Heroes can fall in more ways than one.
Demigod Xaray is sent on a quest to kill after he massacred a whole town. Weakened by the strain, he falls prey to a haughty vampire and is cared for by a fellow prisoner, the nagi Vasa. Torn between his orders...
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Pain. It burned like a white-hot flame, originating from his chest and searing its way outwards. Its intensity left him trembling, tears welling up in his eyes. It felt like someone had made a tear in his soul. The entire world was alight with pain.
With tremendous effort, he managed to fight back the darkness and focus his gaze on the angel. His throat didn't comply with his desire to speak, his lungs struggling with every breath. Steeling himself, he pushed beyond it, forcing his throat to make a sound.
"Please don't kill me. I don't want to die," he pleaded. His voice gave way more than once, but he managed to finish the two sentences. Any shame he might have felt at the words were burned away by the pain.
Something green moved behind her. Nigat waved with its free arm and gave him a cheeky grin. The other three were occupied with holding a man with golden eyes. Bruises and cuts covered the man's olive skin. His eyes were barely even open, fluttering now and then.
The angel turned around. Her whole body froze up as a strangled cry pushed past her lips. Nigat merely grinned wider at her reaction, stroking the man's throat with one of its razor-sharp claws. "The game isn't quite over yet, pretty girl. We aren't going to let you go that easily."
"Let him go or I will tear you apart." Venom dripped off her voice as she trembled with hatred. Its sheer intensity made Xaray crawl away with his broken sword in his lap, ignoring the pain lancing through his body with every move. Risking another cut by her blade was the last thing he wanted.
After what felt like an eternity of slow and steady movement, burning up inside while icy cold water rushed around his body on the outside, his fingers grasped dry pebbles. He glanced behind him, a smile cracking on his face. Land.
He looked back up at Nigat and the angel. She was talking again, trying to convince him to let her go, but her white knuckles showed she had little peaceful intentions this time. The green reptile ignored her words, instead busying itself with all the man's cuts and bruises. When the man screamed after Nigat 'accidentally' scratched him, it just smiled.
Shaking his head, Xaray focused his efforts back on getting out of the water. He grabbed the two pieces of his sword, twisted around, and threw them further onto shore. The movement made stars dance in front of his eyes. After several deep, shaky breaths, he flipped himself around and crawled on all fours.
A white blur stood behind a bush in the forest, but when Xaray looked at it, it was gone. He swallowed and closed his eyes. Was he beginning to hallucinate? Was the angel's sword lined with poison, or was it her magic? The thought caused a shudder to run down his spine.
Shaking the fear away, he set his eyes on his broken blade and started moving towards it with purpose. Every step was slow and agonising, but it was one step closer. Little by little, he put distance between himself and the fighting creatures behind him. The crackle of magic and the thick scent of blood filled the air.
