Anastasia had ordered the dragons to create the sacred circle around them so that none of them would come to merge with him and make him stronger than he was. 

Seraph's spirit was like that of a wounded animal. "Those demonic tattoos will never go!" he hissed. 

"What do they say?" asked Anastasia as she sliced yet another tentacle. 

He retracted and in a pained voice said, 

"Of the wings and the shadows 

Of the demons and the morrows 

A warrior will rise 

To end the hollows."

"But I won't let you win!" He wanted to kill Iona for all that his wife had done. He wanted to kill Etaya for the betrayal he never expected. He wanted to take her away from here to give her the taste of what she had done to him by killing her and then trapping her soul in the Lands of Gaira with him. Little did he know that Anastasia would never let her out of this place. He had to kill all of them. He just had to. So, he threw himself at Anastasia… with whatever he was left with. 

When Anastasia saw him hurling in her direction, she tipped her head back and gave a wicked smile to her realm. She was the heir of this wilderness for a reason. She stepped back with ease, allowing him to land in front of him. By the time Seraph was able to recover, Iona came to crash into her, but Anastasia was ready. She slammed her dagger right into her chest making her stagger back. That was all the time she needed. Her Evindal sword was already in the air. She made an arc and it met with the spirit of Seraph. 

A blood curdling scream emanated as dark, inky mucus drenched her armor, her neck and her face. That was all that was needed. She pulled the dagger out of the fog and looked up at the skies, which poured and poured to clean her skin of the sickness that was Seraph. 

"Masterrr!" The Dark Witch said in a voice filled with shock. She staggered near him holding the sword in her chest, which she removed and threw down. The man, the spirit who had 'educated' her to become the darkest force of the Lore was now… gone. The spirit who had schooled her into what she was today was just… lying there in an inky splotch, which was slowly getting washed away in the rain. She looked at Anastasia with wild eyes. Memories of her encounter with her in her human form flashed across her mind. Why did she have violet eyes? Her gaze flitted back to her Master. She wobbled to where he was and knelt by his side. "Master…" she whispered, the dark spirits in her mourned. They let out a wail so loud and shrill that it would bleed your ears. They looked at Anastasia.

"Revenge!" they said. "We will take her down!" They forced Iona to get up. "We have to kill her!" 

Iona got up and staggered towards Anastasia. She resisted the spirits but she was helpless. They had gripped her mind, her body, her soul. She was on the point of no return. "You will have to kill me, Anastasia," said Iona in a voice that appeared to come from a distance. "You will have to kill me," she repeated, but this time her voice was subdued, as if she was being smothered. The dark forces were taking on her completely. 

"We have to kill her!" they hissed together. "She killed our Masterrr." 

Anastasia swirled her sword. She looked fiercely at her, her chin dipped, her violet and silver eyes glaring at her. 

Iona struggled. She looked like being pulled by a rope despite resisting. Every step she took was an effort. "Kill herrrr!" The forces guided her. They formed a spider's web over her mind, over her conscience. And finally, she caved in. All she saw was the woman who killed their Master. 

With a feral cry, the Dark Witch lunged at Anastasia. "Dieeeee!" she said and spewed curses. 

Anastasia brought her sword in the front and the next moment it was plunged deep inside Iona's chest. 

A snarl. A growl. And then a blood curdling shriek. As the Evindal sword struck the heart, the core of the Dark Witch, all the spirits inside stirred. There was a mayhem. They cried to get away from the heat of the sword. Red flames that started from the tip of the sword, now spread to the hilt and then in the entire body of Iona. 

'You have to kill me.'

Adrianna watched her daughter burning into flames. She dropped on the ground as shock gripped her hard and her chest tightened. Dmitri rushed to her, but Ileus stopped him.

'You have to kill me.' 

She had repeatedly said that. And Anastasia knew why she said that. She had killed the spirits inside her. This was the only way to free Iona from the dark forces. 

One by one, they escaped from her mouth in smoke or inky mucus. They leapt away from her, slithered and glided away, only to be met with the fire the dragons were breathing out. And as soon as they came in contact with the sacred fire, they burnt. Those who escaped were sucked into the portal created by Haldir, which directly transported them to the Land of Gaira. 

Iona had knelt on the ground as her body burned, as she felt cleansed, as she looked at Anastasia with gratefulness. A smile tipped her lips up. She turned her head over her shoulders, as she looked at her mother and father and Ileus, her brother. She actually looked at them. Through the flames, she could see them. The blackness on her face slowly burned, melted in the flames and when it had burned the last of the spirits, she once again smiled. The flames were doused by the rains that pelted her skin, but when they whooshed away, so did her body. 

"Ionaaaa!" Adrianna shouted and rushed to her daughter. She came upon empty earth. "Iona!" she circled to find her, but she was gone. Her body dissolved into thin air. Her daughter was gone. Adrianna sank in the ground as a wail racked her body. 

As for Anastasia, something happened. Her glow receded immediately. She found herself staggering back, her sword a burden in her hands. Ileus rushed to her. He held her in his arms, before she hit the ground. She looked at him with confusion. She heard noises, soldiers running around, a brown wolf leaping by her side, a woman wailing, another woman cursing as she got dragged. 

She was unable to register, her mind numbing to the sounds and senses. She felt as if she was being sucked… sucked into anonymity… "My parents…" she whispered. "My parents…" 

Was this the impact of removing the dark spirits? Why did she feel that she was being sucked into oblivion? She kept her eyes open, she grappled at the fuzziness in front of her. She wanted to hold it. Those golden eyes, those firm lips… why did they seem to go far away? 

--- 

Iona opened her eyes to ice around her. Water lapped at her feet. Cold water. She was in a half-frozen lake. Half-dead, half awake, fully frozen, body aching… 

'A warrior will rise.' Words rang in her mind. 

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