(Note: I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry 😭 I can't say it enough)
–kora–
I held my breath waiting for the pain, waiting to be pierced by the spikes, the projectiles. I expected it to hurt. I expected to die as they tore through me, but as my heart raced in my chest and kept my arms over my head with my eyes squeezed shut, I felt nothing except warmth…
It was like someone had put a blanket over me as some form of protection. I waited for something to happen for my life to finally come to an end on this forsaken planet but as seconds ticked by and I felt nothing happening, I reluctantly opened my eyes.
Immediately I realized where the warmth I felt was coming from as I found myself being hugged by a familiar face.
“Kion?” I lowered my arms from over my head and his hold on my slowly relinquished as he trembled. His face was twisted into that of anguish but after a mental he finally opened his eyes and smiled.
“I-i did it…I protected you.” He gave a pained chuckle as blue dripped from the corner of his mouth.
His strength seemed to leave his body as he leaned forward, unable to keep himself upright any longer. My eyes widened and realization dawned on me and I grabbed onto him going down with him to keep him from falling. “Kion!”
Only now could I see the spikes impeded into his backside as well as all the blood.
Elazar witnessed everything, horrified, before being overcome with rage and running towards us.
The draven pup that had come up Behind us snarled and stepped closer ready to pounce but stopped as an infuriated snarl rang out and a spear went flying towards the beast.
The spear hit the creature in the back leg making it screech and jump back in fright. as Elazar ran at it with another weapon, it seemed to realize the danger and quickly retreated into the forest out of sight.
I watched Elazar chase it off before returning my full attention to kion who was slumped in my arms. “Kion? Kion! Why- why would you do that!?” I shouted before quickly removing the spikes impeded in his back. Tears stung my eyes as I removed my cloak and pressed it to the wound to try and stop the bleeding but there was too much… to much blood to much damage-
He coughed and seemingly had trouble breathing as he laid in my arms. “because- E-elazar would be sad without you… he needs you.” he spoke weakly.
Tears fell down my cheeks as I screamed a curse and tried to find some way to help the boy. After a moment it dawned on me that we were by the healing pond, maybe we could-
As I looked towards the water, whatever hope I had for it, disappeared. The water was murky and nearly black. The shimmer It usually bore was gone. The dravens blood continuously trickled from its body and into the water, like poison. I doubted it was still capable of healing…
“Hey kora?” Kion spoke up again and I looked down at him still panicking, unsure how to fix this. “We're still gonna stay together right?”
I was at a loss for words and couldn't even utter a response to that question. “I think Elazars gonna be mad at me…” he choked up more blood and I moved my hand to kions head to run my fingers through his hair. It was the only thing I could think of to try and ease his pain.
“Yeah, we aren't going to leave you kion, we're a family… Elazar won't be mad at you–I think I think he would be proud of you.” I reassured him.
Kion looked up at me before giving me the biggest smile he could muster as tears of happiness filled his eyes. “i always wanted that…”
“Kion!!!” Looking up I saw Elazar rushing back towards up, when he saw kion in my arms the look of true fear and anguish made itself known. He quickly came over to us, falling to his knees beside the boy.
He looked over Kion's injuries and was absolutely mortified. He then carefully turned kion over, cradling his head and neck in one hand. “Kion…”
Whatever Elazar might have wanted to say seemed to just die in his throat as he looked at the boy in despair.
Kion opened his mouth to speak, only managing a whisper. El pulled him closer to his ear listening as Kion spoke and I could see him fighting to keep his eyes open as the last of his strength faded away.
Kion's eyes closed for the last time and Elazar continued to hold his body with his head down. I couldn't make out the look on his face but I could see tears falling as he sat there quietly.
El looked defeated, he didn't say a word, didn't move a muscle he was just frozen there with kion in his arms. He was in shock, El had always tried so hard to keep him out of harm's way he was afraid of seeing kion get hurt and now…
My heart broke for him as I covered my mouth and let the tears stream down my face. Hesitantly I grabbed kion's hand and held it tightly.
We both sat there silently crying, not saying a word to each other. I only managed to pull myself together when the sound of leaves rustling caught my attention. I jumped to my feet to face whatever was coming but elazar didn't even move.
Five figures came into view and a new sense of fear washed over me as I took a step back, recognizing some of them as warriors from El’s tribe.
As they broke the treeline they glanced around in utter bewilderment, seeing all the chaos, blood, and death. I recognized the one at the front of the group to be none other than talok. his eyes scanned everything, looking from each fallen drakov warrior, to the draven, to us, then to kion’s body.
As soon as he saw the dead boy his entire body tensed and he gripped his spear tightly.
“El...” I whispered beside him, taking another step back as talok seemed to grow even angrier by the second. Elazar still didn't move, didn't even lift his head to see who had come; he was still in shock, completely oblivious to the danger.
The other warriors with talok locked onto us and krept closer as if they were predators cornering their prey. Their attention was mostly on me and I realized exactly what they were thinking. My disguise was all but destroyed, they could easily see I was human, they have no idea who I am, kion’s blood is on my hands. To them I'm just another threat, one that killed kion.
I turned to run but the other warriors were quick to block any path to escape and before I knew it, Talok had a bruising grip on my arm and holding me up, nearly dangling me high enough that my feet couldn't touch the ground. I cried out as his claws dug into my skin, drawing blood and he snarled at me.
“human.”
hearing me cry out in pain must've finally snapped Elazar back to reality as he looked up and saw what was happening.
“release her talok!” He snapped at the Warrior and jumped to his feet still holding kions body to his chest.
Talok turned his head to look at Elazar, eyeing him suspiciously. “His blood is on her hands and you want me to let her go?” He tightened his grip on my arm and I screamed at the burning pain, feeling his fingers dig into my flesh.
“LET HER GO!” Elazar snarled and stepped towards us only to be stopped as the other warriors aimed their weapons at him. “She did not kill him! She is my mate now, unhand her!” He growled angrily.
Talok glanced at me then back to Elazar before he dropped me onto the ground. I held my bleeding arm and grit my teeth before looking up at the two xandisians, afraid they might kill El.
They stared each other down, neither of them relenting or willing to submit to the other. After a moment, Talok's gaze moved to one of the other warriors.
“bind her” they nodded and sheathed their bow and arrow before pulling some rope from their satchel and walking over to me. I worriedly looked up to Elazar and he briefly glanced at me. I could practically see the message he was trying to convey to me.
Don't resist.
Reluctantly I let the hunter tie my hands behind my back and pull me up to my feet. He nodded to talok who then returned his glare to Elazar.
“Back to the village.”
Turning away he started walking towards the treeline and Elazar followed behind silently, carrying kion. One warrior followed behind him and the other two grabbed my arms and took me along with them.
No wo4ds were spoken as we were dragged back to the village and as we got closer there were numerous hunters all armed and waiting, standing guard around the perimeter. Once they noticed us coming they ran back to alert the entire tribe of our arrival.
I kept my head down and tried my best not to have a complete panic attack. As we reached the front entrance to their cave, we stopped. A crowd had formed all around us and I knew many of them were looking at me with anger and disgust.
While those who looked at Elazar and kion were confused and unsure what to think. I can't imagine what was running through their heads, they were expecting an invasion or fight with the drakov, instead their warriors returned with a hunter, a human and the body of one of their youngest.
Looking over to elazar I could see he wasn't all there, he was still experiencing shock from the loss of kion but he was holding back from grieving to protect me.
Talok turned to face us with such disdain and disgust it twisted knots in my stomach. Everyone was confused and no doubt had questions but where do we even start…what do we tell them?!
I watched as an older man stepped to the front of the crowd and into the open. He looked to Kion then Elazar. They held each other's gaze and I recognized that this man was one of Elazar's companions. Roku.
“Explain yourself Elazar.” He spoke quietly.
El was silent, his gaze fell away and moved to me. After a moment he composed himself and looked at the rest of the tribe. “Release her.” He stated calmly.
That one small request was enough to send people into an uproar. “Why would you ask such a thing! Humans are dangerous!”
“Why is there a human here in the first place!?”
“It has the boy's blood on its hands!”
“She killed Kion, didn't she!? We should feed her to the scal!”
“We can't let the human go! Kill it!”
It felt like everything was closing in on me and I felt completely trapped as they hurled insults and demanded I be eliminated. The memory of Maxwell approaching me in the stairwell flashed in my mind. The memory and feeling of being pushed into a corner and trapped almost suffocated me.
The sound of my own voice as I pleaded for him to stop defaned me. The feeling behind grabbed and touched had spots dancing across my vision.
“ENOUGH!” Elazar shouted out. Startling everyone into silence and snapping me out of my state of panic.
“She is not the enemy!” He snapped. Looking over to him I could see he was trembling. “She is my mate.” I watched Elazar as he stood in front of me shielding me from the crowd. “She did not kill Kion, he died protecting her. This is why I kept her hidden away. Why i didn't bring her here! You all would have turned on her like wild animals simply because she is human, but she's not like the others of her kind, she's innocent. She is not a threat!” He kneeled down and gently placed kion on the ground before the tribe. “We only wanted refuge, to live peacefully within the village-”
“you lied!” Another voice called out from the crowd. And we all looked to the source as another man stepped out, looking infuriated.
“Paku-” roku spoke up only to be cut off as the man stomped towards me with his fangs bared. Elazar was quick to get back to his feet and hold me behind him protectively as the two warriors backed off.
“You lied to me Elazar! Lied to everyone! Her scent is all over my fallen brother's blade. And it wasn't just a faint whiff as though he just touched it! Even now I can still smell her on it, she had to have had it for weeks for it to linger this long, meaning you didn't hunt down the humans that killed him, and you didn't find my brother's knife on them because she had it! She is probably the one who murdered him!”
There were various shouts of agreement from the crowd and even more protests than before.
“How could we possibly trust your word that she's harmless!”
“If she killed paku's brother she must've killed the boy as well! How could you defend a human!”
“You're a traitor and a liar! Protecting a human instead of your own!” El took a step back pulling me close behind him as the entire tribe seemed to turn on us.
Give up the human!”
“I did not lie about those things! She did not kill anyone! I will not let you hurt her!” A rock was thrown and hit Elazar in the head, making him growl. Everything was falling apart right before my eyes.
The other xandisians would not see reason no matter how much Elazar tried to reason with them. Kion was dead. And Elazars companion turned his back on him…
We were doomed from the start.
“Enough!” Another voice shouted out, stopping the tribe's violence and silencing them all. Looking past Elazar I realized talok was the one to call them off. He stepped forward standing before El.
“The human will not be allowed within our village, nor will she be allowed to walk away freely. Blood must be paid with blood Elazar. A life for a life, we cannot let her go when there's the possibility she is responsible, This is our way.”
El didn't move nor relinquish his hold on me. “I will not let you hurt her. She is my mate and I will protect her till my last dying breath. It is my right to keep her safe. That is our way.” he stated defiantly.
Talok stared at him, lifting his head. Turning away he handed his spear to a nearby tribe's mate and the knife on his belt before looking back at El.
“Then you will follow our traditions and we shall fight. Should you win, you will both be allowed to live and stay within the tribe. Should you lose… the debt will be paid.” He glanced down at me then back to El. “And she must leave.”
That's it? They are just going to fight to settle this? This doesn't make sense– they let me go but what happens to Elazar?
Elazar straightened himself before nodding in acceptance. Elazar was still injured from his fight with the drakov and draven putting him at a severe disadvantage, not to mention he's told me before that talok is stronger than him, he's already lost two fights against the warrior when he wasn't injured. The chances of him winning this were zero. This was a losing fight and they all knew it.
Roku came over to take Elazar's knife without either of them even glancing at each other.
“Roku” Elazar spoke up quietly and the man lifted his head. “Please, take care of her.”
I looked at El confused and shocked. Roku merely nodded. “I will do what I can for her.”
He accepted that answer before turning to look at me. “El why would you say that–” I spoke in english.
His hand cupped my cheek and he leaned in and nuzzled the top of my head. “I'm sorry kora.” he whispered as he untied my hands. I couldn't comprehend those words as he kissed my forehead and pulled away. Roku pulled me back away from them and the crowd watched on silently. This felt wrong, this couldn't be right.
Why, why did that kiss feel like a goodbye.
“I don't understand– if he loses they'll let me leave but what happens to him?!” I spoke to Roku, taking him a bit by surprise. He didn't expect me to understand them nor speak their language. I'm sure none of them did.
He masked his confusion quickly and looked to talok and Elazar who were facing off against each other. “This isn't a simple challenge for dominance where it ends when one opponent gives up… this duel is a fight to the death.”
I paled in realization and looked back to El seeing he wasn't going to back down. He really would fight till his last breath.
“No. No!!!” Roku held me back from running into the fight and I felt tears sting my eyes.
Elazar faced off against talok without an ounce of fear, he was not afraid of dying if it meant I lived. How could they allow this? How could they all turn their backs on one of their own so easily.
“I wish I could honor you with a warrior's death. But you do not deserve such.” Talok said.
“Honor me by keeping your word and letting her go unharmed. That's all I ask.” Elazar replied.
He scoffed and After a moment Talok rushed forward with his claws and tail ready, swiping at Elazar who struggled to dodge. He was cut across his right arm and narrowly avoided another attack that grazed his cheek.
El managed to grab taloks arm as he swiped again but missed his tail as it stabbed him in the leg. I watched mortified as Elazar snarled in pain, falling to one knee.
He managed to somewhat recover and slashed talok across his chest with his free hand but talok punched him in the face knocking him to the ground. Taloks tail narrowly missed his throat as he rolled out of the way. They both relentlessly tried to attack each other but for every scratch elazar got on talok, the man gave back three times over.
He managed to slice open Talok’s right arm, causing a lot of damage in the process but in turn it left his side open and taloks blade stabbed him in that exposed area. El threw him off and he rolled before getting back up to his feet with a snarl.
Elazar tried to push himself back up to his feet but faltered and fell back to one knee because of the wound on his leg. He was already panting heavily, worn out from the previous fight. As he held his bleeding side, unable to stand the warrior, Saw this as an opportunity to strike, growling he rushed towards El.
El grabbed both his arms and his tail coiled tightly around taloks as it went for his throat. They both growled at each other and Talok pushed harder, the blade of his tail inching closer and closer to El's neck. El was struggling to hold himself back and losing the strength he had to keep Talok at bay.
With the last bit of energy he could muster the headbutt talok knocking his foe back completely. The warrior stumbled backwards a few paces and grabbed his head that was no doubt throbbing in pain.
Part of one of Elazar's left horns had broken off and was now bleeding. He was on his hands and knees with blood trailing down the side of his face. I felt my heart drop as he collapsed onto his side, unable to get back up.
Talok pulled his hand away from his head seeing his own blood smeared on his palm then snarled at elazar. Standing up straighter he stalked towards El his tail whipping around behind him.
I couldn't breath as I silently begged Elazar to get back up, to keep fighting. To win, to survive. But he had no more fight left to give.
“It's over.” crouched down on one knee and grabbed Elazar by the back of his head and lifted his head up off the ground, as Talok's tail moved to Elazar's throat I couldn't stop myself any longer. Snatching Elazar's blade from Roku, I ran towards them.
Roku couldn't grab me and talok hardly noticed me before I jumped on his back, sinking the knife into his back. He screamed and released Elazar before trying to grab me and throw me off. Pulling the knife free we both toppled to the ground and I lost my grip, falling from his backside. But before he could get up or even move I jumped on top of him again, pinning him down. He immediately halted all movement as he felt the blade of my knife press against his neck.
He was frozen beneath me with his claws and tail ready to attack but the slightest movement would mean the end of his life as well. His dark silver eyes stared down at me and I glared back at him.
“What are you all doing! Someone Stop her! Kill her!!” a feminine voice shouted from the crowd but no one moved. “She can't do that!”
Talok and I refused to break eye contact and I could sense Elazar move behind me. “kora–”
“This is my life. You are fighting over, I'm not just going to stand by and watch you get killed. You're my mate too. I have every right to protect you as you have done for me!” I shouted, making Elazar go silent.
There were a few gasps and murmurs from the crowd and even talok seemed surprised to hear me speaking their language.
“I will not let another person I love die for me.” I whispered quietly.
Taloks eyes widened slightly as he looked at me and he didn't say a word. After a long pause I felt his body relax and to my surprise he turned his head to the side exposing his neck further. A sign of submission, rarely given by xandisians.
Pulling the knife away I watched to see if he would attack but he didn't move an inch. Climbing off him I quickly turned away to rush to Elazar's side. No one dared to speak out and ratha kept her mouth shut and head down as they all watched us.
Putting El's arm over my shoulder I slowly helped him back up to his feet.
Talok got back up and simply watched with the rest of them as we turned our backs on the tribe and limped towards the forest. It was a brutal and agonizing walk full of pain, heartache. As I glanced at Elazar I could only imagine the pain and suffering he must have felt at this very moment, The grief the loss…not once did he look back.
I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing those thoughts out of my mind. Forcing myself to be strong for him. For both of us as we reached the treeline. This place was never meant for us. We never belonged here, no matter how much we wished we did.
As we entered the forest I turned my head to look back one last time before never looking back again.
(Note: I'm sorrrryyyyyyyyy😭😭😭)
12/6/23
(Epilouge next chapter)