Hours felt like days before Lilith had finally made it to camp, and what she'd seen horrified her. The camp was deserted, broken wood and cabins scattered everywhere. Lilith gasped softly as she beckoned Ash to slow down as they walked through the camp. There wasn't a soul in sight, only sad proof that there was a whole community here just a week ago. Lilith swallowed thickly and patted the top of Ash's head, who slowed to a stop so Lilith could jump down, her boots hitting the ground with a thud. Taking a deep breath, she continued to look around on foot, trying to find any evidence that her parents were here in the first place. But when she found nothing, she resorted to her ability. Looking around, she kneeled down and pressed her hands against the bare earth, feeling the hard soil beneath them. With a deep breath, she looked up and activated her power, concentrating on the earth below her and around her. A gray film covered her pupils as her sight became that of the earth. She couldn't hear or see anything in or around the camp, but she did pick up very strong scents. She could smell blood, strong and stale, and mixed in with that blood was a very, very slight hint of her mother's perfume. It was a small hint, but it was something. Instantly, she tracked the direction of the smell as far as she could, before lifting her hands off the ground, her eyes turning back to normal. With a swift movement, she jumped back onto Ash and pointed him in the direction of the scent. And with a light pat of her hand, Ash took off in that same direction as fast as he could. Lilith tightened her hold on her familiars fur as she concentrated. Every time a branch or leaf hit her, she tapped into her ability for a second, making sure they were still going in the right direction.
After a few minutes, they arrived at a large rock with an opening at the bottom. Ash was about to move past it, but she stopped him and jumped down, quickly moving to the rock and pressing her hand against it. The moment she did she instantly smelled the strong scent of blood. Without a second thought, she moved to clear the opening, but before it was open, she was suddenly thrown back away from it, her back hitting a tree. Groaning, she sat there for a second before her eyes shot open and she moved to stand up quickly. Standing before her was an Elf, but not any elf she was used to. His eyes were red and his mouth was wide, teeth sharp. His body was also hunched slightly and his ears were curled at the end in a very ugly way. This Elf looked like a straight up demon. Lilith instantly called her bow, aiming it with an arrow already in position.
"Who are you?" She demanded, though her hands were shaking slightly. The Elf merely grinned wider and she watched as he lifted his hand slightly. Before she could process what was happening, a very, very large wolf emerged from the woods behind the rock, and fear struck her. It was the same wolf she'd seen a while back in the woods, the same one Dallas scared away. Lilith's eyes widened as she was caught off guard for a second, glancing at Ash when he growled loudly at the animal. The two were about equal in size, though the wolf was 10 times scarier. Gulping, she aimed her bow at the Elf again and narrowed her eyes, taking a step closer to him.
"I asked you a question, freak. Who are you?" She said, this time more confident as Olive hissed quietly at her hip, ready to strike at any given moment.
"Oh dear, quite the demanding one aren't we?" The elf finally spoke, sending chills down her spine at the sound of his voice. It was high pitched and crazy sounding, pure evil dripping from his every word. Swallowing thickly, Lilith pulled the string back before letting it go, the air whistling around the arrow as it shot with great speed at the elf, but just in time, the elf stepped to the side, causing the bow to puncture the rock behind him. But not without cutting his cheek first. The elf reached his hand up to touch his bloody cheek, before a loud, insane, high pitched laugh escaped his lips. Startled, Lilith took a step back at the sound, fear swallowing her nerves one by one.
"Oh will boss be so pleased with you." He said, and Lilith's eyes widened. Luke had mentioned 'boss' as well when he first tried to kill her. Narrowing her eyes, she threw her bow onto her back and pulled out her sword, and in an instant, it was pressed against the elfs neck as she glared daggers at him.
"Now who is this boss guy I keep hearing about, hmm? And what exactly does he want with me?" She demanded in a low, angry voice, pressing the blade against his neck harder, drawing blood. The elf simply chuckled darkly, and before Lilith knew it, she was throw against the rock, feet off the ground and pressed against the sharp edges of it. Gasping out, Lilith tried to free herself, but realized nothing was holding her down but the wind. Her eyes widened, realizing the elf before her was a wind master. She hissed loudly as the strong winds around her torso cut her arms up, drawing blood in a few different places and ripping her sleeves.
The elf moved to stand in front of her, his expression filled with anger and amusement at the same time. Reaching up, he rubbed a dirty finger against one of the cuts forming on her arm, causing her to wince and attempt to pull away. Grinning, he licked the blood off of his finger and moaned in appreciation, licking his lips.
"Boy, half bloods do taste delicious." The elf grinned ever more and pressed her further against the rock, causing Lilith to cry out as one of the sharp edges pierced the skin on her lower back.
"What do you want from me!?" She cried out, kicking her legs to try and free herself from the hold of the wind. At the corner of her eye she saw Ash charge at the Elf, but before he could make it, he was thrown to the ground by the wolf and Lilith's heart ached, not wanting anything to happen to her familiar.
"It's not me that wants you, it's boss. He's been dying to get his hands on you for so long." Lilith looked back at the Elf as he spoke and attempted to kick at him.
"Who is this boss of yours and why does he want me!?" She yelled, trying not to focus on her familiar fighting the large wolf only feet away.
"Because you're special, Lilith. Oh so special. You're the only one of your kind; Half Fae, Half Elf. It's quite rare, considering the Fae species has been wiped out for years. He wants you for his own." He said the last part in her ear and she growled, spitting in his face before slamming her forehead down on his own. It hurt, but it caught him off guard and gave her enough time to counteract the wind with the earth. The rock grew behind her and pushed her through the wind and to the ground. Stumbling, she called out her sword once more and kicked the side of the elf, causing him to grunt in slight pain. Grabbing the hilt of the sword with both hands, she moved to swing it down onto him but was met with another blade instead. The Elf glared hard at her as he used his sword to push her off of him, and suddenly she was flying through the hole in the rock. The hole was deep, and she was falling for a good second before she hit the ground with a hard thud, knocking the wind right out of her. She laid there for a second, her back arched and her mouth opened wide, gasping for air.
Sitting up quickly, she winced and moved a hand to the back of her head, and groaned when she felt the damp, warm feeling of blood on her hands. Standing up quickly, she grabbed her sword again and swung once more the moment the elf joined her in the hole. For a while, their swords clashed, throwing each other around as they battled to throw the other to the ground.
"You're strong, too. He'll like that." He grinned as they clashed swords again. Lilith groaned and pushed him back with great force, knocking him against the rock wall. When she ran to trap him between the wall and her blade, her steps were halted suddenly when two familiar figures in the corner of the hole caught her eye. Looking over, her eyes widened when she noticed her parents bodies lying limp on the ground, tied to a few pillars in the wall. Lilith gasped and moved to run towards them, but before she could reach them, she felt a sharp pain in her side, causing her to lose her breath for a second and stop moving. Looking down, she rested her hand over her bloody side and noticed the large, fresh gash oozing blood. The elf chuckled and grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her to her knees as he pressed his now bloody blade against her throat.
Moving to stand in front of her, the elf clicked his tongue and shook his head. "But not strong enough to beat me. He'll be a little disappointed, but not everyone's perfect." He said with a fake sigh before slamming the hilt of the sword against the side of her head, causing her to black out for a quick second as she fell to the ground.
The elf lifted her back up and onto her feet, positioning his sword so that it was aimed right above her navel. Tilting his head, he wrapped his free hand around her throat and pulled her closer to the blade, gently pressing the sharp edge into her skin. Lilith groaned, but at the moment, she had no power to pull away. She didn't even know where Olive went, so she couldn't use her as help.
"Now, you will come with me peacefully to the boss, or I can kill you right here, right now and bring you to him dead. Either way, you're going to the boss." He demanded, gripping her neck harder. Her vision blurred as she glanced over at her parents limp bodies, hoping to god that they weren't dead. Swallowing thickly, she slowly lifted her hand and looked back at the elf, grinning in amusement.
"I guess you'll have to take me back dead, because I'm not going willingly." She spat in a raspy voice, causing the elf to growl in annoyance.
After that, everything went by in a rush. The elf gripped her neck tightly and pushed the sword through her stomach, causing blood to rise and fall out of Lilith's mouth. Though, Lilith merely grinned at the demon and gestured down to his own torso, which had her own sword impaled deep inside. She'd activated it just in time to stab him the moment she was stabbed also. The Elves eyes widened in horror as he looked back at her, and Lilith only spat blood at him.
"I guess neither of us are going back to your 'boss'" She said in a raspy voice as she weakly tapped her foot on the ground. In one, swift movement, roots began to form and grow out of the ground beneath them, wrapping themselves around the elves neck and cutting off his only source of air. Lilith watched as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his grip on the sword grew limp, before his body became lifeless, only being held up by the roots that killed him.
Lilith gasped loudly as she fell away from the sword, pulling it out of her body. She fell to the ground, soaking it in her blood as she pressed her hand against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. She could hardly breathe, much less see, as she laid on the ground for a second.
The next moment, she was crawling towards her parents, groaning in pain as she held her abdomen. Once she was closer, she noticed Olive undoing the last of the ties around their hands and the ones binding them to the wall, before slithering over to her and hissing slightly as it pressed its head against her bloody side. Lilith just ignored her and moved to sit in front of her mother, resting a hand on her cheek as she tried to speak.
"M-Mom..? Mom please-please wake up-" She attempted, tapping at her mother cheeks, but to no avail. Lilith began to sob, moving to her father and doing the same, but still no answer. She cried out loudly and shook her head, shaking her parents as hard as she could.
"No! No please no!" She cried and attempted to move closer, but she was too weak. She fell against her father and continued to sob, her blood drenching his clothes as she continuously tried to wake him.
No more than a few minutes later, she heard a familiar voice call her name. But it sounded far away, very far away. Ignoring it, Liliths sobs started to die down as she got weaker and weaker, her body beginning to go limp against her parents lifeless body.
She didn't know when, but she was suddenly being pulled away from her parents as loud cries and yells filled her ringing ears. She opened her eyes slightly, not realizing they were closed, and her vision caught sight of Dallas, his features filled with great worry and regret.
"Lilith! Lilith, oh god, Lilith can you hear me?!" He yelled, cupping her cheeks in his hand and tapping at them as something wet landed on her forehead. She blinked slowly and looked closer at Dallas, noticing the tears forming in his eyes.
"Dallas?" She said softly, attempting to reach her hand up to him only to have it fall back down. Dallas nodded and smiled down at her, moving some hair out of her face.
"Yeah, yeah it's me. I'm right here. I need you to keep your eyes open, okay?" He pleaded, moving one of his hands to press it against the wound in her abdomen. He looked behind him and yelled hysterically, causing Lilith to raise a brow slightly.
"James hurry! She's lost too much blood! She's cold!"
"Dallas my....my parents.." Dallas looked back down at her, his eyes filling with pure sadness as he pulled her closer to him.
"Don't worry about that right now, beautiful. I just need you to stay awake, you hear me?" He said, though his voice sounded further and further away the more he talked. She groaned and tried to keep her eyes open as long as she could, though it was getting harder by the second. She knew she was slipping away. She knew what was happening.
"Dallas...Dallas I'm sorry..I'm sorry about what I said...I didn't mean..-" Her voice trailed off as her eyes closed fully, and the last thing she heard were the shouts coming from Dallas before the sweet embrace of the darkness engulfed her like an old friend.