Shadewalker || ONC 2024

Chapter 19: Happy Now?

TW: violence and disturbing themes

Slowly, Tilda stood, ignoring the growing commotion that her undead brother was causing.

"You," she hissed. Iris was unsure if Tilda was referring to herself or Erold, but she kept fighting to drag her brother away as Tilda stomped towards them, black skirts billowing and red hair curling off her shoulders. Erold stirred listlessly, but it wasn't enough. Behind Tilda, Talan rolled over and struggled to his feet.

Tilda grabbed Erold by the hair and yanked him out of Iris's grasp, leveling his revolver at Iris's nose.

"I will have justice for my brother," she spat.

But this wasn't justice. This had never been justice, and Iris knew that. This was vengeance and bloodthirst. I dislike her methods, Talan had said, and it seemed as if he had told her this a long, long time ago. Iris said nothing, but her lip curled in a defiant sneer as Tilda cocked the gun.

Fine then. Iris would die, and she would do so proudly. Tilda could find out for herself if yet another death would fill the hole in her heart.

The shot never came. Not for Iris, at least.

Talan's hand curled over Tilda's eyes from behind, and there was a bright, blinding flash. Tilda flailed and cried out. The gun discharged, but the shot went wide. Iris blinked, ears ringing once more and seeing stars. Her vision cleared just in time to see both Talan and Tilda tumble to the ground.

There were more flashes coming from the other side of the cellar, and Iris realized that she could still hear Arlen Veil's screams. To her ears, it sounded as if they were coming from a great distance, but she did not look for the source. Not yet. She would not take her eyes off of Tilda Veil. Not even to search for her father. Not until she knew that she could keep this woman away from her brother.

Talan scooted back towards Iris and slumped beside her. His arms shook, and he breathed heavily.

"Where is your gun?" hissed Iris.

"Not here," gasped Talan. "I hid it." Of course, he wouldn't risk carrying that into an enclosed space with bullets enchanted to kill whatever bystander they hit.

A screaming Tilda remained where she fell next to the table. She cursed and cussed and slapped her hands at empty air. Her eyes were wide open, but Iris realized with a start that their glow had dimmed, and that Tilda now saw nothing.

That didn't make Tilda harmless though. In the midst of her thrashing, her fingers found the rim of the bucket of witch's acid. She flung it blindly, and the smoking liquid flew straight at Iris.

There wasn't even enough time to blink. A figure leapt between her and the acid, like a marionette jerked by its strings. A few drops flew past and splashed her cheek. It felt cold at first, and then it burned and burned and burned, eating into her skin. Talan grabbed her by the waist and yanked her out of the way.

"Don't look," he bit out. But Iris had already seen. It had been Erold who had taken that blow. Her brother. Her twin. And as that thought sank in, she began to scream and twist and writhe, but Talan would not let her go, and he would not let her look.

"It's too late, it's too late," he repeated, and when Iris finally broke free, the bones were nearly gone, and the floor was pocked with a smoking pit.

Mere moments had passed, and now Erold was gone.

Iris was silent. She did not wail or sob as the bones dissolved. Erold was gone. She remembered her burning cheek and got to her feet. There was a bag in this cellar. A bag filled with potions and spells, and if she remembered correctly, a tiny vial of Witch's Acid Antidote. Erold was gone, and she was in pain, and her face was ruined, but perhaps she could save her own bones.

Numbly, she moved. Talan reached for her as she stepped away and around the smoking pit, but he did not follow. Iris found the bag easily enough among Eliana's things. Sure enough, there was a tiny glass vial of antidote buried within. There was barely a thimbleful left - not nearly enough to have saved her brother - but Iris poured it out onto her fingers and pressed it into the deep new holes in her skin. The pain cooled immediately, and Iris closed her eyes, ready to weep.

That was when she noticed the silence. Iris looked about and saw that the now lifeless corpse of Igor Veil had collapsed on the far side of the cellar, next to that of Arlen Veil. With Erold gone, there was no living body tethering Igor to this world. The remaining members of Tilda's family stood huddled against the wall, along with Iris's father who was supporting the still-unconscious form of Adrian Colt. Tilda still lay next to the table, blind.

"Igor died again," announced Iris. "Erold is gone too." Briefly, she noted Erold's revolver lying near Tilda's booted heel and stepped towards the woman. There should be three bullets remaining.

And Erold was gone.

Iris picked up the revolver and crouched next to Tilda's head.

Nearby, Talan made a sound of protest. "Iris!" he called out, and Iris saw that he was staring at her intently, but that he was far, far too drained to move. Iris was glad for that. He had already come to her aid more than enough, but Tilda had made this into Iris's personal business, and Iris would be the one to see it through to the end.

"Hush, Talan," she said, and then she turned her attention back to Tilda. "Are you happy?" she asked, softly. "Are you satisfied?"

"I wanted justice."

"You wanted vengeance, which you got. But your brother died twice, and your Uncle Arlen is gone now too by the looks of it. Mr. Carroll as well."

Tilda spat. "Kill me," she growled, and Iris studied the revolver in her hands, considering it. But Erold's gun had caused enough of a stupid, stupid mess for several lifetimes. Iris found that she couldn't stomach looking at it a moment longer. She snapped open the revolver chamber and emptied the remaining bullets, scattering them across the ground.

"I recommend that you learn to live with yourself," she suggested, and she would have to do the same. 

Chapter word count: 1081

Cumulative word count: 29152