Destined To Die

Chapter 29 - Tree of Life

-29-

-Tree of Life-

Akane fought back the fading entity's hunger, the ravenous craving to end Bastian's life and rip out his soul. The damage was already done, the last Palatine lay dying on the ground below him, the radiant aura flickering and fading, golden blood seeping into the ground at their feet. Akane let go of all the anger, letting the form of the entity fade away into ash on the wind, leaving only himself behind. He stood next to the dying warrior, swords in hand, bleeding heavily from his stomach from the stab wound he'd received from Jun that had been all but forgotten.

"I'm sorry," Akane said, dropping a sword into the mud and kneeling with a wince down beside Bastian's side, "For your brother, for everything."

He could feel the amulet pulsing against his chest, the hunger of the entity as Bastian's soul slipped closer and closer to passing, but Akane pushed down the urge with a cold detachment.

"I don't want your pity," Bastian spat, struggling to get to his feet, though his limbs were ruined. The wounds he had sustained, the strain of the power he'd been wielding, too much for even The Palatine to bear. He could do little more than lay there and die, the weight of his own armour inhibiting his movement.

Akane's bloodied hand reached out, laying on the pauldron of Bastian's armour gently as the rain fell around them.

"I hope you get to see him again," Akane said gently, feeling his own blood spilling to the ground by their feet, mixing with Bastian's "I mean that. Whatever comes next, I hope he's there with you."

He looked down and saw the fury in Bastian's eyes, and the deep sorrow that hid behind it.

"Would you have stopped?" Akane asked softly, "if I hadn't killed you? Would you have been able to?"

The look he got was full of venom, though the tone was one of bitter acceptance, the word coming through teeth coated in golden blood, "No."

"I thought not." There was no anger in Akane's words, just an exhaustion that seeped down into his bones.

Still the Palatine said nothing, seemingly content to die on the ground without uttering another word. Each one of his breaths came shallower than the last, blood pooling thicker beneath them by the second, a heavy gold splashed with Akane's crimson. Jun walked over through the dim light, the storm fading, blood dripping from the tips of his fingers along his wounded arm. He looked down at the two men, a cold glare on his face, though he made no move to intervene.

Akane just knelt there as the rain slowly relented, a hand resting on the dying man's shoulder, watching as the aura around the Palatine faded.

"Sleep well," Akane muttered as Bastian took his last breath, the armour going still, the last of the life leaving him as the light faded, shrouding the field in darkness once again.

The dim flicker of witchlight drew closer as Abigail advanced, warily circling around Jun and waiting for Akane to make the first move. Maddy and Sabbath closed in as well, making their way to back Akane up as he picked up the sword and pushed himself to his feet, bleeding heavily from the deadly wound in his gut. The blood flowed heavily from the stab wound Jun had given him earlier, he already felt disoriented and clammy, sheathing both blades over his back.

"What now?" he asked quietly, looking to Jun.

The swordsman was silent for a long moment, seething as he glared at Akane. His hand twitched, the bloody green blade in his grasp flickering slightly as he thought.

"Why did you spare me?" he asked eventually, raising a wounded arm to reinforce his grip on the weapon, voice full of venom, "That was a mistake."

"Because things have been guiding us all along this path," Akane replied simply, his voice flat and measured, taking his time with each word, "Everything that's happened, every coincidence, every choice that led us here, has been part of somebody's plan. They want me to kill you, and I'm choosing not to. It's over, Jun. Walk away."