Desperate for Love (Chapter 22)

by Steven in Illinois

I opened my eyes. I heard the beat of wings and felt scales on my back; I wasn't in the lava at all. In fact, when I got up, I saw that the dragon from before had caught me; I still felt the heat of lava, but it wasn't on my pure skin. We flew out of the volcano, and he looked at me with those fierce ice-blue eyes. "You should be more prepared. That monster will not exactly be very lovely to you." he said rather dully, and flew me back to where Claire and Auburn were. Apparently, Auburn's arrows were homing in, but Claire managed to deflect them with her own moves. There was a cut across Auburn's cheek, but nothing else looked serious.

I jumped off the dragon, and landed at Auburn's side. I thrust my sword at Claire, who whirled around, and shot a strange beam at me. I jumped over the humongous energy sphere, then hit her in the head with the blade. She stood there, smiling, then dissolved. I looked around; she wasn't dead, that was for sure, but where had she gone? I stared around, and the answer came to me rather simply: when she slashed at me.

The sword went somewhere in between my bones, into the gut all the way. I stared for a second; this pain was indescribable, I had never felt something like it before...and yet somehow I was alive. I slowly stood up from where I had fallen. She looked at me, shock shown all the way. I stared into her. "You think...you can beat ME!?" I don't remember much else, besides the fact that next thing I knew, I was slashing and fighting so furiously Auburn didn't even bother to assist me. Claire's usual smile had turned into an ugly grimace, and her superiority was still strong enough to hold back against me. Auburn looked at us, noticed I was still losing, then shot arrows over and over at Claire. Claire barely managed now; the two on one advantage was not on her side, and she slowly began to fall back, until I stabbed her in the stomach, exactly where she had stabbed me. She laughed, then somehow, withouit even moving, forced the sword out. I was blown back; her blood loss was more than me, but her circulation was stronger. She threw a spear at me, which I barely managed to dodge.

Auburn had recovered from her shock of my fall and had began once again attacking; but this time, her arms were carrying a dagger in her left and her bow in the right. She swung with the dagger, then caught Claire by the neck and pulled her back with the bow. She took the dagger, and stabbed at her, but Claire vanisehd; only for a short distance, and not very long either. She was weakining. I stood up, and stared at her body. She was looking furious. But I had never felt fury through me like this. My brain started yelling at me...but then a voice came out to me, a voice I had hoped I would never hear.

"Kill her." it said. I collapsed in the fury and strange glow of power. I began to feel weak all over...and yet the numbness felt welcoming, and my power was overloading now...

I opened my eyes, which were blood red.