The Blood Witch

2: The Darkscape

~ Kai Arvos, Warlock ~

When Kai's feet hit the ground, he's running. Behind him, he can hear Pollux Kogen, an angel who is anything but angelic. The truly evil and insane angel flies after Kai, but the warlock himself cannot fight back with his limitless powers. No, he's stuck, trapped by the Gorgian shackles that silence his power.

Holding his shackled hands in front of himself, Kai runs as fast as his aching legs can carry his body. Which, of course, is also aching.  Badly.

Pollux's laughter is menacing as hells, and the demented angel swipes at Kai's back, but just manages to miss him. Kai doesn't dare to turn, he presses on, adrenaline pumping his heart so fast he worries it'll burst. His ribs scream with each and every inhale, as his lungs burn like twin suns.

"You're not going to get away from us!" yells Pollux, the angel drawing a blade as Kai keeps going.

The tree line up ahead offers respite from Pollux's onslaught, but if Kai cannot reach it in time.... Well, then, it is all over. So, despite the pain and fear, despite the lack of his magick, he presses on.

A root snags his leg, and down he goes, tumbling head over heels. Kai yells out as Pollux lands in between him and the treeline. The angel holds two curved and serrated blades. He grins, teeth flashing. Dull, distant green eyes are locked on him. Pollux then steps even closer to him, raising his arms, the blades in both hands glinting in the sunlight above.

Kai rolls just as Pollux slashes at him. The moment he does, Kai springs up and stumbles a bit before running. He sprints toward the trees, the angel's furious roaring behind him.

"Get back here, fucker!" Pollux screams.

Kai rolls his eyes. "Does that ever work for people like you?!"

Just then, he breaks through the treeline, and the moment he does, the tree branches grow into Pollux's path. Kai whirls, eyes widening as the trees grow all around him, blocking the angel.

But, knowing that that safety won't last long, Kai turns and speed-walks into the shadows of the trees.

The warlock finds himself in front of a small stream, the babbling water sounds like voices laughing happily. He kneels by it. But then, an idea hits. He doesn't know if that is a good idea, yet. So, he tosses a nearby stone into the water.

Yes, it's just water. He pokes a finger into it and it's just chilly water, so he begins to slurp some.

"Help me!"

Kai jumps, turning around. Gold eyes watch him from between trees. Long, white hair flows down around a pale face. The light elf wears a white, tattered dress. She slowly emerges from the shadows, and he sees the Gorgian shackles on her wrists, too.

"Help me," she whispers.

"Who are you?" Kai asks as he approaches her slowly, hands raised in surrender. She slowly backs away, but he stops and smiles a little. "I'm Kai, and I need your help, and you obviously need mine."

She swallows hard. "Mithra. I'm... I'm Mithra."

"Okay, hi, Mithra. We need to work together to get out of this place," he says.

"Where are we, Kai? I woke up here! I don't know what's even happening!"

"Okay, uh ... this makes this a bit harder than it could be. But um, this is the Darkscape. It is the place where they send people who are too powerful to be controlled, but they send us here to die. We are in a place that will actively try everything to kill us."

"O - oh," she whispers. "Well, what are these?" She raises her shackled arms.

"Gorgian shackles, they prevent us from using our powers," Kai says softly.

Mithra nods. "Um, okay. We should keep moving, then. Right? Right. Well, um, I'll follow you, Kai."

Kai nods. "I should tell you I don't know where we are, aside from the Darkscape, but.... I'll help you. I'll make sure we can get out of here safely."

The two of them walk deeper in the woods. Mithra remains silent beside Kai, and he doesn't say much, either. But when the silence is broken by a loud roar, both of them jump and turn, going back-to-back.

Kai scans the area around them, anxiously. But then, there is a loud cracking sound as the trees break in half. The two of them are shaking a bit, neither of them knowing just what is going on around them.

"I ... I think we should run," murmurs Mithra.

Kai nods. "Follow me, okay?"

She nods, and they both start to run away from the roars and cracks of trees behind them. Mithra pants hard behind him, but Kai is able to breathe calmly and they run as fast as they can, but the roaring grows louder and that is when Kai realizes what is after them.

A dragon.

Mithra screams, and Kai skids to a halt, whirling around to see her as she is yanked off her feet, and carried up above the trees. Kai roars her name, following the dragon. The beast is blue and orange in color, and it roars loudly as Mithra struggles in its claws.

"Mithra!" Kai yells, sprinting as fast as he can, trying to chase her and the dragon. But the dragon banks, swerving away from the woods, and it flies too fast away from Kai.

"Fuck," he breathes, finally panting hard.

Mithra is gone, taken away by the dragon. And Kai, of course, has no powers to use to help him find her. He promised her that he'd help her. Keep her safe. But .... he's failed now.

But he scans the sky, remembering the direction the dragon flew in. He runs in that direction, chasing after her. He's going to save Mithra. He will. He will. He just knows he's got to. So, he presses on.