The Firelands

83 - The Final Arrow

                                                                        16th day of the forth Month, Worth's Moon

3:30 pm

The Forgotten Temple

Eldor's hand slammed down on Zedkiel's mouth, stifling the scream.

"Stop," he snarled, "Stop screaming. It was their fault. Did you really expect to make it to The Firelands in one piece?"

Zedkiel bit him. Hard. His teeth came down with such force he drew blood, making Eldor cry out, wrenching his hand free, skin tearing away. He stared at his hand in horror, then looked at Zedkiel who glared at him, breathing hard, his chest heaving, his muscles straining against the binds Kalen had already weakened.

"Release me," Zedkiel seethed, "I need to go after him, release me."

"After him?" Eldor said, laughing though he moved away. "Kalen is dead, Zedkiel, what do you hope to do?"

"He's not dead!" Zedkiel screamed. One arm suddenly came free, the frayed vines snapping and whipping away. "That sword didn't piece his heart! It was his right side! They can survive! Vampires can survive anything! He's alive!"

"He's dead! Kalen is dead! Incendio is dead! They both died! You failed, Zedkiel! You didn't get your group to The Firelands!"

"I don't care about The Firelands!" Zedkiel snarled, "I don't care about a goddamn realm Fate gave up on fifty years ago!"

Eldor backed away, his hand swinging back to touch one of the pillars for balance and his fingers instantly pulled away and he looked back at it.

The stone was vibrating, violently. All around him he could hear the rumbling for rocks shifting and creaking. The vines that held Falsina started to shift, trembling like snakes roused from sleep.

His eyes flew back to Zedkiel.

He was dazed, sweating and pale but he was getting free. The vines were pulling away from him, releasing him by his own will.

Eldor grabbed the blade he had already used once on his brother, adjusting his grip and flew at Zedkiel, the point aimed straight for Zedkiel's neck.

He didn't have time to wait for the poison any more. He couldn't let Zedkiel come into any serious control of his powers.

A force like a train slammed into him from above before he could touch Zedkiel and Eldor was hurled down towards the ice, rocks showering down from the ceiling. He hit the ice in a crouch and dove out of the way just in time before the rocks came down, shattering the ice.

He looked up as Zedkiel pulled himself free, catching one of the vines and dropping, swinging down and falling to the edge of the hole Kalen had fallen into.

"You're deluding yourself, Zedkiel!" Eldor snarled, "Try as you might, he's not coming back! If the sword didn't kill him, the cold will."

"He's fine in the cold," Zedkiel said, not even bothering to look at Eldor.

Eldor's teeth ground together and he slowly got to his feet. "Then the merfolk down there will have killed him."

"He's fine," Zedkiel snarled and Eldor dove at him, stopping him just before he went in after Kalen.

"Go in after him and I'll kill Falsina this second!" Eldor snarled, landing on him, grabbing his collar and shaking his violently. "Do you realise who you're ignoring? I am your eldest brother! I am the Crown Prince of Liandol! When I speak! You LISTEN!"