Page 40 of The Final Battle

Placing my hands on Jade’s back I rested my forehead between his shoulder blades. “We can’t leave him here, he needs to be buried. I may not have always agreed with how my parents acted or treated me, but he is still my father. Knowing he’s dead, I’m sure my mother is as well, and they deserve to be laid to rest.“

Jade turned and wrapped an arm around me holding me close as together we faced the room. There sat the man who taught me to read, write, gave me the love for strategy, and created my ravenous curiosity of the world. His face was so beaten you could hardly tell it was him. Some of his fingers were missing and his right leg looked to be broken at an odd angle. They had brutalized him, for what purpose, I have no clue. Father and I didn’t keep in contact other than I had members of the clan check in on them from a distance.

Silent tears rolled down my cheeks as I came to the reality that I no longer had a father in this world. My body began to shake as sobs wracked my body. The feeling of my heart breaking was one that I never wanted to wish on another person. Jade turned me into his chest as I wept, my cries echoing down the hall so it sounded as if the house itself was crying over the death of its owners.

“Father?“ Zan’s voice asked.

I could feel Jade nod in answer. “Can you check the last two rooms, my feeling is you’ll find her mother too.“

Zan didn’t respond but I heard his footsteps fade down the hall. “What do I do now?“ I croaked out. “I wasn’t even in contact with them and he took them from me.“ I said between hiccups. “Why? Why would he do this to them? They didn’t want anything to do with me.“

“Cassarah, if I could answer that for you I would,“ Jade murmured, kissing the top of my head. “No matter how cruel family has been to you, to know you are left alone in the world is a heavy thing. While we might not be your blood family, we are the family you chose. Don’t let the lie that you’re alone ring true in your heart. That is a darkness that will eat you up inside… I should know. If I hadn’t met you when I did, I can only imagine what kind of evil I would have turned into.“

“Jade,“ Zan called.

I peeked out from where I’d been hiding in Jade’s chest and saw the look on Zan’s face telling me everything— Mother was dead too.

Chapter twenty-three

Zan

After seeing the shape her father was in, I prayed that her mother wouldn’t be the same. Cassarah was brave and strong, but everyone hit their limit of things they could handle. Seeing your family beaten and brutalized in such a way was not something anyone should have to deal with.

I paused in the hall and gestured with my head to the door behind me. “She’s here, in her bed.“ Ezzu showed me Cassarah’s face wet with tears. I was glad that I’d been the one to go investigate, giving her time to break down. “Looks like they dealt with her while she was asleep, it was quick and peaceful.“

The bastards had stabbed her in the back, her mother didn’t even see it coming. I’m sure they took her out first then went after her father, since he seemed to be the one they wanted. What could he have known that would make them desperate enough to use that kind of torture?

“I want to see her,“ Cassarah croaked out as she pulled away from Jade.

When she reached me, I held out an arm blocking her. “Do you though? What good will come of seeing her like this?“ I challenged, needing to protect the one person in my life that loved me in spite of my disability.

She gave me a watery smile as she tried to fight back more tears as she placed both hands on my arm, pressing it down. “I need to see, if only because the memory will be seared into my brain and if I doubt for a second that I shouldn’t kill that bastard, I’ll remember what he’s done to me and my family.“

With my ability to see through Ezzu’s eyes, I essentially had the perfect vision of a dragon. It also gave me a wide field of eyesight, so I could easily see the grimace on Jade’s face while still keeping my attention on Cassarah. He didn’t want her to do this any more than I did, but we both knew when she had that wrinkle between her brows that there was no way for any of us to talk her out of doing something.

“If you insist,“ I surrendered begrudgingly.

Instead of letting her just walk past me, I caught her hand holding it securely in my grasp as we both entered her mother’s room. At first glance, you would think she was just sleeping since the coverlet was a deep burgundy color hiding the blood but the smell of the body hit you soon enough. I don’t know if it’s because she was still under the covers that she was decaying so much faster, but her body reeked, unlike the others we’d come across.

Cassarah let out a sob, covering her mouth with her free hand. Tears once more rolled down her cheeks in large drops. Turning to me, she placed her forehead on my shoulder as if she needed the support just to keep standing.

“You’ve now seen her, my heart, there is no reason to stay and put yourself through more pain. Come on, let’s leave, there is nothing more to be gained from this,“ I urged, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and guiding her out.

She let me remove her but the moment we were outside the door she dug her heel in. “We can’t leave them like this. They need to be buried, I won’t leave until that’s been settled.“

“Is there someplace you have in mind for them to be laid to rest?“ Jade asked.

She must have already said something to him since he didn’t seem surprised at all. “The garden, Mother loved that place and Father loved her so much he’d spend time with her out there whenever she requested to take her tea there.“

“That sounds like a great idea,“ Jade agreed as he came to stand right in front of her. “Now what I want to have happen is for you to go to your room. Check to make sure there isn’t anything there you want to take back with you. Once we finish here, there will never be a reason for you to come back here again. This place is no longer your home, that died with your parents.“

Sniffling, she nodded and shuffled down the hall looking as if all the life had been drained out of her. When I felt she was far enough away, I kept my voice low as I spoke to Jade. “Let me grab a sheet from his bedroom. It will be easier to manage him wrapped up, who knows what else they might have cut off him.“

“Smart plan, her mother won’t be a problem since we can just roll her up in the blankets. The garden is just below her balcony so it will be easy to get both of them there,“ Jade shared as I opened the door to her father’s room.

It had been utterly trashed, everything was pulled out and tossed on the floor. Clearly, they’d been looking for something and they couldn’t find it on their own, hence the torture.

“What could they have possibly needed this badly?“ I asked, the question pricking at my subconscious. “This is extreme for anyone, whatever it is they clearly needed no matter what.“