"The king's ambassador is here, Miss," A witch whispered into Iris's ear as she rested on one of the benches in the infirmary. She got up and walked to the curtains.
"Time to go," she said through the curtains.
"Let's go," she heard Luka's voice, soft for his mother. Iris nodded as she waited for Luka and his mother to walk through.
Within a minute both were through the green, Marie was looking brighter than before but she was still dull in comparison to Luka who was glowing with joy.
She motioned with her head for the two to follow her as she began to walk out of the infirmary to the main doors.
Iris bit her cheek as she caught sight of the tall man waiting next to Josephine. Neither looked as though they were enjoying themselves.
Stopping in front of them, Iris gestured to Marie and Luka, "Marie and Luka, daughter and grandson of the king of Stila."
The ambassador raised his chin, not bothering to look at Iris, and spat, "Use your magic, both of you." Iris snapped her teeth together.
"I wouldn't do that. One has barely received training and the other has never trained." Iris interjected before Luka could drown the school once more.
The ambassador swiveled his head to glare down at Iris.
"The only way to know if they are related to the king is through their magic. Regardless of their ability, they should still be able to use their magic. Isn't it your job to keep the school intact?" Iris gritted her teeth as he smirked at her.
"Go ahead. Hopefully, you'll drown this ass before anyone else," Iris grumbled to Luka.
Luka raised his arm, muscles straining. Within a second, the ambassador was dodging a golden icicle. Iris was impressed, she would not have been able to move fast enough to escape.
He looked barely disturbed by his near-death. Straightening his shirt collar, the ambassador looked to Iris and said, "No need for further questions. It appears that you have brought the true heirs home. Well done, Arke." Iris stiffened, the blood drained from her head. Even Josephine appeared startled by the name.
The ambassador looked closer into Iris's face. Reaching a hand out, he traced markings that could not be seen by the human eye.
Leaning back, he looked back into Iris's eyes, "Apologies, Iris. I had mistaken you for Arcoiris Desaparecidos. Farewell, my rainbow." With that, he gestured for Marie and Luka to follow him to the carriage waiting outside.
Even when the doors were shut, neither Josephine nor Iris could move. Iris was sure that Josephine had believed the same as she: no one knew of Arke. Iris began to move when she saw the flutter of a curtain and the small page boy walk to her.
Gesturing for her to lean down, he glanced to Josephine. Iris glanced at the woman as well and understood that she was petrified, frozen in place until the spell was broken.
Without taking her eyes off the demon, Iris leaned down. She felt soft lips on her ear as the boy whispered, "Dante's son is not waiting for you. Dante himself is waiting. Everything is a lie." Iris sucked in a breath as everything began to move normally once more, the little boy gone.
She straightened as Josephine turned to her, her face still pale from the shock. "That man was not human nor witch. He was demon." As the words processed, Iris understood how he knew Arke.
"She's in Hell. Arke Bloodworth is in Hell." Josephine nodded silently. Iris turned her back to the demon and began to walk away. Then, Josephine said something that Iris never wanted to hear.
"If she's in Hell, she's alive. Arke is alive, Iris." Iris didn't bother to look over her shoulder as she replied, "If she's been in Hell for six-hundred years, the last thing I want is for her to escape. So long as she remains quiet, if she's even still alive, she's dead."
She continued to walk again when there was a knock on the door. She heard Josephine's order for the door to be opened, still walking away. The door opened.
"Announcing the king of Stila, his royal majesty king Richard Stearns, gold Elemental-witch." Iris stopped and turned around to see a small man standing rigidly next to the door as a man with gray hair enter the hall.
Iris held her breath. The king of Stila had come personally to fetch his daughter and grandson.
Iris snapped her head to gauge Josephine's reaction, only to discover that she was doing the same to Iris. Iris could see that the same thought hit both of them at the same time as her eyes widened and her mouth began to part in a shout.
Iris ran to the doors in a burst of frazzled energy. Shoving the king to the side, she ran to the driveway.
Where would Abigail take Luka and Marie? Iris ran in the only direction the carriage could have gone.
She still had time. The demons couldn't use their magic until they were outside the barriers.
Iris huffed, out of breath already after a few more minutes of running. She stopped, catching her breath as she looked for any sign of the carriage. She growled as she undid her heeled shoes.
She was drained of energy and magic, she doubted she could do anything even if she somehow found the demons by running barefoot.
Still, she was not going to give up. Iris roared as she shot a pulse of her magic around her. After another second, she felt her magic slam into the carriage. It was in the forest.
Iris did not waste a second thought as she ran into the dense trees, knowing all too well that there were worse creatures than demons within the brush.
She heard the pounding of horse hooves and the rattling of wheels the deeper she travelled within the forest. Iris felt her legs give out the moment she saw the red carriage.
She coughed and gasped, too exhausted to move a foot. Looking to the sky, Iris screamed, "Bastards! Ten minutes of energy is all I ask and you can't even do that much? Stuff it up all your fat asses!"
"That is not how you should speak to a god," a male voice behind her said.
Iris let her head fall as she looked into Zeus's brown eyes, the horses and the rattling becoming fainter and fainter with each breath she took.
"I need that carriage. I need all them alive." Iris gasped. Zeus turned his head to the direction the noise was coming from.
"I will stop the carriage for you, but you will have to do something for me. Hermes will give you the message." Zeus told her. Iris, leaning against the closest tree, stood and nodded.
Suddenly, light flashed in the distance before a large and bone-shaking shudder slammed through Iris's body as thunder roared. She glanced back at the god only to find that he no longer stood there.
Knowing that this was her one chance to retrieve both Luka and his mother, she took off once more in the direction the lightning had flashed.
She ran through the forest with newfound energy. She was running so fast that she never saw the club that slammed into her side. Iris's breath flew out of her as she also flew into a tree.
She didn't have time for the creatures within the forest. However, she waited to catch her breath as the giant took a thundering step toward her.
"Kill me another time, idiot!" Iris gasped as she attempted to get up. She groaned when the movement flared up a pain in her chest. She must have damaged a rib.
"Stupid witch," the giant bellowed. Iris shook her head to remove the fogginess that had begun to cloud her vision.
"Yeah, I'm stupid, I know. Why do you think I'm chasing after a carriage without shoes and horse?" Iris grounded out, limping towards her goal.
She was stopped when the club blocked her path. Slowly, the giant's face came into view.
"Giants were ordered to help the witch. We must help," the giant said, although louder than she would have wanted. Iris glanced at the club then at him.
"Breaking my ribcage is not very helpful," she spat. The giant stopped her from moving forward once more by placing a large hand on her shoulder.
"Giants must help the witch. Witch must help giants." He guttered out. Iris sighed. She had no choice than to let him pick her up.
"Just get me to the carriage," she ordered. The giant grunted. "Giants must help the witch."
"Yes, yes, yes, giants help the witch. Help the witch by getting her to the carriage." Iris hissed as they began to move away from the carriage.
Looking back at the carriage, Iris shouted, "What are you doing? Help the witch, not help the demons!"
The giant grunted, "Help the witch. Witch can't die. Giants will get the demon-witch."
Iris's jaw dropped as she watched the blurs that were giants running past her to the carriage.
She did not understand what was happening until she heard the shouts. The giants were attacking the demons.
"Giant, I can't die. I need to get to that carriage and get both the witch and the demon-witch boy out." Iris demanded, feeling slightly nauseas as the giant leapt over a log.
"Witch will die if she goes back. Giants help the witch." The giant bellowed, not listening to a word Iris had said.
She shook her head. Until the giant puts her down, she was not going to be able to go back for Luka and his mother. She only hoped that Zeus's aid would actually help her.
The nausea soon passed when Iris understood where she was headed. Glancing behind, she saw the school looming ahead. Even from this distance, she could see that Josephine was livid.
"What the hell are you doing?" Josephine screamed at Iris.
Iris, still over the shoulder of the giant, shouted back, "I was trying to get to the carriage but the giants said they would help. I have no magic left in my system, there's nothing I can do to stop them."
Josephine's lip curled as she began to snarl at Iris. Iris ignored her by turning back to her view of the forest. Were the giants truly helping them or were they killing every single one of them?
"Giant, put me down." Iris demanded when she saw three hulking figures in the bushes.
"Witch will run if I let her." Well, he wasn't wrong. "I mean it, giant. Look, the witch and the demon-witch boy are coming out of the forest with other giants." Iris shouldn't have mentioned it as the giant swung her around with enough force to throw her.
"Grib te witches to te ilig," the giant said in his native language. Iris struggled to get free from the giant's grip. To no avail. However, she was placed back onto her feet once the three other giants came close to the school.
Running, or as much as she could with her injuries, toward the three giants, Iris stared at Luka. He seemed vaguely unharmed but in shock.
Iris breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. However, she was quickly unnerved by the sight of Marie's limp form hanging from a giant's arms.
Walking closer, she realized that the woman was bleeding through the heart. She must have died almost instantly.
Iris glanced at the last giant to find an old man in his grip. He triggered a faint flicker of a memory as she stared at him. She must have seen or met him before.
"I want Luka taken into the infirmary and the man placed in iron." Iris ordered as she turned to the building, not waiting for Josephine to argue.
"Giants help the witch, the witch will come with the giants," the giant who had brought Iris to the school said. Iris turned to look at the giant, still walking into the school.
"I will once demon-witch boy and old witch man are dealt with," Iris said as she walked into the cool darkness of the building.
Pulling a witch to the side, she demanded, "Lead me to the king." The witch looked frightened as she nodded her head and began to lead Iris to the king of Stila.
Opening the door to a small bedroom, she noticed how small the king really was.
He was hunched over in his chair as though all of his life had been consumed by his years in office. His greyed hair hung over his brown eyes as though he gave up on appearance.
"I assume you are the witch who contacted me... and pushed me," the king said, not a small amount of irritation in his voice. Iris chewed the inside of her cheek as she thought about what to say.
"Yes, I am. It appears that the same people who kidnapped your daughter are — were — after her and your grandson, Luka. An imposter tricked us into giving both Luka and his mother to him.
It was only when you came that we understood that it was a trap. I would say that I sorry I shoved you, but I'm not. I was fortunate enough to have been aided by the giants who saved Luka but, unfortunately, could not help Marie, his mother. They did, however, safely capture the man who can explain. If you wish to see your grandson, he's in the infirmary as we speak. This witch can bring you there," Iris said, gesturing to the young witch that brought her to the room. She curtsied delicately for the king.
During Iris's debrief, the king's face had remained the same. It was only the mention of seeing Luka that changed his features.
The king nodded and agreed to follow the witch. As he stood, Iris turned her back to the king, gesturing for the young witch to open the door for her. She complied with a shallow bow.
Without glancing back, Iris walked out. She had a witch to interrogate and giants to meet.