Amortal Song

12.Soul

Calypso

A strangled sound clawed its way out of my throat as I fought against the hold of Arden's arms.

This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. It shouldn't be happening. If Odysseus was gone, so was my ticket out of Umbeunter. Since he was gone I wouldn't be able to leave and I would be stuck in the ghastly levels for gods knows how long.

I didn't care if he was gone- I cared if I was going to be able to leave this nightmare of a place.

I managed to pull free from Arden's grip, scrambling toward the flower and muttering, "No, no, no." The voices had gone silent by now, either too shocked by what had just happened or eager for another soul to be taken, my soul.

The red rose still stood, mocking me and daring me to prick my thumb on its sharp thorns, Resting inside the flower was Odysseus' soul- a vibrant purple against a deep red.

The flower seemed to be consuming it, the purple becoming smaller and smaller inside it. Tears slipped down my face, landing down into the flower and mixing with the purple.

I balled my hands tightly by my side, keeping myself from touching the deadly thorns. I couldn't let myself fall into its trap as well. The murmurings of the voices picked up again- trying to lure me to pick a different flower and be rid of my sorrow and guilt, allow them to help me escape.

Someone gently took my hand and pulled me away but I didn't care. Tears blurred my vision as I choke out sob after sob, curling up into a ball in the middle of the field, willing sleep to take me away from the nightmare that had just happened.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't think.

I wasn't an elf or a human or amortal or anything I had ever been in my other lives.

I wanted to...

"Calypso, Calypso, wake up." A voice whispered across my conscious. I tried to shake it away, wanting to stay in the quiet darkness I had sunk into. A hand squeezed mine, willing me to give in to their touch and return to the place best forgotten. "Calypso, it's safe now."

I curled up tighter, willing sleep to drag me back under so I wouldn't have to hear the pleading voice. Maybe if I allowed myself to accept the sorrow and fed on it long enough- death would come along and sweep me up. If Odysseus was gone I had no way out of Umbeunter. The person began shaking my shoulders, calling me in a more urgent voice than before, "Calypso! Vespera's coming!"

"Go away," I managed to mumble out. "Let Vespera kill me. I don't care."

The person heaved an annoyed sigh and frantically said, "And I thought you were finally going to be the one who pulled me out of my guilt of watching all the others die, the one to finally escape. I was counting on you. But you're just as bad as Vespera. Just as selfish. You're giving up because you can't get out of Umbeunter now that Odysseus is gone. You never loved him and you didn't like him when we rescued him from the tower, and don't even try and deny it. All you did was use him for your selfish reasons, reasons that hurt others."

His words dragged me out of the darkness, causing me to grit my teeth and mutter, "If I could join Vespera now, I gladly would, just to be rid of you."

He laughed bitterly, "She is more likely to kill you now- after that trick, you pulled to save me, no less."

I scoffed and opened my eyes, glaring daggers at the figure hunched over me. Arden's eyes were just as cold as I felt.

I blinked once, twice, and then screamed as I felt a pain shoot through my back.

His face shifted from a scowl to a look of pure horror as I felt the blood start to seep down, warm and sticky against my otherwise cold skin. My vision began to blur from the loss of blood, making me weak and unable to scramble away from the searing pain running through me- pure agony.

Vespera's laugh echoed in my head and I watched her lean over me, her dagger covered in my blood.

"Not so cunning are you know, little minx?" Her dagger edged for my throat and I gritted my teeth, "We would've been such great allies, you and I, but you have chosen the wrong path, risking everything for him. Arden can't save you know, dear, he's going down next. Not like you'll be alive to hear his last words, begging for me not to do it."

I lifted my head to see a blurry figure running through the fields of flowers, not once looking back at me. To shake with the pain coursing through me, I couldn't be mad at him.

I wouldn't be able to get out.

Not this time.

Already, out of the corner of my eye, I could see black lines streaking across my arm, symptoms of that wretched dagger. Vespera's eyes gleamed with delight at the sight of me curled up on myself, blood running down my back as the life slowly seeped out of me.

I could barely think through the pain.

But through the haze, I knew these would be my last moments.

My last breaths, no matter how ragged they were, would be taken on a field of deadly flowers.

Vespera slowly stood, brushing the hair out of my face in a gentle manner like she was preparing me to be presented as a bleeding corpse.

"Go now," she said, "follow the light. There won't be anything left for you to live for in a few moments."

I swallowed hard, tasting the copper taste of blood on my teeth as I hacked a heaving cough, a splatter of blood coming out. Again, Vespera repeated the words but I fought to keep my eyes from closing. Fleeting thoughts filled my mind but one rang like a distant bell-

The only light you'll follow will be the one to lead you to the lamp posts on the bridge.

No matter how much I hated Arden for what he had said, I knew he was right.

Maybe I was selfish.

Maybe I hurt people.

Maybe I was just as bad as Vespera.

But it was for all the right reasons.

All the reasons that mattered to me.

So with my last thoughts, I sent out a prayer, a prayer to the elven gods that they would help me. 

As my breaths became more ragged and I felt my life slipping away, becoming just out of my reach, I kept praying. Praying that one of them would listen. Praying that I wouldn't die like this. Praying that I would have another chance to not become a spirit on the bridge.

And as I closed my eyes, still fighting to stay awake, I felt my body tingle as the blinding light swept me away.