A Court of Lies and Secrets | ACOTAR fanfic [Girl x Girl]

Auzedra Dragon

~Renae~

"What?" I don't know who this frail, young female is but I figured the dagger would be enough to shut her up and make her tremble against the blades. Instead, she stands with both Illyrian daggers in her hands as if they were nothing but a piece of cake to remove. She has strength, I'll give her that.

"Ginerva used a blood lock on the shackles. You have to use her blood to unlock them. The daggers won't work." She explains and there is no crease of fear in her forehead and she keeps her gaze with mine the entire time. The girl has guts. I am visibly fuming. I have clearly gone through so much already to get my mate back and I am in no way capable of dealing with this fearless and outright naïve female without shedding more blood.

I daren't meet Alirra's eyes. I can't. I've dreamt about this moment for so long and yet I can't bring myself to look into her pained eyes. The dark rings and tears glazing them. The gentle crease above her brow forced there from pure fear and pain. I can't. It'll hurt too much and right now I just need to get out of here as quickly as possible. This youngster isn't helping matters.

"And you are?"

"Mireille. Your sister." That bullshit again. She could be. She honestly could be– with my father's fearless exterior that is just begging for a throat-slicing.

"Right." I ensure to show no emotion in that one word because I honestly don't care who she is. I perform a few of Azriel's tricks and retrieve my twin daggers- my favourite weapons.

These should do. I wipe my fingertips over both sides of a blade- coating them in thick blood. Ginerva's blood. I can feel Mireille's presence behind me, watching closely and yet showing no interest that this is clearly 'her mother's' blood. I wipe my fingers and the red-black liquid across the shackles at Ali's wrists, trying hard to avoid her skin.

Sure enough. The metal fades into nothing at out feet and I don't hesitate, now. She's here. She's free. She's alive and she's in my arms. I pull her into a hug. My breaths catch in my throat and a few sobs escape until the tears are falling so hard I can barely see her chocolate curls that are intertwined with my fingertips. I place my (blood-free) hand at her chin, the pad of my thumb caresses her bottom lip and for the first time in days, my eyes meet hers and I know this is her. This isn't a dream or an illusion. This is real and she's here and I'm here. Her cheeks are equally as soaked and the pain in her eyes isn't as strong as the relief and something else- lust perhaps. I can't hold it in any longer and pull her face closer towards mine. Completely unbothered about the young girl witnessing all of this. I don't care about anything anymore. The wood beneath me doesn't feel there and the sounds of my court battling away above-deck fade into nothing as the only thing my mind can focus on is the face in my palm and the tongue that grazes my own.

I pull away first. I could sit here with our knees touching and hands in one another's hair as our mouths dance around our faces in light kisses. However, the one thing I want more is to lay in bed, at home whilst Alirra and I do nothing but kiss. That's all I've wanted for days. The only thing that's driven me to get here.

"As cute as this is, something is going on above-deck that you really don't want to miss." We both turn to the annoying youngster who is now staring through the hatch which I jumped through moments ago. Her eyes are large with fascination, but yet again no fear. I feel fear though. Pure terror. The kind that makes the world stop. The horror that makes your whole body stop working as you fail to remove your eyes from the very thing you're so frightened by.

"Feyre!" I shout at the top of my lungs when I finally manage to pull myself together. She appears at my side within moments. "Take Ali home. Safely. Please." I draw out the last word with so much more desperation than I think I've ever felt. Letting Feyre fly away with my mate without ever knowing if they'll make it unharmed is torturing me. Watching her leap from the ship as Iagan tries to grab her foot - failing- is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Alirra doesn't object, though I can tell she wants to... so stubborn.

When they're far enough to of sight for Iagan and Ginerva, I finally turn to the very thing that has me in such a state. The very creature that I daren't tell the others about until now. The one power I've never seen Ginerva use, only heard stories that I assumed were fake.

But now I stare into its eyes- into her eyes- and she stares back. Above the ship, so very high above it, the creature soars the skies. Circles the ship with large beating wings almost identical to the membranous Illyrian ones surrounding me. Though they aren't the same. Illyrians aren't merely as powerful as this flying above our heads.

Familiar shadows encircle it, wrapping around it like a blanket of protection and through the dark cloud of shadows and stars I see the claws and the teeth and the large orbs of swirling shadows that are her eyes.

Ginerva's final power- her strongest ability- is the one where she can turn into demon-like creature— an Auzedra dragon. Darker than Hybern's hidden room, slender body with slightly unnoticeable glints like stars below the skin. Four paws with claws the length of my hand and the tail itself almost the size of her body.

My wings never really matched the Illyrians, and the only person to ever realise was Alirra. I never questioned it either– now I know that I have my mother's wings.

She changes course and swoops down at the ship, from this angle I can see the number of head have doubled. Two sets of onyx orbs are inspecting the ship– staring us down. Four horns swirl in all directions atop the heads as if mimicking the shadows surrounding her.

With each beat of the lengthy membranous wings, she's leaps and bounds closer. Nobody is able to even think of a plan– they all just stare up at the great beast in pure shock and... they're under another mesmerised curse! Once again, Ginerva is using her shadows to distract the Illyrians– preventing them from attacking her most fearful form. I'm alone on this ship.

Even Iagan stares helplessly up at his Queen and unable to look away even if he wanted to. Perhaps she doesn't have control over who's under the spell of her shadows...

It's just me and my twin blades as she soars closer to the highest masts of the ship. I can feel the fear creeping through my nerves and I try so very hard to keep it all at bay. I know this won't end well but I have to try.

To my complete annoyance, an uninvited figure appears at my side. Mireille. This female just doesn't give up!

My head cracks in her direction and I provide her a look that's both 'what are you doing' and 'I don't need your help'. She ignores the latter.

"Ginerva has trained me my whole life– I know how she attacks and even better... I have her powers." I don't get to question her any further as a ray of shadows (identical to Ginerva's) leap from the frail figure, hitting the dragon on it's chest and pushing it a few miles back. The girl has even more strength than I left myself imagine.

I look back up to the beast and find the heads have doubled again, each one looking down at Mireille in shock and confusion. Quite literally how I'm feeling.

"Come back Mother!" The youngster shouts but it falls upon deaf ears as she refocuses her attention on the figure beside her— me. That's all she really cares about: ending me. This girl has no chance of defeating her, just like I don't.

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