Royal Affliction (The Anti-Princess Saga) (31 page)

We clashed swords, then we began.

He threw his sword in a strong downward motion and I blocked it with my own.  As before, my sword seemed to know what to do.  It blocked each of his attempts, making him furious.  A look of surprise was buried deep inside of him.  Though he hid it well, I could feel it.  I knew that he was beginning to regret accepting my challenge as he saw how good I was.  I felt amazingly agile and confident on my one leg as if I had two to stand on.  He managed to catch me off guard and I felt a sharp pain in my side where his blade had sunken into my flesh.  I winced at the sight of the wound.  It was very deep, and hurt like hell!  I was losing a lot of blood and I felt my remaining energy leaving my body.  I struggled to remain upright.  It was a fatal wound.

He stared at my gash with something resembling hunger.  I didn’t know if Boru drank blood, but looking at his greedy expression, I could have guessed that they did.

Before my body could fall it began to glow with a soft blue light and I glanced at my men.  The three of them were pressed up against the golden dome, each of them glowing too.  I suddenly felt more powerful than I had felt before.  It dulled my pain, though it did not vanish completely.  And even though I knew that I probably wouldn’t make it out of this alive, I knew that I could at least take Lynth down with me.  I wanted that more than anything.

“What is this magic?” Lynth asked, sounding nervous for the first time.

I answered him with a quick swing of my sword.  He screamed as his unprotected arm fell to the ground.  He looked livid.  He swung the sword at me with his remaining arm, hoping to slice through me.  I spun around on my toes, dodging his strike.  I sliced downward with amazing strength and his other arm plopped onto the floor.

I hobbled towards him on my good leg.  Lynth looked terrified.  He knew that there was nothing to stop me from delivering my final strike.  I brought my sword back, preparing for that fatal blow.

“Wait!”

I stood there, ready to see this asshole dead.  “What?!”  I didn’t care what he had to say, but I was willing to grant him his final words.

“Let me live and I will take the ring off.  We will bother you no more, I swear it!”  He sounded nothing like the man we had first encountered.  He was cowering to me, desperate for me to spare him.

I laughed and it sounded very unlike me, a low and merciless cackle.  This man would get no pity from me, not after everything he’d put me through.  “I know how the ring works.  If I kill you it will come off, and then I will be free of it as I become free of you.”  I stared into his frightened face.  His eyes were almost the same color as Clifton’s, except that they held not a trace of the love nor warmth that Clifton’s did.  His eyes looked oddly hollow, empty even.

I swung with my last ounce of strength and severed his head from his body.  It rolled onto the floor, landing sideways in front of my feet.  “Bitch!” the head said rudely before its eyes glazed over and Lynth was no more.  For good measure I pulled out my sacred dagger and shoved it through the top of his head.  You never know if someone is really dead, even if their head is missing.

A small gust of wind sprung from the hole in his neck.  It whirled around in a cylindrical motion like a miniature tornado.  I watched as it grew larger and began moving towards me.  I didn’t fear it, something told me not to.  I let it surround me and it caressed my body like a soft blanket.  Then it started to sink into my very skin.  I cried out in pain as it stung like a million tiny needles piercing me.  I opened my mouth, closed my eyes and breathed it in.  It flooded my lungs, though I did not choke.  I took it all in, and I heard a loud “click” and opened my eyes.

The ring was lying at my feet, inches away from Lynth’s severed head.  I could feel my powers back inside of me, though they seemed stronger than I had remembered them to be.  I felt like I had received more power than I had lost; as if I had taken in some of Lynth’s as well.  Or maybe I had just been without them for so long that they just felt stronger by comparison.

I felt faint, my pain catching up with me now.  I clasped my hand to my side and fell to the ground, unable to force myself to stand any longer.  Blood was gushing through my fingers as I tried to hold it in.  I may have beaten Lynth, but I was not going to live long enough to enjoy it.  I could feel myself beginning to slip away.  I fell down on my side in a very awkward and uncomfortable position but couldn’t muster the energy to rearrange.

I was now staring in the direction of my men.   I noticed that the golden dome had vanished.  My men were now in full-fledged warfare with the remaining Boru.  They didn’t know that I now lay dying on the opposite side of the room and I couldn’t bring myself to scream.  My powers wouldn’t be able to help me now.  If I was to live, I needed healing.

Violet was standing about fifteen feet away from me.  Inch-by-inch, I dragged myself across the cold, hard floor, blood tracing my path like a slug.  “Violet.”  It was barely a whisper.

She sunk down on her knees in front of me.  “Yes, Master, what is your desire?”  Evidently since I had killed Lynth I was now in control of her.

I reached out my shaky hand and clasped it on her arm.  “I release you from this spell,” I said with confidence, knowing that it would work.

She stared down at me for a moment with those eerie glowing eyes, but a moment later, they faded until they were the blue and purple color I remembered.  She seemed to awaken from a long slumber.  “I am so sorry, Quartessa.  I never meant for this to happen.”  She knew what she’d done.  It must have been torture for her to watch herself do such horrible things.

“It wasn’t your fault, Violet.”  My head became increasingly heavy and I couldn’t prevent it from hitting the ground hard.  I could feel my life circling the drain.  “I am dying Violet.  I need your help.”

She placed her hands on my back and I felt the familiar cooling and warming sensation creep inside of my body.  I felt my bones mend and my wounds heal.  I was pulled back from the brink of death by my dearest friend.

Violet helped me to my feet.  I put my full weight on my once broken leg and found it unhurt and whole once more.  I lifted my shirt and saw that my side was healed, though I had a rather nasty looking scar in its place.  My arm was no longer bleeding.  I was healed.  I felt strong again and I can’t even begin to tell you how great that felt.

I stared at the trail of blood that I had left behind.  The sight was a real eye opener, I had almost died.  But I couldn’t think about that now.  I had to help my men.

I looked at where Kyle still lay motionless by the front door.  “Do what you can for Kyle first.”  I looked at the battle raging on across the room.  “Then join us in the fight.”

“They can handle it.  You have been through so much already.  Will you please just sit this one out?”

I stared into her compassionate eyes.  “No, this is still my fight, and I will not just stand aside.  Please just tend to Kyle.”  She hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then nodded in understanding.

I raised my sword and charged into battle, slashing my way through a few Boru before reaching my men.  My sword swung fast and true, striking down several enemies at once.

Tremors shook the ground all around us, knocking me down.  I tried to stand up but another shake floored me again.  The ground simply would not hold still.  These weren’t Clifton’s tremors.  These were a combination of all the Boru in the room.

I felt a magical push from beneath me which raised me back up to a standing position.  I knew who had done it and, sure enough, Violet was at my side.  Though the earth still shook under me, I found it easier to maintain my balance.

“Thanks.”  I struck down an approaching Boru.  “How’s Kyle?”

“He will be alright.  I told him to stay out of the fight.”

“Good.”  I glanced up at the thundering clouds towering above us.  They were covering the entire ceiling now.  “Can you stop that spell?”

“No, I did try after healing you.  It has no antidote.”

“AHHHH!”

My head jerked in the direction of the scream.  Quino was down, a gaping hole in his chest billowed blood to the ground like a waterfall.

“No!” Violet screeched and raced to his side.

I quickly took care of the few remaining Boru in my area before joining them.  He spat up blood while he tried to talk, but no words came out.

I felt a white hot rage burn through me.  A bolt of lightning flew from my body, hitting Quino’s attacker square in the chest.  He keeled over and hit the ground dead.  I stared down at him in shock at what I had just done.  My powers seemed to have doubled, if not tripled, in severity since the last time I had used them.  A brilliant idea hit me as strong as my electricity was now.  If it could work, I could take out the entire Boru race.

“Violet?”  I needed her help if I was to be successful in my attempt.

She was busy healing Quino and didn’t answer.

“Violet!  I need you now!”

“What?”

“Can you bind all the Boru together?   You know, make them one?”

“Maybe.”

I grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to me.  I stared hard into her doubtful face.  “Violet, you are the best witch that I have ever heard of but you doubt yourself far too often.  I need you to believe in yourself as I believe in you.  I know that you can do this.  I have a plan, but I need them all bound together, even the Boru that are not present.  Can you do this?”

“I can try,” she said sounding a little more confident in her abilities.  “But what about Clifton?”

I looked past her to see Clifton.  He was fighting beautifully, confidence looming with every stroke of his sword.  “What about him?”

“His Boru blood, if we are able to do this, he might die.”

I pondered that thought for a moment. 
Would his Zolera blood be enough to protect him from what I was planning?
  I didn’t know, but I had to try.  If I had to sacrifice my love, one of the best things that had happened to me in my entire life, to vanquish every last Boru and save my people from their future attacks, I would have to do it.

“Do it.”  I answered, already saddened by my decision.  I seemed to be giving him up already.  “We have no choice.”

She nodded before bending down over a fallen enemy and coated her hands with his blood.  “Casta un hurkes.  Sesvuer calla e, Boru tu Esta.”

I watched as the entire Boru army began to glow with a bright green light, including Clifton.  It only lasted for a fraction of a second, but I saw that Clifton was included in the spell.

“It is done.”  She too seemed to have noticed the fact that the spell had put Clifton with the Boru.  “You will need to hurry, the spell will not hold for long.”

My eyes were glued to Clifton when I called upon the charge once more.  It seemed to singe my insides while I held it in to gaze at Clifton a little longer.  A tear trickled down my cheek as I stared at him.  “I am so sorry, my love”

A massive bolt of lightning jolted from my body.  The room illuminated with its bright, golden light.  It struck the nearest Boru first, going straight through him and exiting his back.  He dropped to the floor, dead.  I watched as the bolt made its way around the room, taking down every single enemy in sight.  I watched in horror as it passed through Clifton last, exited him, and then passed through the wall and out into the world to take down the rest of the race.

I grabbed Violet’s hand and sprinted to Clifton’s side.  I feared him dead like all the others, but I hoped it not to be true.  He was unconscious, but taking short shallow breaths.  The sight gave me a glimmer of hope.  I sat on the ground and placed his head in my lap.  His human mask was down, showing me the real man that I loved.   “Can you help him?”

She glanced down at him, and then looked sympathetically at me.   “No, I cannot heal something that is dead.  If he is to live then his body must fight it.  Though the Boru in him is dead, the Zolera in him might make it.”

I understood.  I must give him a reason to live.  I leaned over him, not quite touching my lips to his.  “I need you to stay with me, Clifton,” I whispered sweetly, my breath kissing his lips.  “Please stay.  It was my desire to be with you that brought me back when I almost died.  I know that now.  I need you.  I love you.  I couldn’t imagine my life without you in it.”

His breath stopped wafting into my face and his chest waivered before falling still.

“No, I won’t let you leave me.  I promised I would never leave you and I am keeping it.”  I placed my palms on his chest, calling forth a smaller dose of my power.  The second it entered him his back arched steep and his throat wheezed as air flooded back into his lungs.  The heart beneath my hand beat fast and steady.  I pressed my lips against his and wept into him when he kissed me back.

His eyes fluttered open and focused on my face before speaking.  “Tessa?  Did we win?”

I just nodded, unable to speak.  I had sacrificed him for the good of my people, but I had also brought him back.

“What is going on here?” an angry voice yelled from across the room.