Ashes

The whisper of her menace is sleek against his skin, insubstantial, its subtle threat just black enough to excite within him no thrill, but only terror, shrill and sheer and pure. There is only violence in her promise of impending battle.He asks her, despite all the evidence before him, “Do you—do you truly not remember? I promised you. No matter what happened, I would not let us be parted, that there would always be a place for you at my side. I am…. I am so sorry it took this long to find you. I am here to—”What, boy? A man’s derisive voice in his head, scoffing and reverberating and distracting. Be the man who saves her from the sacrifices she made for your sake? What sort of man are you?But, Dimitri cannot argue with the dead. Not now. Not while he—and she—are still among the living.He watches her descend the steps of her now-vacant throne, towards him. Her feet are bare. Her sword is drawn, each vertebrae snapped into place. With her blade levelled at him, to him she says, “Heed my words. I am the Ashen Demon, blade of Seiros. And I have never known defeat.”She does not wait for his answer.