heartburn | calbrina

omnis

Her eyes drifted back to the boy she left in chains as she fled to the time stone, the bowl jiggling in her hands as her feet sped over rough stones and the remains of human skulls. Her breath almost caught in her throat when she saw the look of desperation carved into his sculpted features. Sabrina forced herself to look forward, toward the end of the rocky path, anywhere but his pleading eyes.

She saw the stone now, seemingly moving towards her as she pushed against the fatigue and the terror of being chased by an undead guard. Just a few more steps, and she would be able to transport back to hell and claim her victory.

Her body lunged forward, grasping at the rock with one hand, and reciting an incantation, while the other held tight to Pontius Pilate's bowl. Before she could question if the spell had worked, she heard Lilith's voice cluck in satisfaction.

"Now off to hell to claim this victory for us." Lilith spoke, a hint of relief lingering in her tone, as a smile slipped onto her cherry red lips.

"I left Caliban chained up. I can't just leave him there." Sabrina panted, her voice strained and heavy from running. And now that the fear had subsided, all that lingered was regret.

"He's your competitor, Sabrina. Hopefully he'll be stuck in the time loop forever." The usual cold tone returned to Lilith's voice as she flashed a look of irritation.

"But I don't want that." Sabrina's voice softened. The image of Caliban, still chained up with lash marks across his back haunting her thoughts.

"Let me go back for him, then we'll go straight to hell, no complaints or commentary from me." Sabrina reasoned, holding her hands up in earnest.

With a sigh, Lilith flicked her hands away in annoyance, a shooing gesture that she would settle for as a silent agreement.

Laying her hands back on the rock, Sabrina repeated the spell, her surroundings shifting back to how they were before.

The guard came running at her but her hands were already outstretched, repeating a quiet spell that left the undead guard frozen.

"Princess, what are you doing?" Caliban called, dumbstruck by the sight of the girl racing towards him.

"Saving you." She muttered, finding it hard to run over the uneven terrain. Her arms flew out again, and this time Pontius Pilate was frozen.

Sabrina reached the stage quickly, murmuring a quiet spell as she reached to grab hold of the shackles around his wrists. Her eyes were closed for a moment as the strain of the spell was shown by the wrinkle of her brow.

Caliban noticed her tired state, worn down from her waning abilities as her coven struggled to stay afloat. When his hands were finally released from the shackles, his fingers lifted to graze Sabrina's brow, tracing down to where his hand rested comfortingly against her rosy cheek.

"You didn't need to help. I betrayed you in the first challenge, I left you, so why would you help me?" Caliban hummed.

"Maybe I like the competition." Sabrina teased, but the moment of revelry was interrupted by the roar of the undead guard. Sabrina swatted Caliban's hand away, returning to her senses.

"Let's just get out of here." Sabrina squealed, as Caliban tightly grasped onto her hand, and the duo took off running down the rocky path, back to the time stone.

The End