There was the sound of crashes and smashes all around as if a bomb had gone off. Then came the tinkling sound of glass raining down upon the marble floor.
Air rushed into Izzie's lungs as the grip on her neck vanished and she had the sudden sensation of falling. Her vision was fuzzy as she was on the brink of losing consciousness. Without warning she hit the hard marble ground, her head cracked down hard. As quickly as she had gotten it, she lost her breath again as the impact knocked the air out of her and she felt a warm wet feeling begin to pool at the back of her head.
What the hell was happening?
There was a ringing in her ears from the blow to the head and her vision was hazier than ever, as she tried to focus on the domed ceiling high above her. The golden arches that held the ceiling up were just no staying still and the harder she tried to focus the more her head began to throb. She had to force her eyes to stay open as her eyelids tri
Izzie's eyes fluttered open and snapped shut again immediately as the bright light brought the pounding in her head back with a vengeance. She groaned, her hands flying to her head to try and reverse the pressure she was feeling as she pushed her head further back into the pillow.Hold on.Pillow?She shot upright, tremendous mistake as the pounding became more like someone banging a gong inside her head. She forced her eyes open through the pain, though she could only manage a squint. The blurry image of a white room lined with beds came into view. She could hear the beeping and whirring of machines in the distance. At first thought, it appeared like she was in a hospital, but as her eyes began to focus she realised that she wasn't in the hospital at all.She was in a far more familiar room.The Guild's infirmary.She was at the Guild's headquarters.But how?She tentatively reached up touching the back
Izzie just stared at it, her thumbs running across the embroidery of the crest in astonishment.Francis had handed her an Elite issue hoodie.Did that mean she was now....?Opening it up a little further she saw it.Long, shiny and devilishly sharp.The Elite blade.The dagger she had dreams about for all these years.She picked it up with shaking hands it felt heavy and deadly in her hands. The handle was engraved with the Guild Elite Crest and the blade adorned with protection runes."I thought I would personally hand you your new uniform," he smiled, seeing her reaction."You mean I'm - " she couldn't even finish the sentence. She didn't dare say the word in case it was just some horrible prank."An Elite," he finished for her with a nod, "A small show for the service you've provided for the guild.""Se-service?" she stuttered, still mesmerized by the
Cold.It was an odd sensation that he didn't often feel but right now it seemed to be penetrating through all the way to his bones.He was only aware that he was face down against a damn rough surface which he could only guess was stone. There was a damp and earthy scent that hung around giving him a good idea that he was underground somewhere. There was an intense burning in his wrists and ankles that only grew with each small movement as he slowly began to come round. He was aware of the smell of his burning flesh lingered around and there was a soft sizzling sound.He tried to open his eyes but it felt like his eyelids were made of lead.He tried to move but his whole body felt heavy and uncoordinated.What the hell happened to him?Isabelle.Where was Isabelle?He tried to think back to what had happened.Slayers...No not slayers... What had Isabelle called them?...Elites?Yes
It felt like forever before the doctor finally made his way round to her. He checked her notes, shone a light in her eyes and asked her a few questions about how she'd been feeling since she woke up. After ticking the right boxes she was discharged with the instruction to rest for the next forty-eight hours at least and some other mumbo-jumbo that she'd stopped listening to about halfway through. The nurse returned her clothes and belongings that had been brought in with her. The white gown was well and truly ruined, with large dry bloodstains splattered across it and a large tear down the side of it. Her matching white heels were also a lost cause. There wasn't much chance of them being returned now. The clutch bag was somehow intact and mostly clean, though her phone had a rather large crack down the screen but was still usable.There wasn't any option of wearing the ruined
Every part of Izzie's body locked up the moment Brad pressed his mouth onto hers. Her brain completely scrambled, the grief she felt like a lead weight on her chest.He couldn't be dead.He just couldn't be.They were Beloveds, right? Wouldn't she know if he was?Oh, who was she kidding?She was a human, she didn't have the connection to him the way that he had
Izzie ground to a halt as she turned the final corner, finally facing the heavy steel doors that lead to the underground cells. She cursed internally as she spotted two heavily armed guards at either side of the door.The door was located at the bottom of a dead-end hallway so once she started moving toward them there was no turning back. She had no other excuse for going down there so she'd have to make it count, but what could she say?Whatever it was going to be she was going to have to think of it soon as standing at the end of the corridor was starting to look equally as conspicuous as walking towards them.
Cassius was a lot worse close up and Izzie felt her heartbreaking all over again as she looked over his wounds. They had really done a number on him. He almost looked dead from how pale and still he was."Cassius," she whispered, placing her hand gently on his cheek, being careful not to press too hard on his burned skin, "Cassius, it's me."It took a second or two but his eyes fluttered open... well, one of them did at least, the other one was still pretty much swollen over."Isa-belle?" his voice cracked as he tried to speak.
Izzie dropped her head down a little more and picked up the pace, noticing Cassius doing the same in front of her. She pretended not to hear them, but then came the unmistakable sound of boots pounding against the tile floor as one of the guards came after them."Just keep moving, Cas," Izzie instructed in a whisper, knowing that no one but Cassius would be able to hear her, "Turn left at the end of the hall and keep walking until you reach a grey door on your left. It's a storage room, wait for me in there."He didn’t turn to her or even nod his head he just kept walking so she had to trust that he had heard and understood what she wanted him to do."Stop!" the guard bellowed behind her. She took a breath before turning to face him, surprised by how close he wa