No! No, no, no, no. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. How? Why was I still here? Taylor was laid out on the ground in front of me, the same place where we had kissed. Her body motionless and pale. Why? My brain wracked itself in thought. Was it because of the Goddess? That couldn't be. I realised what it was. No matter how hard I tried to keep going, that I convinced myself I wanted revenge. This is where I wanted to die to keep Taylor alive and now I had lost that chance.
I cried loudly and screamed to the overcast sky. My hands found their way to her body and I cradled her against myself.
"I'm sorry," the words felt hollow. After all I had been through, talking with the Goddess, realising I was Jane... my relation with Lara. A part of me thinking about Taylor, wondering if I could take a chance with her. My future before my past. That's how it should have been. I shouldn't have cared about what Jane was.
Then I felt it, a small pulse. My eyes widened and I grasped her wrist feeling for the barely beating heart inside her. It was so soft and slow that a part of me thought I must be imagining it. She was still alive but wouldn't be for long.
"Goddess help me!" I screamed. "Please, I'll do anything. Another bargain, just give me a chance to bring her back." Silence was all that came. I refused to end it here. This was my last chance. Think. What did I know, what could I do, there had to be something no matter how small it was.
"Look there's one alive here!" a voice shouted in glee and I turned to see a masked demon grin towards me.
Anger flooded through my veins as I gently placed Taylor down. For now I had to deal with these monsters. I picked up her dagger and readied myself. They rushed towards me as one became two, then three, four, five, six. Their bodies crushed against mine as I fended them away from Taylor. I would never let them touch her. Amongst it all I died.
My vision cleared and once more I was staring at Taylor's body laid out on the cold stone. No matter how many times it took, I'd bring her back to me. Silently now I searched through my memories, as the times I was Jane seeped in. I welcomed them as my own. If any small part helped me I'd take it gladly. My ordinary life with Lara, learning with her at school, fighting with her, being her friend. It looked like my life almost revolved around her. It was no wonder why I had come to this world to find her. None of it helped me now. I needed something more than that peaceful life. I needed experience, power, a magic to heal her, to make her smile at me once more.
A searing burn stretched through my head and mind. I couldn't understand where it came from but like an expanding web, knowledge I never knew before awoke inside me. As if reacting my mana began to fluctuate causing my heart and chest to clench in pain. It forced me to the ground, blood and saliva pooled in my mouth and seeped from the corner of my lips. A plan began to form in my head.
"Thank you," I groaned to whoever gave me this knowledge. Of course it could only have been the Goddess. It seemed she hadn't forsaken me just yet. I took Taylor's dagger and cut into my wrist. Fresh blood spilling to the ground. My fingers moved imprecisely as I dipped them in the blood and began to draw. With Taylor in the centre I worked outwards, infusing my blood with mana and drawing the circuit to save her. Before I could even get the first layer complete, something thudded within my chest and I crumpled forward. The light faded.
Again my vision cleared and Taylor was laid out before me. I didn't hesitate. The knowledge still fresh in my still burning mind. The brief relief from the pain in my chest only spurred me to bring it on faster as I cut myself with her dagger once more. My fingers dipped in blood trying to write something I had never seen before, moving on instinct alone. Circles and paths, symbols to represent the forms of mana. Although my body couldn't contain them the world did. This circuit would do it all for me. I just had to draw and activate it. A magician like Ardent or heroes like Lara could form the circuits freely with magic. I didn't have that luxury. As the first layer was complete and I moved to the second, once more the grinding pain inside my chest suddenly thudded. My body fell limp.
YOU ARE READING
A Hero With/Out Time
Fantasy"I'd kill him if it were the last thing I ever did. No matter who's in my way. The Hero or the Queen, I'd get rid of them, no matter how many times it takes." Up until now I had always thought I was normal, a little on the weirder side but at least...
