Till the World Ends

Act IScene II (Where Love Begins)

 When Oswin got to the cave, Rowan had me splayed out on a stone my wrists and ankles tied to four corners. While Rowan turned around preparing a poutine for me to drink, Oswin snuck over to me and released my hands and feet. He took of the metal cuff that dampened my powers. The first thing I did was crash all of the files Rowan was preparing. It got his attention. He turned around and the first thing I did was throw him against the wall. He didn't even have time to react. I lifted him from the floor and pinned him to the cave wall. I could feel it, the power surging through it was exhilarating. Then I felt it, my feet no longer felt the pressure from the rest of my body supporting. I looked down surprised to see myself away from the ground. Oswin stared at me half in horror and awe.

Startled by what I was doing I fell to the floor with a hard thud. Rowan took this to his advantage and commanded the stream in the cave to pool over my face. I sputtered trying to keep from ingesting the poisoned water. Oswin, after a moments shock of witnessing magic in action finally shook himself out of his wondrous stupor. He drew his sword and swung at Rowland who was so concentrated on me that he didn't see Oswin coming. He knocked Rowan on the head with the hilt of his sword and Rowan broke his concentration on me. The water stopped and I gasped for air. Oswin came over to me and helped me up. Rowland began laughing from behind us.

"It won't do any good." He taunted. "She is going to die anyway. I will have my sacrifice."

"What are you talking about?" Oswin barked and left me to hold the tip of his sword at Rowland's throat. My coughing began, it was quick and progressed to the point where I was seriously gasping for air.

"She's already swallowed, this stream was where I created the spell, which means the water in it is more potent." The coughing was getting worse and I collapsed to the floor my body shaking from the exertion. I don't remember Oswin coming over to me but suddenly I felt his arms around me as he lifted me into his arms. I couldn't breath it was like I had something heavy weighing down on my chest suffocating me.

"Vivere-" I gasped. Oswin looked down at me confused. "Viv-" I tried again but faltered. I wasn't coughing anymore, but I was still gasping for air and a new sensation began. There was a bad heat sensation inside my stomach and I could swear that my insides were cooking.

"Down" I gasped "Put me down." Oswin stopped and set me on my feet. I wobbled away from him only to collapse on the dirt floor within a few feet. I got up again and made it over to a rock and used it to haul myself to a kneeling position. Just as soon as I was on my knees I vomited. My whole body was shaking and my focus was solely on my dying body. I hardly felt Oswin come over to me and pull my hair out of my face.

"Water." I gasped after I finished retching.

"It's poisoned." His brow wrinkled in worry.

"No, magic, it's magic." I turned back over and vomited again. When I was finished Oswin scooped me up in his arms again and began carrying me to a nearby stream. He laid me down a small ways from the stream. I crawled to the edge of the water and stuck my hand inside it's ice-cold body.

"Deus." I closed my eyes and took as deep a breath as I could. I tried again and kept my eyes reverently closed for the prayer "Deus, ecce ego vivere, obsecro." My vision began to tunnel and I only had moments to do the spell. I actually had to try, usually with magic I didn't. I felt the familiar warm sensation in my stomach, this one a little different than the awful heat the poisoned water was giving off. My fingers began to tingle. "Pura aqua, recentibus et mundare." I saw a flash of white light, it was my good magic letting me know it broke Rowans dark spell, then all went black.

My body felt cold. . . and wet? I was wet and cold, very cold. Death wasn't supposed to be cold or wet. I opened my eyes and saw the blue cloudless sky above me. Shocked by the cold wet water I quickly tried to sit up. Oswin was holding me in the middle of the creek my whole body was immersed.

"Woah, calm down I have you." His grasp on me got stronger.

"Why am I in the water?"

"I needed you to drink it and you were almost dead, so I thought the fastest way to get the water in you was to immerse you." I looked at him still slightly disoriented from my recent flirtation with death. He was staring at me oddly and I could feel his chest, which was almost completely visible thanks to his soaked shirt, moving slowly up and down. His eyes were warm and inviting. There was something there, something stronger than the connection I made through the spell.

"Can-um-can we get out now? I'm freezing." He stayed staring at me for a moment then he made a small jump.

"Yeah" He said huskily. He kept me in his arms while he walked me back to dry land.

"You can put me down now." I said as we reached the edge of the water. Part of me didn't actually want him to put me down, but that feeling was getting stronger and it was beginning to cloud my thinking.

"Thank you." I muttered through chattering teeth.

"You're freezing." He stared at the goosebumps on my arms as I clutched them close to my chest.

"Just a little" I nodded. He quickly turned around and grabbed his red cape with the golden lion etched into it. All the knights wore it, it was part of the uniform. He draped it around my shoulders. It was a great deal heavier than I thought and the weight of it was comforting. He rubbed his hands up and down quickly over the cape trying to quickly warm my shivering body. Every touch was electrifying and I don't mean from the quick movements of his hands, which had coincidently stopped moving and rested at the tops of my shoulders. We stared at each other again and the connection I felt in the water returned. We were close, very close I could feel his warm breath on my face as I looked up at him.

"Thank you." I said lowly. He smiled slightly. I hadn't actually seen him smile much since we met, but it was warm and it made his eyes light up. It was almost a completely different look.

"You are welcome." He stood there silent for a moment longer "We should get moving. You need to purify the other villages' water." As he led me back to the main road I felt the presence of something dark. I turned my head to see Rowan looking at us disappointedly. He was planning something. He said he needed a sacrifice, but a sacrifice for what? I would have to talk to grandpapa later to pick his brain to see if he knows of anything.

That night Oswin made a big fire for us to warm ourselves next to. I was still a little damp from my dip in the ice water and the heat was a nice welcome. Oswin had put the cape near the fire to dry it so I was a little less protected from the wind than before. We ate in silence at first but I couldn't take it. It was as if I was aware of everything he did now. Whatever happened down by the water only heightened my awareness of him. My attraction to him was apparent before it was even worse now.

"Oswin," He looked up from the poking the fire. "how did you know I wasn't dead?"

He shrugged "I could feel it. Something told me you were still alive and all you needed was the water."

"And you thought the best way for me to live was to drown me?" I gave him a teasing smile, he returned it.

"You can't know how tempting it was to drop you." He teased back then his face grew suddenly serious. "Just so you know, you were in no danger, I had you. As long as I'm, around you will never have anything to fear." I believed him. His eyes had a certain intensity in them. I could tell he had seen things and would make sure they would never happen again. I heard rumors from others that his mother was dead and his father somewhat distant. I was about to ask but decided that it wasn't the time.