Foretold Memories

Chapter Twenty Six

"You brought friends." Mead states emotionless as he dives out of the blast of ice that careens towards his skull.

"Friends? We agreed to come alone. You may have broken that agreement with your pup, but I certainly would never break my word." I spit back at his insinuation.

I dodge and weave his assault to paralyse me with spheres of grey, shadowy power; bits of bark and grit fly through the air as they miss. Sharp splinters lodge themselves within my skin, prickling and stinging.

Before I could return a similar attack and impale his body to a tree on the far side of the clearing, a large pale green dome surges from the earth and into the air, encasing us into an inescapable bloody battlefield.

As soon as the dome encloses at the peak, a shockwave bursts through it, sending ripples throughout the shield.

I flick my head around to find the source to see Loren banging against the dome. Evie and Dauson are attempting to grab Loren by his shoulders, trying to pull him away forcefully.

It's been so long since I've seen their familiar faces that I almost miss the large ball of shadow careening towards me.

I port to Loren on instinct, without thinking. I find the shield inches from my face before I realise that the shields purpose is just as equally to keep the trio from entering this fight, as much as me from leaving it. Peering upwards I see Loren step backwards in shock.

"No... You, you can't be her." His voice cracks, disbelieving.

Suddenly his eyes widen and Evie's mouth begins to move, yelling silently while Dauson begins to attack the dome with his sword, as he too, yells silently towards me.

The dome must be sound proof.

A searing pain slices across my back, reopening the scar that already laid place there. I instantly drop to my knees. I open my eyes to a swathe of blurred colours obstructing my view of Loren.

I feel myself fall backwards as Mead kicks me to the ground. The pain radiating through my body outweighs the pain of the fight between Meads boot clad foot and my side.

The icy dirt makes the wound on my back sting even more, as gravel and grit dig itself into it.

Crying out to Loren, I open my mind and search for his, aching for comfort of any sort while I lay here, feeling my life drift away from my body.

I close my eyes and imagine my parents greeting me at deaths doors, their smiles wide and arms opening even wider for that long awaited hug.

Loren's consciousness begins to grapple for mine, slipping in and out of reach as if my mind is detaching itself from my body.

I begin to notice that in this state of semi-consciousness, my pain receptors have shut down as I hazily see Mead begin to slowly place the tip of his scimitar against my breastbone.

He begins his efficient and painstakingly slow descent of meticulously carving my flesh, as if to skin me alive.

Oh.

That's when it all clicks. The tanned and browned patches of his cloak aren't just any animal skin, it's human skin. The skin of those he kills.

My mind boils with hatred. How many did he torture for that coat of his? How many of those coats does he have? Does he have a matching set of boots and gloves too?

Mead lowers his body down, staring into my eyes. I feel his sickly hot breath tickle my nose as he snorts.

My stomach lurches at his proximity, at the coats proximity.

Those poor souls.

"You were easier to defeat than I was lead to believe." Mead's voice penetrates my world of slow death.

No. I refuse.

I scramble for the twin daggers that I had strapped to my ankles inside of my boot.

I will not die without a fight.

Not without at least trying to enact justice for those who are patched onto his coat.

With all the physical strength I had left, I throw one dagger over Meads body and into my opposite hand.

I bring both hands to the opposite sides of Meads neck, crossing my arms like an X, marking the end of his sick days.

Without Mead even realising what was happening, I slash across both sides of his neck, through the middle and out the other side, uncrossing my arms as I go.

A rush of blood splashes my chest and stomach as his blood falls, pooling the earth around me.

Meads thoughts pierce my mind, intercepting Loren's attempts as he falls to his knees beside me, calmly accepting his fate.

"No matter my death. My borrowed time has come to an end. Do not fear though, I will forever stay with you Malika, in spirit and in dreams. Maybe now I will be able to help you the way I promised your mother. Away from the seduction my master offers." He pauses. "Search for them Malika, my beasts are rumbling, they are ready to ravage your kin, to prevent any more of your kind to arise. You must kill them Malika, kill them all."

Meads presence leaves abruptly, severing our link. I open my eyes and notice a wisp of green and gold escape his body and dissolve within the air as Meads body crumbles into dust.

The beasts!

In a sudden fervour of adrenaline fuelled strength, I open my senses further and close my eyes to view the map of the land. More lines, dark and gold, trail the white nothingness of the world. Additional smudged lines appear, confirming my fears. More beasts roam the forest, ready to be unleashed, to roam the world and kill.

In a rage of sadness and grief, I decide to leave this world with a legacy. A legacy to each and every person who have tried to harm the innocents who held angels blood within their veins unknowingly.

A wrath I haven't felt since that day I returned to the realm fills me with fire.

The world begins to slow as if I had broken the barrier of sound. Nothing but a deafening silence fills the earth, as if the world has sucked in a huge gasp.

A singular drop of my blood cascades down my sweat soaked body, in a pace faster than the slow motion of the earth, mingling with the dirt and grass that lay beside me.

The earth blows out its held back gasp in that moment, letting out a roaring burst.

I feel my body arch, bellybutton reaching towards the sky as a blinding light and a deafening boom escapes my body, as it stretches over the land and suffocates the forest.

The dome comes crashing down as the blast visibly ripples back and forth through the air, sending the trees flying backwards and engulfing all things living.

The last thing I notice is the trio of angels as they are flung backwards and sucked into a golden light before the world becomes absent.