Soul of a Royal

A young girl no older than eighteen lay in the center of the clearing, pain evident on her face. Her chest rose and fell swiftly as she struggled to stop the blood flowing heavily from the deep wound under her ribs. The blood-soaked rags clinging to her skin hardly resembled the fine, beautiful dress they once were. A small whimper escaped between the girl's lips as yet another wave of pain coursed through her body. The wounds she'd sustained during her escape from the castle appeared to finally prove too much for her as her hands fell limply away from her wound and her eyes closed, tears still streaming down her cheeks. Her lips, however, wouldn't give up. They moved quickly, praying to whatever God. She prayed for her family's safety, hoping she'd been successful in leading the assassins deep enough into the very woods she now lay dying in.

As I listened to the poor girl's prayers, a smile played across my lips. A sharp dagger, guided carefully by the magic flowing through my veins, spun circles in the air beside me, it's smooth edges glinting silver in the sparse moonlight trickling down through the branches and leaves overhead. My gaze shifted to my partner, who was crouched low on a branch in the tree adjacent to mine. Half his face was hidden behind one half of a white mask decorated with a grotesque, blood-red smile. The single eyehole was merely a small opening in the center of a black star, which stood out strikingly against the white paint surrounding it. The mask's second half was pressed tightly against my own face. I inched closer to Killer, leaning into him as I spoke. "Shall we end her now, or shall we wait a while longer and crush her growing hope of survival?" I whispered. Several seconds of silence followed before Killer turned away from the girl and toward me. "That depends," he said, reaching for the wickedly curved sword at his side. All but the hilt was hidden by the long, black cloak he wore. "Do you want to kill her, or can I?"

I glared at him. "Even if I do want to be the one to kill her, I have a strong feeling you won't let me wait long." Killer grinned, his wild eyes glowing faintly red as his magic continued absorbing the last of the life force harnessed from the guards he'd killed earlier in the night during our hunt for the princess. "You know me too well, Switchblade," he said. His hand dropped away from the hilt of his sword. "I suppose it is your turn," he said. "Just kill her quickly. I'd like to be in bed at a decent hour tonight." I frowned and swiftly smacked the back of his head in annoyance. "You know," I said. "For a demon who's been alive several hundred years, you sure don't know how to have fun."

Killer snarled at me, rubbing the back of his head. I ignored him, too busy concentrating on the magic now flowing freely through my veins, begging to be unleashed. It appeared as a dancing, blue mist in the thin air surrounding me. A long, invisible strand of the same magic stretched between myself and a spot of empty space mere feet from the princess. I took a deep breath and braced myself. The switchblade I'd been spinning fell flat into the palm of my hand. I pulled hard on the strand of magic, feeling it flare excitedly.

A brief flash of light blinded the poor girl in the clearing. She flinched and threw both arms up to protect her face as a sharp yelp escaped her lips. I giggled at her blatant discomfort and sauntered slowly to her side. I let my cloak fall from my shoulders into a heap in the grass underfoot, revealing the arsenal of weapons I'd been hiding underneath. The princess caught sight of me and whimpered. "P-please," she stuttered. "Don't do this. I have more than enough money to satisfy you." Another onslaught of tears spilled from her eyes as she begged. I knelt beside her and touched the tip of my blade to the pale, exposed skin of her arm just hard enough to draw blood. "Oh, Air'alin," I said softly. "I know you have enough money to satisfy me, but my partner is a different story." I withdrew the dagger from her arm and used it to flick away the tears still streaming freely down her cheeks. "You see, he's a demon." Ari'alin's eyes widened. "He needs your life force. Without it, he won't survive in this world of ours." Princess Air'alin let out a strangled sob and struggled to move as far from my blade as she could in her tattered state. "You can't escape like that," I said, grinning. "You can, however, tell us where your family is. What do you say? Your life in exchange for theirs?" She shook her head ever so slightly as she continued writhing away in pain. "No?" I scowled. "Of course I knew you'd never betray your family. Unfortunately for you, this means you've left me with only one other option." The magic still swirling in the air above us wrapped itself around the switchblade in my hand and positioned it directly above the girl's heart. She opened her mouth, perhaps to beg once again for her life, but my blade plunged deep into her chest before she had time to speak. A sudden look of shock and pain crossed her face, and I smiled. She coughed once, blood splattering my face and hair and staining my mask.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the satisfaction of the moment. I, of all people, had been the direct cause of death of a member of the royal family. I smiled widely as I opened my eyes in time to see a white aura drift from the princess' open mouth into the dark foliage of the trees Killer still resided in. The princess' now lifeless eyes stared upward at the full moon, whose light illuminated the clearing. I stood up, pulled my blade from her chest, and wiped away a few stray droplets of blood from my pants. "Come on, Killer," I called. "Tell me, how does it feel? The life force of a royal?" I stepped toward my discarded cloak and threw it over my shoulder, sheathing my switchblade at my side as Killer dropped from his tree and landed gracefully. "I'll tell you all about it on the way back to the inn," he said. I smiled. "I'm looking forward to seeing the town's people's attempts to cope with the princess' death," I purred. Killer's eyes matched the color of the smile on his mask. "As am I," he said, grinning. He opened his mouth as if to continue, but he paused for a moment. "Although," he said, his smile fading. "Now that I think about it, I'm not entirely sure I should return to the inn tonight." I frowned. "Why not?" Killer shrugged. "Look at me," he said. He seemed to be radiating with glowing magic. "We took many lives tonight. I'm still absorbing them all." "So you're going to spend the night out here in the forest?" Killer nodded and crouched beside Air'alin's body. "I'm going to head back," I said. "If you haven't returned by tomorrow evening, I'll come back here for you. I trust you'll be able to find me without my blood if you need me?" Killer nodded absently as he prodded the princess' body, poking her cheek softly. I turned away contentedly and began the long trek back toward town and the uncomfortable bed I'd grown just a bit too familiar with.