Elena's mind quivered on the edge of the void, reaching for it as one might grasp a door in a burning house. She longed for the liminal lull of dreams, the phantom warmth of Jaime's arms, the whisper of Guabancex in her bones.
Let me wake… let this be a horrible dream…
But her eyes opened, and reality swallowed her whole.
Chains bit into her wrists on the X shaped scaffold. Her body was a lattice of wounds, blood pooling below her like spilled, glittering ink. The Lion's tongue rasped across her skin, reopening sigils that had begun to seal, lapping lower still, savoring her as prey.
Pain proved she was alive. Alive meant trapped.
The Lion hesitated, something flickering in his eyes.
Shame? Memory? Hope?
Elena's chest ached with betrayal. But the moment shattered. His jaws dripped crimson, fangs gleaming.
"Why will you not submit, you stubborn storm whore?" The High Priestess' voice cut through her like jagged steel.
Elena whimpered, curling inward. She wanted nothing. No scaffold. No breath. No blood. Only the dark. Only Jaime.
The Priestess pressed the obsidian dagger into the Lion's paw. "Let us try carving the sigils again, this time by your hand, mi León."
Do it… end it… Her mind whispered, fractured and fogged. The crucifix tilted and twisted as if it breathed.
The first slice tore across her abdomen, carving the fertility sigil anew. Blood shimmered indigo, veins glowing like molten lightning. She convulsed, delirious, gagged. The air itself thickened with her agony.
"Take her as yours, mi León!" the High Priestess crooned, sliding encouraging fingers into his mane. "Remind her what true divinity feels like."
Elena shook her head, gagged sobs catching in her throat. Jaime… come for me… before it begins…
The Lion raised the blade again, licking it clean before pressing it against her neck. His claws gripped her hip, his body shuddering as control slipped. A roar split his chest, half grief, half hunger, before he slammed into her with brutal force, each thrust punctuated by another cut of the dagger.
Her glittering blood spilled in pools beneath them, soaked into the scaffold, ran down into the sea.
"Submit to me," the Lion growled with every movement, every incision, every trembling slice.
Elena wept, her body betraying her with shudders she despised, her mind fracturing as she shattered against the scaffold. "No… Jaime… only Jaime…" The gag silenced her, but the storm heard.
Then thunder split the mountain.
Roots clawed up through stone, shredding cultists like parchment. Fog surged, swallowing sun and screams alike. Alejandro's blade flashed through the haze, cutting life from shadow, yet Elena's eyes saw only twisted phantoms. Faces contorted in the mist- cultists wearing her children's eyes, laughing mouths dripping cruelty. One with Esperanza's hair. Another with Juan's golden gaze. Others wore Jaime's face, fractured, flickering.
Elena thrashed weakly, nails raking phantom hands, fighting real ones. Blood-slick chains rattled, tearing deeper into her wrists and ankles. She didn't know what was flesh, what was smoke.
Lightning cracked the altar, hurling the High Priestess into the jungle. El León Negro staggered back, mane aflame with stormlight.
"GET AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!" Esperanza's voice split the air. Violet light flared from her eyes, arcs of jagged lightning striking the High Priestess, the Lion, ripping stone to shrapnel.
But Elena saw only phantom daughters- burning, multiplying, accusing- striking her with their lightning again and again.
Juan rose beside Esperanza, golden pollen blazing, roots ripping cultists limb from limb. Yet to Elena, he shifted grotesquely, Jaime's face one heartbeat, a cultist's sneer the next.
Esperanza flung herself at the scaffold, tearing chains and gag free, wrapping her coat around the gaping wounds. "Mama, please, hold on! Jaime is waiting. We're here now!"
But Elena recoiled, eyes wild, clawing at Esperanza's arms. "N-no… not real… all cultists… die die die…" Her voice cracked into sobs, a feral rasp, broken vows muttered to a phantom Jaime.
Esperanza froze, horror in her lightning-lit eyes. "Mama- it's me! It's me!"
"No… can't… see… Jaime… please… kill me…" Elena trembled, trying to fold herself into shadow. "Please… end it…"
Esperanza's sob was thunder. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare leave us!" Lightning flared uncontrolled, searing the altar. "We came for you! You are NOT allowed to give up!"
Elena's eyes glazed, each breath ragged. She no longer knew if she was chained or freed, if she was dying or already dead. Esperanza was only another phantom with kind hands.
Juan dropped to his knees, pressing his coat to her wounds, kissing her bloodied brow. "Mama… por favor…" Tears mingled with rain. "We're here… we won't leave you…"
A ghost of a smile flickered across Elena's lips, brittle as glass. "End… it… let me… go…"
The words gutted him. Juan crumbled, choking on sobs.
Alejandro staggered forward, bloodied and rain-soaked. He sheathed his blade and gathered her into his arms. Even then, she fought weakly, thrashing against phantom hands, whispering broken wedding vows into his shoulder before going limp.
"To… have… and… to hold… in next… life…"
Alejandro's knees buckled. He buried his face in her hair, voice breaking. "Hermana… we're taking you home. You're safe now…"
A faint hiss escaped her lips, not her own but Guabancex's:
My vessel is nearly undone. Hurry.
The storm raged in answer. The Lion's roar echoed through the fog. The High Priestess's laughter lingered, cold as rusted steel.
And Elena, broken, bleeding, begging for death, was carried from the altar by those who refused to let her go.