Raven of Water

Chapter 32: Death

"No." I cried as my hand shot to my throat where I expected to feel ravaged, broken flesh my subconscious thought was still there. But, along my neck was normal flesh. No blood. No injury.

I had to help Kai. 

By the time my eyes focused on him and Daz, I found the two monsters locked in a violent struggle. I'd always known Kai to be strong yet Daz was stronger, and the demon soon had Kai pinned to the ground. The black ceremonial dagger was gone, tossed to the ground somewhere, and in it's place, Daz held my knife.

The beautiful one.

A knife that he drove down straight into Kai's chest. Daz twisted the weapon for good measure, grinning darkly at the form of my fading lover.

"No!" I repeated, as my wits returned to me and I stumbled nearer as I watched Kai reach up to clutch his chest where the knife rested. Kai looked... relieved.

And Daz...

Daz looked thrilled as he gloated over Kai's body while the man writhed in agony beneath him. Still smiling, Daz stood, stepping away from Kai. With a curse and a stirring of my magic, I ran to Kai's side. Daz didn't stop me as I fell to the ground beside the demon, pulling his head into my lap and cradling it as the blood from my injuries dripped down and mingled with his. My rage mounting into a malestrom, I realized that the growling from the portal was growing more intense. In the corner of my vision, I saw the face of more beasts in the undulating purple mass of the portal. They were getting closer, though I refused to look into any of their eyes.

Only Kai mattered right now.

Kai simply grinned at me, knife sticking out of his chest, the hilt of polished wood glinting in the light cast by the portal. "I did it."

"Did what?" I whispered, my tears dripping onto his face.

He just shook his head, palm reaching up to cup my cheek as he merely grinned at me while his pulse grew weaker. "I'm sorry about all the lies. I needed to keep the dark lord trusting me. In another time, that's how I beat him, but you still died then. And I... I didn't know if this would work, but it did—"

As I watched Kai struggle to finish his sentence, I felt the guttering of his magic, ushering in rage so pure that it gutted me and stole my breath.

No.

It wasn't supposed to go this way. I wouldn't lose Kai. The world wouldn't lose the man. He'd stop this evil that was trying to seep into my world.

Something about this entire battle felt off, wrong in a way that I couldn't comprehend. All I knew was that this sequence of events wasn't right. It wasn't time.

Time.

Praying to the goddess, I leaned over and kissed Kai's head as I gathered my magic to do what instinct told me. I dipped into Kai's own powers, gasping when I felt how little of the man there was left.

"Lex—"

But his weak protest fell on deaf ears as I called his powers to myself, dipping into his well of time control and wrapping myself in his magic, willing time to march backward. I could tell by his flagging strength that I wouldn't go far, only a few minutes into the past.

But, a few minutes was time enough.

I gasped as I felt his magic working, winding its way through my body as I struggled to make sense of how Kai's ancient powers worked. The whole thing left me ragged and breathless. I shuddered as, with the time before when I'd used Kai's magic to go back to the past, I felt a chasm open up, pulling me in like a black hole sucks in matter. Kai was muttering something that I didn't hear as I slipped into that void, letting out a shuddering breath as I slammed into the reality that had existed moments before after Kai had reversed time to save my life but before his attack on Daz.

The world was spinning as my mind struggled to make sense of so many abrupt changes, but after a moment of disorientation, the confusion cleared and I could see the scene laid out before me. 

Kai was there behind Daz, moving closer to confront the other demon and drive his dagger pointlessly into the man's back while I was held roughly against the portal.

Summoning what little physical strength I had left, I fought Daz's hold and spun myself around, ignoring the sounds of evil emanating from the portal beside me. Kai cried out a warning to me seconds before Daz lowered the knife, intending to strike my Kirroz but instead slicing down and into my own chest.

For a moment, I felt pain so horrendous that the world grew dizzy, fuzzy, but then it faded into a beautiful numbness as I smiled and looked up at the overcast sky.

The ravens seemed pleased.

This was how it should be.

Kai wailed, and I sighed as I fell into his arms. Near us, Daz laughed, his hands dipping into my blood, bathing in it before he strutted over to the portal and began smearing it all over the stones, leaving the knife protruding almost comically from my chest.

"Stop him..." My words were thin, and although I knew things were as they should be now, I had no idea what was to happen next. I was scared but strangely relieved. 

The ravens looked relieved, too.

"Lex. No, no, no... It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Not again."

There were tears in his eyes, and the world was growing fuzzy. I laughed weakly before muttering. "I know. I just saw that future where you took the knife for me. It sucks..."

"You—" His words trailed off as I felt him gathering his own power, planning to undo all the time magic I'd just woven, but that wouldn't be right. We'd already messed with time so much, I feared we'd break reality if we kept it up.

This was how it was supposed to be. That's why the ravens were here.

"Please, Kai... no. Let me go."

"I can't," he said, shaking his head as his tears fell, "not again, Lex. Don't make me do this again."

I hushed him before offering him as good a smile as I could manage considering I felt myself dying. In my peripheral vision, I noticed my grandfather and Jackson chanting as dark, clawed hands began reaching out of the portal, stretching out and into the muted, overcast light of day in my world.

Our world. 

Mine and Kai's. 

This world belonged to us, my subconscious mind corrected me as I gazed at Kai. This was his world as much as it was mine. It had been love for me that had made Kai abandon his world, his home, his place, to join the legions of the dark lord in a world where he didn't belong because he thought it would bring us together, thought the dark lord could bring us together. For that sacrifice, I couldn't ever repay him. Inside me, my magic was guttering, and I cried too as I realized that I probably wouldn't see the man I loved again. I'd already died, lost him, and then found him again once.

I doubted very much that I'd be so lucky again.

"Stop him!" I thought I'd yelled the words, though when they reached my ears, I noticed my voice was small and strained. In fact, my plea had been soft enough that I doubted Kai had even heard me.

"I can't do this again, Lex."

I wanted to kiss him, but the world was going black and I cried out as it dawned on me that even though this was the way things were supposed to go, it was the fate that the universe wanted. It wasn't the fate I wanted.

I didn't want to die. Not again. I didn't want to leave Kai again. That wasn't fair.

Then there was a flash of my purple magic that was promptly overtaken by a brighter and hotter white light, magic that was definitely neither mine nor Kai's...