Waterfalls

Chapter Eighty-Five

Everything around me is calm. Even with the stench of blood in the air and the sounds of pained screams surrounding me. I am calm. I see only darkness as my eyes remain shut. I feel my fear in my veins as the arrows head straight for me. I do not move, I just let the fear pump through my veins at my impending death. The whistling of the arrows gets louder and my heart beats faster. Still, I just stand. Waiting.

"Isla!" Tanya shouts and I hear terror in her voice. I gulp as thuds surround me, burying into the bodies I stand on. I wait for the pain, but it does not come. A sharp breeze tickles my skin. I open my eyes slowly and look to where Tanya stands below me. Her armour is dented and her helmet has been removed. Her arm is outstretched and a soft breeze ruffles her lose hair. Glowing are her golden eyes which now have a sharp black diamond pupil. She looks at her palm with wide eyes and I look at the arrows around me. I smile and she does too. My hand tightens around my sword as I see him still running toward me. I then see the red orb that is the spell that blocks our magic. It has a huge lump missing from it and the white light is bursting from the chunk. King Harrison tries to repair it, but the light burns away any magic he tries to cover it with. He catches my eyes and I smile. A look of pure fear crosses his features. I know what he is seeing. He sees me standing on a pile of bodies, covered in blood and a sadistic smile on my features. He sees the white scales that ripple over my forehead and around my eyes. He sees my white eyes with the black diamond pupil. I may not be able to shift yet, but I have broken a huge part of his spell and our magic is bursting out. I let out a shout. One I am sure all my people can hear as I run and jump from the mountain of bodies I stood on. I land, slamming my sword into the ground. A boom comes from the impact and the ground shakes around me as ice explodes everywhere. It consumes every NightShade around me and continues to expand. It crawls over their bodies and once they have been consumed by it, they explode. Shards of ice and shrapnel explode everywhere. Next to me, Tanya is ploughing through enemies. There is dragon strength in her veins and she is wielding her magic. Powerful, intense winds push all those in her way out of her way and the sheer forces of it tears their bodies apart. Toryn is also causing destruction. He slammed his sword into the ground like I did. Fire exploded all around him in a huge ball of burning heat. It melts our enemies away in only seconds. Even better, our magic is bringing harm only to the NightShades and has no effect on Shifters. However, it seems that only the three of us have our magic and all Shifters are still struggling. Not for long.

I follow Tanya and charge into the mass. With my speed and strength, they stand no chance as I swing my sword at anyone in my way. They hardly get any hits in as I run through them, clearing a path for shifters to follow as we inch closer and closer to the King. Everything is a blur as I cut down everyone in my path, not conscious of anything I am doing and moving on instinct. I am thirsty for blood and nothing will satisfy it until the NightShade king is dead.

When He appears before me, I do not hesitate. I jump forward, pushing my feet in front of me. They both slam into his chest, causing him to fly back. I land on my back and using my hands, I push my self straight back up. Once on my feet, I continue to attack him. He is up also and he swings his sword around. It is no match for mine. With all my power I arch my sword, aiming for his neck. He only just manages to lift his in time for it not to get him. My ice blade smashes his into thousands of exploding pieces. I hear a grunt come from beneath his mask as he stumbles backwards. He pulls out a dagger and slices the throat of the nearest NightShade, pushing the body aside and taking the NightShades weapon. He runs toward me. I lean back as his blade swings over my head. I use the momentum to kick up. My foot connects hardly with his jaw. He stumbles back slightly as his mask goes flying from his face. I gasp when I see his face again. He looks the same as I remember but with one difference. His eyes are completely black. Like Darcy's when her mother was controlling her. He growls with anger and strikes as I momentarily distracted. I manage to dodge a major blow, but his weapon still manages to catch. I let out a grunt of pain as I feel the BlackRoot from the sword start to bury into my skin. I am quick to rip the stuff out and throw it on the ground. It screams as I launch it away from me.

"Little Dragon Girl," he says. "You don't want to kill me," he taunts with a cruel grin.

"I don't want to kill you. But don't mistake with the idea that I won't!" I shout as I attack. Our movements are fast as we attack each other. He is careful to dodge any attacks from my icy blade, knowing what a cut will do to him and what will happen if my sword smashes against his stolen one. Every time I strike at him, he dodges and manages to secure a slice against any area of my body my attack has left open. It is with a growl that I realise that I may not win this fight using my magic blade. He kicks me away and a sheath my sword.

"Okay," I growl. "We fight as equals," I say to him. He chuckles, his black eyes wide and staring into mine. He throws his stolen sword to the ground and runs toward me. We move quickly, dodging and jumping out of each other's attacks. I manage to get a few strikes in and he also manages to hit me. To others, we must move at a blur. I twist out of the way of his kick and slam my elbow into his face. He stumbles back and I run toward him. A NightShade appears in front of me. I kick her in the stomach. As she bends over in pain, I put my hands on her back and use them to help spring me forward as I jump. My legs wrap around the assassin's neck. I slam my elbow into his head over and over until he manages to throw me off. I land heavily on my back and roll out of the way as he goes to kick me. Jumping back up, I swing my fist toward him. He is still disorientated from my blows to the head and I am able to score a strong his into his stomach. I grab his arm as he swings it out, blocking it from hitting me. At the same time, I stretch my leg and kick him in the face. He stumbles back and lands on the ground. He goes to stand up but I am already there, my fury and fear leading me on. I straddle his body as I punch him in the face with all the strength I have before I wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze. His eyes widen and he goes to swings at me. I move my legs and try and trap his arms beneath my foot. Horrific gargling noises sound from his mouth as he continues to struggle. I feel my eyes tickle with tears as I continue to strangle him. Those black eyes keep on looking at me. The Black eyes that mean he is being controlled. That he isn't fighting by his own choice. I can't let him go, however. If I do, who knows what damage he can do to my people.

His arm escapes from my grasp and reaches for my face weakly.

"I'm sorry," I whisper as I feel tears fall down my cheeks. I don't want to kill him. He is a man who has shown me kindness during my weakest time. He showed me mercy and honour. He made me feel excited and alive. He comforted me when I was broken and made me feel stronger. I know none of that was an act. I know he really meant it. He is a man who was raised by a monster who felt like he had no choice and was trapped in the service of the monster. He started to change, to see that there were other ways. But now, he really has no choice. Those full black eyes are telling me so. Telling me that the NightShade king really is in complete control of him. I don't know how to break him out of it and now I have to end all of this between us for once and for all.

I had grown to love him. Now, I am going to kill him.