Hybern

Azriel's PoV:

This was hell.

They were in hell.

Azriel felt like his chest was on fire with the ashwood arrow and faebane corrupting his blood, the poison slowly and steadily sucking out his life.

The surge of power had stung them. He would probably be dead if Cassian hadn't covered him with his body.

But Cassian had screamed. He had screamed as his wings were shredded. And Azriel thought he hadn't heard a more horrible sound before. That sound would probably haunt him every night.

Mor was begging at the king's feet, begging for their lives. Begging the king to not let the bloodbane kill him.

And if Azriel hadn't been in hell yet, he knew it had started when three mortal women were paraded into the court, hands bound at their back and mouths gagged.

Nesta, Elain and Calypso.

All of them looked terrified. And mad.

But Cal, his Cal. She looked so much worse.

Her face was bloody, her beautiful hair knotted and messy. She was the only one dressed in shorts, maybe she had been fighting.

And she had.

Her wrist was bent at an odd angle and swollen, possibly when she had been disarmed. Blood dripped down her nose. Black and blue marks were present on her neck that resembled fingers. Every part of her exposed skin was bruised, some parts even had lacerations that had clotted.

She had fought back.

And even through his terror and hopelessness, he felt proud.

His mate.

"Please," Feyre begged, "please stop this."

Az saw Cal screaming through the gag as the men dragged Elaine and threw her into the Cauldron. Her shoulders slumped as if in defeat.

I am so sorry, Cal, Az thought. I am so sorry you are going through this.

When Elaine emerged, Az knew she was changed. Her ears were pointed and her limbs were long and thin.

"This one is quite different," said one of the fae as he shoved Cal roughly forward. Cal fell harshly on the floor, her knees making an unpleasant sound and a pained whimper was heard from her. "She took down eight of our soldiers single handedly. The Attor and Ianthe had to capture her personally."

"I guess we have ourselves a fighter," mocked Hybern and Az felt his hands twitching to beat the shit out of him.

"Ianthe has sent a message," said the faerie who had shoved Cal. "She says that she shouldn't be changed. She requests that this one be sent to her in as is condition. She feels that this one could be a threat to us."

Az looked up in panic. He didn't know which one was worse: Cal being experimented on by Hybern or Cal being sent to Ianthe.

He looked at Cal, her eyes focused at the arrow in his chest.

He saw something akin to anger in her eyes and she thrashed against the binds, trying to break free.

I am alright, Snowflake, Az wanted to tell her. I am alright. Please don't give them a reason to hurt you anymore.

"Quit fighting, bitch," said the faerie, "you're not getting away."

Cal looked up at him and there was something in her eyes then. Something that made the faerie step back. And then he slapped her. Sharply across the face.

Her head jerked back violently, a neat cut visible across her cheekbone.

"Don't touch her," Azriel said, trying to get up. "Don't fucking touch her."

"Oh, we will do more than touch her, you filthy Illyrian bastard," said Hybern. "Tell Ianthe that she can have her plaything after I am done with her. Throw her in."

Cal screamed against the gag and fought violently as the faerie lifted her up above the Cauldron. She looked inside and Az could see fear in her eyes.

It was dark inside and the water was cold. Of course she was scared.

They threw her in and Az couldn't see her anymore as her head dipped below the edge.

Az waited, his eyes locked on the Cauldron. If Cal didn't come out, he would fucking break the Cauldron open to get her, even if that was the last thing he did.

The Cauldron tipped over then, throwing a drenched Cal onto the floor.

She lay there, still, not moving.

Az worried that maybe she had drowned. But he noticed the pointed ears sticking out of her wet hair.

That's when she coughed and water poured out of her mouth. She sat up straight, panting and trying to get her bearings.

She put a hand on her head as if in pain.

Az barely noticed Nesta being pushed into the Cauldron and how Cassian tried to move. He barely noticed when Nesta was spit out by the Cauldron and how the Cauldron got exhausted.

His eyes were locked with Cal. He wasn't sure if she felt it.

But something was there.

Something new.

Something akin to electricity ran down his spine as he stared at her wide eyes.

It was the mating bond.

And with Cal's transition, it had become more potent than ever.

That's when he noticed Cal's eyes go down to his chest again.

Her eyes seemed to glow a slight shade of red and Az felt a rumble in the air around him.

And then the ground shook.

Everyone screamed as an earthquake seemed to rip through the entire courtroom, making the lights and the wall hangings fall to the ground.

"Please," said Az, getting up on his elbows in spite of the tearing pain in his chest. "Please, calm down."

Cal heard him. And he saw her gaze refocusing on his eyes.

"Ianthe was right," said Hybern, his voice slightly shaky, "this one is a monster alright. We can't risk keeping her alive."

He flicked his fingers and everything happened very fast, and also very slow.

Az saw Cal's eyes look at something behind him and widen in terror.

He got up to his feet unsteadily at the same moment he heard multiple crossbows releasing.

"No!" he heard the roar rip out of his chest as he ran to Cal with whatever he had.

He knelt in front of her, wings outstretched, shielding her body from the arrows.

Pain erupted in his back and his wings and he bellowed, hardly aware of Cal trying to get back on her feet and holding him, slipping on the rocks but still holding on to him.

He was panting from the pain when he heard the crossbows being nocked again. And then it started again. The crossbows were firing at his back and wings again, as if searching for an opening to get to his Cal.

He felt like somebody had cut open his back and wings and was seasoning the wound with salt.

His ears rang and he couldn't hear anything over his own roar of pain. He didn't move though. He couldn't move. He had to protect her. He would rather die than have her go through what he was feeling.

He was vaguely aware of Cal's voice as she screamed for them to stop, and then her voice felt nearer.

He realised he had collapsed, his head rested at the junction of her shoulder and her chest. Her arms were around him, holding him tight. She cradled his head onto her chest, sobbing.

Why was she sobbing?

He opened his eyes a little only to notice an arrow sticking out of her other shoulder.

He must have failed in shielding her properly.

And she was sobbing because she was in pain.

He had failed her again.

Cal's PoV:

Cal wasn't sure where the fuck they were being taken until they entered the throne room.

They were in Hybern and she saw her friends in front of the king.

Feyre and Rhys looked horrified.

Cassian was lying on the floor, his wings an absolute mess.

He had always been so much stronger than Cal, always the one she could rely on.

And yet he lay there absolutely helpless, lying in his own pool of blood.

Her heart ached at the sight.

She didn't have time to see anything else as they threw Elaine into the Cauldron.

She saw her pretty head go below the water and she knew she had lost.

She had failed again.

She felt someone push her roughly and her knees ached at the sharp contact they made with the ground.

That's when she noticed Azriel.

He was lying on the ground with an arrow through the centre of his chest. She looked at his eyes and noticed the pain and helplessness in them.

They had her Az.

The fury was all she knew before they held her above the Cauldron.

The water below her was dark and she felt a sense of dread.

She was plunged in and then there was darkness.

When Cal finally came to, she looked around to get her bearings. Her head ached as her hearing adjusted to the overwhelming volume around her.

Her eyes locked with Azriel's and she felt something she had never felt before.

A sort of electricity ran up her spine as she looked at his hazel eyes, now tinged with pain and fear.

And then she remembered and looked at the arrow in his chest again.

He moved then, tried to get up on his elbows.

But she was angry.

She was so fucking angry.

Her anger made her vision blurry and she felt like the ground was shaking with her anger.

Well, she hoped it was really shaking. It should shake hard enough to cause the walls to collapse, to bury all these monsters underneath.

As if breaking through the haze in her mind, she heard the words, "Please, please calm down."

Azriel.

She looked at him then and noticed the guards behind him, nocking their crossbows.

She would die, she knew that.

She then looked at him and saw that he was already on his feet, running to her with full force.

She heard the arrows release and a sharp excruciating pain arose from her right shoulder.

At the same moment, Azriel was knelt in front of her, his arms and wings outstretched as he screamed at the multiple arrows that now pierced his wings.

His poor wings.

The arrows stopped and she heard them nocking their crossbows again.

Even on his knees, his face was still at least a foot above hers. She tried to get up slightly, holding his face with her hands when she heard the arrows release again.

Azriel roared in pain, his body stiffening as she tried to hold his face, trying to take away his pain.

"Stop it!" screamed Cal, "Please, stop it! I'll do anything you want, please stop this!"

Azriel collapsed on top of her heavily with a pained groan. She caught him and cradled his head at the junction of her shoulder and chest. She saw his knees curl up towards her, as if cringing from the pain.

His eyes closed, his hands trembled when she tried to hold them.

"Please, Az," she said, unable to hold the sobs away, "please, don't die. Please."

He opened his eyes slightly and they focused on something on her other shoulder, the right shoulder. He reached out and touched her shoulder as she felt a piercing pain at the contact. She flinched from the touch and looked down to see an ashwood arrow sticking out of her shoulder.

"I am sorry," whispered Azriel, a broken whisper. "I am sorry I let them hurt you."

"No," said Cal and wept openly.

This was her Azriel. Even when he was impaled by multiple arrows, all he could think of was the one arrow that she had been hit with.

He passed out again, his face pale and contorted in pain.

He felt heavy in her arms. And exhausted.

So fucking exhausted.

Two guards walked up to her, trying to grab Azriel from her.

Like hell she would let them touch him.

Her hands found the sheath in between his wings and she pulled out his blade.

Truth-Teller.

She swung the blade at them.

"One step nearer," she warned, her voice steady. "You will lose your hands. And believe me, I know how to use a blade."

She heard Azriel moan, his body shaking again. She shushed him without looking at him, thrusting Truth-Teller up at the faeries, watching in satisfaction as they took a step back.

"Break the bond," Cal heard Feyre say.

After something akin to chaos had broken in the court, Rhys had winnowed Cassian, Azriel and Cal out.

He was followed soon after by Mor who winnowed in Nesta and Elaine.

Cal heard the groan of pain as Azriel slammed into the ground.

Cassian was out cold with the pain.

Az was still moaning. She scrambled up to her knees and examined the arrow that was protruding out of his chest. She assessed the shape of the wound and pulled the arrow out in a straight line, making sure to not cause any more damage. Az groaned and flinched away from her as she pulled out the arrow, blood oozing freely out of the wound.

Cal noticed the blood and realised that in no way will they be able to save Az unless they got all the pieces of ashwood out of his body.

"Mor," said Cal, getting up, feeling a throb on her right shoulder. "Rhys, get Az up on the table. I need to get the arrows out of his back and wings."

Rhys blanched at the words, as if he knew how much it would hurt him.

She left Cassian in Amren's capable hands and stood back as Rhys and Mor carefully placed Azriel on the table.

"I need a knife," said Cal and Mor's face paled. They realised what she was about to do.

Cal took the knife and cut cleanly along Az's spine, exposing the muscle underneath which was interspersed with multiple ashwood splinters.

Az bellowed at the action, his back arching up.

"Please, Az," said Cal, taking a step to the side and looking at him. "Please, stay still."

"It hurts," whimpered Az and she felt her heart break into a million pieces.

He had always been the strong one, always the one to protect her.

And the one time she got the chance to protect him, she was about to hurt him.

"I know, Az," said Cal, holding his hand. She felt him squeeze her hand and look painfully into her eyes. "I am sorry. Please, bear with me."

He nodded his head in understanding and Cal went back to his back.

She lodged the knife between the bone and the muscle and slid it underneath, exposing the second fibrous layer, pulling out another five or six arrowheads from there.

Az screamed again, thrashing against the table.

"Please," said Cal, steeling her heart. "Rhys, hold him down. Don't let him move."

Rhys nodded stonily and held Az down by his shoulders.

Cal cut through his muscles in her way and removed all the arrowheads.

Az had screamed plenty, his cries muffled against the table.

Rhys was doing a good job of holding him down.

She saw the blood on his torso starting to clot and she knew the arrowheads were gone.

She now arrived at his wings.

Her heart squeezed when she looked at the multiple bolts embedded in the delicate membrane.

Carefully, she got to work.

She turned a deaf ear to Az screaming against the table, she heard him beg her to stop at least twice but she didn't stop. She continued removing small pieces of his wings to expose the bolts. When all the bolts were removed, she saw the blood starting to clot.

He could heal now, Rhys and Amren would help with that.

As if in response to the relief she felt, her vision became blurry and the world swayed around her.

She fell to the floor but felt a soft landing at her head.

Mor.

"Amren!" Mor screamed. "She has an ashwood arrow in her shoulder. We can't heal her."

"Because we need that out," said Amren simply and Cal became aware of Amren tugging at the arrow. "It's lodged tightly in the muscle, I need to loosen it."

Her vision cleared a little and she noticed a small knife in Amren's hand as she dug into Cal's shoulder, the knife sending bolts of pain up and down her smile.

Before she knew what was happening, Cal screamed in pain, her shoulder feeling like it was on fire. Az had been right, ashwood felt worse than steel.

Amren pulled the arrow out and Cal thrashed against Mor who was holding her down, screaming her lungs out.

When she looked at Azriel lying on the table, his eyes were open. His hand was outstretched towards her, as if trying to grab her, hold her.

She wanted to go to him too, wanted to hold him, to be held by him.

Another stab of pain and Cal felt herself slipping away.

"Cal," she heard Mor but she sounded like she was talking from far away. "Cal, hold on now. Stay with us."

But she was already gone.

She didn't want to open her eyes again to this world of merciless pain.