Fallen

Chapter Seventeen

Bryce 

My body ached from the damage the Archer was doing but I didn't stop my battle.
He needed to be stopped and if anything, I was a man of my word.
I would make him pay for what he did to Aubrey.
My thoughts of vengeance distracted me slightly and nearly caused him to land another blow to my chest but I dodged at the last moment and he spiraled downward, giving me the perfect opportunity to round on him.
I took hold of his left wing and pulled violently until we both began to fall from the sky.
A pain filled scream came from him as we fell and he twisted to get from my grasp. He contorted his body as I wanted and I connected my feet with his torso, pushing us harder and faster towards the ground.
When we landed, pain shot through my body and I was thrown from him on impact.
I rolled away from the small crater we'd caused, grimacing as the motion disturbed my bent wing.
Manakel's groan was mingled with an amused chuckled as we both tried to stand to finish our brawl before the sirens we heard arrived.
"You have more potential as an Archer than I once thought, brother-er-Bryce."
His face contorted with pain as he got to his feet. While he complimented or possibly insulted me, his gaze flecked around, searching for something in particular.
I let a slow smile creep upon my face as I saw what he was looking for before he did. Or just as he did.
We both looked from the dagger and met each other's determined gaze before jolting simultaneously.
With me being just slightly closer, I gripped the intricate hilt seconds before he did and we began a slight struggle again, though this time, it didn't last long.
I stood over him, both of us out of breath, and pressed the end of the blade to his throat.
He arched his chin, trying to put distance between him and the sharpness of the Bane.
"Bryce," he grunted, extending his hands then resting them back to his side after I tightened my hold on the hilt. "This isn't you. You aren't like me. You're not like these mortals."
I narrowed my eyes at him but he was right, I wasn't like him and if I killed him it wouldn't make a difference. Aubrey would still be dead and I'd still be...stuck here.
"That's where you're wrong," I told him putting a little weight behind the blade. "I am mortal."
But I wouldn't kill him. It would be murder and he saw this both within my eyes and eased posture.
A smirk played at his lips as he quickly kicked my feet from under me, knocking me to the ground and making the blade slice his flesh slightly but slip from my grasp.
Now he was the one standing above me, completely at his mercy.
He chuckled darkly and almost-no, it was- a sinister smile crossed his face as he loomed over me, blade poised at my throat. However, I didn't flinch when he prepared to strike.
I simply closed my eyes and prepared for my end.
Only it didn't come.
Hoping he'd suddenly had a change of heart, I opened my eyes to see him still in mid-attack, though his body was frozen.
Not as ice but motionless in time.
The blade hovered just above my face but did not come down.
Confused, I looked around myself at the suddenly silent city. At least while we had battled its noise was present but now all was still just as the Archer.
"I had hoped it would not come to this."
I flinched at the feminine voice and searched for the source.
"Things have gotten...out of hand." The voice sighed then appeared to me, settling from the air like sand. Her silken gown, golden in color, matched the dust she appeared from and pooled to the floor as it collected itself to form a sculpted woman with an hourglass figure that the clingy fabric accentuated.
There was a small smile on her lush lips though her expression was a bit saddened at the general situation. She shook her head, causing her golden ringlets to shift in what seemed to be an eternal cycle against her caramel cheeks.
Once she was present she waved a delicate hand our way and instantly I was no longer under Manakel. He still held his poised position but now I was able to look upon him with great shame.
"We did not realize his...cruel intentions." She placed her palms against her stomach. "If we had-"
"What?" I countered. "You would have stopped him? What prevented you from doing so before-"
I looked for Aubrey but we were nowhere near her body and I hoped Breia was watching over her. Or that, at least she wasn't alone.
"And why do you think that is?" The woman asked confusing me. "That you feel so...protective over this mortal."
I wasn't sure exactly but I did and I liked it. It was something I hadn't experienced since I was alive and I wanted to keep experiencing it. Though I could do without the life and death situations.
The woman nodded, possibly reading my thoughts but I knew this could never be.
I could never be human again.
"No," She smiled. "You could be...something better. Join the recruit and they will ensure you will no longer feel helpless...hopeless."
I looked over towards Manakel but there was no thinking to be had on the mater. I had already made up my mind.
"No, I am not like him," I told her. "And I do not wish to be."
"And you will not become like him." Again her head shook slightly and her ringlets shifted. "He has become consumed by his need to purify our race. Had we known this, he would have been stopped. You are different. We have seen this in you and know greatness proceeds you."
"What of Aubrey?" I asked. "What becomes of her? And my sisters?"
The woman did not hesitate to answer but before she did she hoisted her hands above her head then as they fell to her sides our scenery changed and we were surrounded by a grey darkness. Manakel was gone but replaced by a confused Breia.
"Your sisters have a choice to make and as for the mortals, Mwnakel was correct. The balance has been offset. There is nothing that can be done."
"Then take me instead." I offered. "I've lived my life, gotten my second chance. It isn't fair that they will die like this."
She cocked her head to one side and knit her intricate brows with confusion.
"Are you so sure to release yourself of your eternity for this one mortal after only knowing her a day?"
Put in that manner, I couldn't help but admit the reasoning was odd but love was...it was a fickle mistress that began with a choice. And I had chosen.
She nodded and let her gaze rest on my sister who'd gone mute while we spoke but now was able to speak her mind.
"What is the place. Who are you?" Her words were rushed as if she'd been holding onto them this entire time.
She had questions I didn't think there was time to answer and the woman didn't.
Instead, she asked Breia the same question she'd given me.
"As do you for the second mortal?" She placed her hands on her stomach while Breia's silence took over our strange space.
I was afraid my sister would retract her previous offer but when she nodded, I sighed with relief.
She'd proven she really wasn't tainted. It took someone pure of heart to give up their life for a complete stranger.
The woman's sigh was not one of disappointment but of defeat.
"So say you both?" She asked, verifying our decision.
I looked to my sister who gazed at me with tears welling in her eyes. I didn't want her to share my fate but was proud of the choice she had made.
"I'm sorry, Bryce." She reached out her right hand to me and I did the same with my left, wishing we weren't planted so far apart from each other so I could comfort her.
No one should die alone, knowing their loved one was mere feet away.
Realizing there was no way for us to be together, we gave our attention back to the woman who had closed her eyes and raised her hands.
Wind that I hadn't know existed whistled around the three of us and with it came a swirl of golden sand.
It whirled around us all creating a bright funnel.
I looked to Breia who had closed her eyes in anticipation for her demise and I wanted to do the same, letting my head fall back to watch the grey as it was nearly blocked by the funneling cloud.
Just before I was about to close my eyes, each grain of sand froze and all was silent.
I stared at the woman who's pained expression eased to one of relief.
She let her hands fall to her sides and the force she had created fell with them, brightening our floor.
Breia gasped when she opened her eyes and realized we were still alive.
"What's going on?" She breathed heavy and I realized she was holding her breath as I was.
"Your actual second chance." The woman smiled and with a quick fleck of her hands, my world went dark.