Drakon

cheating death

  [⚔ k i a d r a k e ⚔]   

"No s***, sweetie." A female voice hissed, sickly sweet.

Alistair whirled around, eyes widening almost comically. "Oh crap."

Oh crap indeed.

The owner of the voice had long, dark hair tied back in a high ponytail and equally dark eyes. She didn't look much older than I was, but she was much taller than I was, taller than Terris, even. Her height alone was intimidating. Worse still, she had black, leathery wings tinged with red, almost like a bat's.  Needle-like fangs protruded out of her gums. She snarled. "Mortals. Always trying to leave." Out of nowhere, a scythe appeared in her hands, and she gave it an experimental swish. I swear I saw blood splatter onto the floor. "I wish somebody would just stay and die and let me rest in peace.  I hate my life." She swung her scythe dangerously close to where Alistair and I were standing.

I squeaked, hiding behind Alistair's broad chest.  "Who are you?" I peeked out from over his shoulder.

The girl raised an eyebrow, . "You know who I am, Psychic Princess Kia Silverdrake." She smirked mischeviously, blood red lips glistening. "Just like I know who you are."

Closing my eyes, I drifted into her mind. She allowed me in, so I delved deeper. Lilith D'Angelo. Ah. So that's what her name was. Guardian of death. I pushed forward, finding myself falling into a memory.

It was a hot summer day. A warm gust of wind blew, leaving a trail of fluttering leaves in its wake. A lonely ash tree stood, and a young girl lay sobbing at its roots. She whimpered, curling up in a fetal position. "Mama, come back... " She cried, repeating the words like an mantra. In the distance, a village burned, smoke billowing up into the air, blocking out the sun's rays. The child cried even louder, wailing with all her lungs. "Mama, mama, ma-"

"STOP!" A feminine voice shrieked.

I gasped for breath as I was yanked out. The child. The child was the guardian. The crying child was Lilith. "Look, I'm sorry-" I felt something on my head. It was the crown, purple gemstone glowing against silvery blue. Disgusted, I yanked it off my head, holding it as far away from me as I could. It felt like a dead weight in my arms.  

A kick in the chest from Lilith sent me flying, landing sprawled on the ground.  The crown clattered to the floor a few feet away, lying upturned.  She took a few steps forward, something almost predatory in her steps. I screamed as Lilith swung her scythe, the blade mere centimeters from my neck. "You should be." She snapped, wings beating and chest heaving. "Now you've seen that, I have no choice but to kill you."

I made a made scramble backwards, and found myself pinned to the floor with her foot.  

She brought the scythe up.

My heart almost stopped.  I wasn't ready to die.

"No!" Alistair roared, bringing the guardian of death to the floor with a magnificent slide tackle. I jumped to my feet. "Stay away from her!" Suddenly, his sword was in his hands. I sworn I'd dropped it when Gavin was attacked, but perhaps my parents got him a new one.

"Filthy warlock." Lilith kneed Alistair in the face, and he rolled away, groaning. "She saw something she shouldn't have. She needs to die."

Alistair grunted, using his sword to prop himself up. "It's me you want, isn't it?" He challenged. I stared at him, horrified. "Kill me, not her."

I stormed over, only to be halted by a familiar, sharp scythe. Only this time, Lilith didn't even seem to be holding it. What are you thinking? I hissed in his mind. Do you have a death wish?

Alistair cracked a crooked smile. I'm already dead, right? Grabbing the scythe by the blade, he flung it out the window. Lilith just looked annoyed. She stretched an arm out. Don't worry, Kia, I won't let her hurt you. Half of me swooned, while the other half tried to attack him.  He was nuts.

I stood on my tiptoes, pressing my lips to his. There. A kiss for good luck. The tips of his ears turned bright red, and his cheeks turned pink.  I placed the crown on his head and pulled him down by the collar.  "If you're gonna fight her like the idiot you are, the least you could have is some backup.  Oh yeah," I whispered in his ear, "if you need me, just scream." His cheeks reddened.

Ka-CHING! I narrowly ducked out of the way as Lilith's scythe went hurtling into her waiting arms. "Ew, romance." The guardian made a face, rubbing her hands together evilly.  "Well, Princey, are you ready to fight?"

I took a few steps back. Alistair forced a smile. "Ready as I'll ever-"

He didn't even finish his sentence before Lilith swung. He blocked it with a small yelp. "Oh, just a reminder, Princess, you aren't allowed to help him." Technically, I already did, but what she doesn't know can't hurt her, right?

"-be." Alistair grumbled, collar askew.

They continued lunging and parrying, like some kind of vicious dance. Suddenly, Alistair ducked. It was smart of him to, as Lilith's foot swung right where his head was two seconds ago. And then they were up again. Alistair lifted his sword, and Lilith followed, raising her scythe. A metallic clang sounded as their blades clashed, and light reflected off the metal, temporarily blinding us all. Or maybe it was just me, as Alistair made a vicious swipe up, seemingly unaffected.

It all happened too quickly after that. Lilith let out a horrible wail, stumbling back with a hand over her left eye. I gasped in horror as I saw blood trickle out through her fingers. She choked out a sob. My head snapped to Alistair's. "Oh my gods. How could you?" I knew he wanted to win this, so that he could stay alive, but I didn't expect this.  Maybe I wasn't the only one blinded.  If the light blinded the guardian, then that would give him a chance to fight back.  Was blinding and mauling even allowed?

Alistair looked as shell-shocked as I did. "I don't know what happened! You put the crown on me, and then... " It must've affected him like it affected me.  I pulled the foul thing off Alistair's head, and I resisted the urge to throw it on the ground until it broke. I glared at it, whirling away.

Lilith lifted her hand off her face. It was only for a second, but I saw. And I couldn't forget the sight.

A long and probably deep cut marred her face, stretching from her eyebrow to her cheek. Blood spilled out, a gruesome sight. "Yonek!" She screamed. "I didn't sign up for this!" The girl howled, swinging her leg up again in a roundhouse kick. It connected solidly with Alistair's face, and he went flying into a table. He groaned, almost instantly unconscious. The walls of his mind palace shook a little, the ceiling crumbling on us.

I grabbed the unmoving Alistair's hand with my free one. "It's time to go."

The surroundings flickered, blurring. The walls seemed to implode in on themselves. In the background, I heard a familiar yet strange voice shout "Lil, you can't go around kicking people like that! He isn't supposed to die yet!"

Another totally unfamiliar voice roared with rage. "Lilith D'Angelo, you are grounded!" Panicking, I looked around for something, anything that could help me get away. Usually, my mother or father just kicked me out of Alistair's mind, but this time neither of them were around to help. The brunette prince was knocked out, with a bruise blossoming over his right eye. Suddenly, a silver tendril extended from above, almost like it was tempting me. Something told me to grab it, and I had no doubt it was the crown. Although I didn't trust it, I had no other choice.

I levitated myself up towards the silver line, floating closer. It got harder and harder to chase, and it felt like I was swimming through layers, Alistair not being helpful at all. At last, I saw the light, followed by three familiar anxious faces.

I grinned. "Hi."

And then everything went black.

image: marie avgeropoulos as lilith d'angelo