Four Elements Book 3 - Sacrifice

Part 36

Bane rolled onto a thick carpet floor, hitting a table leg and groaning in pain. Breathlessly, he pushed himself off the floor. Looking around, he saw he was in the living room of his house. It was starting to grow lighter outside.

Were we really gone all night...? He wondered.

Everything appeared to be in place. He turned to Zarias who was standing up beside him. Then, everything came rushing back to him. The fight, Balon staying behind to save them...

"Take me back there," he said.

"No," Zarias. "I won't."

Bane blinked, then slowly got to his feet. What in the world was Zarias talking about?

"What?!"

"You saw what happened back there, it would be suicide." Zarias said, not looking at Bane. "Without back-up, we wouldn't stand a chance, and you know it."

"But Balon is still stuck in the Demon Realm! We can't leave him!" Bane replied.

"We need a plan," Zarias countered. "We can't jus-"

Just then, they heard people running, and the kitchen door burst open as Andie, Isabelle and Robert burst in.

"Oh, my God, Bane!" Andie gasped, hurling herself into his arms.

She hugged him fiercely for a few seconds. Then, she pulled back and slapped him.

"Ow!" he complained, touching his cheek. "What the heck was that for?"

"How dare you even ask that?" Andie asked furiously. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Bane tried to answer, but she didn't give him a chance to.

"Do you have any idea how scared I was? How scared Robert was?"

Bane was so shocked at her outburst he didn't move or say a word. He just stared at Andie. She was looking at him with a mixture of pain and anger, her eyes glistening with tears. Her hair was tangled, as though she'd tugged at it several times. She had signs of weariness around her eyes, and her skin was paler than usual. And... was she wearing pajamas? She seemed about to say something, but turned away and left the room, snapping the door behind her

Bane stared after her, lost for words. No one spoke as he glanced at Robert, Zarias and Isabelle. Robert was standing by the couch, mixed emotions playing around his face. Anger, relief, pain, love... Isabelle was keeping her gaze from meeting his, but she looked uncomfortable. Zarias just glanced at him, his face unreadable. Bane heaved a sigh and dropped into a chair.

"... I really messed up big time..." he said heavily.

"We're only human," Isabelle replied quietly. "We all make mistakes..."

"What in God's name possessed you to go there by yourselves in the first place?" Robert asked. "Adena told us about the pictures... what happened?"

Bane tried to speak, but couldn't. He looked at Zarias for help, but he shook his head.

"I can't tell them, it's your story. Not mine."

Robert glanced at Zarias in confusion. Bane looked at the floor, lost in thought. He hadn't even thought about what Robert or Andie would feel before jumping into a portal for the Demon Realm... he'd seriously blown it... But it was time to try and fix that. He got to his feet and said:

"I'll explain, I promise. But first, I have to talk to Andie."

Robert and he exchanged a long look, then, Robert nodded.