"You never have." The moment I made a move and reached for the knife was the exact same moment that Arthas's eyes widened and he snarled angrily, all the light disappearing with a flash at the flick of his fingers. It was pitch black immediately, as if I had been swallowed by a void. If it wasn't for the loud shuffling that soon followed and the sound of metal against metal I'd be sure I had died that instant. That sweet determination filled me though, especially with the knowledge that they wouldn't kill me. All I needed to do was make sure I got out of there for the time being.
My feet carried me away from the table and I could feel a gush of wind against the skin of my arms, hearing breathing so close I was sure someone was right in front of me. "Enough!" I yelled loudly, flames erupting from my hands and clearing the room of the mist that had fallen. The candles were lit again, shining with a rebellious glow.
Soon my eyes connected with Arthas's again, seeing his pitch-black wings unwrapped from behind his back and the bloodshot eyes that glowed fiercely. Derik stood almost right next to me, pointing his sword at my throat as I held the knife in his direction. "Let's all take a deep breath." I proposed, taking tiny steps back. "We wouldn't want anyone to have a heart attack."
"Drop. The. Knife." Arthas growled lowly, the sound seemingly echoing through the dining hall. "Now."
"Oh, you mean this one?" I gestured with the knife, which was sharper than I had thought, especially given the fact that I was their prisoner.
"Lyanna, surely you understand that you have no chance, not even with that little knife." Derik tried to reason, stalking closer carefully with his sword raised. "Maybe you could hurt me, but you're no match for Arthas."
"Honestly, uncle, right now killing you sounds more alluring."
His face went blank instantly when my eyes met his and he saw the fire burning within them. "You'd be dead before you can even try."
"But that's the thing, isn't it, uncle?" I chuckled humourlessly. "You won't kill me." My eyes went back to Arthas who took in a deep breath, his eyes darkening even further. "Because then you would kill him." A smile started to play on my lips when I saw the fear flash through his eyes. The dark magic doused a bit around his fingers as he took a deep breath in through his teeth, letting me know I had the advantage now.
"So, gentlemen, now that I have your attention I have another proposition for you." I moved the knife to my own throat, pressing against the thin skin covering the most precious, vulnerable artery.
"Don't!" Arthas immediately hissed.
"You stay here, acting all high and mighty and I will go back to Eagle's Fall, save those people and maybe I won't kill myself." I was stalling. I knew that whatever agreement we made, he would break it. There was no use in negotiating with him, no, as I was talking my eyes darted around the room for a possible escape. "You see, I know we're connected. I know it is my life that keeps you from getting hurt. I don't know how mother could've possibly thought it was a good idea at the time, but I guess love makes you do stupid things."
Arthas took a step forward but the moment he did I pressed the knife harder against my skin, wincing as it drew warm blood that flowed down my skin. He immediately put his hands up in surrender, flinching back in his former position.
"I'm afraid that I'm no different in that." Chuckling humorously my eyes went back to my uncle. His own were narrowed as if he was looking at his prey, just like that moment beneath the throne room when he betrayed us, when he took the prison and caused all this hell we were in now. I could feel the fury building up in me as my eyes turned red and flamed. "Those jedi you pledged to kill mean a lot to me and I would rather die than see you harm them."
"Put down your knife and I might consider letting them live." Arthas proposed.
"Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't. I mean, look at you." My eyes focused on the wall behind Derik, the stones unstable and cracked by the explosion. "All angry and everything. I have felt your hatred. I know all too well what you would do, Arthas, because I would probably kill them too if I were you. We are driven by our emotions like that."
"So now what?" Arthas growled. "We keep standing here? Waiting for you to slice your own throat or till one of us makes a wrong move?" He angrily slammed his fist on the table, making some of the tableware fall down on the ground with a loud crash as the wood groaned and split in two. "Don't be stupid!" Yelling, his voice turned into the same loud growl. "Your precious jedi were dead the moment they sat foot on this planet and you know it."
"No." I narrowed my eyes in determination, focusing on Derik as he nervously glanced between his master and me. The same power erupted inside of me, filling me with pride and confidence, feeling like I had a whole army at my back. "You were dead the moment you tried to kill them."
"Who do you think you are." Arthas dragged out each syllable menacingly, making the room vibrate with his voice. He was still trying to scare me but given the fact that I was going to die either way, it had little effect.
"Oh, you know, I'm merely the most accomplished doctor of the planet, daughter of a legend, a phoenix with anger management issues and queen of Valeria." I shrugged but remained deeply concentrated on the man before me. "But you, you're a complete idiot. Dumb enough to kidnap me and piss me off in the process." As I spoke the last few words my voice slowed and the fire started to engulf every part of me, slowly transforming. "If you ask me, not the best strategy."
"Okay, that's enough." Arthas stretched out his arm, making dark, misty tendrils appear from the ground beneath me that tried to grasp my limbs and hold me in place. Yet al they did was go right through them, flowing through the fire.
"Interesting." Looking down at the tendrils momentarily I smirked before dashing forward, colliding with Derik with an enormous force and pushing him through the wall which broke instantly. We fell out of the building with debris all around us as I grasped his shirt tightly in one hand, hitting him over and over again as we fell through the air and through another ceiling.
Derik was shouting loudly, trying to hit me back but all he managed was to burn himself as he tried. "You took everything from me!" I yelled in anger and continuously hit him before we broke through multiple layers of stone and rooms, hitting the ground of the basement about 6 storeys down with a loud crash as the burning wood fell right next to us.
Luckily for Derik, I was thrown off of him, rolling over the ground till I regained my balance and quickly stood back up, glaring at his figure as he struggled to do the same. "You should know, this wasn't personal." He coughed loudly as he swayed from side to side, struggling keep standing.
"You killed my adoptive father, freed the most dangerous criminal in Valerian history and so killed hundreds of people and then you kidnapped me from my own home. Of course this is personal!" I hit him in the face, hard, making him fall back to the ground again. "You betrayed the only person that ever even cared about you, and for what?! A seat to watch the world burn?!"
"Oh please, you can't tell me you hate Eric too!" Derik yelled back in frustration as he lifted his arms in surrender, making me halt my next assault mid-air. "He killed your father, so if anything, you ought to be grateful to me for avenging him." He hissed the last few words as his back hit the wall behind him. His eyes darted between my flaming appearance and the hole in the ceiling, hoping to see some form of rescue coming his way.
"Grateful?" My voice was full of spite as I stepped back to take a better look at him. His whole appearance was dishevelled and his eyes fearful. I almost didn't believe that he was the person that orchestrated this entire war. He was just a small man who couldn't fight his own battles and so freed another to do it for him. "To you? A coward and a traitor?"
"You Firehearts are nothing but anger and chaos." He spit as he scrambled back. "So are the Stormrages. All I did was try to rid Valeria of all that and give them a better future, something else than being locked up on this godforsaken planet and give them the power they deserve."
I scoffed, grasping his sword off the ground and igniting it with fire. "You keep telling yourself that."
"No, wait!" His eyes widened when I lifted the sword and aimed for his neck. He seemed to collect his thoughts for a long, stretching moment. "I.. I can arrange something for you!" Derik blurted, pushing his back against the wall. "You know I'm good with words, my dear niece, I-I can talk to Arthas for you." When I narrowed my eyes in confusion and halted my actions, he continued stammering on, mistaking my actions for interest. "And! And I can help you with winning the war, I'm a strategist! I mean, there's a reason I was Eric's advisor all these years and-"
His words got lost in the air as I instead felt something else. There was a weird sensation, almost a ghost of a touch just below my right ribcage. First it was just a small sting, but soon it grew worse and travelled to my heart, aching and trying to warn me of something. "Obi." My eyes widened immediately. The force bond was trying to tell me something and it wasn't good.
"Yes! And Obi, -" Derik tried to continue his pledge but soon noticed my distracted behaviour. He quieted suddenly and watched as I turned around in the direction of Eagle's Fall, my guard dropping almost completely.
"No." I whispered fearfully, my eyes focusing on the city in the distance through the small window in the basement. Then there was a sound, just a splinter breaking beneath his feet as he stood up and dashed towards me. I was just in time to flinch to the side, dodging the dagger he'd tried to plunge into my back and grasped that same hand, growling wildly.
"Shit." Derik's eyes widened as his grip loosened and the dagger fell, but his other hand shot out to catch it. I, however, was faster. I caught it mid-air and immediately stabbed him in the chest, my eyes focused on his as they flickered and trembled with the pain that soon followed.
"I, I, -" He stammered on, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked down at the blood on his hands. I pushed the dagger in further, wanting to end it rather sooner than later. Even after everything he did, killing him didn't give me pleasure it merely made me feel numb. All I wanted to do was get this over with and speed to Obi-Wan.
"The plan, it was perfect, how, -" He coughed softly, his eyes narrowing as he tried to step back but I followed. His knees gave out, falling to the floor as I kept the dagger in place. Realization seemed to hit him as I laid him down on the cold floor and his eyes looked up through the ceiling, seeing the ashes flowing in the sky.
Derik gasped for air desperately as the blood soaked his fine, Blackwing attire. At the last moment I saw regret flash through his eyes as he stared up and they glazed over. "Eric." He croaked, breathing out one last time. Sighing deeply, I reached out and closed his eyes carefully. There were no tears. Only an empty feeling. He'd been my uncle for years, yet now he seemed like a stranger that had just died in front of me.
"It is a shame." Rolling my eyes, I lifted them up to see Arthas casually walking through the door of the basement and closing it behind him, leaning against it as he shrugged. "He was a good servant."
"Arthas, have you ever heard of knocking?" Irritated, I stood up. He snickered for a moment but soon the light mood drastically changed as he charged at me. "And personal space!" He'd tried to grasp my arms but his hands went right through them as they changed into pure fire, burning himself in the process and quickly flinching back in pain. As before, the skin quickly healed due to my own life still being intact.
A smirk appeared on my face as I readied myself, bending my knees slightly. "My turn." Kicking him against his chest with all the power I had I send him through the wall deeper into the castle, seeing him fall to the ground about 2 chambers further, buried between rubble.
"Have a good night, Mr Blackwing!" I shouted at him and then created the most immense fireball I ever conjured, throwing it at the ceiling above him and watching as the entire castle fell down on his yelling, dazed and furious figure. "Thor knows you need one." I murmured but then quickly turned towards Eagle's fall, dusting off my hands and unwrapping my wings after blasting the wall open.
The pain was still there, reminding me of the jedi that was out there, hurt and fighting in my city. Even though I knew I'd have to die rather sooner than later, I wasn't going out knowing he was wounded. No, I was going to see him once more.
I was owed at least that.
Hello there!
Sassy Lyanna is back cause well... she's about to die soon so why the hell not. And, of course, we could all use the positivity that comes with it.
Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that I am doing better, which is nice! Aside from the fact that my stamina has sunk dramatically and I can't even cycle 2 FREAKING MINUTES BEFORE BEING OUT OF BREATH. (deep sigh) But that also means I'm working again and it's busy because the cases have been mounting up.
Sooo, looking back at last chapter I was hoping you guys could lend me a hand here. I mean, where's the support lads? Give me more of them comments because I love them and I want to feel loved and supported and bleh :( Don't be shy. I love you. (Oh but there are also those amazing people there that comment each chapter and if I could I would shower you with all my love for eternity)
Needless to say, this story is coming to an end. About 5 chapters left guys. Let's make them a good 5 chapters.
Stay Safe, stay healthy, and eat that damned snack 'cause you deserve it.