Change of Heart

Chapter 25

A friend? What's that supposed to mean? I glanced at his staff for a moment, recognizing the dragon head on it. Could that mean...?

A green light appeared starting to circle around his body. Following it, a line of fire shot out of the dragon mouth. "Awaken, Jura!" Alek called out, and a dark green mist started seeping out of the mouth. The mist began to form into the shape of a dragon. It was green and scaly, almost twice the size of the Cerberus'. The dragon shrieked. It was such a high pitched noise, I ended up having to cover my ears. I noticed that both Zander and Alex were distracted too.

Alek flew up into the air giving the dragon orders. He stood by my side again once he was finished. Obeying, Jura took flight and flew straight to Zander's Cerberus. Jura overpowered the Cerberus digging it's sharp claws in to its back. While the dragon had a hold of it, Agni charged in and pounced on it. The Cerberus howled in pain. All three of Agni's head chomped on it's back ripping off its flesh. The Cerberus collapsed and Jura dropped him through the hole he once came through. The dragon swooped down to finish the job while Agni turned towards his master.

Zander paid no mind to it, his only focus was Alex. He began over powering Alex, causing him to slow down. "You are a much more worthy opponent than I had expected." He slammed his spear against Alex's sword as he blocked the attack.

"Don't try to sweet talk me." Snapping back, Alex pushed his spear back and sliced the air between him and Zander. Agni jumped up attacking Zander from behind. As he landed, Zander disappeared and reappeared behind Alex. He swung his spear ready to pierce him, but Alex sensed it before it could make a scratch.

Zander smirked. "How about we make this a little more interesting? Shall we!" He jumped back, vanishing. Looking around, he was nowhere in sight. My stomach began to turn. What did he mean by that?

"Dammit! Where the hell are you hiding!?" Growing furious, Alex scanned the area looking for him. Turning his head left and right, Zander's laugh filled the air. I couldn't even tell which way it was coming from. Alek was beginning to get tense too. I walked up behind him, grabbing a hold of his shirt. The laughing continued sounding more devious. My grip tightened as my body began to tremble. Alex's rage rose by the second. "SHOW YOURSELF DAMMIT!!"

The air grew quiet. It made me uneasy. I began glancing around feeling paranoid. What is he plotting? Alex stood on his feet clenching his fists. The tension began building exponentially. I watched Alex as he stood there, lost in thought. His eyes widened and he faced the two of us. "Dammit! You two, get away from there!"

The second he said that, I was snatched from behind, and I released Alek's shirt. Alek's reaction was slow, but Alex appeared right in front of me reaching for my hand. As I reached out to him, he was gone. "Alex!" No...he was just right there. How can he be gone!?

Zander had taken me out of the castle, where the fire burned bright. Holding my body right over it, we hovered in the air over the flames. "How's this for an interesting turn?"

I began to scream out making my body squirm. He unwrapped his arms quickly taking a hold of my wrist before I fell in the fire. I groaned from the sudden pain.

"What should I do to you?" Zander whispered. I looked down and saw the flames. Lifting my other arm, I took a hold of Zander's wrist as a resort in case he let me go. "Oh? Clinging to me now are we?"

"ZANDER!!" Alex screamed from behind ramming him straight in the back. The sound of bones breaking bounced in the inside of my ears. His hand released mine and I wound up releasing his. Zander's body fell as mine began to approach the flames. I was suddenly pulled up from behind. Alex's arms were wrapped around my waist and I let out a sigh of solace. My heart was stuck in an unending labyrinth with my body aching all over.

Alex brought me back inside the castle where Agni and Alek remained. When we returned, Alex unwrapped his arms and I instantly fell to my knees.

"Serine." Alex walked in front of me helping me back up to my feet. "Are you ok?" I stood there with a blank expression on my face. I still couldn't wrap my head around any of this.

"You should take her back before anything else happens." Alek suggested, and Alex agreed. He called Agni back and wrapped his arms around me.

As Alek opened a portal, Alex asked him. "What about you?"

"I've got to go find Jura. Don't worry about me right now, watch over her." Alek saluted us and vanished.

I wrapped my arms around Alex's neck as he swept me off my feet. Looking out into the distance, I saw Caden's smiling face staring back at me. Closing my eyes tight, the tears all came back at once. Alex walked through the portal and my body instantly felt a chill in the air. We finally made it back. Finally out of hell. Thank goodness.

Alex brought me to his house finally setting me down on my feet. "Wait here, I'm going to get you some medicine for your wound." My wound? That's right...I had completely forgotten about it. I traced it with the tips of my fingers underneath the scarf, realizing that the bleeding stopped. From all that tension, I ended up forgetting this pain.

Glancing down, I saw the blood that stained my dress...Caden's blood. As Alex walked back in, he guided me toward the couch. I planted my feet stopping him. "What's wrong?"

"I...I have to change..." My voice cracked as I held back the tears. "I can't...I can't wear this any longer..."

He nodded and kissed my forehead. "You can change into some of my clothes for now. I don't have many, but it's something." I nodded in response, and went to his room. Changing out of the dress, I threw it to the ground and slipped off my heels. I threw on a black long sleeve shirt with a pair of grey sweats. I had to fold the top a few times before they stayed around my waist.

Walking back out, I sat on the couch in front of Alex. He started treating the wounds across my chest. I tightly took a hold of the sweatpants. Trying so hard not to break down, I tensed all the muscles in my body, holding it all in. Trying to hard, my body began to ache even more, and I couldn't hold it in any longer. I broke down sobbing and screaming. My face buried in the palms of my hands.

Alex wrapped his arms around me. He kissed the side of my neck gently.

Shaking my head, I wanted to forget it all...forget that any of it ever happened. Mostly, I wanted to forget the sight of Zander taking Caden's life away. That sight alone sight was enough to break me completely, just as he wanted.