Rekindle the Darkness

2.6

Time stopped. My inhaled sharply as my eyes locked with his, brimming with tears as I stood there, my body limp with relief.

All of it, the pain, the torture, had all paid off. Right now, my heart soared high, yet my body was exhausted beyond measure, even with all the darkness surrounding me.

Kit was the first to speak. "P-Princess?" He called out, his voice low and hoarse.

"Kit." I managed to choke out, stumbling forward.

I untied his chains and he stood immediately. His dark hair was sticking up in every direction; he runs this hand through his hair when he's feeling overwhelmed, that's probably why; and his eyes, were the green. The same beautiful green I was accustomed to. The same vibrant green that held so much emotion but was so soft.

He held me close and I melted into him. I could smell his cologne and I embraced this. That was when the tears hit. At first, they were slow and silent but soon evolved into body-racking wails. Kit held me close.

''Princess, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here. I won't let anyone hurt you.'' He mumbled into my ear, kissing the top of my head.

Our reunion was cut short by slow sarcastic clapping, soon accompanied by slow footsteps as the owner made his way from the shadows.

Kit stiffened up, his arm around my waist in a protective manner as he stood a little in front of me.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but I really have business to attend to." Ethan murmured, a false frown on his brow.

Kit spoke. "I'm not letting you touch her, Ethan." He growled.

Ethan seemed unaffected by this as he simply yawned, rolling his eyes.

"Oh come on." He drawled. "Oriuntur."

I recognised his command immediately. I broke free from Kit's arm, instead tugging on his sleeve. He had commanded the shadows to arise; my suspicions had been confirmed. Ethan was a Necromancer. That was why I had never seen him perform any Resplendent acts, or managed to get a trace on him.

I was in no shape to battle him and neither was Kit. He looked down at me with a confused expression in his eyes as I tugged harder on his sleeve.

"I can't fight him." I whispered, already feeling my legs go weak.

Kit nodded, concern etched in his features before he turned back once more to face Ethan.

Behind him, shadows had risen. They took the colour of a pale green, so pale it reminded me of the colour of bile. I shuddered. They took the form of distorted humans; some had their shoulders too low, some missing parts of their heads.

"Impetus." Attack. He gave the command.

The shadows moved towards us with surprising speed and I struggled to maintain a barrier between them and ourselves.

My knees went weak as I collapsed. Kit ran over, catching me just before I hit the ground. My barrier shattered.

"Princess?" He sounded alarmed, his entire body shaking as I saw tears in his eyes.

A weak smile spread across my face as I struggled to keep my eyes open. I blinked, ever so slowly.

And then, I was dropped. I hit the ground with a final thud and I blinked slowly, opening my eyes to see Kit being dragged further and further back into the crowd of bile shadows.

No, not again.

I slowly staggered to my feet, using my arms to prop me up, only to be pulled backwards by my hair.

A scream escaped my lips and Kit froze, turning to look at me.

Ethan stood, his hands clenched in my hair as he pulled my head backwards, a gleaming dagger to my throat.

My breathing hitched as the dagger was pressed down, creating a small eruption of crimson fluid.

"Did you know, Kit here, doesn't really love you?" Ethan whispered, his mouth touching my ear so that I flinched.

It took me a moment to register those words.

"You're lying." I spat out, looking over at Kit.

Ethan moved his head, which I took that to be a shake.

"Nope, he doesn't." He counters. "You see, Kit here has a special ability. Whoever he kills, he inherits their power. This eventually builds up. Until now, Kit was the only one who  we knew to inherit such a power. And then, Miss Marlow, you came along.

When you took that half-blood, Trem's life, you got stronger. You GET stronger with each death you take; you have both Necromantic and Resplendent running in your veins. Your blood is mixed. Of course, we couldn't have the enemy having the same secret weapon as we do, so we sent out Kit to find you.

It was pretty easy of course. We had a rough location anyways, from monitoring Necromantic activity and all we had to do was to make you fall deeply and hopelessly in love with Kit Makley. That way, when he killed you, you wouldn't have been able to harness your Resplendent and Necromantic powers.

Unlocking your Necromantic powers wasn't part of the plan in the first place. That twisted everything up. Now, Kit seems to think he's in love with you and refuses to carry out the plan." Ethan scoffed.

I was dumbstruck. The bile shadows had disappeared and Kit stood there, his head hung in shame. My mouth opened multiple times, only to close again when I realised I had nothing to say.

I didn't know Kit. I thought I did, I thought I knew that his favourite colour was forest green, that his favourite time of day was dusk, but then, that was all I knew about him.

Ethan gripped my hair once more, pulling my head back.

"I just thought you should know the truth before I kill you." He whispered.

My eyes widened, before I realised I had nothing to live for anymore. Everything I knew about Kit was a lie; he never loved me. It was all an act.

I nodded, closing my eyes.

Ethan put pressure on the dagger and I couldn't restrain myself from gasping aloud.

Kit's head shot up, his eyes on mine.

"Princess," he pleaded, "please. I would never hurt you. NEVER." His eyes were locked on the dagger.

"Ethan, step away from her you BASTARD." He yelled suddenly, much to Ethan and I's surprise.

Ethan's grip on the dagger slipped, causing a small, yet deep cut down the side of my neck. Stars danced in front of my eyes. My hand went up to it as I gasped.

I pushed away from Ethan but not towards Kit.

He ran upto me anyway putting his arms around me and I tried to get out of his hold. When I couldn't, I stiffened in his embrace.

He continously mumbled something and my wound started to slowly heal.

He then stood in front of me.

"Ethan." He spoke. His voice echoed off the walls. "Let's do this."

And he slipped into Resplendence.