AN: I had the plot bunny idea—what if Aleksander and Luda met during the Demon in the Wood prequel? Nothing like some murder to get together, I suppose, and secrets to bind two people together.
Now, I have not been able to track down a copy or an exact play-by-play of Demon in the Wood, so there are probably some differences between how it exactly went down there and now. But this is my best attempt to recreate it. I hope you enjoy!
He was screaming when they pushed his head under. He clawed and fought with every bit of strength he could muster, but it was a fight of three versus one. Spots dotted his visions, like his own power was turning against him in the cold and the dark, in his final moments.
He couldn't die this way, his lungs burned for air, his heart for light, he could feel the shadows gathering around him, as he had to do something, anything—
Then he was released, the waves briefly out of Annika's control. He struggled to resurface just in time to see one of the other girls from the village, holding fistfuls of luminescent rocks in her hands.
He recognized her face, and in a moment, her name. Luda, short for Ludmila. One of the Healers, a girl who had no parents because they'd been killed by the Ravkans. She'd traveled a long way, by herself in the cold of winter to find the safe haven her parents had whispered about.
He had only really said hello to her once or twice, she often followed the other Healers around with curious blue eyes and steady hands. She had never been overly friendly, nor had she been standoffish.
He had always had the idea that she was shy, gentle. But she wasn't shy or gentle now. Her eyes blazed like the wings of a firebird.
"He's your friend!" She was screaming, despite that anyone could hear them, the camp, the Ravkan village, or even the Fjerdan army. "How could you do this?"
"He's a living amplifier, Luda," Lev panted, ignoring Eryk as he managed to climb out of the pond.
"He told us himself," Annika added. "If we kill him and take his bones, he'll make us more powerful, so we can actually fight our enemies!"
Luda took a step back, her eyes widening in horror. "You wanted to steal his bones for power? How could you?"
"You're just too weak to understand what must be done," Annika snarled. She turned around, and raised her hands, the water coming up to envelope Eryk. "I'll do what I must, to save our people! Even if it means a few sacrifices must be made!"
What happened next was a blur, a blur that it would take centuries for him to unravel. There was so much fighting, so much blood, between their powers, the water, and everything. It was a brutal battle between the five of them.
The only part Eryk remembered with clarity was when Sylvi tried to smash Luda's head on the rocks around the pond.
He was screaming again, when he drew on his power and it cut through his friends and enemies. Blood splattered both him and Luda, who were both left shivering and panting in the night. As the adrenaline of the night was fading, Eryk fell to the ground—he had not realized his leg had been hurt. One look at the sickening twist told him that it was broken, and bloodied from the rocks.
Terror wracked his body with the pain. What was he supposed to do now?
He'd killed his friends.
They'd tried to kill him.
They wanted to steal his bones for power.
What was it that his mother had always said? That only the greed of man and the universe were infinite.
Eryk wasn't so sure about the universe.
Finally, Luda rose. She had Healed herself, and now only the bloodstains remained on her fair skin and red dress. She knelt over him, and he was afraid.
Would she want to kill him, too? Not for his bones, but what he had done? What would she do?
"Luda—" he spoke her short name, and her blue eyes locked onto his.
"Shh, I'll get your leg, I need to focus." She ran her hand over the exposed skin.
Eryk winced as the bones righted themselves and twisted, as the flesh knitted back together.
Luda closed her eyes and paused for a moment, when she was finished. He eyed her like a wounded animal, afraid to get close, but afraid to run, too.
"Thank you." His voice was hoarse, his throat raw from the screaming. Despite this, he was sure he could scream for another thousand years because of the nightmare that was tonight.
He could see lanterns in the distance—someone had heard him.
Luda looked to them too—and she was afraid, like he was. But she still had that fire in her countenance.
"I'll keep your secret," Luda promised. "Eryk."
That was when he knew it would be the first of many she would keep for him.