The Curse of Night

Night - Broken Arrow

I continued to lay where I had fallen a while ago, confused, and hoping she'd understand I didn't mean to shoot her. I slowly sat up, and got to my feet. Something extremely dark exploded quite dramatically in front of me. It was hissing, snarling, and its eyes blazed in anger.

I sprang backwards, and out of habit, grabbed my crossbow. Again I fell.

I set the crossbow down, and crawled backwards. "Rague?!"

Fear stabbed me like a VenomMage's flying dagger. I shivered, as he started screaming things at me, looking more and more angered.

"How DARE you?! She TRUSTED you, Night!" From what I knew about Demons, he looked like he was about to be in full-blown Shadow Demon killing mode.

I continued to back up. "Rague, please! I can explain!"

His current form looked almost like ink, and was a deep red. I curled into a ball, he still looked like he was going to murder me. But it he looked like he stopped momentarily to listen.

"I.. Didn't... Mean to!"

I sighed shakily, trying to make my voice less tight from fear.

"I shot the thing  I saw standing, in an attempt to HELP her. But, it turned, or something, and I accidentally shot her instead. It was dark and I couldn't see what was going on!"

I kept my eyes on him, trying to figure out if he was still about to rip my face off or not. Now it seemed like he was pacing. I slowly uncurled and sat up.

He glared at me, obviously still angry. I winced.

"You realize she isn't going to trust you now?!"

I nodded.

"She's going to drive herself insane!"

I nodded again. "I-I guess... I don't kn-"

I stopped speaking when he turned and gave me an overly harsh glare.

"AND YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS OR WHATEVER ARE GOING TO KILL HER."

I winced again, digging my nails into the ground.

His colouring changed again, now blue with sorrow. "I've tried getting to her... It's not possible for me.."

Was this my chance to fix things? Or, was this my time to get killed?

"R-Rague... I'm a Mage... I CAN get to her." I slowly stood up, so I could go collect my arrows. Or... Well, the ones I missed my mark on. The others disappeared with the Mages that fell, and I didn't want to risk pulling the arrow out of the VenomMage's chest, because I didn't know what little tricks they had when they died. For all I knew, it could poison me.

Maybe I deserved it, I don't know!

I watched Rague walk to a tree, and stab it with a dagger several times. A dagger that used to be Natalie's...

He stopped for a moment, then stabbed it a few more times out of anger.

I sighed, and walked to the bush for the first missed shot I had. I pulled the arrow out, and it broke, with a large snapping sound. Again I sprang backward. Not out of fear, but remembering Natalie's reaction to the arrow hitting her..

Trust... Shattered... It broke, like the arrow...

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and turned in time to see Rague miss the tree. He stumbled, then fell.

"Well done. Did that accomplish anything? Anything, AT ALL?"

I threw the broken arrow to the ground. I watched him grumble a lot while lying there, and then stabbed the ground quite a few times.

I looked at the two arrows I did have. I muttered several curses, knowing I have TWO shots, and probably at the same Mage. I miss things a lot. My crossbow is still the best form of protection I have...

Sighing, I sat down, watching Rague stare at the dagger with sadness. He probably had some connection to it I'll never understand. "Rague... I might not return. I have two arrows. That's two shots."

I watched him make a few more arrows appear. "Take them."

His voice was cold, and he went back to stabbing the ground.

"Ok, SIX shots. Even if I had a thousand arrows, I still might not return! There's hundreds of them, and ONE of me. With a crossbow."

He stopped stabbing the ground for a moment. "Mm. Okay..."

I let out an irritated sigh, and put the extra four in the quiver on my back. I then grabbed my crossbow.

"Night. I... Am coming with you."

Surprised, I looked over at him. "What? ... You're sure?"

Rague stood, dusting himself off. "Yeah. Of course I'm sure." He morphed into a half-human, half-demon form. The knife disappeared from his hand. "I want Natalie back. If you die, then... I can't get there, and she'll have no chance. But if I come with you, I won't have to give up on her in a really painful way if you do die."

Rague suddenly gave me a very serious look. "Hey... If Natalie's eyes are pure black, DO NOT go near her. She'll stop at nothing, not even me, to kill you."

I shivered.

He looked down. "There's also a mark on her arm. It might be a little difficult for you to find or see." He held out his arm for me to look. Something like a crystal tattoo was on it. It was moving... Several other crystals were "orbiting" it.

I thought for a moment. "How does this help me?"

He looked up at me. "It shows a Demon's sanity."

He looked back down at it. He rubbed it, then held his arm out for me to look again. It was now blue. The crystal looked cracked, and breaking. "This... This is Natalie's crystal."

I watched it for a few moment, then shook my head slightly. "Alright. We should probably go sooner, rather than later."

He rubbed it, and it went back to black. "Wait, wait. Were you planning on leaving later?"

He seemed to be on edge again.

"What?"

"Oh. No. You just seemed to enjoy explaining your moving crystal tattoo thing."

After a few moments of silence, I spoke again. "When I teleport us there, you might be a little dizzy. I know you probably teleport a lot, based on your dramatic appearance not long ago, but the way a Mage does it will probably be a little different." I watched him quietly, to make sure he understood.

Finally he spoke. "Demons lose their sanity at different rates. Depends on situations. Cages will be a quicker way."

You idiot. Did you listen to me AT ALL?

"Okay."

He blinked. "Let's go."

I nodded slightly, and put my hand on his shoulder.

The forest around us faded, and everything went black. For the few moments we seemed to be floating in nothing, he looked uneasy. Not long after that, the stone walls of Glory's hideout appeared around us.

Rague collapsed. I quickly turned away, realizing he was going to be sick. I waited patiently for him to finish, pulling out my crossbow, in case someone heard, even though he stayed as silent as possible.

I heard him shiver.

"You alright?"

He stood, and walked over, shaking a little. "I'm fine."

I looked around quietly. There were three tunnels. I knew the one that went to Glory's little "office" thing, being I have been there before, and somehow lived to tell the tale. However, I would only go down that, if I knew for certain Natalie was down there.