The Elf and Her Dragon Mate

X. How To Fight The Invisible

Is anybody out there? It feels like I'm talking to myself and no one seems to know my struggle and everything I come from. Can anybody hear me? I guess I keep talking to myself, it feels like I'm going insane, am I the only one whose crazy?

■□Talkin' 2 Myself- Eminem ft. Kobe□■

"You are not my mate and you will never be. Get that through your little elven head. I had a mate and she died. She's dead. You will never be able to replace her."

Datrax balled his fist. He wasn't one to fight really. He was the youngest out of all of their little group, yet he was the one closest to Lillyanna. He loved her with all of his heart. She took him in when no other would. She listened to his problems and when he couldn't tell her she still stood by him unwavering.

Now she was was in pain. His mother. When she told him that she thought of him as a son and not a charity case, happiness soared though him like a hot ballon. She considered him family. He did the same. So what was he supposed to do? What does family do when his adoptive mother is poisoned by something incurable, and suffering a dangerous case of heartbreak?

How do you fight something invisible? How do you fight the one person who is meant for her when she wouldn't want you to lay a single finger on him? The answer? You be the spine that keeps them tall and keeps their head up high. You be the strength that they cannot even if their lack of strength makes you want to collapse and join them in their sadness.

His eyes flicked to Lillyanna once more as she leaned over in the bed, huddled in a ball as she coughed up the poison in her veins. The more she coughed the more pain she felt. When she was finished she gasped for air, a small trickle of blood left her lips.

He went over to her, pulling out his handkerchief and wiped the blood off. She smiled so softly that his heart squeezed painfully. He could tell that even smiling exhausted her. He turned sensing someone at the door. Nico and Jason. They looked at her with sadness and worry as she struggled to breath properly.

"Lilly... why didn't you say anything. Why didn't you tell us about Jameson or better yet, about the poison in your veins?" Jason asked.

"Oh Jason. I didn't tell you because there was no need to worry you."

"No need? No need to worry? It's our job to worry! Someone harmed you under our watch and we are the ones at fault. When did you plan to tell us? When you were at your deathbed like you are now? God Lillyanna!"

She stared at the ceiling, a single tear slipped from the corner of her eye. When was the last time she felt a feeling of family? Of security? She was one of the most powerful beings out there and because of that no one bothered about her safety, about how she felt. How long had it been? Centuries, surely.

Then the tears came. Fast and uncontrollable. "What am I supposed to do? I'm dying, my mate doesn't want me and I'm a mess. I've been so stuck on helping others for the past five hundred years that I never once thought about helping myself."

"You know, for the first time in a long five and a half centuries, I thought of my parents and siblings. And I couldn't recognize their voices, I couldn't give them faces. I can't remember. It's as if all that I did so many years ago was for nought. Would this be called sadness? Maybe misery? I-I don't know anymore."

He frowned sad and confused. She never talked about her family; at least not with him. All he knew was that her family was killed in the elven war. A war caused by elves against elves. The reason why though still eluded him.

"Who was this woman that he said was dead? Who is it that is dead and is still standing in my way? There is no such thing as second chance mates."

"I believe... that this so call woman is in fact...you," Datrax told her. She whipped her head over to him startled.