Seven Lost Lords: The Anomaly

Ch. 18: Death Date

"Fall back!" Illesior screamed as a thunderbolt raced towards us.

Suddenly we rolled backward, down the hill, and then a deafening boom echoed in my ears. A blast of heat and thunder fanned my mane back, sending me flying off the hillside.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed, flailing about wildly and feeling nothing but whip-like wind.

I braced myself for an inevitable bone-shattering impact, but instead I felt the grass caress my feet gently. I stood up.

We need to strike at the heart of the storm. Dukalis said suddenly.

"Dukalis?" I was so shocked by the oncoming danger that I had forgotten about him.

Before you ask, yes, I did save you. Now, come on. You'll need my magic more than ever before. The magician spoke briskly as I felt a sudden rush of energy burst into my veins, blazing like indignant fire and filling my soul. Suddenly I felt invincible.

Stride forth, young one. I will guide you.

I raced back up the hill without question, the wind whipping my face like a scourge on the back of a prisoner of war. I could dimly see the grass being torn up by the roots and thrown into the storm, but yet my feet remained safely on the ground in a repetitive rhythm.

Finally I reached the rise once more, and Illesior had scrambled back to the top, standing hunched against the devious storm. His eyes glowed azure in the thunder; his mane streamed out behind him like a cloak of darkness. In his hand was a mysterious blade of magic, gleaming bright against the death of daylight.

He saw me and his eyes widened. His lips moved but I couldn't hear him.

Don't get distracted! Dukalis urged. Rise against the rising storm! There is no place for evil here!

Fire surged in my limbs and sprouted out of my shoulders, and Dukalis let out a chant almost like a blood-curdling scream: "Wings and feathers of pride and glory, don't fail me now, in my darkest hour!"

A flash of light and thunder sent me tumbling off the cliff, but instead of falling into darkness, I felt an unusual force lifting me up into the perilous skies. I lifted my eyes and found myself staring into the evil eyes of the Consumed Maelstrom.

She let out an eerie wail, dripping with hatred. "Despicable creature!" She snarled, bolting forward with dreadful claws stretched out. "White Manes have no place in power or glory! You will make easy prey for me."

I dodged her with a yelp and stumbled, but the magical wings streaming from my shoulders kept me from falling into the abyss. Instead I flew upwards, inadvertently dodging another of her lightning strikes headed my way.

Then suddenly I heard a loud nasal sound like a roar, and I looked up. The Hycross soared above us, albeit with much more difficulty than before. Perched on its back were my brother and Zerhea.

"Aim for the heart, Aven!" Zerhea called over the howling wind. "The sooner we rid Aetryia of this evil, the better!"

I nodded and gave chase to the Consumed. I followed Maelstrom through the dark clouds, rain pelting my eyes so that it felt like I was being struck by airborne daggers.

Maelstrom let out a yowl of anger. "Unworthy rat!" She spat, whirling around and catching my shoulder with her steel claws. "Your kind should have died off a long time ago! You're like a pest that always returns, no matter how hard we decimate your kin!"

I screamed with agony as she proceeded to rip off one of my wings, and that brought a devious grin to her face. "Let go, Shefaris!" I screeched.

The Consumed stopped and thrust her face close to mine. "...I told you already," She hissed, "That is not my name. It is Maelstrom! I'll rip you to bits, puny mortal!"

I flailed desperately, trying to grab hold so I could make contact with her heart, but she just laughed as she began to rip off my other wing slowly, relishing my wails and pleading for mercy.

"Ah-ah-ahhhh!" I screamed as she finally let go of me and I fell down, down, to the depths below.

But then something broke my fall and I opened my eyes, finding myself on the back of the Hycross.

"Why didn't you kill her?" Someone growled.

I looked up to see Arius with a furious gleam in his eyes, his teeth bared menacingly as he leaned over me. Zerhea was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Zerhea?" I asked, raising my voice over the wind.

Arius reached forward to grab my wrist, and I winced as he began to crush it in his steel-like grip. "Arius, stop! Let me go!"

Suddenly to my horror, a devious smile began to cross his face. "...I've waited so long for this," He finally spoke in a low whisper.

I swallowed hard. "What do you mean?! Arius, let me go! I can still fight the Consumed."

But he seemed to be ignoring me; his gaze was instead fixed on my wrist, which was beginning to feel numb. "...You won't be fighting," He replied at last. "Not now. Not ever again."

Before I knew what was happening, he suddenly flung me over the side of the Hycross, but instead of falling to my death I clutched his wrist. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I yelled, staring up at him as I struggled to hold on to him. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?! PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP!"

He winced, but not at my words but rather at the fact that all of my body weight was on his arm, and he began to slip off the Hycross as well. "You deserve to die!" He screamed, scrabbling to catch his foot on one of the Hycross' wings. "You took everything away from me! My honor! My dignity! My fame! And Father left BECAUSE OF YOU!"

I stared up at him in bewilderment with a sudden pang of indignation... and sadness. Sadness that he would blame me for something that we both shared pain in. "What do you mean?" I whispered. "Father never left because of me! It was both of us!"

"No, it wasn't," He hissed. "If you were never born, he would still be here! It's because you're a stupid albino without magic that he decided that he should go 'make things right'!"

"It was for both our futures!" I screamed, anger bubbling deep within my belly. "It was for all of Aetyria! He said that! You heard him yourself, you traitor!"

He flinched. "I'm not a traitor!" He shot back, narrowing his violet eyes.

"YES, YOU ARE! Nobody in their right mind would try to kill their own sibling and still not be a TRAITOR!"

I began to try and clamber up his arm, but he swatted me away, snarling at me in anger and reaching out his claws to try and strike me. "Aetyria would be better off without you!" Arius roared as he struck my face, sending a stream of blood racing down. "Nobody wants you here! Not even your own father wanted you! If he truly wanted to make things right he would've taken you with him!"

"SHUT UP!" Tears streamed from my eyes now but it wasn't like he could notice them anyway, what with all of the rain and wind. "JUST SHUT UP! If you kill me now, then Illesior will kill you next!"

"And why should I be scared?" Arius jeered hysterically. "He's never going to know about the true cause of your death. All he'll know is that you died by the hand of the Consumed! His pretty little pet, which he kept only because he felt sorry for her. How pathetic do you have to be, to be chosen specifically because you have nothing good to say about yourself?!"

"You talk an awful lot for someone who wants to keep a murder short and sweet," I said dimly, my eyes brimming with tears. "Fine. Go ahead and kill me, if that's what you want, and ruin our father's legacy."

His eyes glimmered briefly. "...I'll be purifying it, not ruining it," He spat. Then he shoved my hands off his arm, and I fell once more into the darkest depths.

This is it, I thought dimly. This is how I die.