Ditching the Demons

Why Rescues Are Not For Everyone

Why Rescues Are Not For Everyone

The very first thing Myra remembered when I started gaining consciousness was the noise. It was an extremely high pitched sort of grinding that seemed to be radiating around and through her head. The closest thing she could compare the sound to would be a dentist’s drill.

A large area of her forehead ached badly, and she reached her hand up to touch what she assumed would be a rather dreadful bump, the result of whatever had happened to cause her to lose consciousness. But she could not move her hand. It seemed to be tied down or something. In fact, her whole body seemed to be strapped to whatever hard surface she was laying on.

Finally feeling a bit more collected, Myra opened her eyes and surveyed the scene around her.

Ok, let’s see what we’ve got here.

1) A dimly lit room.

That’s good; I don’t think that bright lights would help my headache much right now.

3) High arched ceilings.

Nice. It’s rather aesthetically pleasing. I approve.

4) About a dozen or so Jelly Monsters walking around biped.

That’s just disturbing. Especially since it seems that the dentist drill noise is actually them speaking to each other.

5) A Jelly Monster approaching me wearing a leather loin cloth and carrying a…

Oh bleep, he’s got a KNIFE!

Not good. Not good. DEFINITELY not good!

Alright Sam, I know you can read my mind. And we both know that you owe me a favor for getting you out of that rock. So I’m calling it in now. You better get your bleepin’ behind in here within the next--looks at approaching lizard--ten seconds or I am going to haunt you for the rest of—

(BOOM!!!)

Through the clearing dust and rubble, Myra saw two figures stepping through a rather large hole in the stone wall. In an instant, her bonds were loosed and she felt two strong arms under her, lifting her up. She turned her head to see Dru grinning down on her. “We’ve come to rescue you, darling. And it is my honorable duty to take you to safety.”

I think the guy fancies himself my knight in shining armor.

As Dru carried her towards the opening in the wall, Myra caught a glimpse of Sam battling a few of the Jelly Monsters. They were spitting what looked like flaming sludge at him. He was dodging and attacking with two very odd looking crescent shaped swords. Despite her previous animosity toward him, Myra hoped that he would come out the victor. And fortunately it looked like he was doing a fairly decent job of kicking creepy lizard hiney.

The view of Sam and the lizards suddenly disappeared when Dru abruptly turned direction. After they made it outside, she looked forward as they sped off into the darkening forest. Dru moved his legs as if he was running, but the smoothness of their travel caused Myra to wonder if he was actually even making contact with the earth. Soon her vision blurred since her eyes were watering from the wind.

Wow, Dru wasn’t lying when he said he was fast. This is even faster than the Jelly Monster went.

When Dru started to slow down, Myra looked around and noticed that, while still in a rather wooded area, the trees were of a different type than before. The trees surrounding the building which she was rescued from were almost all evergreens. But here, it seemed to be a forest consisting completely of white birch.

Dru finally stopped at what appeared to be a tiny train station, out in the middle of nowhere. After gently setting her down on her feet, Dru held one hand on her back to support her while she regained her balance. But then, he suddenly wrapped both arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.

For a while, they just stood there as Dru clung to her as if he was going to have her torn away from him at any moment. Then, slowly he raised a hand to her hair and began stroking it as he gently kissed her forehead while whispering solemn apologies.

“Forgive me, darling.” He whispered. “I should have been there. I should have prevented all this from happening!” Myra felt the dampness of his spilled tears as his cheek rubbed against hers. He pushed her back slightly and stared into her eyes with his piercing golden orbs. “I swear to you darling, I will never let you fall into harms way ever again.” His eyes were full of determination and sincerity. “Even if that means I can never let you out of my sight.”

Whoa, stalk—

Myra’s thoughts were interrupted as a pair of lips pressed onto hers, forming a very firm kiss. Before she could even think to protest, he pulled away and continued his intense gazing into her eyes. This time however, Myra was so shocked and dazed from the kiss that she had absolutely no idea what he could be thinking.

Hearing someone clearing their throat, Myra turned her head and saw Meris leaning against the outer wall of the train station building.

Meris pushed himself off of the wall and walked over to where Myra and Dru were standing.

“Dru,” he said with arms crossed over his chest, “Shouldn’t you go and help Sam finish off that group of Zizazus?”

Zizazus? Myra giggled to herself. Is that what those jelly monsters are called? I almost like my name for them better.

Without turning his gaze from Myra’s face, Dru responded, “He can handle it himself. He has his Crescent Blades, remember?”

“But he’s 300 years out of practice. Even Sam can’t bounce back that quickly.” A moment passed. Meris stared at Dru. Dru stared at Myra. Myra looked back and forth between the two, trying to figure out what was going on. Then Meris sighed, “Or if you want, I could go and help him.”

Dru finally snapped to attention. “No!” he cleared his throat.  “That’s quite alright, Meris. I’ll go help him. The last thing he needs is your kind of help.” He took Myra’s hand and placed it in Meris’s, with both his hands wrapped around them. “Just get a ride on the next train, Sam and I will catch up with you later.”

“Meris, keep her safe.” Dru said, while squeezing their hands. Then, without another word, he swiftly turned around and ran off.

Well, so much for ‘never letting me out of his sight.’