Strena Dog Days Part Three

 Silent Tears

Strena and Zaryb had taken a break after receiving the reward for both Striker and King Haicer. She took out her journal and started to chronicle her travels. She then read what she had written and took the moment to reflect on her travels and all that she had been through.

By all the gods above! What is Zaryb turning me into? She thought and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying. 

"Oh, I hope that you remember what I said about crying?"

She looked up at him in anger. She just could not read this man. She had spent about three years with this man and she still could not understand this man. One moment he was like a father to her, then next he was her worst nightmare!

"I do." She said as she had to bury her pride. 

She may have had magic and he had trained her but she was still inexperienced as a magic user, as a bounty hunter and as an assassin. Yet he not only had more experience but he seemed to be able to move at inhuman speed and strength. Then there were the bracelets that had bound him to her and the necklace around her neck giving him access to control her.

"Good."

She then put her book away and took out her new sword. Zaryb looked at it with a mocking smirk.

"So you are serious about keeping that?"

"Yeah, I don't know why, but I feel like that this sword belongs to me now." She said as she started to look at the blade. "And it's so beautiful."

He smiled and nodded.

She ignored this as she started to clean and polish the blade until it reflected her face perfectly. She looked at it smiling proudly. For a moment, she was tempted to push it deep into the mans' heart.

No! Stop it! That is what he wants! He wants me to behave that way!

She felt a chill run down her spine as she realised it. Then came another thought that seemed to creep into her mind. One icy and fearful thought.

What if it was already too late? What if he has already made me into what he wants me to become? She wiped a tear but did it in a way that disgusted her cry with something else.

"That better not be a tear girl!"

He's seen!

"No! I just had something in my eye. That's all! But so what if I did? I'm eight! I should be allowed to cry now and again. I miss my parents, my home, by the Demon Realm! I miss having a home!"

"No you don't."

She looked at him stunned. She looked back at the past and realised that he way right! If she was brutally honest with herself she would have to admit this. Zaryb never let or gave her any time to miss them. 

"How?"

He chuckled as he pointed to his temple.

Can he hear my thoughts? She thought fearfully.

"No, you're just easy to read."

"So, where are we going this time?"

"To a witch. She'll help us get to the bottom of the truth."

She frowned, confused. 

"What truth?"

"Why you have magic."

"I don't…"

"You and I will. After all there are only four ways that you would ever have it and I think that it would be quite interesting to see your reaction. " he said with a sly smile that always haunted her nightmares. She knew that whatever the answer was, she was not going to like it one bit!

After she was ready they were back on the road. They did not stop until they came to the sea. She had not seen a sight like this for a long time. She found that her mind turned to her kingdom. She wondered if they were alright there. Was it like the way that she remembered? Or had it devolved into chaos? Most likely.

She saw the sun set and sat down and opened her journal and sketched then coloured it in to capture all the colours in both the sky and the sea. She wanted to immortalize the image that caught her eyes. Once she finished she smiled.

"Good drawing!" Complemented Zaryb.

"Thank you!" 

"We will be sleeping here tonight and we will be traveling up the river." He explained.

She nodded.

She slept and woke at sunrise after having that dream. She wrote the dream down. She started to think about the dream. Why was she having that dream? Why was it always that dream? Was it some sort of prophecy? Or was it something that her magic was telling her something? Either way, there was a reason and she knew it.

"You're awake early!"

"Nightmare."

"Was I on it?"

"No. It took place in my kingdom. Here, read it!"

He read it and looked at her. He clearly knew what it was all about, yet he carried the look of someone trying to decide whether or not to tell her. He then shook his head. 

"Probably means nothing."

She would have questioned him further but she was far too scared. So she dropped it. She soon put away her journal and they both had their breakfast. They were soon on the road again. They walked up the river and soon they came to a forest. She noticed that the river became narrower and narrower. They walked deeper and deeper into the trees. The trees became taller and taller and the trunks became thicker and thicker.

They soon came to a large tree with a large cabin at the top of the trees.

"Dark Lady Marvé Locoal!" He shouted.

"Zarry!" An enthusiastic voice came. Soon a woman came out on the balcony. 

She had long cosmic blue hair and white eyes. She wore a silk gown. The woman looked down at her and smiled.

"Who is this?" She asked with an icy tone to her voice.

"Strena Azlok!"

She let out an icy and annoying laugh. 

"You think that you can hide her true name from me? Eh, Zarry?"

He let out a huff.

"Let us in first! Then I will tell you!"

"Alright!" She shouted and clicked her fingers and they suddenly appeared on the balcony. She walked over to the door that had glass in the centre where there was a ripple in the centre. She then opened the door for them. "Come in then!"

They walked into a living room with a red sofa and books on all of the walls. The kitchen had a step above where there were steel tables and chairs. She soon saw a ladder that led to the most likely single room above them. There was a single fire near the widows at the back.

"Well, sit on the sofa and I will make you some tea."

They nodded.

"Tell me, would it be too much to ask to stay the night my Dark Lady?" He asked with a sly tone of a snake.

She smirked slyly.

"Only if you give me the name of the girl."

"Then come closer."

She walked up to her and leaned in close.

"I am listening."

"Arielsa Zuvé"

Suddenly Strena was struck by fear. She knew that he would not have revealed that unless he was planning to kill her! She bit her lip as she dreaded for the moment.

"Oh, you need not fear little one. He will not kill me. I have something that that little demon wants and likes."

She frowned.

"What's that?"

She giggled as Zaryb looked away, to her surprise, he looked suddenly vulnerable and ashamed as he sat.

"Oh, you are far too young and innocent for that." She said as she sat on his lap. She then layed a strange kiss on his lips. He soon gripped her arm and she pulled away and smiled. The other Zaryb was back.

"There you are."

He then pulled her in and kissed her again but this time there was a strange and frightful aggression behind it. He then pulled away and she giggled.

"Just get to what I am here for." He said as he pecked her cheek and she ran to the kitchen area.

"Alright. Arielsa! Get over here!"

She looked at her, feeling stunned. It was the first time anyone had called her that in a long time. It felt strange and almost alien to her now. It shocked and upset her to discover that even though it was her own name and yet it felt so alien to her. Almost like it did not belong to her anymore, yet it did. She looked at him for a moment.

"What?"

"Nothing."

She got to her feet and was about to go to her. She looked back almost afraid that he saw her tear. 

"Tell me, would it help if the girl cried?"

"Yes. In fact it will help greatly. The more I have of her the better."

"Then I will not punish you for it this time."

She walked over to her. As she arrived, she took out a small pot. She placed a hand on her head and nudged her head over the pot. She could feel her own breath move around the pot.

"I want you to cry." She said. "Take this moment to get all those tears out of you."

She then thought all that she had been through and all the tears that she had suppressed over the years fell and was let go. When they came, like a burst dam, they came down like a flood. Once she had started she could not stop. She soon found her legs started to give away and everything became so blurry that she did not know what was in front of her nor did she care. Her chest felt like it had a boa constrictor around it and her lungs found it difficult to get the air. She felt like something had been released yet she still could not stop. She had a pool at the bottom like it had been in heavy rain. She did not know how long that she was there, yet by the time she stopped she felt emotionally drained and her throat and mouth was dry.

"Now spit into it."

She spat whatever was left in her mouth. She took out a clean knife and then dug it into her small finger. She was far too drained to react as she looked at the blood dropped into the mixture. She then plucked a hair on her head and then put it in.

"Now could you will a small piece of your magic into it. When you do put your will into it, put all your will into it." She instructed.

She nodded. She looked at the mixture and put her will into it but nothing happened. She then huffed. Then she remembered what she had just said. She then pictured that the pot was Zaryb in her mind. She closed her eyes to concentrate harder on this. She then pushed all her will into killing him and aimed it at the pot. She drove it more and more into the mixture until it turned purple. She then continued even further until she could no longer hold it. She then flopped down feeling exhausted. 

"Good, good work girl!" She exclaimed as she looked into the mixture.

She then picked it up and then drank the mixture. When she finished she yelped and then giggled like she had learnt a dirty secret.

"Looks like your parents could not wait! They had to do it before their vows!" She laughed.

She looked at her feeling nothing but outrage.

"That is a lie! They did not-I am not-I can not be!"

She giggled even more at that, almost like she had seen a treasure trove. She then looked at her and then at Zaryb. He looked on edge as he shook his head. She then looked back at her with a knowing look.

"Stop it! You liar! Just stop it! Stop laughing! Stop laughing now!" She snapped.

"Whyever not! I mean your father is-" She soon stopped and started to choke. She soon became pale and started to cough. She did not stop, not even when she saw blood coming up. She fell to her knees. Soon blood and foam fell from her mouth and nose. She then started to pant as she fell to the floor. She then stopped coughing and moving. Yet both knew that she was dead before her head landed on the floor.

Strena knew that she should have been shocked and horrified about what she had just done but all she felt was the fire of magic. Her ice cold eyes were ablaze with fire. Zaryb saw this and smirked.