A/N: I'm back! Sorry for the long, long absence, but I had some things I needed to deal with and had to push my creative endeavors to the backburner for a bit. Thanks for not giving up on me XD
Chapter 7: Kiss
It had been over two hours since my last battle with the intruder, and only now was I slowly recovering from my injuries. In her altered state, both her strength and her skill had increased tenfold and she could have easily killed me where I stood. I could have escaped death in my avian form two times, maybe three. But even my energy would have ran out at that point and the intruder knew this. And yet she left me be… was I no longer considered a threat?
No, that was not it. The female feared her demonic alter-ego, I could see it in her eyes. The entity was not an ally, but merely a parasite, preying on the energy of its host. Avoiding me in her old form, was a far more desirable option than destroying me in her new one.
I laid down on the grass and looked at the darkening sky, the first stars already appearing. They reminded me of the girl somehow… then again, everything seemed to remind me of her. Hey eyes, her smile, her voice… none of them I could ban from the chaos that were my thoughts. Something was most definitely amiss.
Tilting my head, I glanced at my blade. It was no longer unique, its twin sister wielded by the intruder's darker half.
Isra…
Her creation had been my fault, and the blood of the Empress would be on my hands if I allowed that menacing demon to live. A dark and shadowy creature, brandishing a sword… it had to be her. I saw no other possible suspect.
She had to be destroyed.
Rather than the anticipation of battle, I felt my stomach turn at the thought: to destroy Isra, would mean to destroy the girl. They were two sides of the same coin and one could not exist without the other. Isra's demise would not bother me the slightest, but Alex…
I looked up at the night sky again and sighed. Where I once longed for morning to come, I now dreaded the sun's first rays. New emotions were making themselves known, emotions I never knew I had. And they left me completely and utterly confused.
Was she feeling the same?
I clenched my eyes shut, trying to get rid of the fog that seemed to wrap itself around my mind. I found it increasingly difficult to think clearly. The only person besides myself that I had ever cared about, was the Empress of Time. To have someone else occupying my thoughts, was disturbing to say at least. Forbidden thoughts of mutiny surfaced and then vanished as quickly as they had appeared, leaving a trail of confusion and doubt in their wake. What was this… feeling? Did it have a name? Was it even real?
A loud roar suddenly snapped me out of my musings. I flew up just in time to dodge a black tendril and scowled viciously at its owner, who had falsely believed I was asleep.
"Wretched demon!" I exclaimed furiously, drawing my blade. "Why must you haunt us even at night? Stalking through the darkness like a common thief, stealing the life from your prey when it slumbers? Have you no honor!?"
The beast roared again and lashed out at me with a jagged tentacle, sufficiently answering my question. I cut the tendril with my sword, the beast howling in surprise and pain. It would only take a few seconds for the creature to regenerate, but it was stunned long enough for me to put some distance between us.
Wasting no time, I dashed away, the demon following in hot pursuit. Being chased by this infernal creature was both a blessing and a curse: as long as its focus was on me, the girl would be safe, wherever she was. But I was far less agile than the nimble female and it would take more than mere speed to shake this beast.
Flying across the open planes, I made sure to avoid areas with dense growth: they were perfect for hiding, but my previously mentioned lack of agility would slow me down too much. Though nearly two times my size and far more bulky, the Dahaka's maneuverability nearly rivaled that of the girl, and it would hold a clear advantage. My only hope of losing the beast, was to find a body of water, and fast.
"Delaes si etaf ruoy!"
Suddenly without notice, I was hoisted into the air, a black tendril wrapping itself tightly around my waist. With an insulted shriek, I quickly grabbed my blade and severed the offending tentacle, but the beast would not relent and I had to fight like a wild animal to stay out of its gaping maw. Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I saw it: a portal room! I hacked away at the tendrils for one last time, before freeing myself and swiftly headed for the waterfall in my avian form.
"Hey, keep it down out there!" I heard someone protest. "Some people are trying to slee…"
At that moment, I plowed through the watery curtain and crashed into… well, something. I was too dazed from my battle with the Dahaka and the effects of the water to properly take in my surroundings. Whatever I had landed on though, was warm, soft and quite comfortable. Surely it would not pose a problem if I rested here for a moment…
With effort, I changed back into my normal form, now vaguely aware that the 'something' was actually a 'somebody', and a female one at that.
"The Dahaka…" I mumbled weakly, my head still spinning. "It has…"
"Uhm… Crow?"
"Yes?"
"GET OFF ME!!" a familiar voice suddenly shrieked beneath me, and I instantly came back to my senses, a split second before a pair of furious eyes met my own and I was roughly shoved aside. Seventeen time portals this Tower counted, and the girl had to seek shelter into this one! Changeable or not, fate most certainly had a curious sense of humor.
Before I could regain my composure, a loud roar suddenly echoed through the magical chamber, the Dahaka throwing an aggravated fit on the ground on the other side of the watery curtain. With a shrill yelp, the girl flew up and latched onto my arm, staring in fear at the monstrous beast. A strange sensation overcame me, heat rushing to my head and confusing my senses. One half of me wanted to push the intruder away, the other wanted to grab hold and never let go. Where I had been barely able to handle her memory, her touch seemed to overload my system, corrupting my logic and crippling my judgment. I had vowed to protect her only at night, but now other considerations entered my mind. Plans of mutiny and suggestions of treason: surely the Empress would not miss…
My eyes widened in shock at the outrageous thought, which I quickly suppressed. The very idea…!
The Dahaka growled one last time and then disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. I took a deep breath and looked sideways at the female who was still clinging to my limb.
"Girl…"
"Yeah?"
"Let go."
"Eep!" she yelped, her face flushing bright red. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!"
I raised an eyebrow at the female's odd behavior, but dismissed it, since it was my own behavior I should be worrying about. Whether she had affected me this way intentionally or not, I could not let it show. To do so would be a display of weakness; one her darker side would no doubt seek to exploit.
An uneasy silence filled the room and to break it, I started sharing the events of the past several hours. I told her about the Dahaka, how it had chased me here and was now even trying to claim its prey in their sleep. The girl did not seem to listen though, as her eyes had glazed over and she was staring blankly into space. Worry seemed to be etched on her face, which was still a bright shade of red. Was this normal for her species, even when she had turned into a creature of the sands?
"Eh… sorry," the girl suddenly asked sheepishly. "Were you saying something?"
"300 of us have…" I started over, but trailed off when she seemed to lose focus yet again. She was acting most peculiar, even for her standards.
"Are you not well?" I asked, at which the female jumped, startled for no apparent reason.
"I'm fine!" she quickly yelped. "Really!"
I did not believe her, but decided not to further push the subject and began my tale once more.
"300 of us have fallen at the hands of that demon. It has no honor and will not even hesitate to strike its victims while they are asleep."
"In… their sleep?" she asked with a mixed tone of worry and surprise.
"Yes," I affirmed. "It is detestable."
"Any idea why?" she cocked an eyebrow. "I mean… did you guys fool around with the timeline?"
"Perhaps indirectly, we have," I nodded absentmindedly, the face of the Persian prince briefly emerging from my memories. I had not seen him since our encounter at the Fortress Entrance, and I realized that his absence had not gone without consequence. Yes, of course… it all made sense now.
"You told me… this world… is nothing but a game in yours?" I asked and the girl confirmed.
"Yes, but I haven't finished it though," she shook her head. "I only made it halfway through this tower."
"You controlled the game, but your avatar was the Prince, am I correct?"
"Yup! He used to be my own little puppet on a string," the intruder said with a fox-like grin, but I could not be bothered with her attempt to make light of the situation. There was one last question I had to ask, on last question that I dreaded the answer to.
"Tell me…" I started with great difficulty, "when encountered… what happened to… us…?"
"Well, assuming the game didn't glitch on you, really cool rock music started playing and…" the female trailed off, visibly uncomfortable. She avoided my gaze, fidgeting nervously as she finally answered my question. "Uhm… well… there wasn't really a stealth option… so… a player had no choice but to… you know…"
"I understand," I nodded, letting out a breath I did not knew I was holding. So it was true then… my suspicion had been confirmed. But what now? How to proceed from here? Were all of us, friend and foe alike, fated to die?
"For what it's worth…" she said with a sheepish smile. "It took me three hours and a bazillion tries to get past you. In gameplay terms, that's only one step away from eternity."
"This explains it then," I sighed, too distraught to be affected by her attempt to comfort me.
"What do you mean?"
"Girl, how many of us have fallen by your hand?"
The intruder frowned, counting on her fingers.
"Lemmesee… I pushed one Raider into a spikepit, though he did hold a knife against my neck so you can't really blame me for that… Then there was another Raider, though technically I wasn't the one to cut off his head… Oh, and I think I killed a bird. That's about it, I guess… Wow, I suck…"
I suppressed the urge to smile wryly at the girl's list of victories, which was so short it could easily have fitted on the handle of my blade.
"If the timeline had not been disrupted, we most likely would have met our demise at the hand of the Prince of Persia," I explained to the confused female. "Instead, you got send to our world and entered this tower with the intent of saving him the effort."
"I took over this part of his quest, but without the killing… And now the Dahaka is after you to finish the job," she stated, her voice hoarse. She was visibly upset, even though the creature had already been after her from the beginning. Was she concerned about our fate? About… mine?
Why did I even care what she thought?!
"SHUT UP!!" The girl suddenly screamed, and I started, looking at her with wide eyes. What had I said that upset her this much?
"I wasn't talking to you," she sighed as if reading my mind, grasping her head.
"Can you control her?" I asked, the demon's chilling smirk dancing before my eyes. I silently wished neither of us had to face that vile creature again, but the girl's saddened expression was enough to dash that small spark of hope. It was not that I feared my own death… but for some reason I was slowly beginning to fear hers.
The intruder closed her eyes shut and groaned, shaking her head. Something else was going on, and whatever it was, the female was clearly suffering.
"Girl, you are ill," I stated, not quite sure what to do. Something was wrong with her, and I was determined to find out what: it if was contagious, it would certainly explain a lot.
I put my hand on her forehand to check her body temperature, and immediately she calmed down, her eyes snapping open. Her gaze met my own, and as if under some sort of spell, I found myself unable to look away. The Dahaka, the Prince, the Empress… all that had seemed so incredibly important before, simply fell away and ceased to matter as I continued to gaze into those hypnotizing eyes.
"Crow?"
"Yes?"
The girl leaned in closer…
She opened her mouth to speak…
And suddenly… my world came to an end.
