Author's note:

I didn't know what to do for this chapter (or the rest of this fanfiction for that matter) so I decided to stall. (When all else fails, procrastinate… or lie) So as I write this chapter at 10:00 pm (10:11 pm for all you people who need to be specific) I found myself wondering, Tarrick's going to die, won't he? He's on a rock, nearly dead, out of view from the ground, a thousand feet up, and the only one alive is Tessa, who has no idea wtf is going on (mainly cause she was hiding in the forest). So I thought "I want pizza" which was followed by the thought "All Tarrick would be doing up there is sitting, in massive pain, jumping in and out of conscience, with absolutely no ability to do anything. All he would do is think."

And from that, came the basis of this chapter…

Chapter 11: Evaluation

I am in pain, I thought. It seemed like a logical enough thought at the time. Had I had any real cognitive thought, I probably would have gone into much more detail on the subject. And by detail, I mean profanity. I mean seriously, if the author hadn't rated this "T", I would let everyone know just how much it hurts to have all your ribs broken, your face sliced open on a pile of jagged rocks, both of your femurs, fibulas, and tibias shattered (the bones in your legs for all of you non-anatomical people), and your lungs possibly collapsed. I inhaled.

Definitely collapsed.

I need to get off this mountain. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna leave that one free of comment, since spoiling the ending just doesn't make for a good book.

As I tried a scream, a yell, a word, or even a sound, I would have recoiled at the intense pain it caused, had it not been for the fact that I couldn't move. Do you get the idea that I'm in pain? How could I have thought this would be a good idea? Jumping off a cliff is never a good thing. The wind of the early morning rustled the trees below. Above the sound of the trees I could barely hear Tessa calling out for me. She'll never find me. I'm behind a rock; 1000 feet above her, in an area she would never even think to look. I couldn't believe it would come to this. I was going to die, I could already feel it. What does dying feel like? It feels like blood running down your body, like someone is sucking the very life out of you through the barbed red hot needle of a syringe, like everything you know and love is about to be taken from you and you can do nothing but be held back and watch your life burn. I once read a book where a man asks death, "Death, does your life really flash before your eyes as you die?" Death's response was, "Yes, the process is called 'life'." (Exact quote not included) I came away with the idea that everything we see and feel is like watching our life slip away in front of us. Now that I'm dying, it seems much different. My life isn't flashing before my eyes, but my future. Not the whole "a-row-row-row-your-boat-gently-down-the-styx-say-hi-to-hades-for-me" kind of future, but the one I might have. I saw Tessa mostly, how we could have gotten together, maybe even grown up and gotten married. Now I know that sounds cheesy, but demigod relationships work differently than mortal ones. We don't date fifteen people in a week like some kids do. We hardly ever date. Finding the right girl is a hand delivered gift from Aphrodite herself. The fact that I found Tessa is a miracle in itself, and if I live through this I am not going to let this go to waste.

The sun's out. We either killed it or we failed.

Then I heard screams followed by explosions and gun fire. I failed. I didn't kill that CURSED DRAGON! Rage pulsed through my body. It's not that it lived; it's that I'll die for nothing. The dragon was wreaking havoc down on the ground while I lie helpless, up here, the life draining from me. I already self diagnosed my self with three months to live. I should have said four minutes, but the common sense parts of my mind didn't feel up to the challenge of functioning. I had committed a stupid mistake, killed myself, and did nothing for it! I felt a familiar surge of power course through my veins. I was transforming from anger again. At first I thought that this would do me in. It would drain me of the last ounce of energy I had and kill me. Then I realized something. Upon transformation, the new bone structure fitted my bones together and healed them. My new fur skin sealed the cuts on my face, hands, and chest. The gift that is my curse was going to save my life. My large cat body finally set in and I sprawled out on the rock, soaking in the sun that rose over my failure. If I was going to fail, I might as well live to see it.

Then the crash hit me.

All the life force I had went into my transformation and it became a curse again. I had two seconds to do something, and the only thing that seemed logical was to shadow travel to the base of the mountain. So I did, not realizing how much more of my life force that would take. I shadow traveled, collapsed, and then died.


R&R!