He woke up early the next morning. He held his chest, gasping for breath. It felt like someone had put a knife in his chest and was twisting the knife. He was in excruciating pain. The more he resisted and tried to break off the connection, the more painful it became.
The heart just like the humans, was the lifeline of the demons. Their circulatory system was both similar and not similar with that of the humans at the same time. Even though powerful demons like himself didn't need it to pump blood, they needed it to stay alive. The gods had made it that way.
'Those stupid gods!' he thought.
When he saved her yesterday, the connection with her grew stronger. He felt her pain, her sadness, her sorrow, her anger. Everyone of her stupid emotions. Damn! It was driving him crazy. There was only one way for everything to end. She had to die. And he didn't care. She must die. Once she died, he would return to his sanity.
He had tried doing it himself but anytime he drew his power, he would feel the connection. It was like she was plugged into him. Anything he did to her, he did to himself. Her heart was tightly bound to his own. And then he would withdraw his power. He couldn't do it.
After a few hours of resistance and pain.
He connected his mind to one of his very loyal and most skilful soldiers.
"Ferlin." He called.
"Yes, Your Majesty." He answered quickly.
"Go to the outlands, kill a human named Arianna. Gray eyes. Long Brown hair." He said.
"As you command, Your Majesty." He answered.
He cut off his mind from Ferlin's. Ferlin was powerful. He would kill her off in a swing.
...
Arianna woke up the next morning feeling complicated. Last night, she had a dream where she told her mom how she had managed to survive despite all the obstacles she faced in the badlands. As she narrated the story, she felt her tears falling.
"Mom."
"Ari." Her mother, a gray-eyed, brown-haired woman answered.
"I was running. I kept fighting and eventually I died." She said and her tears fell. "But you know what? I didn't die." She paused.
"I lived. For a moment, the only moment in my life, I understood why I needed to live. I wanted to survive at all costs."
She clutched her dress with tightly clenched fists.
There was a point in her life, when she hated life. When she was fourteen, when her parents left her and Logan, when the whole world didn't make any sense. At that time, she hated everything. Noone, not even Logan knew that Arianna had once felt the desire to die. She had once attempted suicide. That was the worst year of her life. She had just become an adolescent and everything came crashing. Her parents disappeared. The boy she fell in love with broke her heart. And her aunt who took care of her died. Then, she felt that no matter what she did, she'd never be enough.
At that time, she didn't know what motivated her to go on, but she crossed that hurdle. Despite the fact that she was no longer fourteen, some scars never healed and and some stains never washed away. Even at eighteen, whenever she saw her parents in her dream and narrated her ordeal to them, she'd feel like a heavy burden was pressing down on her.
Her adventure yesterday made her realize how precious her life was and she wanted to cherish it and hold onto it for as long as she lived.
She sat up and wiped away the tears on her face. She went to the bathhouse. She had slept for nearly 16 hours. She entered the water and started the process.
She hadn't stayed for long when she had an ominous feeling. It was as if something was coming for her. Whatever it was, it was moving very fast.
She became afraid. She had been through enough yesterday. She couldn't suffer again.
She stood up immediately, tied her towel and started running. She didn't care to wear clothes, she just ran. She didn't think, she just ran. The thing was getting closer.
Closer. She knew she couldn't outrun this entity but she still ran. She ran until her towel fell off. And then the being made his move on her.
The sword pierced through her back and came out in front. She momentarily stopped and fell on her knees. She felt her heart stop beating for a moment. And then the pain came. Blood spurted from her mouth.
She hadn't even adjusted to the pain when the knife was fiercely drawn out. And then her blood started flowing and gushing like a stream.
"Ahhh!" For a long time, she had forgotten to scream. But when she remembered and did so, she felt excruciating pain. She held her chest gasping for breath.
"Huh-uhhh. Huh-uhhh."
"Ahhh!"
"Ahhh!"
She hadn't felt this much pain before. Not even in the wilderness.
Her body fell over. Her eyes open as she stared at the sky. Then she turned her head and saw the face that wanted her dead. Someone she knew not.
"Haa!" She let out a laugh.
"Life is unfair." She said through her teeth.
Her eyes started closing.
...
He wasn't faring any better. He felt like every hole in his body was spewing blood. He felt like his heart had swelled to the point where it would burst. Occasionally, it felt like someone had stabbed the organ and then pulled out the knife and then put it back in. He felt like he was being stabbed over and over again.
He fell on his knees and held his chest. He had to be strong. This was the only way.
Knocks rang at his door. His subordinates must have felt him starting to weaken.
"Xavier, open the door." Elder Lorenzo said. "Xavier."
Xavier ignored him. This was a hurdle he had to cross by himself. He would do it no matter what.
"Xavier!"
"Xavier!"
"Your Royal Majesty!"
"Your Majesty!"
Soon, more voices rang at the door.
Xavier coughed and spat out blood. He was surprised. He hadn't seen his blood in centuries. His face couldn't hide the shock.
His heart swelled. That woman's life was slipping away.
"Aarghh!" He groaned.
This pain.
...
Arianna lay on the floor, nude, in her own pool of blood. The sky, everything was becoming hazy and unclear.
"No! I can't die!" She said through gritted teeth. Her will was tough but in the face of death, even the toughest of wills would fall. She couldn't hold on much longer but she didn't want to die.
"I can't die! I won't die!" She said and made to stand up, but that man once again pushed the sword into her chest.
Ferlin was surprised that a mere human hadn't died from his sword but still had the will to stand. This human... was definitely not normal. He wondered why he had to kill her since she was just a human. Of what importance was she?
Arianna gasped and her eyes closed.
...
His body finally gave in. He had held on long enough. His head hit the carpet as his eyes closed.
Elder Lorenzo felt Xavier shut off and immediately broke open the door.
The last thing Xavier saw was his guards and Elder Lorenzo rushing in before his eyes closed.
He smiled self deprecatingly. Had he really lost? To a human?
Arianna and Xavier had their eyes closed. Both unwilling to give in.