Pyra

Chapter 4: Battling Friends

We began to sprint once we realized what was happening. Somebody found out. Maesyn took the lead for he ran faster than everybody else, except me. He also knew where we were heading because he wasn't always in Sun City. I had to hold back to make sure I didn't run to far ahead. I ran head to head with Maesyn.

"What do we do now?" I asked Maesyn.

"For now we run," Maesyn answered. I nodded. We leaped over trees and dived under branches. The alarm could still be heard.

"Where are we now?" I asked.

"We're probably in between Sun City and Moon City," Maesyn answered. That made sense. Our square was on the border between Sun City and Moon City. There are three cities, the Sun City, Moon City, and Star City. Sun City is the largest and Star City is the smallest. Maesyn originally comes from Star City. He had been deported to Sun City because the government didn't want him. I don't know why Maesyn is special to the government. Krystahffer comes from Eastern Sun City and he was deported to our square as well. I know nothing of my past, I just know that I don't come from Sun City.

"Where are we going?" I asked Maesyn.

"Once we get into Moon City we'll explore and question about human history. The laws are different in Moon City so it shouldn't be a problem. Their government is a lot more practical than the Sun City government," Maesyn replied. I looked over my shoulder. Nobody was following Maesyn and I. I stopped running and unsheathed my sword. Maesyn looked over his shoulder and did the same. Something wasn't right. Where was everybody?

"Somebody has been sent to retrieve us," I told Maesyn.

"They must have got everybody else," Maesyn replied. He took his bo staff and held it in front of him. Two figures stepped out from behind trees. They were ulseyuss.

"Awrthyr, Jokeeya," Maesyn growled. They had been our friends for a long time. Would they really bring us back and let us be exiled to the garden of agony? Did they come to join us?

"Why are you here?" I asked them.

"To bring you back. You guys are some of our most valuable team members. We can't let you go," Awrthyr said with his gruff voice.

"If we do go back you know we'll be exiled to an eternity in the garden of agony," I told them.

"Sorry. We were given orders that we must follow," Jokeeya said.

"I won't hesitate to kill you. I'll kill anybody, whether or not they're my friends or team members," I told them. Maesyn looked at me with uncertainty. He knew I had a strange addiction to killing. Something about it feels so good.

"I guess we'll have to battle it out then," Awthyr said.

"I'm sorry," I told them. "I really don't want to do this." I teleported to behind Awrthyr and Jokeeya. I tried to hit them with my sword but they jumped out the way. I disappeared. Jokeeya looked at Awrthyr in fear. They had both witnessed what I could do in person.

I reappeared in front of Awthyr and I cut straight through his waist. Awthyr's torso separated from his legs. His expression was fear and shock. Blood sprayed everywhere. Maesyn started to battle Jokeeya. Awrthyr was still alive but unable to move. I licked the blood off my sword. The sweet taste of iron filled my mouth. I tried to resist doing too much damage to them until Awthyr said something.

"Jokeeya, do what we were told to do," he told her in pain.

"Got it. Daybreak, Love, Moon, Hope, Dragon, Life, Dusk," Jokeeya recited. Then it began.

"Dieannah calm down!" Maesyn exclaimed. Maesyn knew that since the day I received those dragon tattoos, I had a thirst for blood. It was like a curse. I couldn't resist the temptation.

I swung my sword over and over again. My blade was like a thunderstorm. Endless flashes of lightning. I slashed and hacked at Awthyr's body until he was a pile of flesh and blood. It was a pink pile of mush. Hair stuck out of the sides. An eyeball was visible, sticking out the top.

Jokeeya screamed at the sight. I had butchered my own comrade. Maesyn threw up. The scene was truly gruesome and disturbing. I suddenly realized what I had done. My hands were covered in blood. My face had crimson splashes. Maesyn looked at me with horror. Jokeeya passed out on the floor.

"I'm sorry," I told Maesyn and Jokeeya. "I don't know what happened." I sheathed my sword and fell to my knees. Maesyn reattached his bo staff to his back. What had I done? Why did I do it? This was why I could barely live with myself. I took so many innocent lives and I couldn't bare to take my own, a person who deserves to die. Why was I this way? What did I do to deserve it? If I could I wouldn't kill. I would be a good, innocent person however; those dragon marks just wouldn't go away.

"Dieannah, not again," Maesyn said with pain in his voice. I had killed one of his friends. I buried my face in my hands. I didn't want to kill people. Why was the world like this? Why is it so cruel?

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," I kept saying. I repeated that sentence over and over again.

"It's okay," Maesyn told me soothingly.

"No it's not! I have killed so many people and I don't want to!" I yelled. Maesyn didn't understand what was wrong with me. I didn't understand either. All I knew was that I was cursed. I was cursed with dragon tattoos.

"Listen, I know you didn't want to do it. I know you can't control yourself sometimes. I know you have a problem that won't go away. I'll help you fix this problem. I promise I'll help you fix it, even if I have to die for it," Maesyn told me.

"No you won't. I won't let anybody else die if I can help it," I told him. Maesyn sighed.

"Do you know why you have these...episodes?" he asked me.

"No," I lied. I knew that it was because of the dragons that possessed me. The demons that lived inside my brain. There was an akward silence.

"Let's go find the others," Maesyn suggested.

"You go. I don't want to have friends if I can just kill them without hesitation," I told Maesyn. Maesyn sighed.

"Well, I'm at least going to dig a grave and bury Awrthyr's body," he explained. I nodded in agreement. I got up and started digging a hole. Maesyn helped.

🏹

A hole had been dug and pieces of a body had been buried. Maesyn drew a sun on the ground with a stick on Awrthyr's dead...body?

"I promise I'll help you. I promise," Maesyn told me. I smiled at him. I looked over at Jokeeya who we had tied to a tree. I heard rustling in the bushes behind us. Maesyn took out his bo staff, ready to fight. Surprisingly, Bodenn,  Krystahffer, and Ke'rahnda walked out from behind the bush.

"You guys are really fast runners," Krystahffer said to Maesyn and I.

"What happened here?" Ke'rahnda asked.

"Awrthyr and Jokeeya came after us," Maesyn answered. They looked over at Jokeeya tied to the tree.

"Where's Awrthyr?" Bodenn asked. I stared at the ground. A fallen pine cone suddenly became very interesting.

"I ki-". I began but Maesyn interrupted me.

"He was injured and he died," Maesyn lied. He smiled at me. I sighed. Ke'rahnda and Bodenn were still to find out about my killing sprees. They still had no idea about what was wrong with me.

"The entrance to Moon City isn't very far from here and we're out of reach from Sun City. Why don't we get going?" Krystahffer suggested. We all agreed and set off to Moon City. A new idea occurred to me. Maybe somebody in Moon City could fix my problem. Maybe somebody could save me from my curse.