Arelle: Saga II Chapter 11: Death, an everquest fanfic

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NOTE: Ok, I missed my update last Thursday (12th). I know I promised I would write it ahead of time and have my proofreader, Tess, post it for me while I was gone, but I never got the next chapter written. I'm sorry! I honestly tried to get it done before I left, but I left sooner than I expected, and the time slot I had made for writing Arelle was used up when I had to pack my suit case earlier than expected and leave. Updates will resume next Thursday (19th). I'm really sorry. I'm thankful to all of you who stick through all my missed updates ^.^ Thank you to everyone who reads Arelle!

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Author's Notes: Hey everyone! I've been having trouble connetction to the net nearly all week, but fortunately we got it fixed in time to update ^.^ Well, it appears that no one atually voted on my Arelle poll last time, so, just in case you missed that Author's Notes, I have a section devoted to Arelle on my website, and it has a poll on who your favorite male character is. The link to it is in my bio, so all you have to do is click on the author name "Amai no Tenshi" above this fanfic. It'd be great if a few people would vote. I'd love to see who everyone's fav characters were ^.^

Oh, and also, I'm going on another vacation this week. But don't worry--I'm going to write up the next chapter, and Tess, my proofreader, will post it next Thursday for me. Thank you Tess! So, see, you won't even miss an update. This week I'm going to Florida with my friend Reiko, aka Lay-sama (you can check her out in my "favorite authors" if you want). It's gonna be great! And you all will be plenty happy, cause you'll have the upate just as before, right? ^.^ Except, of course, I won't be able to reply to comments on the previous chapter, since I'll be gone. Oh well. See you when I get back!

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Arelle and Moren soon found that it was difficult to get through the Cutthroats to get to Akinen and the others. On the way to the cage where Arelle was captured, Moren had gained extra strength through his determination to save Arelle, but now he found it more difficult to make his way through the vast crowds of Cutthroats.

Moren blocked an attack aimed at Arelle and pushed the Cutthroat to the ground, but just as he did so, another Cutthroat attacked him.

"This is no good!" Moren said. "We must do something…"

Arelle blocked an attack coming at her. She knew they were completely surrounded, and she was very worried.

Suddenly Moren stopped, his eyes shut. "Burst of Light!"

Suddenly, the area around Moren and Arelle burst with light, and the Cutthroats around them shaded their eyes from the glare. Moren nodded at Arelle, and they took off towards Akinen, Lilliah, and Drahkin, while the Cutthroats were still stalled.

Soon enough, Arelle and Moren were in sight of Lilliah and Drahkin. It looked like Lilliah and Drahkin were having a hard time, and were both wounded.

"There they are!" Moren exclaimed, pointing at Lilliah and Drahkin. "I've got to go help them! They need a heal!" he said, running towards them quickly.

Arelle bit her lip. She saw Lilliah and Drahkin, but where was Akinen? She scanned the mine for him, but he was no where to be found. Suddenly, she caught sight of Respitas, daggers outstretched. It looked like he was about to attack someone, and Arelle feared she knew whom it might be.

Arelle ran as quickly as she could to where Respitas was, but she was too slow—she watched in horror as she saw Respitas slice his daggers across Akinen's chest…

Akinen winced as he felt Respitas's daggers hit him in the chest, but managed to jump back after gaining his balance.

Akinen held his chest where Respitas had sliced it. It was already beginning to pour out blood, but not only that, but Akinen was beginning to feel a bit faint. Respitas wasn't lying—those blades were definitely poisoned. And it must have been some poison, to begin working that fast!

Akinen winced as he saw Respitas smiling evily at him.

"What's the matter, Aka the Scarlet Cutthroat?" Respitas taunted. "Surely the Second-in-Command of the Cutthroat army could do better than this!"

Akinen merely winced in reply.

"Well then, it looks like the Scarlet Cutthroat has finally met his fate," Respitas said, charging Akinen again.

Akinen took up a defensive stance as best he could, but suddenly felt faint from the poison, and his knees gave out, bringing him crashing to the ground. He cringed in pain as he saw Respitas's daggers coming towards his throat.

Suddenly, Respitas let out a yell as he burst into flames. Dropping his daggers and falling to the ground and rolling, attempting to put the flames out, he searched for the one who had cast a fire spell on him, and spotted Arelle, panting hard, with a determined look in her eyes.

"This time, I meant to do that," she smiled at him.

Respitas got up off the ground, having extinguished the flames, and watched as Arelle ran to Akinen's side.

"Why you!" Respitas exclaimed angrily. "I wish I had killed you while I had you captured, girl!"

Arelle ignored Respitas as she tried to see what was wrong with Akinen—he was nearly unconscious, but why? Was it blood loss? He was sweaty and shivering, his eyes slowly drifting close.

"Akinen, hang in there!" Arelle exclaimed, holding his head upright, his body limp.

Respitas's expression suddenly changed, and he chuckled. "It's a shame, isn't it?" he said. "You arrived just a little too late. Well, there's no saving him now," Respitas grinned. "Aka the Scarlet Cutthroat… is no more."

"You're wrong. He won't die. He wouldn't leave us," Arelle said.

"Oh, really?" Respitas mocked. "And yet, none have survived my poison daggers. Do you think you can save him now, now that the poison is already killing him? What do you plan to do, little High-Elf? He won't last but another minute or so."

Arelle glared at him, her eyes burning with anger.

"I'm afraid glaring at me will have no effect on Aka's condition. I suggest you try something else, if you want to save him. But, it doesn't really matter. Aka's lived too long already, don't you think?

Suddenly, Respitas burst into flame again, yelling and cursing. He yelled in frustration, and suddenly charged Arelle. Arelle, not expecting the sudden attack, barely avoided the blow from the inflamed Respitas.

Respitas, still putting himself out, glared at Arelle, his eyes like fire.

Arelle took a step back—she hadn't meant to make him so mad…

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Moren saw Drahkin and Lilliah struggling against the other Cutthroats, both badly wounded. With each attack or block, they became more exhausted, and with each hit they took, they become more wounded.

Moren felt sorry for them, facing so many Cutthroats. But now he would help them.

Suddenly, Moren shut his eyes. "Heal!" he exclaimed.

Bright lights suddenly surrounded Drahkin and Lilliah and then vanished, leaving them almost completely healed of their wounds.

They turned to see who cast the spell, and saw Moren.

"Moren! You're ok!" Lilliah exclaimed. "Did you save Arelle?"

Moren nodded.

"Thank Tunare, she's safe!" Lilliah exclaimed. "Where is she now?"

Moren stopped, confused. He looked around him, but Arelle was no where to be seen. She had been right behind him! Had he left her behind? What if she was in a crowd of Cutthroats? Moren took off, back through the crowds of Cutthroats, using his Burst of Light spell to temporarily blind and stun the Cutthroats.

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Respitas charged Arelle again, their swords colliding this time. Arelle realized her mistake too late—she should have remembered that he was much stronger then her from last time they fought!

Arelle jumped back, but Respitas followed her, swinging his poison blades at her stomach. Arelle fell to the ground, barely avoiding his attack.

Respitas looked down at her and smiled wickedly. "It's finally time for you to die, girl!" Respitas said, preparing to slash her with his poison daggers. Arelle bit her lip as she saw the daggers coming straight towards her. She tried to roll out of the way, but his dagger caught on her cloak, making her unable to roll further.

Respitas grinned, seeing a chance. With his other dagger, Respitas slashed straight at her heart. Arelle closed her eyes, knowing she couldn't avoid the attack.

Not feeling his daggers, Arelle looked up at him to see why he hadn't attacked her. He stood unmoving, his daggers slipping from his hands to the ground.

Arelle looked at him confused.

Suddenly, he fell forward, barely missing Arelle. Arelle gasped as she saw a sword in his back. She looked up and saw Akinen standing before her, holding his chest and panting, his eyes half closed.

"Arelle…You're safe…" he said, collapsing onto the ground.

Arelle jumped up and ran to Akinen, lifting his head. "Akinen! Akinen! Don't die, Akinen!" Arelle exclaimed.

Akinen opened his eyes slightly and smiled. "I'm glad you're worried about me," Akinen said.

Arelle felt a tear slide down her cheek. "Of course I'm worried about you, Akinen! How could I not be? I'm your niece!"

Akinen smiled at her words, but his eyes began to flutter closed.

"If ever I need the power to heal, it's now," Arelle thought. Closing her eyes, Arelle felt the flow around her. Looking down, she saw Akinen's deep wounds. Placing her hands on them, she began to concentrate, manipulating the flow. She had done this on Moren, so she had to be able to do it on Akinen, too!

Arelle bit her lip, trying to concentrate on the flow around Akinen. It wasn't the same as Moren's was. It wasn't the same as any she had seen. Akinen's wound had deadly poison in it. She would have to remove it. But how?

Arelle concentrated. Could she manipulate the flow so as to remove the poison? Would that be possible? Arelle had never dealt with anything like this in her lessons with Moren. But Arelle knew there must be a way to heal poison. Yes, there had to be.

Arelle held her hand above Akinen, concentrating hard on the flow of his wound. Suddenly, the flow of the wound became clearer to her. She reached out her hand, concentrating. She felt the poison in his wound. Holding her hand above his wound, she manipulated the flow so that the poison drained from the wound.

When she opened her eyes, Arelle saw Akinen looking at her, eyes no longer sagging, no longer breathing hard or sweating.

"It worked..." Arelle said.

"Arelle…" Akinen said. "You saved me."

"You saved me from Respitas, too, Akinen," Arelle said.

Suddenly, they heard chuckling. Akinen and Arelle turned to see Respitas, still lying on the ground with Akinen's sword in his back, chuckling.

"You're still alive?" Arelle asked angrily. He was the one who had endangered Akinen's life in the first place!

He coughed. "Yes…apparently."

Akinen walked up to him. "I'm sorry, Respitas."

"Don't say that, you idiot," Respitas said.

Akinen gently pulled his sword from Respitas's back and laid it on the ground.

Akinen saw Respitas's eyes drifting close. "Forgive me. I never intended to kill you, a man I once considered a friend," Akinen said, looking down at the ground.

"I said… quit saying…that!" Respitas stuttered out. "If you keep saying… things like that… I might feel sorry about trying to kill you… Aka the Scarlet Cutthroat," Respitas said, his eyes drifting close. "If you ever…see the Commander again…say 'hi' to him for me…"

And with that, Respitas's body went limp, his eyes closed.

Akinen looked down at him and hid his face in his hands. Arelle thought he must be crying, but she couldn't tell for sure.

Suddenly she heard a voice behind her.

"Arelle! Akinen!" Moren ran up to them, panting.

"Moren!" Arelle exclaimed.

"Are you all right?" Moren asked Arelle.

"Of course I am," she said. "But I think you should heal Akinen."

Moren looked at Akinen and saw his wound. "Oh! Right."

"Arelle already cured my poison," Akinen said.

Moren raised an eyebrow. "Arelle did?" he asked, looking at Arelle. "But I never taught her how to cure poison!"

"This adventure has taught me many new things, Moren," Arelle said.

"I see!" Moren said. He closed his eyes and concentrated on Akinen's wound. Suddenly, with bright lights surrounding it, it disappeared.

"Thank ye, lad," Akinen said, smiling.

Moren nodded. Then his eyes drifted to where Respitas lay. "He's dead?"

Akinen sighed. "Yes, he's dead. I don't think we have to worry about him anymore." Akinen said, his eyes resting on Respitas's dead body.

Arelle laid a hand on Akinen's shoulder. "I know you feel bad about it, Akinen, but you did right to kill him," she said. "You did right."

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Weee! My first non-cliffhanger in a looong time!

Blue the Echidna: Yay! You're back! *dance* Ack! Not Akinen! .
Amai's Reply: Yay! I'm back! *does a jig* ^.^ And now I'm leaving again...-.-;; Anyway, I bet you were worried when the chapter title was "Death", weren't you? Hahaha, I'm so evil ^.^

Pizza Pizza: Nother cliffhanger!? =P Oh, action. You should've just had Aka kill Respitas earlier =\ but I guess that would be no fun lol The chapter was worth the wait :)
Amai's Reply: Yes, yes, action indeed! See, I'm getting better at action scenes! Just wait till we get finish with the whole adventure, and then have some more sappy scenes ^.^ That would be typical. And thanks for saying it was worth the wait! You all are so encouraging ^.^

ow my brain: no dont let akinen die =(
Amai's Reply: Don't worry, I don't think I'd ever let any of my main characters die...I love them all too much . I grow far too attatched to them...^^;;;

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