The Vampires Slave - Editing in Process

.:Chapter 21:.

*Authors Note*

Please read, comment and vote if you like.

Thanks.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

.:The Vampires Slave:.

.:Chapter 21:.

*Samantha's POV*

I ran towards him with the sword, swinging it madly as I approached him. He laughed loudly, as he stepped out of my swords reach. Batillus retreated from me, dodging every attack I made. I was concentrating on him. My only objective being to hit and if possible, kill him too. A scream of surprise escaped my lips as I tripped over one of the unconscious guards.

“You’re not as good as a fighter as you were before.”, He stated, laughing madly as he watched me. I grimaced as I quickly got to my feet. Of course I was better with Amora, we had this Crime-fighting Killer machine body. Now it was just me fighting him.

“This isn’t fair. This place is littered in bodies. And if you do win, then you will always know that you had an advantage. And you will forever know that without that one advantage, you’d have lost.”, I told him, glaring angrily at him as I spoke. He frowned for a moment, and I could see the wheels in his head begin to turn. We stayed like that for a few minutes, in complete silence. Well, it was complete silence if you ignored the quiet groans from the not so unconscious guards a few feet away from us. Though they stayed down, probably to save themselves from any more pain. He finally nodded, approaching me as I quickly picked my sword back up.

“Alright. We’ll go down, to a clearing. And after that, you will die.”, He growled angrily, gripping me around the wait as we flew through the air in mere seconds. We landed with a loud thud, and I groaned as my feet hit the ground hard. Pain shot through me in an instant, but I ignored it as I watched Batillus. He brought us to a clearing, and he quietly walked to the opposite end of it, turning to face me as the distance seemed sufficient enough for him. With another flash of light, his wings disappeared again. Batillus pulled his sword out, holding it defensively as pure hate radiated from me. I felt a flair of energy race through me as the adrenaline seemed to finally kick in.

I gripped the handle of the sword tighter, making my knuckles turn white. A slight breeze swept about the clearing, making my tangled hair sway a little. I could hear birds chirp in the distance, and in that one moment, I wished I was back home again. That thought was quickly pushed from my mind as I felt guilty for wishing to leave the kingdom and it’s inhabitants to the mercy of Batillus. He must have seen it flicker across my face as he began to smirk ever so slightly.

“I could send you home right now.”, He stated quietly, as if he was trying to soothe a wild animal. “You won’t remember any of this nightmare. Everything will be alright for you.”

His words echoed around in my head, tempting me to accept his offer. I lowered the sword, in thought, a little. Obviously enough to show him I was thinking about what he said. Could I leave these people? After everything that happened, I didn’t really have lots of happy memories here. Not as many as I had with my family. What would my mother do? She always stood up for what was right, even if it seemed wrong. In the end, she’s always been right. But how could I be sure that this would be the right thing? And after all this madness I’ve been through, can’t I be just a little selfish? I didn’t want any of this. I didn’t know what to say to his offer, so I stayed silent.

“Just think about your family. I bet they miss you. They must be worried sick about you.”, He continued on, more confident after my unsure silence. “Just say ‘yes’. This isn’t your responsibility. You don’t have to do this. It isn’t your job.”

After my inner battle, everything he said didn’t sound wrong in any way. He was actually right. Or as right as he could ever be. I sighed, unsure about what to do. Amora would have wanted me to continue on. But I didn’t really know her, I just trusted her blindly for some unexplainable reason. She was practically a stranger. I was struggling, my mind racing with the pro’s and con’s about both options. Staying here to fight, or going back home. I lowered the sword completely, though I still held on to it. He must have taken my action as a sign of surrender, because he swiftly walked over to me. Batillus must have put his sword away while I was lost in thought, as he held out one hand to me.

“It’s alright if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to. I’ll bring you home safely, I’ll give you my word.”, He murmured, loud enough for me to hear. I groaned loudly, and he gave me a questioning look. I raised the sword quickly, obviously taking him by surprise as his reaction time was prolonged. I swung the sword, and it made a sickening sound as it connected with Batillus’ neck. I shrieked in a moment of surprise and panic and let go of the sword as I stepped away from him. The sword was still sticking in his neck and he fell to his knees as his lifeless eyes continued to stare at me.

I stepped back as I looked at him. He fell to the ground, breaking the eye contact. What had I done? I killed him. I knew that I would probably have to if I stayed, but the way I killed him. I was no better than him. Tears burned in my eyes as my back hit a tree. I let myself slide down into a sitting position as I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them. I noticed then just how quiet it had gotten. The birds were quiet, and everything else was motionless.

Exhaustion swept over me, and my eyelids grew heavier by the minute. It seemed like an eternity before I finally fell asleep. I didn’t sleep well, and I woke soon after I fell asleep. I frowned as I heard howling in the distance. Climbing up the tree a few feet, I sat down on a thick and safe looking branch high enough in the air. The leaves around me hid me slightly, which I was thankful for. It was already semi dark, and I leaned my head against the cool bark of the tree. I willed myself to fall asleep again, but the little sleep I had before kept me awake.

As I was finally beginning to doze off again, I jerked into a sitting position as the sound of galloping horses drew nearer. It was followed by various shouts that got louder as whoever it was approached. I held my breath as I saw horses and riders enter the clearing.

“It’s another body.”, One of them stated in obvious desperation. “Hopefully it’ll be the last one.”

“Could be, let’s just hope it is. Can anybody identify him?”, I heard another one call loudly. “Get the lists out and compare him to the pictures of the still missing people.”

“It’s.. He’s none of our’s. Either nobody misses him, or he’s plainly none of our own.”

“Let’s just pack his body onto one of the horses, then we can just bring him to the castle. I’m sure somebody knows him.”, The first one grumbled again.

I held my breath as they talked, hoping they wouldn’t see or hear me. My stomach growled loudly, making me grimace as I hoped they overheard it. I really must have been out of luck, because the safe looking branch on which I was sitting, cracked loudly, sending itself and me falling to the ground. I stifled a groan as I brushed leaves and twigs from me, along with splitters.

“You guess she’s missing too?”, Somebody asked as I finally raised my head enough to see them.

“No, she’s probably just out here taking a stroll before dinner.”, A grim looking man stated, sarcasm rimming his voice. “Let’s just take her with us.”

I didn’t object as an elderly man approached me to help me up. He led me over to the horses, helping me climb onto one. I watched in silence as a few of them tied Batillus’ body onto another horse. I was glad that none of them tried to start a conversation with me, as I wasn’t really in the mood to talk. Sighing loudly, I wished that I’d accepted Batillus’ offer before.