I slowly opened the creaky wooden door, the sounds of someone breathing were all that was heard within the room.
"Hello?" I asked out into the room. I shut the door behind me as Jason sat up from the uncomfortable rickety bed. Jason began to chuckle quietly as he realized who had just walked into him room.
"What do you want Hena?" Jason asked as he shook is head in disbelief.
"Why?"
"What?"
"When, where, how, yes those are question starter words, you're very smart. I wanna know why you killed all those people dip stick."
"To rid the world of your genetic mud smear," Jason sneered.
I could feel my face turn red, "So you murdered almost an entire species in the name of discrimination?"
"You're so cute when you get angry."
"I could literally kill you," I growled.
"You won't though," Jason laughed creepily, "I haven't taken enough."
"You have taken everyone," I growled.
"And yet, i still have not taken enough for you to kill me right here right now."
"That's because I have faith that everything you've done will come back and bite you."
"Ahh so... karma."
"It's not my place to handle your fate, that's up to God to judge you for the atrocities you've committed."
I said as I started to walk from the room.
"You'll rethink that in a few hours."
I turned to him, my fear obviously showing.
"What does that mean?"
"You'll understand. You all will understand."
His creepy laughter could be heard all the way across the castle as I speed walked to the kitchen.
"Mom," Kaida squealed as she ran to hug me. She seemed scared and timid, hiding behind my legs after the hug.
Charlotte stood in the center of the room, looking almost as scared as Kaida did.
"You have a habit of adopting the strange," Charlotte gently said through an obviously terrified voice.
"You're right," I laughed slightly as I walked towards my daughter.
"What's her name?" Charlotte asked as I hugged her.
I turned and gave Charlotte space to see Kaida.
"Her name is Kaida, she's seven."
"Mom why are you-" Kaida started.
"Hi Kaida, I'm your sister Charlotte."
No other words were spoken between the two. Kaida had closed the emptiness between the two of them within seconds.
They had never met before.
"How did you survive?" Kaida asked.
"Rachel told me what was going to happen, and so I ran," Charlotte explained, "I was later recruited for Jason's army, they had no idea what I was."
Kaida threw herself from Charlotte within the blink of an eye.
"You're one of them?" Kaida accused.
"No, I've never killed anyone Kaida. I was their medic," Charlotte explained.
Kaida was hesitant. It was obvious that Kaida didn't trust Charlotte.
"I'll go and give you two a minute," Charlotte said as she left.
"Kaida come here for a second," I told her. She followed her orders and came over to me. I got on my knees so we'd be at eye level.
"Can I tell you something?" I asked her with a serious face.
She nodded.
"You've seen me be a warrior. The fire, it can't burn me, I wield it at my fingertips and it bends to my call. And well the sea, it can't harm me because I've been drowning my whole life. You however, Kaida, you are my one and only weakness now. I stress about keeping you safe the same way I did with Carter."
"Oh," Kaida said shocked.
"So I need you to promise that if Jason wins, you run northeast, follow the dirt trail up to the castle tell them you want to talk to Alpha Matthew," I explained, "And tell him everything that happened."
"Why're you telling me this mom?" Kaida asked in an innocent voice.
"Because in a few minutes they're gonna ring that bell. And I'm not sure if I'm going to be walking out of that ring," I told her as I put my hand on her shoulder.
Her eyes glowed just barely enough to see for a few seconds and then went back to their normal green color.
My last attempt to save her will be the death of me.
And I was okay with that. She would go on to live with Matthew, he'd keep her safe and keep her secret safe. She'd grow up normal, and I'd see my family and friends again.
The bell rung, signifying that it was time to for me to fight my last battle. I placed Kaida's hand in mine and smiled at her.
I stood up and walked out into the main hall where a bloody body laid by the door. Hair strung up in awkward positions. The victim had their head beat on the concrete floors until they passed away.
I took a deep gulp and tightened my grip on Kaida.
"Mom?"
Kaida's voice was stricken with fear.
"I know baby, but there's nothing I can do until after the battle," I told her as we walked around the body.
"Mom it's uncle Joey," Kaida pointed out fearfully.
I turned my head and saw the lifeless eyes of someone I saw as a brother.
"I'm going to rip him to shreds," I growled as I pulled Kaida out of the castle.
"Mom-"
"Not now Kaida," I growled.
"Mom-"
"No Kaida."
"Mom! You're hurting my hand," Kaida whined.
I stopped and loosened my grip on her hand.
"I'm sorry baby," I said with a tender smile, "I didn't mean to hurt you honey."
She nodded along with a similar tender smile and we made out way to the ring. Jason was already standing in the ring, his hands already covered in blood. The crowd murmured about the blood as I walked through them. I made my way to the ring while Kaida went to the stage.
She sat with her legs crossed on the stage, never breaking eye contact with me.
I stepped onto the stone ring.
Was I going to die today infront of my daughters?
The thought was cast from my head as I looked angrily into the eyes of Jason. His eyes were un-shifting, they stared directly into mine with such a pure hatred that it started to pour into me.
My stomach started to bubble with a rage that I hadn't felt in years.
Did I want to kill him?
Yes I did.
"The rules that were told yesterday still stand. No projectiles, no outside help, no leaving the ring. Such rules being broken will result in this happening again tomorrow. If anyone objects to this challenge then speak now," I shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. My voice carried such a power that even Jason looked down.
"You're not a monster," Carter's voice echoed in my head.
"You don't have to kill to be strong," Joey's voice added.
I took a deep breath, breathing in what felt like broken glass into my lungs. The pain in which I felt with every breath reminded me of something: Surviving is hard, it's a battle you have to fight daily. You'll be covered is scars by the end of your life. They are there to remind you that something wished to kill you but you rose above the threat and survived. Every ache, every pain, is there to tell you to keep fighting because you're not dead yet. And darling if you're going to go down, go down with a fight, and give that threat everything you've got. Your fight isn't over until your lungs stop heaving and your heart stops breathing.
I took in yet another deep breath: a reminder that my fight isn't over, and I spoke with just as much strength as before, "As there are no objections, the ring of the bell will signify the start of the fight."
I nodded and Kaida who picked up the hammer and hit the bell.
I picked up a sword, the same that I used with Donte. Jason picked up the same weapon, the sword that he killed Jasper with.
Their faces, everyone that died by the hand of Jason, I saw them. Amongst the crowd. "I'm hallucinating," I thought to myself.
Our swords crashed into one another. He pulled back and went for a jab. Jumping out of the way of the potentially deadly attack, he caught my forearm instead. I swung my sword, hacking into his upper arm.
He screamed in agony and held the sword to my cheek. I could feel it cutting in slightly.
I pulled the sword from his arm and held it to his chest.
"How about we do this without weapons," I said gently.
"You want to fist fight to the death?" Jason asked.
"You killed 384 innocent people who were defenseless. I will fight the same way they did."
"Then you will die the same way they did," Jason answered as he threw his sword to the side and so did I.
I put my fists up and swayed back and forth slightly.
I knew something he didn't know.
He went for a jab to my sternum and I took a step back. His next punch was at my arm.
I crushed his esophagus with my fist in a hard jam to his throat. His head fell down and I landed another on his nose. Blood went everywhere.
He tried to tackle meat the waist and I grabbed him, kicking my knee into his stomach. He scurried backwards to regain the high ground.
Little did he know, the two years I was hidden in my room, Kaida and I had been practicing punches on a punching bag. I taught her how to fight and I got better at it.
My punches were hard and quick while his were quite sloppy and unplanned. He fought like a child, never planning his next move and always leaving himself open.
It was clear that he killed the innocent and defenseless for a reason.
He came back to the inner circle where I was, landing a nice hard jab on my mouth. I could taste the blood and feel it running down my lip.
"Good hit," I said as I touched my lip and looked at the blood on my finger.
My neck punch landed in his stomach. Again, he leaned over. Another landed hard on the side of his head. This could easily cause brain damage and a concussion. Good in my favor due to the increase of how disoriented he would be.
He tried to swing his foot at my torso and I grabbed it.
"Seriously? Come on, my 7 year old knows better than to do this," I remarked as I pushed his leg up, causing him to fall over.
He grabbed my ankles and pulled me down. My tailbone hit the ground hard and it caused me to whine out in pain.
I definitely broke it.
He rolled himself on top of me and got in my face, holding me down and choking me.
"Where is Blaire?"
My utter confusion masked everything else going on. What the heck was he talking about? Did he somehow not know I was Blaire?
Then I remembered, Charlotte.
"The lion girl! Where is she?!" He demanded as he knocked my head into the rock ground. "She's the leader now where is she!"
I was afraid to show him. Not scared of him, scared of the lion side. Whenever I'm routinely turning into a lion, I feel dark. Like the dark side of me is coming out. But what choice did I have? I'm about to lose air. If I don't shift now then I'll die.
A booming roar sounded from out of sight. Then the maker of such a powerful noise came into sight. Kaida, let out another heart shaking roar. It was enough Jason to lose focus and for me to shift.
Even Kaida's crown still sat on her head. My shifted lion form was the same size as her dragon form. She just had wings.
A lion's roar carries for miles, alerting any possible rivals to leave their land. The roar that came out of my mouth seconds after shifting, I believed, could've been heard by my brother.
Jason, terrified of the scene infront of him, took off out of the ring and down through the forest.
"Kaida stay above the trees, keep an eye out, we're finishing this today!" I roared out. Kaida took flight and followed orders. My people made a path for me through the crowd, their cheers inspired me to run faster.
Darting around the trees, under branches, over fallen trees. I followed the sound of him running. I felt as if I was flying. I was one with the earth. Everytime my feet hit the ground I felt more connected to it. I finally knew what it was like to be part of the bigger story, and I knew what I had to do to keep my people safe.
The footsteps stopped in a clearing, he stood in the middle, seemingly terrified and tired of running. I walked slowly towards him, I stopped. We were. How? The heck?
I recognized the clearing. I recognized the city in the distance. I recognized the city on the other side. Was Lionsville closer than I thought. Everytime we went there it was a two day trip. We've just ran there in thirty minutes?
Kaida landed behind me with a loud thump and swish of her wings as she folded them on her back.
We both shifted down.
"Coward," I growled loud enough for him to hear, "You picked a fight you couldn't finish."
"Sorry I didn't know you were the lion queen." Jason spat back, "I wanted Blaire and I to join up and reestablish a functioning government. Using her strength and my smarts."
"Even Blaire isn't stupid enough to join up with a serial killer," I remarked.
"Oh Hena, you are a serial killer," Jason sneered.
"You killed innocent, I killed the guilty. You killed people for just existing. I killed people who who murdered children. Who sold children. Druglords, human traffickers, child murderers, serial killers, and the list goes on. I took down people who deserved to be taken down. You took down people just because they were breathing."
"I killed them because they were guilty, you killed the last Cachion Hena. They aided the murder of the last female leader of our kind."
"You tried to murder the last Hena in existence!" I yelled.
"You deserved to die, she didn't," Jason yelled louder.
"She tried to kill Carter!" I argued, "And I didn't even pull the dang trigger on her!"
He looked confused.
"Oh yeah, that's right," I argued, "Her own sister pulled that trigger!"
Jason looked at me with an anger in his eyes.
"You killed 384 of my people because you thought I killed the last Cachion Hena. You tried to get back at me when it was merely a family feud between the two."
"I killed the girl who killed Hena Valerie," Jason growled, "The rest were killed because I was angry."
"No you killed all of them because you were angry! You murdered children-"
"They deserved to die." He interrupted.
"You killed babies," I argued, "What can a baby do that makes you want to kill it?!"
"It cried."
"You're psychotic," I angrily spat.
"You're delusional," he spat back.
I rolled my eyes.
"There's a darkness in you Hena, I've seen it."
"Yeah it usually comes out when people murder my entire family."
"And what are you going to do now? Kill me? Make yourself just as dark as I am."
"Mom-" Kaida said softly as she tugged on my light blue shirt. It was Carter's shirt, his lucky shirt. For some reason I felt like it would help me win the fight.
"Not now Kaida," I growled as I walked up to Jason.
"If you kill me you'd be just as bad as me." Jason pointed out.
Wrong.
"I am nothing like you," I growled as I clenched my fingers around his neck.
"You sure do look like me now," Jason remarked.
"Mom-"
"Kaida I am in the middle of something!"
"Mom killing him doesn't solve anything."
"It keeps you safe Kaida," I responded.
"Just get it over with."
"Vengeance isn't the answer," Kaida pleaded, "Mom isnt that what you taught me?"
"I'm not going to kill him for vengeance, I'm killing him so he doesn't kill anyone else."
"Mom?"
"Kaida not now!"
"Hey, um, mom?" Kaida softly said, she seemed scared.
"Hold on Kaida."
"Mom kill him," Kaida whined. She seemed further behind me than I thought. The sound of her shifting came from behind me
Jason jabbed a knife upwards, going into my chest. I gasped for air as I fell to the ground.
An all too familiar storm of lightning whooshed over me. A mess of blonde hair stood infront of me and the sound of a neck breaking echoed through the clearing.
Kaida growled furiously at the lightning fast mess of blonde hair.
"Kaida shift," I gasped.
She listened.
"Carla," The all too familiar voice gasped as he fell to his knees beside me. Tears whelled up in his eyes.
"Heal," he said, "Why aren't you healing?"
"Protect... Kaida," were the only words I could get out.
"No you are not leaving Carla," he demanded, "I just got back, I'm not losing you."
Weak, I feel so weak. I can feel blood running along my body, but my head is too heavy to take a look, my arm is too heavy to lift, everything is too heavy. I feel so weak.
The grass below me is getting colder and stickier. My blood is drying. How long have I been here? It doesn't matter, it won't be much longer.
No! No way, there's no way I'm going out like this! There's no way! This is pathetic, I'm better than this. I'm stronger than this. I'll get out of here, yes, I just need to find a way. That can't be too difficult.
I'm so tired. I can no longer feel my legs, this isn't good. I need to get up, get out of here and live, but my body refuses to move. I guess I have no choice but to lay here, helpless.
This is the end of the line for me, isn't it? Yes, I will die soon. I don't want to die like this.
I can't feel anything, anything at all. Everything is numb, it's oddly comfortable. I can't move anything either, but at least there's no pain. I can't feel anything.
I can't take this anymore. I want to sleep, but I can't, it'll be my death. But I can rest, right? Yes, I'll just lay down for a while and rest, but not sleep. No, not sleep.
This is the end, I can see it clearly. I'm beyond saving, beyond the point of no return. I'm going to die. No, please, I don't want to die. There must be something that can be done. I need a miracle.
I can no longer hear anything. I can see his lips moving, yet I cannot hear his words. I want to hear his words. I'm dying and I can't even hear my best friend.
My eyelids become heavy like the rest of my body. He tried shaking me to keep me awake. It was no use. It's okay Carter I'm just going to take a nap. It'll help me heal. Yes, I'll take a nap and my body will heal. I'll be okay.
I'll be okay.