Blue Moon

C H A P T E R 18

The secret to happiness was contentment but their hearts were never full.

Blessed with strength, longer lives, and the other half of their souls to share it with, how could they not? Their quest for power and immortality has brought a curse among them. Their discontent and ungratefulness have brought them to their knees. Their greed.

No. Our greed.

I coveted too.

'Help me!'

The stillness of the night swallowed my, not mine–Mayari's cries.

I dare not ask for mercy as the ground soaked in the blood I caused to be shed.

'Why? You, who the divinities have deemed worthy, Why let yourself be defiled by their atrocities?' The half-masked woman cried as she raised her weapon to strike me. So much hatred. 'Mayari... I can never fathom the depths of betrayal. How dare you plot and turn against us?'

This coming from the woman I love but can never have shriveled my heart. She was of the heavens and I was merely a servant whom a deity like her called on. My love had nowhere to go so I admired from afar. In the flesh, she came down from the night skies. Alas, it was not to finally see me.

It was to exact revenge. Condemn me.

I wanted to deny the accusations in her eyes but my guilt can never be hidden from the skies. However...

I did not kill innocents though.

'The price of your treachery will be paid!'

She advanced.

My weak knees barely supported me as I refused to meet my end on the ground. The bottom of this ledge was a long fall down. I stood before my forbidden love and waited for her to deliver the finishing blow.

I did not see her move but a spear tore through my chest. Stealing a glance at her before looking down, I did not have a chance to know the built of the weapon I would die on as it slowly disintegrates into the air. The hole left through me was the only evidence it was real.

Granted I have wronged her, I never thought I would die by her hands. She averted her eyes when I wanted her to watch 'til the end. Such cruelty.

'It's... mistake... a mistake.' One that will cost me my life. Flung from the ledge by a force unknown, I gazed upon the coldest pairs of eyes. 'Haliyah...' I called out her name.

It was you who turned your back on me.

The freezing waters received me and added to the blow. The impact left me conscious but my strength dwindled. I sank lower into the darkest depths of the lake unable to fight.

'Let me save you.' A voice in my head pleaded.

'No. Let me lie.' I said 'I've done enough... we have done enough... Let me lie.'

'What do I do?'

It was angry but hurting, I could tell. 'What will you have me do when you've gone? Where you go, I cannot go with you.'

'Keep her...'til it's time...'

As to whom I meant, I cannot tell. 'Protect her...' For, I will not be able to do so.

Drowning was a painful way to go. 'I am scared. Have I always been alone?'

'I am here.' It said, 'I'll never leave, Mayari. Close your eyes.'

And I did. But I could not keep her with me to the end.

'Go!' I felt it reluctantly leave my body. 'I'm sorry... My last act of selfishness was to chain you... Hate me if you must.'

'An eternity would be far too long a sentence, Mayari.' It tore through the surface as its fangs held the glowing orb. Through our mind link, it said, 'Until then.'

The same time the serpent-like dragon broke loose, I felt myself being pulled away from her body. The pain was all too real to me.

Floating on the water's surface, I looked up to the huge creature as it swallowed the orb. Frozen, I stood still as its silver slitted eyes regarded me. It released a thundering roar that shook the night.

'Then hate, I will,' the beast vowed.

Such was Mayari's last moments.

It felt so real. Like I was dying too.

Dream walking was a curse I would have to live with but at this very moment, it might as well be the death of me–so much pain.

* * *

KAI

Arrah's sweat soaked our bed linens. I sat her up and wiped at the river flowing from her eyes. Her third nightmare in weeks yet she refused to share it with me to ease her burden. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around her shoulders. I had to coax her into letting go so I could change her clothes.

Dressed in my shirt and gazing upon the night sky, she quietly sat by the window. I had the damp sheets replaced and helped her back on the bed.

"How could I help you if you refuse to speak?" I tucked her hair behind her ears. "Tell me, Arrah..." Tell me what to do.

"... My reward," she finally looked at me and framed my face with her hands. "And my punishment..." She placed her soft lips on mine and gave me a kiss.

"Make love to me. Let me feel you," she pulled me atop her as she laid back on the bed. Guiding my hand under her shirt, she placed it above her chest. In a voice that was breaking, Arrah whispered, "Make me alive, Ms. Randale."