A Court of Dark and Decay

Chapter 42- The Altar of The Monster

okay this chapter is a little gross because Nesta had to be such a stone cold killer sooooooooo
TW!!! GORE!!!

When the sun breached the trees, the golden rays reflected off the cool steel and purple gemstones. It glistened off the bloody ground and reflected in the droplets as crimson seeped into white.
Steam still rose off the treasures left at the base of the sword, even after hours the blood and flesh was still warm compared to the chill of Windhaven.
Amren was the first to see the sickening shrine at the crest of the hill- in plain view of every single Illyrian who lived there.
The Witches Excutioner blade impaled the winter ground, the shining silver wrapped in red, a patchwork of deathly roses twisting around the sword. At it's bloodied feet lay remains. Pale, some turning a blueish from the winter winds. Scalps, fingers, strips of flesh, chunks of hair. Laid about the white ground like a tapestry of slaughter, an artist signing her work.
Amren was not the only one to see it. Behind her, the females she was with, all stood and watched as Amren approached the bloody monument.
A single note fluttered from the tip of the sword.

Tell the children stories of the monster of silver flames.
White eyes and stolen power.
She hunts. Warn them not to become one.
I will see you all at the monolith.

The paper crunched in Amren's hand as she folded the note. She ventured back down the hill, to where the others waited.
"She's started without us." Was all Amren said, holding the note out to Lori.
Lori read it slowly, then handed it to Sera.
Slowly, the note made it's way around the group of women. Rosie, Iona, Maira.
Iona spoke, her skeletal wings casting shadows onto the ground before her. "It's dawn."
Rosie nodded slowly. "The others will be in training."
Maria's eyes were locked onto the bloodied mess on the hill before them.
Lori nodded. "Let's not waste time, then."
Amren was handed the note again, and bounded up the hill to place it back on the sword. Whoever found this shine to monsters next would know exactly who did this. The Terthal case would be dismissed, the truth would be out in the open now.
Everyone would know what Nesta had done. Rhys and Feyre and the Inner Circle would all know.
And somehow, walking to training with the other females, Amren still smiled.

______________________________________________________

The wind whipped the smell through the window. It was sour, a sharp almost painful smell. Devlon sat up in bed, his wife still sleeping as far away from him on the bed as possible. He sighed, standing from the bed and heading to the open window.
Devlon did not remember leaving it open.
He bunched his brows together. It was freezing in this room. How was his wife still asleep?
The window frame was cold as his fingers perched on the edge to close it. Another drift of wind, another tide of the disgusting scent stopped him. Devlon peered through the window, trying to find where it was coming from.
When the gleam of silver reflected into his eyes, Devlon flinched away, shifting his position to negate the sun's rays off whatever was glinting.
Looking back, Devlon saw what looked like a small shrine. A sword stabbed into the frozen earth and some flowers spread around it.
No, no it wasn't flowers.
What was that?
Devlon watched as another gust of wind blew the hairs from a scalp at the bottom of the sword free, watching them drift through the wind.
Those were body parts. It wasn't roses, it was blood.
Devlon almost gagged. The pile was surrounding the sword, and if he looked closer he could decipher different peices and parts.
He slammed the window shut, making sure to lock it tightly.
"What's wrong?"
The sound of his wife's voice made him jump. Devlon placed a hand on his chest, steadying himself.
"Nothing. Nothing is wrong." He brushed past her to the closet, pulling out clothing for the day.
The quiet chuckle from his wife made his body freeze up as he reached for an undershirt.
"You are so pathetic." She laughed again, bolder this time.
Devlon turned, a chill running down his spine at his wife's face. "What did you just say?"
She smiled, a cat playing with prey. "I said," She cocked her head. "You are pathetic."
The blow came before he ever saw it coming. Devlon was knocked to the floor, his face hot from the impact.
He tried to look up at her, only to find his vision blocked by something. His fingers tried to cover whatever wound had downed him. When Devlon pulled his hand away, it was dark.
Blood. Running down his head into his eyes. On hands. And on the mace in his wife's hands.
He groaned, turning over in an attempt to find some kind of freedom. His head hurt. He couldn't see straight. Where was he again?
A cold hand around his ankle drew his attention. He felt the floor being pulled underneath him, splinters gouging his skin from their unfinished wooden floor.
"Did you think the Mother has not seen everything you've done?" She hissed from above him, her form heaving the mace above her head before bringing it down on his ankle.
Devlon cried out, the blood slipping over his lips into his mouth. He folded himself small, trying to disappear. His pulse was wild in his ankle, but he dare not look down to assess the damage. His abdomen heaved, and he turned his head just in time to expel his stomach contents onto the floor.
"She has seen everything you have done to those girls."
His chin was being gripped, bile dripping down his neck. Devlon locked onto the eyes of his wife. They were wild, a fire of rage and contentment and something darker burning through her irises.
"I have seen everything you have done."
Devlon tried to speak, to apologize, to say anything to delay this fate, but she had him by the throat on the ground and he couldn't breathe to form a sentence.
"And do you know what I think, Devlon?"
Stars danced around the edge of his limited vision, his hands trying and failing to pry her off of him. Devlon was helpless as his wife raised the mace one more time, clear above her head.
"I think you are the kind of monster that cannot be forgiven."
Devlon heard her breathe out as she downed the mace.
And it all went black.