Chapter Twenty-Three #3
Through the mental fog clouding my mind, I heard Deuce lunge for my former guard, but he stumbled forward like he missed him entirely…
or had phased right though him. Eddie was an Elvish Grand Master with the power to phase through solid objects.
He must’ve phased himself through Deuce, which was enough to piss the demigod off and distract him for a few moments.
Deuce cracked his whip, but I didn’t hear Eddie cry out.
The whips must’ve passed right through his transparent form.
“Eddie, wait for us!” Kallie came tearing in from across the forest, and I sensed Danny’s vampiric power as he raced behind her, both of them tossing spells at Deuce like mad.
While Eddie, Kallie and Danny had Deuce distracted, several other people raced over to me. I heard the clop of hooves, then the hurried footsteps of multiple people. Gentle hands landed on my shoulders. I let them peel me off of Ava while I trembled from the pain. They laid me on my side.
“Shit.” I somehow managed to piece together that it was Ez. “His ribs and spine… Deuce cut right down to them. He’s lost half his blood volume!”
“That bastard,” Ava spat. Her tears had morphed from something fractured to something fierce… ruthless, intentional.
Her wrath sounded beautiful. What a lovely, morbid song.
“I can feel his soul separating from his body! He’s dying!” Marcus cried as Rishi gave a mournful noise. “We have to hurry!”
“Charlie, hold on. I’m going to heal you,” Ez said. He moved over me, but my lips cracked as I forced a protest.
“Oberi… first,” I managed to choke out.
Ez knew I wasn’t one to fight with, not even now. “Keep his soul here,” he ordered Marcus.
I barely heard it. I was beginning to float away, losing sensation of all pain before drifting toward some kind of light.
An overwhelming peace came over my soul, until I found myself completely at ease.
All the agony was gone, replaced by the notion of overwhelming, unconditional love.
The forest faded away, taking me somewhere far off.
We’re waiting, Charlie. You did so well. It’s all right. Ava’s safe. You can come with me now.
That was my grandfather’s voice. I knew it better than the sound of my own heart beating. I went to run toward it, ready to let go and be free.
The sense of peace was yanked away as I felt myself being slammed back into my body, causing me to gasp.
All the pain came rushing back, ramming into me again.
I realized it was my own fucking soul, smashing into the hunk of flesh that was my husk.
I was on the edge of death. My spirit was trying to separate from my body, while Marcus’ magic fought to keep it in place.
Every time he pushed my soul back into my corpse, the sounds of battle grew louder around me, before fading again. I thought I heard Danny and Kallie shouting at one another while they came to Eddie’s aid, but I couldn’t be sure.
I was already dead. I just wanted Marcus to let me go, because this wasn’t fair. I missed my grandfather. I wanted to be with him.
Charlie, you need to hold on, or we’ll both go! Oberi’s voice broke through my agony. Ez had healed him enough to bring him back from the brink of unconsciousness, but once I passed on, he would, too. Which meant the last thing he did needed to count more than anything.
Take her. I couldn’t find my lips, so I spoke to Oberi telepathically. Get her out of here before you’re forced to die, too.
Charlie. Oberi whimpered, knowing I was at my end.
I managed to hold on to a singular thought, a final last plea to Oberi. I held us together because I didn't stop trying. I’ll hold us together until the second I die.
Ava was still close by. Through the haze, I felt her trying to pull herself through the dirt to reach her bow. Blood splattered as she yanked it into her grasp, and I heard her hiss, “Oberi. Get me on your back.”
Relief. She was leaving. That was all I wanted.
The sounds of battle faded, and my limbs went numb. I felt nothing but the throbbing ache in my back that pierced like hundreds of glass shards with every breath. Deuce’s beating had been so brutal it’d taken every ounce of strength from me… and now, it would claim my spirit.
Someone spoke, and though I was sure they were right next to me, they sounded miles away. “Quickly! He can’t survive much longer.”
Hands landed on me, and the warm sensation of healing magic blossomed outward.
The velvety nose of a large creature touched the top of my head, and healing magic tingled down my body.
That had to be Tahoma, Ez’s deer Familiar.
I tried to lift my head, but I couldn’t manage even the simplest of movements.
“Hang in there,” Ez insisted. “These gashes are deep. This is going to take a minute.”
“You weren’t… supposed to be here,” I rasped.
“Me and a bunch of other doctors heard you were going into battle. We came to heal people.”
“Thank the gods,” Marcus added. “If Ez weren’t here, you’d be a goner.”
“Keep his spirit in place,” Ez ordered. “I’m not done.”
As Ez and Marcus worked together, my soul began to stabilize in my body once again.
I could feel my muscles responding to Ez’s power, and they wove themselves back together, along with the gashes on my skin.
I’d lost so much blood I wasn’t sure I’d be able to move without a transfusion, but something in Ez’s Anichi magic must’ve caused my body to generate new blood at a rapid speed, because I could feel my pulse growing stronger.
The details of the battle began to come back in clearer detail. I heard Kallie scream, “Danny, I can’t move! Do something!”
“For fuck’s sake, I can’t move either! What do you want me to do?” Danny cried. “He’s not responding to my compulsion!”
That distracted Ez, and his hands left my body. “That’s all I can do. My magic’s exhausted.”
“You saved his life,” Marcus breathed. “I don’t have to hold his soul in anymore. He’ll make it.”
Didn’t feel like it, but I was here, wasn’t I?
My back still ached, but Ez had healed the worst of it with the help of his Familiar.
Marcus looped an arm under my body and yanked me to my feet.
I staggered, trying not to vomit. The pain had dampened, but hadn’t gone away completely.
I tried to use my magic to assess what was going on, but I couldn’t make sense of why Kallie and Danny were just standing there.
My senses searched for Elf magic and noticed Eddie was on the ground…
alive, still, but definitely incapacitated.
Marcus gulped audibly as he took a cautious step back, yanking me toward the tree line with him and Ez.
Tahoma followed. The large peryton crouched so low to the ground I could feel his belly scraping the dirt with my Earth magic.
He was a healer like Ez and not equipped for battle. Tahoma was terrified.
“What’s going on?” I slurred. Everything felt off kilter.
“Deuce has made some kind of blood ropes that are binding Kallie and Danny,” Marcus said. “I’ve never seen magic like this. Charlie, what do we do?”
My mind went blank. Deuce was so strong now that even Danny couldn’t compel him, and he could break any spell we threw at him. The only way to take him out would be to stake him through the heart like I did with Naya, but we had to get close enough to him to do it.
I fell down to pick up a fragmented piece of wood, clutching it in my hand. Marcus struggled to haul me back up. I have to keep fighting.
Danny grunted while he struggled against his restraints, cursing like a mad man. “I won’t let ye get the better of me, ye fucking arse. I’m gonna find out how you’re controlling this blood like this, and strangle ye with it.”
Deuce chuckled. “Sure, strangle a vampire. See how far that gets you. Though you won’t get far once I snap your neck—”
A stick broke under Marcus’ weight, capturing Deuce’s attention. He turned away from Danny, and his laughter grew when he saw me back on my feet.
“Looks like the Blind Bandit wants another go! You just won’t die, will you?” Deuce cracked his whip in our direction as he began stalking toward us.
My fingers tightened around my weapon, but Deuce merely laughed at the sight. “What are you going to do with that? Stake me through the heart? It’s going to take a lot more than that to kill me, Bandit.”
Deuce lashed out his whip, and the ends hit their target square.
The whip sliced across the back of my hand, causing me to drop the stake I’d been holding.
My stomach bottomed out as the sickening strike of the whip touched me once again.
I didn’t think I could take it one more time.
I’d lose my mind. Ez pressed into me on one side, while Marcus clung to my opposite arm.
The three of us reached the tree line and cowered against a thick trunk, clinging to each other.
There was nowhere we could go that Deuce wouldn’t follow, and running from him now meant abandoning our friends.
My pulse grew so loud that I was sure Deuce could hear it. The fucker really liked playing with his food. I knew he’d been waiting a long time for this moment. He wouldn’t just kill me. He’d end my life, then feed on me afterward. What a delicious victory that’d be for him.
Deuce could obviously smell my fear, and he let out a satisfied cackle. “Time to end you, Bandit. Say goodnight!”
Deuce drew back his whip, and I winced as I prepared for the killing blow that I was certain would slice my head straight off my shoulders.
Oberi’s wyvern cry rang through the skies as he swooped downward and threw himself between us and Deuce. Ava screamed in revenge, and I felt the wind around her body as she flung herself off Oberi’s back, tumbling out of the skies at top speed in a swift, controlled motion.