Reyna and Jason: The Praetor's of New Rome - Sacrifice

The War: Hindsight

This guy refuses to go down.

I punched him.

Kicked him.

Electrocuted him.

Head butted him.

Hell, I even bit him.

But he got up every single time.

Max punched me, hard. I stumbled back against a tree, breathing heavily. Max stalked towards me, looking like a walking corpse. His cloak was half burnt. Blood oozed out of multiple cuts and bruises on his exposed skin. His golden armor was dented and cracked in multiple places.

His injuries should have killed him, but in-spite of all of it, his eyes glowed blood red.

"You coward." Max said, his voice hoarse. "All that power and you can't finish the job. Your weak."

I coughed up some blood. "What are.... What are we doing?"

Max straighten up with great effort, he grabbed two flask from his belt and uncapped them. He drank one deeply and tossed me the other. Call me crazy for trusting him, but I drank it immediately.

My heart skipped a few beats, the taste transferred me back to warm memory. A few days after my first major quest. Gwen, Reyna and I drinking hot chocolate at the coffee shop just below the garden of Bacchus.

Max finished drinking, many of his wounds healing immediately. His eyes lost in its own distance memory.

"Feel it." Max said, tearing up. "The love. The beauty. Remember what your fighting for. And then..."

His eyes blazed blood red again. Rage began to consume me. Scenarios of Max killing Reyna and Gwen played in my head, feeding the fire burning inside me.

"And let it all burn. Deep inside of you. To finish the job!" Max roared, charging me.

I took a deep breath. "I've had enough of this. Of you."

I raised my hand and Max stopped in his track, immediately clutching his neck.

"I believe....... Believed in the best in everybody. Even the worst of us." I said, my voice low. "I even believed..... After everything you've done so far..... You would see reason, and stop."

Max fell on his knees, gasping for air that I denied from him. "But you showed me that wasn't the case. You showed me that my father was right."

Max stared into my eyes, even suffocating, his eyes burned with defiance. "You murdered innocent people for someone who's already gone." I continued. "Denying yourself the chance to see him in the afterlife."

I squeezed my hand and Max's eyes turned bloodshot. "Your no monster. Your a foo-OOOOF."

Something tackled me, hard. I went flying maybe a mile before I recovered from the shock. I saw a flash of golden wings and became enraged. "You again! I'm doing what you want!"

Lightning sparked from my body, separating us. We rolled over the rugged terrain, smashing through bushes and trees.

I got up, ready to take flight towards Max, but the golden winged warrior tackled me again. They forced me too the ground, hand on the side of my face pushing me. Using my right eye, I caught a glimpse of who held me down. It was too dark to see their face, but I could make out a braid and glowing purple eyes.

My body crackled with lightning. "Bellona! Did my father send you again? Did he think I couldn't finish the job!?"

"Jason, please stop." The warrior said above. They pressed their elbow against my face, all their weight on me.