VERMILLION: The fall of Zaleon

Chapter 26

‘You’re the only compassionate enough to understand me, so please, help me’ pleaded Amana once she grabbed Eliana to a private room. 

‘Amana I do understand you, you know that I do, but I can’t help you. We were given clear instructions-’

‘Not to kill her, which I won’t do. I just want to scare her’ she interrupted, relying on the image that was clear in her mind. Amana had woken up with a loathe towards the Vermillion WItch that she had never experienced, and in her rage and fury had come up with a plan so sharp and detailed to scare the woman until she felt like it was enough before taking out her brother. Surely the demise of her brother would bring her more pain, but an initial thought of pain to understand how dangerous their life was about to be would do them no harm. So the Doirekh female approached the one woman who seemed to understand what she was going through, and begged her for the help and support she would need, for she knew she could not do it alone. 

‘Amana, you’re talking about torturing the woman, how would she not know it’s you? There’s only a limited number of people in this house who could have done it, and I get the feeling they will catch on very soon on who the real culprit was. It was either Razaar and I, or you. Either way it’s dangerous’ explained the more logical Hybrid leader, who despite despising the Vermillion Witch had more of a mind to do things the right way rather than the wrong way. Paulina had given them clear instructions to steer clear of the Witch’s path and instead focus on their plans for Daraz, but so far none of them had actually been complying with that request. It had been days since they had travelled to Tetra, and each was dying with the hunger to do so with every day that went by, either to see their mates or merely their lands and friends. Time was ticking and the Vermillion had yet to die, the war had yet to be pushed to an end. The world had commenced getting more and more anxious by the minute. The good side had an immortal pair and two Vermillion Doirekh’s on their side, plus an army of Warmecks and a commander who was the best they’d ever had, why had no one striked? Why had the war not ended already? How long would it take for them all to execute?

The War summit had been an informative session where leaders around the planet had been informed of the plan for open war, but was this truly a better idea? And if so, how soon would the immortal pair get to work? It was a challenging time for all, especially the 4 involved in executing the other 4, though they knew they would get to eventually, once the hatred and impulsive need for revenge would end for all that they went through in that mansion. Hence why Amana had been insisting on taking revenge on the Witch with some mischief of her own. It was a simple plan, one where she planned on making sure that the Vermillion Witch would get a scare, yet she would come out unscathed, a way to inform her of the danger that was coming whilst keeping the name of the culprit a secret. 

‘I know it’s dangerous, but that’s the whole point. She won’t know who did it. She can accuse me, but I plan on apologising to her before it happens. Then, with your help, I’ll be out of there and so will you. She won’t have a clue who to suspect. Paulina told me that you and Razaar have the blindfolds to blind them. So please, help me. I promise you that nothing else is going to happen and nothing will go wrong, I just need you to trust me’ she insisted, and Eliana felt herself losing her options. She wanted to see Elize shudder dor sure, and it wasn’t so much of a terrible idea, but it was an idea that was unplanned, unauthorised and could go wrong at any moment, ruining their other plans for Daraz. It was a risk, that’s all it was, and it was one that Eliana was unsure she should take in that very moment. 

‘If I agree, we need to make it quick. Stregov will notice her disappearance promptly, and Daraz will still be able to use his magic to track her down. I recommend we make this as quick as possible. And we’re going to need the rest to help us-’

‘No, please’ cut off the woman immediately, far too promptly. ‘If Dregov finds out he will go ballistic. He out of all people doesn’t want me to get involved with this because he knows that eventually we will get around to killing her, and I will most certainly enjoy that moment. Right now I just want to scare her a little, that’s all. No damage done and see you when I return to execute you’ she responded, putting the Hybrid leader in a tough spot. She had never hide anything from Razaar in that way, and she felt uncomfortable doing so. Perhaps he could help them without Dregov finding out, and that’s what she planned on doing. 

‘Amana, I’m willing to help you. But I have conditions: it needs to be quick. 4 hours maximum, and Razaar needs to know. I don’t feel comfortable hiding this from him. He won’t tell Dregov, and neither will I. Though think about it whether we knew or not, it’s bound to be evident to him that it was one of us 3 that did it anyways. So I recommend you rethink that part for yourself. As far as your plan goes, I’m willing to help you, but like I said, I need to tell Razaar’ she laid out, and Amana’s bright, glowy eyes gleamed to inform her that she had no issue with it whatsoever. 

‘Fine, let’s do it’ she responded, attempting to get into action. Eliana nodded, travelling back to her chambers where Razaar had been awaiting her. 

‘Where did you go?’ He asked in a bit of panic, relieved after watching her enter. He had woken up and realised his mate had gone missing, which drove him into a frenzy, one where he attempted to convince himself that his mate knew what she was doing and she was brave enough to tackle anything. 

‘I was talking to Amana. She has a plan’ revealed the woman before proceeding to explain what the actual plan was to her lost, confused mate. ‘She wants to scare Elize. USe our blindfolds to keep her locked up for a couple of hours, then release her as if nothing ever happened. In that time she wants to scare her without letting her know that she’s the one behind it. She’s going to go and make amends with her now to reduce the suspicion, and she told us not to tell Dregov’ summarised the woman. Razaar stood shocked at the back, unable to understand how he was supposed to react.

‘Is she insane? That’s dangerous! Clearly they would suspect us-’

‘I told her already, she refuses to listen, I don’t really have much of a choice. The only choice I have now is helping her do it, getting it over with soon, and disappearing in a few days after executing Daraz. Besides, what harm can they do to us anyways? They know we are immortal anyways’ she interrupted. His reaction showed doubt, and the woman carried on, knowing she had no choice but to go through with the plans. ‘Listen, Amana is adamant on this, she is stubborn, if we don’t agree to do this, she will still do it, and it’s better she have the help to do it than do it alone. That way she has a better chance of getting away with it and less risk of ruining our plans. So I say we just help her, and we take extra precautions to make sure nothing gets out.’ She added, and Razaar took a deep breath before reluctantly agreeing, having no choice in the matter. 

‘Fine, what does she want us to do?’ He questioned, clearly unhappy with the plan. Nevertheless, the woman proceeded. 

‘We give her a blindfold. The one that was meant for Elize. She’s going to pull her away to make amends. Then eventually get her on her own, knock her out and we put the blindfold on her. She will lock her up somewhere in the house where Stregov or Daraz cannot locate her. Daraz won’t know to begin looking for her because we are going to tell the rest that Elize went out for a walk after her conversation with Amana. In those hours, we let Amana do whatever she wants to. Then we knock her out again, take off the blindfold and leave her in the forest somewhere before returning to normality. When she returns and is furious, we tell her that we have no idea what she’s talking about, that she told Amana she needed to let off some steam and she disappeared into the forest. When Stregov and Elize need to suspect someone, they’ll think it was either her or us. Either way she can’t do anything to us, so we have the upper hand. By this time we need to have already started thinking of ways to execute Daraz, so that we can put our plan in motion soon and leave this place’ she explained, and the more he listened, the more he understood. It was a risky plan, one with a million opportunities for faults. Nevertheless, he nodded, knowing that the alternative could be much worse.

‘Let’s go then. I’ll get a blindfold’ he mentioned, grabbing what he needed before they made their way out the door into the passageways to find Amana.

The woman had been pacing her room, and when the door opened, was pleased to see the pair walk in with exactly what she wanted. 

‘Don’t tell Dregov anything. It’s best he doesn’t know anything, that way even if they do suspect him, he’ll be telling the truth. It’s best if he knows less, I’ll tell him after it’s all done myself’ was the first thing she said, and as always the immortal pair only nodded, having nothing else to say on the matter. 

‘Here you go. The blindfold. Get Elize cornered. We’ll be lurking around pretending to do other stuff. We’ll help you when you need us’ Eliana said, and Amana gave her a grateful nod before waving her off and rushing out herself, excited to take on her greatest enemy. Right after Stregov, of course. Perhaps her attack on Elize had more to do with her brother than it did her, and she was hoping that the person it would affect the most would be her dear brother, who seemed to care more about the Vermillion Witch than he did about his own sister. This time the events had really gotten to her, and there was no going back now from the detest she had for her own brother. Gone was the pity she felt for the brief few moments where he first got cheated on, now she looked upon her brother with sheer idiocracy, knowing that it was certainly not worth it. 

Dashing out of the room, she made her way to the living room, where she knew Elize and her brother would be snuggled up, watching a movie and no doubt being publicly disgusting with each other. Luckily, no one else had been in the room at the time, and it gave Amana the perfect opportunity to do exactly what she wanted. 

‘Elize, can I talk to you?’ She questioned, and the Witch looked at her with the utmost concern and worry. Since when did Amana Doirekh ask to talk to the Witch? And that too so formally? 

‘I’m sorry, what?’ She asked for confirmation, and Amana glanced at the woman as if she was dumb. 

‘Can I have a word with you? You know, like talk to you? Do you understand or do I need to write it down on paper and stick it on your forehead?’ She asked, and Elize saw the original Amana come back, feeling less worried now. 

‘Certainly, friend’ mocked the Witch, getting out of the comfort of her partner’s arms and following the woman out of the door. In their snake forms, Eliana and Razaar had followed the women, and watched what Amana was truly capable of. 

Amana and Elize stopped in a passageway close to the front door, and there they began talking. 

‘You cheated on my brother, and he took you back. He’s an accepting man, I get that, I’m not an accepting woman. I love my brother, whether he’s an i***t or not, and if you dare to put another toe out of line-’

‘What are you going to do Amana? Kill me? Did you really bring me out here to give me the sister talk and threaten me? Do you really think that will work? Stregov loves me, you can’t deal with it. Admit that to yourself Amana. No need to give me this pathetic talk. Sorry that your brother cares for me more than he does for you, unfortunately it will be like that forever’ she said, beginning to turn back when Amana stopped her. 

‘You do realise he’s only with you because he’s lonely and there’s no one else here, right? I really do hope you’re aware. But oh well, you enjoy your time with him’ she snapped back, and watched as the Witch glared at her. She then turned around, and in a flash Amana picked up the heavy object she had strategically placed next to her, smashing it on the woman’s head hard enough to knock her out. She then watched Eliana shift back after checking that the coast was clear, and carefully place the blindfold on her eyes. 

‘Take her out to the forest and tie her up. I’ll be there soon. Bang the door on the way out so it seems like Elize stormed out angrily ’ stated Amana, and they did as instructed, watching the Doirekh female walk out of sight. 

She began passing by the living room to make things seem less suspicious, she heard Stregov stop her as he saw her. 

‘Amana, where’s Elize?’ He asked, noticing the slamming of the door and the lack of his partner returning. 

‘She’s gone out for a walk’ she stated, a bit too happily. 

‘What did you say to her?’ he questioned angrily, getting off his seat. 

‘Nothing at all. Though if I were you, I wouldn’t bother chasing after her. She seemed a little bit too...aggravated’ she responded, and Stregov groaned at his sister, but did as she said. 

‘If you don’t like her, then stay away from her. There is no need to make things worse. Just leave us alone’ he spat, making his way back to his room, much to Amana’s relief. 

She then returned to her chambers, where she opened the window and flew out in a miniature Dragon version, right to where she spotted Elize was. She descended with a gleaming face, excited to torture the woman.

‘Leave it to me for now. I’ll be done soon. Just be on the lookout and let me know if someone is coming’ she requested, and very wearily, the pair accepted, walking out of her sight to let her do as she pleased with the unconscious Witch. 

Soon enough, Elize began gaining consciousness, but couldn’t speak due to the tape tied to her mouth. She tried using her powers, but when they failed, she began panicking. She had no idea what was going on and the only thing she could see was darkness. Elize thought of all the possibilities of things that could have happened to her, though the only thing she seemed to believe in that moment was that the immortal pair had gotten to her. She flailed around for a short time before giving up, and that is when Amana decided to have her fun. 

Picking up several items from beside her, she began moving them around the Witch’s body, teasing around to make it seem as if real harm was coming to her. First, she used a knife blade, one that she traced along her arms, though not causing any harm at all, but Elize had taken note of a hard metal object being traced around her, and the only thing she could do was panic and wait for the pain to strike. When it didn't come, she began normalising, until something else was thrust upon her. A hammer, to be precise, had been shoved into her abdomen, enough to cause pain, though not leave any marks at all. The Witch winced, trying to speak or move with even more desperation, but nothing happened as Amana attempted to control her laughter and carry on with her plans. 

The Doirekh female picked on several bits and bobs to harm the woman, mostly mentally, knowing that once it was all over, they would all pretend like it didn’t happen, and the woman would lose herself in her insanity of thinking it did. It was a plan that Amana had vindictively cooked up, and one that she was proud of, but also the first evil plan she had had. Over the years she had suffered through many fights with Elize, even physical ones, though never ones like this, and the truth was that Amana was enjoying herself as for once she got the satisfaction of actually being smarter than Elize, enough to put her through a trap that would truly serve as the best type of revenge. Elize’s own approach would have been purely raging physical, and it gave Amana great pleasure to know that her indirectness and patience had served her better. 

Eventually, after two hours of decent torture, Amana called Eliana and Razaar back, who had noticed nothing unusual, and they knocked the woman out again, removing her blindfold and the tape on her mouth, before leaving her on the ground and taking off into the distance to return to the mansion before anyone noticed their disappearance. Amana had decided to shift into her Dragon form once again, and carried the immortal pair in their snake form back through her window and into the mansion to keep the suspicions to a low. Once inside, they all shifted back after noticing that Dregov had been pacing around his sister’s room. 

‘Where have you been?’ Was his first question, as he looked at her with concern. The trio looked between each other, and the expression on the immortal pair’s face had clearly informed Amana that it was time she told her brother the truth of what she had done.. It was as if she was a kid confessing to her parents’ that she had done something wrong, Amana looked at her brother hesitantly before revealing the truth, and his reaction had certainly been as everyone expected it to be. ‘Amana, are you insane? Do you know what you’ve risked in trying to do this?’ He snapped, keeping his voice low, not wanting anyone else to hear the truth.

‘I did, but nothing happened, did it? I had my fun and now we’re all back here, and no one suspects a thing. When she returns, she’ll probably tell Stergov what happened, and by that time we will all be doing something collectively to decrease the tension and suspicion. Naturally their first suspicion will be them, but they are immortal, and they can cause no harm, and when they see that they are with us, and we cover for them saying that they have been with us the whole time, they will have no choice but to believe it. If they suspect me, then I have you to cover for me and tell them that I’ve been with you this whole time. They are less suspicious of you anyways. It’s a perfect plan, Dregov. Either way we all cover for each other, and the Witch will certainly think she’s going mad’ responded the woman with pride, though Dregov had yet to see it through the same lens. 

‘Amana, what makes you think they won’t realise that the 4 of us are up to something? What makes you think that it will all go so smoothly? You know Elize! She already suspects us all to be working together, this could have just confirmed her suspicions. Look, I know that you hate her and more so, you hate Stregov, but this, what you have just done, is absolutely ridiculous. It’s unnecessary and has just jeopardised our plans. All we can do now is pray to the flame that they will not notice and-’ his words were suddenly cut off by the sound of the door slamming shut, and Elize shouting in the corridor. 

‘Where are they?’