Zemblanity

Chapter 25

He looked at the limp body of his mother on the ground, he expected rage to seep in and overpower him anytime but surprisingly the first thing he felt was defeat. Defeat for his family, for his clan, for the son residing inside him.

Rusalka Archfiend; the strongest royal to ever be the empress of the Archfiend clan, now dead defending her son from their sworn enemy, an enemy her son loved.

He wanted to look the killer in the eye but those blue-grey orbs would somehow make him see the logic behind the hideous act. He had sworn to his heart that he will not fight her. His weapon will not point in her direction ever, but now the circumstances forcing him to act either as a son of a deceased mother who lived for him or as a lover whose muse of affection shot his mother.

Azrozan finally looked at her; she held no remorse. He let out a shaky breath and took the gun from his mother's holster.

"I won't fight you." He repeated his mantra.

"You will die."

"The taste of death is always welcomed if it comes from you."

"You're a horrible son." She spat.

"My mother taught me to never break a promise especially the one made to your own heart and I promised myself, I will not fight you Seraphina."

"If you expect some sort of regret then don't; I just killed my own sister and many others with that gun, I am beyond feeling anything." Seraphina said, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"So, the empress is dead? That ends the war altogether." Azrozan stated.

"Not really; not for me at least. This war will end with the end of this division; the division of light and dark, the division that has blinded us all." Seraphina declared.

"Sera, I don't know what new obsession this is but what you're saying is next to impossible." Azrozan said.

"It's not new Azrozan, it was always the first priority; freedom."

"You're ready to have the blood of so many including your sister's on your hands for freedom."

"History as we know it proves that freedom demands sacrifice."

"What is wrong with you? Who even talks like that?" Azrozan questioned.

"The point is in order to achieve what originally started all of this people will have to die, I have accepted it." Seraphina said.

Before Azrozan could counter any further, Seraphina took a step closer to him.

"I want you to fight me, if this is the end then it better be a fair one." She spoke.

"I will not fight you." He repeated himself.

"Azrozan, this is the end, at least let me make it interesting." Seraphina said.

"If this is the end then I will take that bullet." Azrozan said.

"You want to die a coward my murk?" Seraphina taunted.

"One way to look at it." Azrozan responded.

Seraphina took another step towards him, her grip tightening around the gun.

"Azrozan do not for a second think that your resistance to fight will make me change my mind. I made a promise to someone; a someone who wasn't allowed to love freely as long as she lived, so I bloody well intend to keep that promise." Seraphina said.

"I am not the one stopping you from pulling that trigger Sera, in fact I am offering no resistance whatsoever. Go ahead, kill me." Azrozan said.

Seraphina closed her eyes for a split second and then looked at the younger Archfiend but this time her eyes showed no emotions.

"I didn't want it to be this way but I gotta do what is required." She spoke.

"What to do you mean?"

"I will give you a reason to fight Azrozan Archfiend." She said and pulled the trigger.

Azrozan's eyes closed expecting the bullet to pierce through him anyway. However, he only felt the phantom touch of the bullet as it missed him and hit the person behind him.

He turned around to see the body drop dead on the ground with the bullet wound right in the middle of his forehead.

"Abdiel!" the younger Archfiend screamed.

"I killed your brother Archfiend, fight me now. Fight me you coward!" Seraphina roared.

In his haze he didn't realize that Seraphina was close enough for him to stretch his arm and touch her.

"You told me the mere thought of killing your brother will get someone on your hitlist, so I just fucking ended him, come one Azrozan, fight me." She provoked.

Her words were barely registered by him. His eyes focused on his brother's dead body.

"Come one Azro-" her sentence was cut off when Azrozan turned around and wrapped his hand around her throat, chocking the life out of her.

"You fucking-" he could not complete his sentence as he finally felt a bullet pierce through his stomach.

His eyes looked down at the patch of blood appearing on his stomach and then back at his angel. He then saw the emotion she was devoid of for the longest time.

His body lost balance but he was engulfed in his angel's arms and then another bullet was put into his stomach. Then another.

Seraphina gently laid him down on the ground, his head in her lap.

"Why the misty eyes my angel? You ended the baron and the second in command, its over." He choked out.

"I pray to hell and heaven that the next time we meet, the end consists of gray and old and not bullets."

"I don't want... I... I don't want to meet you again. Once was...enough." He was losing life.

"I want to apologize but it had to be done."

"I understand, but leave with my end. Put another bullet and end me...please." He begged.

Seraphina took in a shuddering breath, her eyes closing momentarily. She aimed the gun at his stomach again but Azrozan grabbed her hand and aimed it at his forehead.

His eyes looked into hers, saying so much yet it wasn't enough for either of them.

She truly wished something to be different so that she would not find herself in this situation but no one has ever been spared by this animosity between hell and heaven.

"I love you." He spoke, his eyes waiting for something.

A tear rolled down her face and she pressed the trigger. The shot rang loud as the second in command's life escaped him completely.

Seraphina breathed deep as more gun shots echoed around her...

The End...