The Druid Wielder

Chapter 41

Bargonaan lay on the ground, motionless.

My blood coated sword looked back at me.

My screams echoed to each corner of my mind just as the screams of my past nightmares. Stop! Stop! Make them stop! I tried to scream over them. It was then I realized they were not my own, but those of Kelrith.

"Brother! Brother!" Kelrith sat hunched over Bargonaan, shoulder's curled. "We need to save him!" He said through gut-wrenching sobs. Kelrith tore off his shirt and placed it on the oozing wound. He turned his head to me, nostrils flaring.

"Somebody get her out of here!" Kelrith let out a guttural roar.

"Run all you want but your mind will forever be mine." I heard Abernan's voice echo through my ears. No. Not this again.

"He is going to die because of you," Abernan said with a sigh. "If you hadn't run away he most likely would still be alive."

Bargonaan's body lay there lifeless.

"No, you did this! Not me!" If I let him into my head, I would lose myself. Just like last time. No, this time everyone was counting on me to get through it somehow. Damn it all. What was I to do?

"Keep resisting and your other friends will meet the same fate."

"Emilea! What have you done!" Akyto yelled at me.

"She is being controlled!" Palleas motioned for Akyto to stay back.

My vision started to fade. Soon I would lose consciousness, just like the last time. Once that happened I would no longer see the present.

"We need to stop her, now!"

Their voices seemed far now as if they were shouting from high up on a mountain.

"But we are almost out."

"Right now we need to-"

They needed to stop me. There was nothing more they could do until they did. Otherwise, Abernan would get his way with me.

I couldn't hear their voices anymore. I could no longer feel my tainted sword tightly gripped in my hand. I was in the black abyss, somewhere deep within my own mind.

"I am sorry it had to come to this." Out of all the voices to still hear, why did it have to be Abernans'?

"My friends will stop me!" I told him in my mind.

"Sadly, that will not be the case. If they understood what was at stake they would leave you behind."

"They know exactly what is at stake!" I told him.

"I must admit you are not the frail girl I imagined you were, and why would you be? You are Ophilius's creation. Though you are foolish to think you can stop me, that anyone can stop me."

"Alone I can not stop you, but an entire country can. Your end will be the same as the King's."

"Oh? It is easy to be brave when you have comrades fighting beside you. Perhaps your feelings would change if you saw them now before they died at your hand?"

The area lit up. The darkness had disappeared, though I realized I would rather it consume me again. There, on the ground in front of me, was Kelrith. He looked up at me with wide eyes. My sword swung down.

I wanted to look away but I couldn't.

"Kelrith!" My thoughts screamed through my mind. I was going to kill him as he mourned over his brother.

Then suddenly I could no longer see him.

Someone had jumped in the way. My sword dug into flesh. Blood gushed out staining the tan-colored tunic. They fell to the ground.