Nothing to Gain (Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter Twenty Two - Part One: Legend of Dahaka

Sorry for the late update. If you read the author note, you will know why.

-Lia

 

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Jebidiah POV

 

I sat down on the ground in the middle of the forest completely in shock. Above, I could hear birds singing – the sound of nature had finally returned back to the forest as animals’ sounds filled the air. Wind blew softly as trees wave their branches. All of this was happening around me but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t feel. I couldn’t speak. I felt hollow and empty inside. The whole world could end and I wouldn’t move a muscle.

If I thought I knew what hell felt like I was completely wrong. Rejecting Primula was not hell. Listening to her tell me how much she hated me whenever she had the chance was not hell. Knowing how damaged she was from all the abuse was not hell. Knowing that she was never going to forgive me not even when I died was not hell. Losing my mind to the point where it had to take a sorcerer to put the pieces back together was not hell. All the most horrible things I have ever been through did not even come close to the hell I was feeling right now.

All I could think about was that she was gone. I had her in my grasp and I let her go. Everything happened so fast to the point where every reaction was a second too late. That thing should have gotten me instead of her. But she pushed me out of the way, she saved me. And that’s the part that hurt the most. She. Saved. Me! Why would she do that? She hated me for crying out loud. She should have let me died. Her last act should not have been saving a thing like me.

She saved me and yet I couldn’t do the same for her. I wasn’t strong enough to chase them through the forest. I wasn’t strong enough to hold on when I grabbed her hands. I wasn’t strong enough to suck it up and pull her towards me no matter how much volt of electricity ran throughout my body. I wasn’t strong enough for her. I was supposed to be an alpha but yet that seem to be a joke.

I could still hear her voice calling out my name. That was the second time I ever heard her say my name. Yet I couldn’t do anything; I just watched her get dragged away into some unknown place. I could feel tears rolling down my cheek as I stared off into space trapped in my despair.

I heard several footsteps running towards me but I didn’t move. I felt someone kneeling down shaking me, asking questions I couldn’t make sense off but I didn’t even acknowledge them. Nothing could wake me up from my despair unless it pertained to Primula.

I felt a slap on my cheek. It didn’t even hurt but it slowly woke me up. I gaze at my uncle squatting down in front of me, as I struggled to understand what he was saying.

“…Primula,” was the only thing I heard causing me to force my brain to focus on his words. I blinked through the fog and lifted my eyes to his. “Where is she?” He asked. I turned my head nodding to the direction she was dragged. His eyes followed mine and he gazed back at me in shock. “It took her!” He confirmed.

“What do we do?” I heard Dean asked. I looked at his horror stricken face as he gazed all around the forest looking for any trace of his sister. Krista buried her face in Zero’s chest as she cried her heart out. The sound was so heartbreaking I wanted to curl in a corner and die.

“I didn’t get the chance to make it up to her!” an inconsolable Krista whimpered. We all just stood around not knowing what to do. Throughout this quest Primula had been our leader. She called all the shots and was always ready to lead us in the right direction. Now that she was gone, we were lost, I was lost. We all sat down on the forest floor lost in our own agony of losing her.