Cal Leandros
Final Battle
Contains spoilers if you are not caught up with the series. Make sure you have read vol.7) Doubletake and vol.8) Slashback!
Cal: Nik was gone. Just fucking GONE. I dialed his cell. Nothing. I scoured the city, asking the non-human residents as nicely as I could. If nice is a gun in the face, I was all for it. Niko's my LIFE. My whole reason for being. I'd be dead if it weren't for him. No one had heard anything about a blonde human with blades.
I continued my search, running down an alley, when I felt it. A gate. I froze, spinning on my heel as I raised my Desert Eagle up. "Nice reaction time, Cal-i-ban." I knew that voice. It was the only other half-auphe in existance. Grimm. "What do you want, you bastard? Back for me to kick your ass some more?!" I didn't falter when I fired the gun. Nor when I brought out and tossed the throwing knife Nik had bought me.
I got too comfortable. Too relaxed. I should've known Grimm would be coming back, just not this soon-!
Grimm dodged both the bullet and knife with a gate, coming closer to me as he left it open. I realized his plan and did what any badass does. I ran. "Dammit! First Nik disappears and now THIS shit.", I huffed as I ran. It was too bad I didn't have any grenades with me. "'Nik'? Is that the human cow you insist on calling your brother?" I stopped and turned towards him, growling in anger. Grimm stopped in front of me, the gate, still wide open. Lucky bastard. Since 'Jack' electrocuted my brain, I couldn't gate anymore. He smiled, letting his auphe fangs come down over his human teeth. He was savouring my anger. My hatred of him. "He is, isn't he? Well, he's in good hands until my little ones get peckish." Grimm smiled a pure auphe smile. "And they feverously HUNGER." I put another pound of pressure on the trigger of the Desert Eagle. "You touch a single HAIR on Nik's head and I will fucking blow you to smithereens." Grimm smiled and let his gate overtake me. "Then come and save him, Cal-i-ban.", was the last I heard before Grimm dropped me through the gate and into a cave.
I stood up, greatful I put the gun on safety while in the gate. If I didn't, I'd have a hole in my stomach right now. I was in a limestone cave, complete with sharp as hell giant stalagmites and stalactites. I thought Grimm had led me into a trap, because his little monster babies weren't around, until I smelled Niko's blood. It wasn't as if I've never smelled it before, but smelling so much of it at once made me nauseous. I rested my hand on a wall to calm my breathing. I pulled away from the wall in disgust, my hand slick with something. I thought it was water until I looked how red it was. I smelled it...Niko's blood. And it was everywhere.
I thoroughly wiped my hand on my jeans, not caring about the burn of the fabric on my skin. Then I heard a laugh that sent a chill up my spine. I looked up to see Grimm standing at the mouth of a larger cave. "If that is how you react to mere blood, I cannot wait to see how you'll react to this..." With that, he entered the larger cave. "You son of a bitch!", I called as I dashed after him and pulled the safety off of my Eagle. I fired at him, missing by centimeters. He turned, still smiling at me, as he lifted his clawed hand up to his lips. "You really don't want to fire that in here, Cal-i-ban." I looked up, seeing stalactite wobbling. He's right. I put the safety back on and shoved the pistol into the back of my jeans. Wherever he was leading me, the smell of Niko's blood was getting stronger.
As soon as I entered the inner-cave, I looked around. It was as if Niko was right here, his smell was so strong. I looked to my far left, seeing a small hill with giant stalagtites on it. Then I saw a body. Niko.
My brother was laying impaled on the hill by the largest stalagtite, his blonde braid flopped over the edge. He opened his gray eyes and smiled at me, his mouth bloody from internal injury. It wasn't fatal. It couldn't be.
"Cal..."
I looked at Grimm and saw he had pulled a lock of hair from my brother's skull. I knew it was pulled, not cut, because it still had the bloody roots intact. "Oh look, Cal-i-ban. I harmed a piece of hair on his head." "You son of a-" Grimm pulled out his own Glock and fired at the wall. The place rumbled as stalactites flew down upon us. "Bastard!", I exclaimed as I jumped on top of Niko, covering his already wounded body with my own, covering both of out heads with my arms. Knowing Nik, he tried to shove me away, but I wasn't having that. I felt cuts on my thighs, ankles, wrists, and biceps as the needle-sharp minerals flew down. The rumbling stopped and I looked up in time to see Grimm running around the corner, laughing maniacally. The growl I felt coming out of me had nothing to do with my Auphe nature.
It was time to put that fucking monster DOWN.
I made sure Niko didn't have any additional injuries before moving off of him. "Cal...you're...hurt." I glanced at myself. It was only minor cuts. They'd heal. I put my hand on Niko's left cheek and kissed his right one. "I love you, big brother.", I said as I smiled at him. Niko widened his eyes in surprise, but leaned into my hand. "I love you, too, little brother." I slid off of the hill, careful not to impale my feet. Where I was going I was going to need them.
NIKO: Cal had hopped down from the small hill I was on. He ran in the direction that Grimm had gone in. Cal looked back at me, and there was something in his eyes I hadn't seen in years. Tears. Cal was crying. "I'm sorry...", I heard him whisper as he turned his head away from me. He rounded the corner, before I could get a word out...but I knew what he was sorry for. He was sorry he couldn't die with me like we had promised each other years ago. He planned to take Grimm down with him.
I slammed my fist down on the hill, letting my anger show. Unacceptable. I couldn't let that abomination take my little brother away.
I reached for my sword that had fallen down the hill when I was impaled, now that I had enough strength to. I was very lucky it was standing up and I reached it with ease. I sliced away at the stalagmite, grateful it was an old hollowed-out one. When I had cut enough off, I used all of my strength to lift my body off of the stalagmite and threw myself off of the hill. I landed on the cave floor, gasping in pain. I stood quickly, regardless of my injuries. I wouldn't live long, anyway. As I hobbled along, my thoughts traced back to Promise and Robin. No doubt our deaths would sadden them, but it couldn't be helped. We weren't superhumans. Besides, I had made a promise to Cal I that intend to keep.
When I got around the corner, I saw that it lead to another cave, this time a medium-sized one. Cal and Grimm were both covered in injuries, but Grimm had an advantage. He could make gates. I calmed my breathing and snuck up behind Grimm. Very underhanded and an honorable man would never do it to another. This, however was a monster. No honor among monsters. Cal lunged at Grimm and Grimm lunged backwards...straight into my blade. He turned his head, his red eyes widened in surprise. Caught in his own bloodlust, he never smelled my blood coming up behind him. Never thought a mere human would survive fatal injuries this long.
When he turned away was when Cal took his head clear off of his shoulders.
I hacked Grimm's torso into pieces and dropped his lifeless body to the ground. Then I collapsed.
If Cal didn't catch me, I would've fallen to the ground. Cal lifted me in his arms and carried me away. When did my little brother become so strong?
We left the cave, coming out into rain. We were in a desert. "Ah, great. I always wanted to be snake food.", Cal joked. I didn't laugh. I couldn't. I knew this was the end.
Cal walked a little farther and sat down with me in his lap. I pushed at his chest. He could still live. His injuries would heal. He could still make a life. He didn't have to die with me. Unfortunately, my brother could read my actions like a book. "You'd really do that to me, Niko?" I stopped shoving and put my arms around him.
I heard a voice through the fog in my head. "Hey...don't cry, Nik. I wouldn't last a second without you. You know how useless I am."
Not true. He held his own against Grimm just fine. All I did was perform a surprise attack. I wiped my eyes and told Cal I wanted to sleep. Cal laid us down in the sand. I saw his shirt had turned red on the bottom half before I closed my eyes. "Love you, Cal." I felt him squeeze close to me before I heard a 'thunk'. "Love you too, Nik...", was the last thing I heard as I faded into unconsciousness.
-END-