A Curse Of Goodness

The End of a War

Previously on ACOG:

Speerburn's fingers wrapped around my neck. Just as before, he tauntingly squeezed my throat and slowly added another hand, gripping tighter.

     He was saying something, some sort of angry speech that I didn't care to focus on. The man could tell I wasn't listening, and jerked my head against the back of the tree in frustration.

It infuriated him that I wasn't listening.

    Instead of hearing whatever he was saying, I thought of Bron.

    It helped.

    My head was pulled forward and slammed back into the tree again as Speerburn yelled.

     I thought of Bron's strange, pale blue eyes. They were a light shade, light blue - No... No, I suppose they were more grayish, almost. Similar to a blue-grey sort of color.

     My lungs began to burn, growing tighter in my chest.

      I thought of those strange sparks, and how they only came with my Mate's touch. Oh, and his touch. Always so gentle but firm. Electrifying and calming at the same time, which was confusing.

    "-ish human! Stupid!" Speerburn was still yelling. "-ade me do this!"

     The skin on my neck was screaming, almost as badly as my need for air. I didn't realize my hands had been scratching at the attacker's hold until I felt warm liquid on my fingertips.

      All of a sudden, faces flashed in my mind.

     Ny-ell's naughty smile - The one that told you he was in the middle of scheming something. Alexander's soft, comforting smile. Adam's familiar glare - Always mad about something. Mia. Anthony. Father. The Twins, Otis. Everyone I had met in Otherland.

     The burning had stopped, and my head had gone numb from hitting the tree.

     I couldn't quite tell if my hands were still clawing at his - They felt strange, fuzzy.

     I forced open my eyes, one last time.

     He bared his bloody teeth at me in a pure, delirious rage - Hair shaking as he yelled muffled words in my face.

     But behind him, I saw the morning sun shining through the swaying trees.

My mind became foggy and I couldn't quite feel his hands on me anymore. Everything felt fuzzy, and tense. Strange, black smears slowly spread from the corners of my vision.

  And just before those black swirls took over, I saw a familiar orange mist clouding around the trees.

——.——.——.——.——.——.——.——.——.——.——.—

My head pounded violently.

     It was the first thing I became aware of, the pain. It was blinding; So intense that a shaking groan left me. My throat felt as though I had just swallowed blades, and my oxygen starved brain was spinning.

I rolled to the side, rough leaves crunching under my weight. My hands shook as I raised them to my head - Wetness met my fingers. Lots of it, slick and warm on my skin.