The Reaper's Wicked Obsession
Chapter 265: The Fall Of The Raven Court (4)

Chapter 265: The Fall Of The Raven Court (4)

From a stack of debris, at the very depth, the rocks heated from an unseen force, reducing them to sand, the friction caused the entire place to dip into a pile of sand, and Rav emerged with Vanya in his arms.

He coughed, heaving through the air that now filled his lungs. He set Vanya down on the ground and checked if she was still breathing, but barely.

"Alda!" he cursed under his breath. He didn’t know what to do, and they were still trapped.

He had been using his weaves to melt off the debris they were buried in, but so far, he had only gotten them a few feet away; there was still much work.

But he couldn’t use it anymore. The excretion had already gotten to him, and his fingertips felt numb.

"Ekko!" he called, his voice resounding back to him.

They took the biggest hit of the explosion, and what was once the grand ruling council with Kraven’s throne became their graveyard.

"Ekko!" Rav called again, small stones tapping on his head.

Rav lifted his gaze and found a large debris held up by just a thin platform. He gulped thickly, knowing it was just a pending death waiting for them.

Rav leveled his eyes, trying to move, the water streaming through slowing his movements. His hands tapped against the rocks, looking for a soft spot he could punch through, but they were locked in tight.

Dear gods! How did this happen? What went wrong? Everything went wrong.

"Nyssa," Rav said as pain and rage twisted his stomach. He rasped in his breath, placing his forehead on the rock, his teeth clenched and his hands balled into fists.

Nyssa betrayed him, she betrayed them all. And now the Raven Court had fallen. What they had worked so hard to build for winters was gone with a snap of a finger.

His chest heaved more when he pictured olive eyes. Dain. The fucking weed and the reason for all this.

They had found some evidence, and it turned out that Nyssa’s sneaky movement was aimed at harming Isadora.

After finding out the truth, he couldn’t just sit tight so he confronted her. Then everything went sideways. Hell unleashed on earth, and it happened so fast they didn’t get the chance to react.

Dain appeared from nowhere, but it felt like the right moment because everything fell into place then.

The entire structure came down on them.

Dain was an earth weaver, and from the amount of aura he could conjure, he was no doubt a Riddari, an elite warrior who served the Five Courts.

Right under their noses, Dain had been here for gods knew how long, and he finally made his move. This had certainly been planned in the first place. The Five Courts have made their move, they declared war.

There was a discussion about this many winters ago. The Raven Court was never seen as a potential threat but that could all change if they knew Kraven’s true identity.

’They know,’ Rav thought with certainty. ’And now they are doing everything to destroy him.’

A sharp cough pulled Rav out of his thoughts. He turned and found Vanya awake, trying to breathe.

Rav quickly hurried to her side. "It’s okay, just breathe." He calmed her down.

Vanya nodded, doing as told, but she panicked more when she realized they were buried and it was only a matter of time before the entire thing came apart and crushed them.

"What happened?" Vanya signed, hastily.

"You don’t remember?"

"It’s a little cloudy."

Rav sighed heavily. "I shouldn’t have dragged you into this."

"And miss the chance to throw it at Nyssa’s face? Dear gods, no!"

Rav chuckled, the last thing he should be doing right now, but he couldn’t help it.

"That wench caused Isadora harm, I won’t let her get away with this."

"To do that, we need to find a way out of here. I can’t weave right now. I’ve used too much aura," Rav explained.

"Neither can I."

Rav narrowed his eyes but followed her gaze to her left hand.

Vanya signed with the other. "It’s wounded and I can’t feel it."

"Alda," Rav murmured.

They were doomed because Vanya was their last chance to survive this.

"We are going to drown or be crushed by the debris, I wonder which will happen first." She rolled her eyes. "Whatever it is, I hope it’ll be painless. I’ve had enough pain."

"I won’t allow that," Rav replied, moving through the water that now reached his thighs. "I’ll find a way, I have to. Ekko might be unharmed if I can just keep calling his name, then—"

Vanya snapped her finger to grab his attention. "It’s too late, Rav."

Rav swallowed hard, and the reality of it sank deeper than he wanted. He couldn’t weave because if he did, his body would break, and that was the last thing they wanted right now.

"So just stay and wait for death?" Rav voiced, overwhelmed by such an idea. He wasn’t accustomed to giving up easily, but he knew when the odds were against him.

"I wish it were that easy," Vanya signed, a sad expression marking her face. "I want to see Isadora again, at least. Do you think the gods will answer my prayers?"

A sad smile formed on Rav’s lips. "I don’t know if they will. I want to see her too, I miss her. I wronged her when I didn’t see her off, I was just so—"

"In love and stupid?"

Rav paused. "I’m not."

"Denial is a deep thing, you keep doing that and it only makes it more true. I know your feelings, Rav, you didn’t quite hide it when you found out what Nyssa did."

"My feelings don’t matter, they never will." Rav turned, placing his hand on the rock.

It didn’t matter how much he loved or cared for Isadora. He was meant to live and die with it.

Vanya forced her body off the platform that was now sinking, her face squeezing in pain as she held her wounded arm.

She tapped on Rav’s shoulder to grab his attention. "Say we die."

"Vanya."

"If we do, what’s your biggest regret?"

Rav swallowed hard, not knowing what to say.

"Mine is not seeing Isadora and the others again."

"Do I need to say it out loud?"

"It helps to come to terms with it."

"Then you know," Rav replied. "It doesn’t matter how many regrets we have. When death comes, it doesn’t give you a chance."

"But we can hope."

Rav scoffed, looking away. "I lost that many winters ago when I saw my sister burned at the stake. The only hope I have is destroying the Five Courts, and now I won’t ever get the chance to."

Suddenly, the entire place shook from a distant explosion.

"Please me that didn’t sound like what I think it is," Vanya signed and faced Rav with horrific eyes.

"We need to find cover."

However, it was too late, the vibration came again, and the large debris suspended, dropped, in the same way the water burst through and ducked everything.

Rav tried to swim in the heavy current, but he was propelled in another direction.

Bubbles fled from his mouth as he called to Vanya, who was thrown the other way, but her wounded arm didn’t let her swim right, so she sank deeper into the depths.

Suddenly, a blinding light came through, taking over the entire place in its radiant glow.

Vanya felt that she could move her left hand, the wound mysteriously healing. Without a moment to waste, she clapped her hands together, her blue weaves stretching from her fingertips.

The water pulsated and then, like a whirlpool, it spun rapidly, and Vanya glided through, allowing the current to guide her.

She used the force to break through the earth above, and they resurfaced, shooting out like a cannonball.

Vanya’s body slammed hard against the ground, and she coughed to get the water out of her lungs.

Rav growled, a great number of pain shooting throughout his entire body as he rose to his feet.

Vanya tried to catch her breath as she signed. "What was that?"

"I don’t know," Rav confessed, just as amazed by whatever happened.

That light wasn’t just any light, it healed him too and now his aura was replenished and there was this strength that felt like he could take on anything.

Suddenly, a sharp sound caught their attention, and right at the corner of his eye he found a figure running. Rav could recognize that figure anywhere.

"Nyssa!" he boomed. "Running won’t do you any good, come out and face me!"

Nyssa rasped, hiding behind the wall. After the explosion, Dain dragged her away, but they got trapped.

Suddenly there was a light and her wounds healed, when she gathered her bearings she saw Rav, and instinct just kicked in, she ran.

They found out about everything; however, what shook her the most was the truth about Dain. He was a spy, and the whole time, he had been using her to get the chance to attack the Raven Court.

Nyssa pushed off the wall, attempting to move quietly, but a figure grabbed her from behind and hauled her into the dark.