Indigo's Owl [Indigo Rewrite]

Chapter 35 - Stronger than Wrath

Shift was tugged back into consciousness by a strange sense of something — like a gust of wind through his mind — and immediately wished he hadn't been.

His body ached all over. His head was pounding, his ears ringing, the mask skewed over his face. Every breath was shallow and painful, and his chest felt like it'd been crushed — which, he supposed, it had. It was blurry, but he vaguely remembered something about fighting the Wardens, trying to buy enough time for Athira to—

Athira.

Shift pushed himself upright to look for her and almost fell straight back down as a sharp pain lanced through his side and shot stars through his vision. He pressed a hand against his ribs, muttering a breathless curse as he adjusted to the pain. There was no blood, but this kind of pain didn't come from just bruises.

His hand dropped, landing on something soft on his lap. He squinted, trying to stop the world spinning long enough to identify it. It was Athira's cloak, but something was off. It glistened, almost like it was made from water instead of fabric — but his Green knew better.

Her cloak was drenched in Black.

Help her, whispered a desperate voice that felt like feathers and wind from the corner of his mind — the same place where what remained of his shifted Black still lurked. I tried, but he's too strong. He's pushing me out. I can't—

A harsh, tight laugh interrupted the voice. "You're all worthless."

Shift looked towards the sound, wincing as he pressed a hand to his side.

Athira held the Yellow Warden by his hair. On his knees in front of her, the Warden made one last, exhausted swipe at her arms with a shard of bloodstained glass — a cut that healed instantly in a swirl of careless Black — before the shard clattered to the ground.

"What are you?" said the Warden, going slack in her grip, defeated.

Athira lifted him up, the Black twined with his hair.

"The last mistake you'll ever make," she said, and tossed him across the room.

The movement was scarily effortless, but that wasn't why Shift couldn't look away.

Her runes — or at least, what was left of them — were in ruins.

Without her cloak, her arms, shoulders, and upper back were completely exposed. The elegant, sweeping lines of her runes were barely recognisable, their blazing, aqua light flickering — and though he'd never seen a rune flicker before, Shift doubted it was a good sign.

He'd promised her he'd run if they broke — but they hadn't broken yet.

Biting down on a gasp of pain, Shift somehow managed to get on his feet, vaguely aware of the faint scent of lavender in the air. "Need help?"

"Stay over there," said Athira, not looking at him as she stalked towards the Yellow Warden, who was crawling towards the doorway. "I need to finish dealing with these idiots."

"Looks like you've already dealt with them," said Shift, glancing at the Red Warden clutching her knee as she gasped for air on the floor. "Don't you think this is going a little far?"

"Too far was thinking they could control a Sin," said Athira, slamming her foot into the Yellow Warden's side and shoving him onto his back. "Too far was infusing it into an armband and giving it to a Spectrum." She placed her boot against the Warden's throat with a snarl. "Too far was slamming you with a point-blank shockwave when you were down."

"I'm fine now," said Shift, limping his way towards her. "Talking and everything. You're gonna wish I was still unconscious just to get me to shut up."