her here; Omaron, Tabitha, The three, Raze, Lyon… And she couldn't afford to let them down. Somehow she had to get out of here. But how? The steel bars looked hard as hell and no matter how many times she kicked against, it had no give.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Her wolf asked, sounding like she thought Rina must have lost it. 

"What does it look like?" She gritted her teeth. "I'm trying to get out of here." 

Chains rattled as the wolf shifted slightly. "Good luck with that." 

Rina glared at her, saying without thinking, "And aren't you supposed to be unconscious already?" But immediately it came out of her mouth, she regretted it and mumbled an apology.

The wolf just shrugged or at least tried to. All she managed to do was to move the chains around, causing more of the poison to enter into her blood stream. "No w-worries," she hissed out eventually, "I probably deserved that."

She continued after a beat. "Though it's strange but the silver doesn't quite affect me now. I’m more lucid than I can remember being since I was captured.” Her eyes caught Rina’s. "And I think it's because of you.”

That caused Rina to jerk back in surprise. "Me? What do I have to do with that?" 

"Well for one," the wolf observed, running her tongue over one fang. "For the past hours that they held me down, and I don't know how for how long, the pain was quite bad, you know. But once you came, it's like extra strength suddenly came. I don't know how to explain it and it feels weird too." 

"What feels weird?" Rina asked in sudden interest. 

"Talking. I'm not usually used to talking, especially so much. It's a lot of hard work.”

That elicited a laugh out of Rina. "Well you don't say." But her mind was on what the wolf said, that somehow Rina’s presence seemed to make the pain better. Could that really be true and If it was, what did that really mean for her? For them?

"Hey," she spoke, suddenly curious. "How’d they capture you? What happened to the hybrid?" 

The wolf's eyes pulsed in rage as she relived the events of that day. "Well, that hybrid bitch seemed to get what was coming for her," she  snarled. "She left me in chains while she went, prancing about the palace with her silly little plan.” She spat. “If she had been right here in front of me, I would wring her shameless, little neck." 

Rina could relate to the anger, but she failed to see how that would be possible, considering how they all shared the same body, unfortunately. "No, but what really happened? How did you end up here?" 

Slowly, the wolf began to relate the events that had happened in the Arena and how the hybrid had been set up by the king and the sorceress. "What, the king and the sorceress are working together?" Rina asked in shock. 

The wolf shook her head. "I don't think he knows who she really is or what that she wants to take over his entire kingdom. She must have worked with him without revealing her real intentions.”

“But the king… he would never work with a witch. He hates them!” She protested.

She looked at Rina with pity. “Who did you think ordered for our powers to be locked and for us to be a mere slave? How do you think he did it?” The wolf let out a harsh chuckle. “Sorry to disillusion you, but your king is nothing but a hypocrite and a coward.”

Slowly, Rina sank to the floor, reeling under the weight of this new reveal. She had known the king never wanted her to his son’s mate but did he really hate her this much? So much so that he was willing to enlist the help of a witch, a species he despised, just to make sure she lived a terrible life? Just what had she done to deserve this level of hatred?

“But why?” She asked, her nails digging into her palm. “Why do all of that? I was just a child for goodness sake. What harm could I have done?”

“Because he was afraid.”

Rina’s head immediately rose up at that answer. But it wasn't her wolf that had replied, it was a woman, a very beautiful woman.

She walked in confidently wwith gleaming ebony hair and complimenting dark eyes that seemed to absorb all the little light in the room. And the darkness seemed to crave her, roaming around her body in loving circles. Shadows.

Her wolf growled lowly. The woman simply smirked.

“Rina,” she greeted, sly, “how wonderful it is to see you again.”

Again? Rina thought warily, even as she stepped back. Something about her rubbed her the wrong way. No matter how beautiful she looked she just didn’t seem right.

“Who are you?”

The ruby red lips stretched into a grin. “I think you already know who I am Rina.”

Then it clicked. “You’re the sorceress.”

Her smile widened. “You still look confused. Perhaps you’ll recognize this one?”

In the flash of an eye, the face of the youthful, beautiful woman transformed into those of a familiar, silver haired, old crone. And as her back straightened, Rina’s heart beat faster. 

Because even without seeing the woman’s face she already knew whose face would greet hers. She would recognize that shape, outline anywhere.

It was the healer.

The healer was the sorceress.