Everlasting

Side - Effects

Warm hands were on her shoulder and she felt a soft strip of fabric being pressed against the wound that the knife had inflicted. Sylrie rolled over and pressed her head against Leif's hands. 

"Leif," she murmured, her eyes still closed. "What happened?" 

He placed his hands on either side of her face. 

"The figure stabbed you with the poison knife, then they all ran. I managed to carry you up here to the treehouse. I've bandaged your shoulder, and the shadows sucked out the poison, but there's a tiny little side affect." 

Sylrie pried her eyes open and sat up on the small bed she had been resting on, watching as Leif grabbed a mirror off the small table in the corner. Then, taking a deep breath, she looked at the back of the treehouse. Her breath caught and she felt the tears blur in her eyes. The whole back of the treehouse had caved in, leaving a pile of rubble and dust. The wood from the ceiling was blackened and charred, and the few belongings that had survived the fire were burn and torn. Leif returned with the mirror, and he wiped the tears off her cheeks. 

"I know," he said softly. "Don't worry. We can fix it." 

Sylrie forced her eyes away from the wreckage. 

 "What was it you wanted to show me?" she asked. 

Leif turned the mirror around so that it was facing Sylrie. She gasped. Her hair, which had grown down to her waist, had turned white, like the colour of fresh snow. 

"What the...?" Sylrie struggled to find words. "How?" 

Leif put down the mirror and picked up a strand of her hair. He absentmindedly twirled it between his fingers. 

"My guess is that the poison changed it's colour. It started to turn white the second that the Draconian stabbed you with the knife." 

 Sylrie frowned. 

"It's probably an after-affect of the poison, right?" 

Leif nodded, his attention still fixed on the strand of her hair that he was twisting around. 

 "All I know for certain is that you're all right and that if I ever see those Draconians again, I am personally going to give them the same pain that they gave you." 

Sylrie shivered, from the memory of her pain and from the look in Leif's eyes. His anger was obvious, and he did nothing to contain it. It sparked a fire behind his eyes. She both loved and hated that fire. Sylrie leant forwards, pressing her face against Leif's shoulder. 

 "Don't," she murmured against him. "Don't think about them. At least, not now." 

Leif wrapped one arm around her waist and stroked her hair with his free hand. 

 "I won't," he promised. Sylrie sighed in contentment and let herself sink into Leif's embrace. Then she jumped back and covered her mouth with her hand. She started shaking, and heard Leif asking her whether she was all right, but she wasn't. She really wasn't. The gray-cloaked figure's words replayed over and over in her mind. 

'Bye, bye, Sylrie Noir. Sorry I had to kill your parents'. 

She couldn't think, couldn't move couldn't breathe. Your parents, your parents, your parents, your parents... The words were on a constant loop through her head, sending her thoughts reeling. Someone shook her by her shoulders, their fingers brushing against the knife wound and sending a dart of pain through her, jolting her back into the real world. Leif was holding her shoulders, staring at her, a concerned look in his eyes. 

 "Syl. Are you okay? What happened?" 

Sylrie shook her head and collapsed back onto the bed, dragging her hands through her hair. 

 "It was them, Leif. Those people were the same people who killed my parents. Didn't you hear them? Didn't you hear him? 'Bye, bye, Sylrie Noir. Sorry I had to kill your parents!' They killed my parents, Leif. My parents! Why are they back now? What are they doing here?" 

Then Sylrie froze, her hands still dragging their way through her hair. 

"Oh my god. Oh my god! They know about it! How? How could they possibly know? My mother didn't even tell me! How did they..." 

 "Sylrie!" Leif said, interrupting her. 

He grabbed her shoulders again. 

"What are you taking about? What happened that your mother didn't tell you about?" 

Sylrie took a deep breath. 

"Not so much a what as a who. I...have a twin sister,"

Ooooh, twist! I bet you thought it was going to be some super duper secret thing involving magic and Draconians and Regs and the fate of the world. Nope. Not even close. Or is it... Cliffhanger! Mwahahahaha!!

Cakey4 🍰