Mylidred

22

She was definitely going to kill me. I could see it plain as day in her eyes. At least she and her Mylidred could agree on one thing.

"I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die..."

I chanted in my head.

"You're not going to die Nora stop saying that. Don't say stuff like that." Kerran scolded.

"It's ok. Just tell my sister I love her and take care of her for me." I asked.

"Shut up, Nora. take care of her your damn self." He replied.

"Rude, sir. At least grant a dead woman's wish." I told him.

"I said you're not going to die, so you're not. Not as long as I'm alive." Kerran told me.

Tania's Mylidred seemed to be smirking evilly at me,probably imagining the many million ways she could rip me apart or maybe that was just my imagination.

She stalked towards me eyeing me, then opened her jaws wide and let out a bloodcurling growl before snapping her jaws where my face had just been. Had I not been jerked back by a very stunned Alea behind me, I would have lost my head.

"Thanks," I whispered to her. "but now you have to run. I'll distract her, you run."

"No. This is my battle. It's my fault she-" she started.

"Not now. We can have this conversation when your Mylidred possessed sister isn't trying to kill us. If you'd like to stay and help me fight, feel free. Just don't die." I told her firmly.

"Alright." She nodded and raised her sword. So did I. I nodded back, then we both charged at Tania's Mylidred, our swords clashing against the teeth. The Mylidred glared at us, shoving us back till we fell flat on our backs, then I heard a low growl. A warning growl from behind Tania's Mylidred.

That growl sounded more threatening than any others I had heard in my life and that was saying something because Kerran's Mylidred had growled at Tania's not long ago and it didn't sound half as bad as this.

I would have wet myself if I didn't see who growled. It was Kerran's Mylidred but it looked so angry. It's nostrils flared and its eyes glowed silver. It's black fur seemed to have a halo of black around it, like I must that cloaked its body, dancing around it as it took calculated steps towards us.

Tania's Mylidred which had turned at the sound of the growl, cocked its head at Kerran's.

I patted Alea discreetly gesturing to crawl away backwards as I did so and she complied.

Not long after we had moved a safe distances Kerran's Mylidred pounced on Tania's pushing it right on the spot where Alea and I had just been.

Kerran's Mylidred bit Tania's Mylidred's left arm and slashed its face twice. Each time with each front paw. Tania's Mylidred howled in pain reading her head back. Kerran's took the chance to bite her Mylidred's carotid artery, then slashed its jugular as well. Tania's Mylidred gurgled and blood flowed from its mouth as well as the gash in it's neck.

Kerran's Mylidred climbed off Tania's own and walked a slow circle around it, analysing, watching to see if it'll try something but it didn't. Kerran's eyes remained on it none the less, remaining just as vigilant even as the light left the eyes of the Mylidred.

He waited five more minutes, then tilted his head as though hearing something before turning his back to it and heading for Alea and I.

His Mylidred still looked just as menacing as he did when he attacked Tania's and I wondered whether Kerran was in control. He probably wasn't, but I remember he told me it's Mylidred would never harm me. I stood up and opened my arms wide, waiting for the Mylidred to come so I could encase it in a celebratory hug.

Alea swallowed beside me, then with a brave face and steady voice, asked, "Are you sure Kerran's in there?"

I grinned, but said nothing. The Mylidred broke into a run bounding at me still looking just as menacing but I stood my ground. Alea reached out to pulled me aside, but I ducked yelling, "Don't you dare!" Then I stepped forward just as Kerran's Mylidred pounced on me.

"Urgh! You're so fat! What do you eat?!" I complained, playfully.

The Mylidred whined dejectedly, almost rolling off me.

I placed a hand on its soft fur running my fingers through it. "I'm just playing. You're such a cute Mylidred. But really, you're crushing me."

He liked my face in adoration twice before getting off me and laying down beside me so I could climb on.

"So cute." I muttered smirking as I climbed on and petted his head before grabbing a hold of his fur and spurring him to move.

"We need to bring Alea out of shock, her mouth has been open for the past 15 minutes." I told Kerran.

"She actually thought I was going to eat you." Kerran replied.

I laughed aloud, petting his fur.

He strode towards Alea and let me down in front of her.

I knelt before her. "Your Majesty." I called, bowing my head, my right hand over my heart. When she remained silent, I peeked up to get a glimpse at her.

"What-" she started, tears streamed down her face. I sighed.

"I'm sorry for the loss of your sister. There was no other way to subdue her. If there was, we would have done so, but there wasn't." I said, bowing my head again.

She sniffed, then replied. "I know. You told me. I was prepared. It's not your fault. I just wish it didn't have to end that way." She took off her gauntlet and wiped her tears. "And why did you scare me like that?! I almost thought he would kill you!"

I held back my snickers before replying. "He would never. He knows me." I said, bending and petting him on the head again where he lay at my feet, head literally lying right beside my foot.

"Let's go back. We'll take Tania's body back too." I said, pointing at Tania's body where her Mylidred's once lay. It changed back because she wasn't a natural born.

Alea nodded, walking alongside Kerran's Mylidred and I till we got to our horses. I walked over to the Queen's, making sure the saddle remained secure, then watched as she climbed hers before I checked mine as well then climbed.

"Where's your horse? Or are you going back that way?" I asked Kerran.

"I can't change here. No clothes, remember? You both go ahead, I'll get my horse, Tania's body and catch up." He replied me.

I nodded. "He'll catch up." I told Alea, turning my horse around and she did too.

"You can talk to him in that form?" She asked.

"Not just that form."

"You can talk to each other in your minds? What a gift!"

"Not really. Not when he heard thoughts he doesn't need to hear."

"You can hear each other's thoughts too? What a blessing!"

"Trust me. It's not always a blessing. I would know." I corrected her.

She laughed and for a moment, she seemed to have forgotten the tragedies of today.