Chapter 121: Rage

Lena

The heavy ebony doors groaned open beneath our combined strength. Beyond should lie sanctuary however temporary - a chance to rest battered bodies and souls...and forge strength for the next leg in reclaiming freedom. Instead, a nightmare awaited us across that carved threshold.

Zoya herself stood imperiously flanked by a score of armed guardsgrinning in feral anticipation. At their feet sprawled a cruelly familiar frail form - Natalia! My heart dropped through the floor recognizing the terrible stillness to her flesh, the mocking angle of broken limbs. Our protector and guide, ruthlessaly dismembered and discarded by her own blood.

"No!"

The grief-stricken howl that ripped from my chest scarcely sounded human or sane. But the rage flooding my veins in its wake burned far hotter than mere anguish as I took in the mutilation of that innocent wise woman. Blinded by fury and vengeance, I flung myself straight for Zoya's sneering throat heedless of the death bristling eagerly around