Maybe (COMPLETED)

Chapter Forty

This is possibly (but not definitely) the last time I have a point of view that's not Isaak's. 😊

Ash's P.O.V

Mekhi slipped to the floor, the sound of his frame on the hard ground invading my mind. His name was still burning in my throat. His horrified face stained my eyes. I reached forward blindly. My bones and muscles screamed and resisted my movement, rusted and worn down to their core.

Colm's voice leaked into my thoughts like a poison being injected into my mind. "Use your chorren to save him."

The world swayed. It tripped. It spun. It danced before my eyes. "Mek... Mekhi..." I finally fell, and felt the soft fabric and body reach my trembling hands. I could see his face now. Twisted, knotted, a chain tangled beyond untangling. No, no, no.

The familiar fire enveloped me. It burned me. It tore me to pieces, tearing and melting my skin from my flesh. I gripped Mekhi's shirt. I felt a sick warmth on my hands, my knees. Red, red, red...

"Your chorren, fool." The poison whispered to me.

No. I can't... I felt it rising within me. A cold tsunami, ready to crash away the fire and the burn. It swelled, it roared, it overflowed from my hands. The blue tendrils wrapped around Mekhi's harmless frame, delved into the puncture wound in his torso, piecing him back together again. It drained me as if my life was being forced into him. It hurt me as if I had been the one who had a sword driven into me.

He gurgled and spluttered. He was drowning. I was drowning.

The room, the light, it faded and plunged and blinked.

Eyes watched me from every corner of the room. They called me a traitor, an idiot, a fool. I was saving the one who had killed me.

It was like there was a storm in the ocean of my mind. It was so loud I couldn't hear anything else. It morphed red, a thick, sickening slush. It crashed so hard in my skull it leaked from my eyes. The slush dripped from my face, another poison to add to the deadly mixture swarming on the floor.

"Ash?" That voice broke everything. My mind, my heart, the odd silence. Why, why, why... A hand touched my cheek, not hesitating to cover itself in the disgustingness dripping from my eyes. "I'm okay."

"Why..." A wave, but now numb. I stood, shaky and stable. I faced the amber eyed beast. "How could you murder him?"

"I didn't murder him." Cool. Calculative. Confident. "I was testing you." Crisp.

A sticky trickle down my shin, the blood from my knees. A silent drip cracking against the cold tiles. The smell of iron, of war, of fear. "What if I didn't save him?"

Colm lifted his shoulders, careless. "You wouldn't want to kill someone else, would you?"

"What was the point of this, Colm?" The figure I had saved rose, stumbling and unsteady. He swayed on his feet, a sapling struggling against the breeze.

"I wanted to see his chorren."

"So, you risked killing me," Mekhi's voice was ice. His eyes showed hesitancy and doubt. "Just for a bit of entertainment?"

"If I had thought there was any chance of you dying, I wouldn't have done it." The king's lips twisted downwards, matching Mekhi's unsure expression. The betrayer let his dark eyes meet mine, and I was trapped like a rabbit in a snare. "Plus..." the poisonous tone returned. "I wanted to see how much he cares for you. Seems to be a lot, don't you think?"

I allowed my gaze to fall to the ground. I told myself I couldn't let him know. And now...

"Anyway, there isn't much to do now until the rest arrive. Relax, Kay."

My head snapped back up like a gun shot. The amber eyes were already waiting for me. I didn't let my mouth form words. I couldn't give away any more emotions than I already had. The rest... did he mean... no, he couldn't! There's no way that...

But there was. In Colm's eyes, I could see it. His cleverness, his power. It was a surge lying just there, just behind. Barely concealed. Abated for now, but ready to escape and create chaos.

"Don't hurt them..." I muttered, barely breathing.

Colm's eyes formed smiles. "Only if you help me, dear one."

Another wave of numbness. "I'll never do anything for you, if you hurt any of them." My voice was stronger.

Colm's laugh was like a bark, it echoed around the room like an eerie call. "I don't think you're in the position to be making bargains! How about this; you do as I say, and I'll ensure that none are harmed. Otherwise, I'll kill them one by one."

Shock this time, dizzying. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would."

Mekhi's eyes shot between the two of us. "Colm..."

"Shhhh..." The King held a finger out to Mekhi's lips. "I know what I'm doing, Kay-kay."

"What do you even want me to do?"

"When I go to war with Vandalind, I want you to be able to heal my injured men. That is all." He studied me, calculating. "Surely, I wouldn't ask you to hurt anyone."

Is he serious? After all this... he just wants a healer? It can't be true.

"See, it's not all that bad. You've already saved one of my best soldiers." He wrapped a snake-like arm around Mekhi's tense shoulders. "I'm sure you could do it again."

I gazed into his amber eyes. If that was all...

"If you don't hurt them..." I murmured. I slid my eyes to Mekhi's dark ones. They were wide. His mouth moved, forming words I couldn't read.

Colm grinned, taking my attention with his honest smile. He held out a hand to me. "Promise me, Ash. Let's make it official. You'll do everything I say, and I'll try my best to keep those three alive."

Mekhi was no longer looking at me, instead the ground. He stood behind his King, his shoulders hunched, head lowered. I couldn't see his face at all.

Is there a trick to this? Promises are empty, they hold no value. It's not like I'd actually do everything he says.

"Okay." I slipped my cold, bloody hand into warm one. "Deal."

Colm's grin widened. "Deal."

A pulse of energy shot up my arm. Colm's eyes flashed.

I realized his words, and my mistake.

Too late. 

DUN DUN DUNNNNN!

I swear Colm gets more evil each chapter... What are ya doin', bro!!

Love you guys! 

Babyy xx

P.S Tempted to post a chapter every one or two days for a week as a start of December treat... what do you reckon?