The air was thick with panic and the stench of fear as Eliss and her friends sprinted towards the portal, their only escape from the nightmarish chaos unleashed by Leviathan. The distance seemed immense, each step heavy with desperation. Eliss, fueled by pure adrenaline, led the charge, her friends closely behind, their breaths ragged with exertion and terror.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them trembled violently, and a massive shadow blotted out the light, heralding the arrival of Leviathan right in their path. The beast landed with a thunderous impact, its massive frame blocking their route. Eliss, finding herself closest to the creature, froze as its sinister voice boomed, "Where do you think you're going? You can't escape your DOOM!." The terror of the moment paralyzed her, her limbs refusing to respond as the creature's razor-sharp claws lunged toward her.
In that split second of impending doom, a blur of motion was all Eliss saw before feeling a force shove her aside. She stumbled, barely catching her balance, and turned just in time to see Liora standing where she had been seconds before. Liora's body was impaled on Leviathan's cruel claws, her expression one of stoic acceptance mixed with a faint smile.
Liora began, her voice weak but resolute. "I told you I would save you from any..."
Her sentence was cruelly cut by a swift, brutal motion of Leviathan's claws as it swept across, severing Liora's head from her shoulders. The severed head landed disturbingly close to Eliss, its eyes still locked in a final, silent goodbye. Time seemed to slow as Eliss kneeled, her gaze fixed on Liora's head, a torrent of emotions overwhelming her—grief, guilt, and an unbearable pain that tore through her heart.
"Lioraa..." she whispered, her voice breaking, the world around her fading into a muffled echo.
Tara's voice cut through the fog of Eliss's despair, sharp and urgent. "Eliss, You can't be consumed by sorrow now. You have to live so her sacrifice is not wasted." Her words were a lifeline, pulling Eliss back from the brink of despair.
Eliss looked up, her eyes clouded with tears, as she struggled to her feet. Just as she gained her balance, Leviathan's claw swung down again, a deadly arc aimed directly at her. In a desperate reflex, her friends conjured a gust of wind, the spell catching Eliss and hurling her towards the portal. She was propelled backward, her body airborne, as she helplessly watched the remaining friends confront their fate.
Rowena, the last standing between Leviathan and Eliss, turned to her with a serene yet somber expression. "Live a happy life," she called out as Eliss neared the portal's threshold. "Once we meet again, you will tell us your stories. Remember? You wanted to be..." Her words were cut short, a finality imposed by Leviathan's ruthless claw that cleaved her in two.
Eliss's flight through the air felt like an eternity, each moment stretched out as she bore witness to the massacre of her friends—each one falling, their sacrifices forming a tragic tapestry that she would carry forever. Their faces, their voices, would haunt her, each echoing a promise, a hope, a shared dream now stained with the blood of their sacrifice.
As she crossed the threshold of the portal, she was back to safety. But safety was a relative term, for though her body was now beyond Leviathan's reach, her mind and soul would forever wander back to that hall, to those final moments of sacrifice and the echoing words of her friends, urging her to live, to remember, to honor their memory.
Eliss's world had become a blur of motion and noise as she was forcibly expelled from the portal, the spell's momentum hurling her back into the place where Leviathan couldn't harm her anymore. She landed heavily on her back, the cold, hard ground beneath her offering no comfort. As she lay there, staring blankly into the sky, her eyes remained dry, numbness enveloping her senses. The sky above looked indifferent, its vast expanse a stark contrast to the turmoil churning within her.
Time seemed to stand still as Eliss lay motionless, her mind replaying the horrific events that had unfolded just moments before. The screams, the blood, the final acts of sacrifice by her friends—all echoed in a relentless, torturous loop. The world around her continued to move, but she was trapped in that moment of loss, her heart shattered by the weight of survival.
It was only when she heard the frantic footsteps and urgent voices of her parents that the protective shell of shock and disbelief began to crack. Lord Theren and Lady Mirena rushed to her side, their faces etched with deep concern. "Eliss, are you okay?" her father asked, his voice filled with a fear that mirrored the dread tightening around Eliss's heart.
Turning her head to look at her father, the floodgates finally opened. "I'm okay, but... but... the girls... Liora..." Eliss's voice broke, each word soaked in anguish. "They saved me... They died because of me..." Tears cascaded down her cheeks, as extremely strong pain and guilt overwhelmed her. "If they hadn't saved me, they might still be alive..." Her voice was a whisper, choked by sobs as she grappled with the unbearable reality of her survival at such a cost.
"If only there was a hero that could save them..." she murmured, the words barely audible between her cries. Her body shook as the sobs wracked her, each wave of grief pulling her deeper into despair.
Lord Theren, his own heart aching with sorrow, gathered Eliss in his arms, holding her close as she cried. "Eliss, you didn't do anything wrong," he whispered, his voice steady despite the pain that clouded his own eyes. "They did that because they loved you. I'm certain they didn't regret their decision." His words were meant to console, but they also acknowledged the brutal truth of their sacrifice.
As he held her, Lady Mirena joined, her own eyes brimming with tears, adding her warmth to the embrace. Together, they formed a small cocoon of familial love around Eliss, trying to shield her from the pain even as they shared in her grief.
The embrace lasted for what felt like an eternity, with Lord Theren and Lady Mirena murmuring words of comfort, trying to stitch the tattered edges of their daughter's spirit back together. "You are not alone in this," Lady Mirena said softly. "We are here with you, Eliss."