Demon's Blood

Tightrope

Let me take you.

"No!"

Let me take you, I will give you strength. You must live.

"No I won't let you!"

Foolish girl!

"You hurt too many innocent people. I can't go through all that destruction again."

They are worthless humans girl! You have great power! You have me!

"I already told you I won't!"

You could live forever, will live forever, and they live a mere hundred years. What is the point in protecting them when they will just die in the end anyway?

"A hundred years isn't that short, plus they still have feelings and emotions."

Do you want to die?

"Not really but I will not let you take me."

I can and will save you. You can live on.

"I have nothing to live for."

Stupid girl! You a-

The voice is cut off by a knife whizzing past my ear. It strikes the ground and a dust cloud erupts around it's hilt. I look up the length of the handle and see a knot at the end. The rope leads from the dagger out of the water. The jewels shine in the water, pure and clear.

As is my decision. I wrap my fingers around the coarse rope and tug on it meekly. I wind it around my body, creating a X over my chest. My body goes limp as the rest of my strength drains.

I feel myself being tugged forward, up to the surface. Black spots appear at the sides of my eyes and I blink them away. My head breaks the waves after a few moments and I gulp air for a few seconds before my vision blurs and I close my eyes. My consciousness fades into black.

"Wake up! Wake up! Please. WAKE UP!"

I hear a faint voice in the distance calling out to me, but I can't grasp the threads of reality that would allow me to wake up again. I feel the heels of his hands pressing down in the middle of my chest and then on my abdomen. I cough and I feel water trickling out of the sides of my mouth.

I feel him frantically pounding on my chest with one hand. I then feel his head upon my chest and his body shakes with sobs. I want to wake up, I want to comfort him and hold him in my arms. But I can't. I can only lie here while he sobs for me.

My inner demon rattles the bars of it's cage, pounding the iron, throwing threats at my mind. The healing sparks are suppressed there too. I refrain from holding them back only for a moment and allow a few through, just enough to keep me alive. They race through my body and rush to my lungs, trying to get rid of the biggest threat to my life.

They shock the water out of my body, causing me to retch up the liquid. It spills over the edge of the rock, joining its brethren. My body spasms and turns to the side, and I listen to the reconnecting of bones and muscle and skin. I did not allow enough to heal me completely, so my back and ankle still throb.

My eyelids flutter open and I see Koa's worried face above mine, inches away. He backs away when he sees I'm awake and I shake my head, wishing him to be close to me. He sits back on the rock as another wave crashes up and over the rock. I slide closer to the edge but his hands wrap around my waist and he pulls me into his lap.

I shrink into him and he holds me close. Both of us are freezing and shivering and we both sustain severe injuries. I rack my brain to come up with a solution to get us out of this predicament. I draw a blank and tears climb to my eyes. He strokes my forehead and I gain enough energy to wrap an arm around his waist. He looks at me with cold eyes and I can see the gears in his head working hard too. A sob racks my body and I pull myself closer to his body. His voice is low and careful.

"What now?"

"I don't know. I almost drowned don't expect me to come up with anything."

"Well I am incapacitated, I guess we both are though."

We sit here for hours, enduring the wind and the waves. The rope around my chest starts to chafe against my skin and I start to feel like I was getting frostbite.

"We have to get out of here."

"I know, but I just can't... I don't know what to do!"

He clutches his head and sobs, rocking back and forth. I pull our bodies closer and I hold him while he cries. I start to think again, I can't bear to see him this way, but I also can't bear to feel this warmth toward him. I unwrap the rope from my body and turn toward the cliff. I scan the face of the cliff and notice a ledge a few feet below our altitude.

I take aim with the knife and pull back my arm. I release it and it flies through the air, landing two feet to the left of where I had aimed it. I tie the other end of the rope to a seemingly sturdy spike in the center of the boulder. The rope becomes taut and I throw a rock onto it. It stays taut and I poke Koa in the side.

He looks up and sees my makeshift tightrope. He nods and I lean forward, placing my hand on the coarse fibers. I then place my other hand and follow with my knees. I crawl forward on the rope, the most important balancing act of my entire life.

I go hand over hand, knee over knee. About halfway there, the rope shudders and I stop, terror rising within my breast. I turn my head to look at Koa who nods and ushers me forward. I look down at the jagged rocks and crashing waves and gulp.

I continue forward and hear a shout from behind me. A wave rises over the rock that Koa sits on and climbs along the rope, making the rope slick. My knees slip and I fall over the side, screaming. I grasp the knotted fibers and hang from my hands. I climb like a monkey the rest of the way and reach the other side. I hoist myself on the ledge and stand on the inch of rock that I had chosen to support my weight. I beckon toward Koa and he starts toward the rope.