(PTII)Defenders of Middle Earth: A Middle Earth Story(Book 4)

Chapter 26: For Love

Taliel slid across the stony ground as an arrow ricocheted off a nearby rock, barely evading it. The orc who had fired it quickly fit another to his bowstring, letting it loose without even aiming. Quickening her pace, the nimble elven warrior heard the arrow make contact with the ground behind her feet. She scanned the battlefield ahead of her, hoping beyond hope to see any sign of Caledorn or his allies.

Suddenly Taliel felt herself being lifted into the air by an unnaturally strong gust of wind, and stumbled to the ground as she attempted to compensate for the unexpected breeze. The sound of laughter caused her to spin around, scrambling back to her feet as she saw Zaskia standing before her.

"You thought I'd allow you to go so easily?" The sorceress purred with a twisted smile. "How naive."

Taliel rubbed her hands together, cleaning the soot and dirt from her palms. She was tired... and she did not know what Zaskia was capable of. Part of her wanted to attack the sorceress outright, but it was risky. Who knew what powers the evil woman possessed? No... she would have to be more devious in her approach.

"Well, you do seem to be struggling to keep up," Taliel replied with a roguish grin. "Perhaps you should have spent more time practicing running than dabbling in powers that are far above your comprehension."

Zaskia's smile disappeared immediately, and her eyebrows furrowed angrily. "I could kill you where you stand, wench."

Taliel danced backward playfully, ensuring that Zaskia's orcs didn't flank her. "Oh? Then why haven't you?"

At this, a deadly twinkle came into the sorceress's stormy violet eyes, causing Taliel's heart to drop. She had asked the wrong question.

"Because, my dear..." Zaskia began like a teacher lecturing a disobedient student, "I wanted you to see the one you love die... but I see now that I cannot have everything my way. A pity you asked, I might have let you live a little longer if you hadn't."

As the sorceress raised a hand into the sky, a faint crackle began to be heard just beneath the ground. Taliel wasted no time waiting to find out what was causing it, instead launching herself backward and taking off at a run. Before she had a chance to flee, however, a deafening clap like the sound of thunder suddenly sounded behind her and an unseen force sent her falling to her knees once more. When her hands hit the ground, small tendrils of lightning forked from the ground to meet them, causing her to cry out in pain.

"There are powers in this world that you couldn't dream of..." Zaskia hissed from behind. "This world shall wither, and you and your wretched kind with it."

The shocking pain traveled up Taliel's arms and wracked her entire body. She clenched her fists and collapsed onto her side, biting back the scream that was building in her throat.

"You know nothing of pain... Not yet. But you shall!" A hard boot planted itself into Taliel's side and she instinctively rolled over, meeting the stormy eyes of her foe. Fear filled her heart when she saw that the sorceress had drawn a jagged dagger from her cloak.

"Pain is to life what paint is to art..." the sorceress began as she knelt over Taliel. "It gives color to a dull existence, and paints the tapestry of our lives with vivid hues. Pain is what gave me the power I have now... and it is what will bring you an inglorious death." She brought the knife close to Taliel's forehead and placed the blade upon her skin, causing the elf to instinctively recoil from the cold steel.

"I gain strength from pain..." Zaskia continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "Most are drained from it."

Taliel gritted her teeth as Zaskia's dagger cut into her skin and stifled a cry of pain. She tried to reach for her own dagger but was pinned in place by the raw electricity that coursed through her.