Chapter 24
Filia ran as fast as her legs would carry her towards the eastern side of the castle. She was restricted to footing it since she needed to conserve her magical energy for when she reached the nothern side of the island. Rather than head straight for the north, she figured it would be wiser to go where Xellos started and follow his tracks, rather than blundering around blindly in hostile territory alone.
She finally reached the east wing and bolted through what looked like a grand ball room. She didn't stop to admire the decorations as she ran straight for the double glass doors that lead outside towards the treeline, outlined by an orange glow. 'Is it sunrise already? No it can't be'. As she threw the doors open and bounded out she saw what could only be utter destruction. She could see a large pillar of black smoke rising up from what must be an inferno from the heat that was eminating through the remaining treeline. She stepped back from the castle and looked up to see if she could get a higher vantage point. Seeing a small balcony on a high tower she teleported and surveyed the area around her. There was a large section of trees that was missing as far as she could see, and the very ground looked to be on fire. "Xellos". Her heart ached in sympathy for his pain. "I need to find him," she continued to look around, following the line of destruction and flames towards the northern side. As if on cue there was a blast of green energy as another section of forest was obliterated. "Xellos!" she called out as she teleported again, this time finding herself in the forest proper. She could see the glow of flames flickering to her right as she ran forward, keeping to the treeline.
The carnage left behind seemed to scare away most of the inhabitants of the forest, for Filia encountered no other signs of life as she ran. She eventually left the flames behind her, and without their guiding glow, the trees seemed to swallow all the natural light in the area, forcing her to slow her pace as she stumbled through the dark. She grew tired of tripping over every stray root, so she cast a small lighting spell to help guide her way. "Xellos! Xellos please answer me!" Filia called out, hoping to find him quickly before something else found her. She heard a strange chittering noise to her left, her bracelet begining to give off a small green glow. She raised her mace and approached the sound cautiosly. She then felt a stab of pain in her leg and let out a shriek as she looked down and saw a small green creature with wiry arms and a mouth full of needle like teeth chittering at her with her blood in its mouth as it leaned for another bite. She swung her mace upon the thing, sending it flying through the trees while she saw another of the vile creatures peak their head up from a fallen log, followed by another and another until there was a small tribe of them climbing over the log and roots to get to her. The glow of her bracelet seemed to get brighter and the small things hesitated for a moment, but they just shook it off and continued their approach. In a frenzy she swung her mace at a few more of them that got too close and turned, running as fast as she could through the dense foilage. She could hear the chittering and scratching of their clawed hands as they followed after her. She had to duck and weave a few times as they started flinging themselves from within the trees, managing to obilterate a few of them with her weapon as she ran.
She hadn't gone far though when she realised the chittering was getting farther and farther away until she noticed that they weren't following her anymore. She slowed her pace and leant against a nearby tree. Gasping for breath as she sought a moments rest. Kneeling and casting a healing spell on her leg Filia tried to survey her surroundings. She was met with nothing but silence and blackness past the glow of her lighting spell. The plants and trees she could see looked large and onimous in the flickering light. The shadows cast gave the impression of movement among the branches. Around the base of some of the trees were what looked to be giant green flower buds, vines coming from its base and wrapping around the tree trunks and some even disappearing into the ground towards the root system.
Her bracelet began to glow again then suddenly with a yank Filia was flung face first into the ground as her other leg was pulled behind her. She flipped onto her back in panic as she was gragged by her ankle and her eyes caught sight of what must be one of the carnivorous plants Xellos mentioned. One of the buds had opened revealing a flower with red petas...and hundreds of sharp teeth like protrusions around its center as she was pulled towards it by some of the same vines that wrapped around the tree. She quickly sat up and swung her mace down on the vines, hacking until she cleaved it in two, but the second she was free of that vine, four more took its place, wrapping around her thigh and both her arms, she could feel her mace being ripped from her hands as she was dragged towards the rows of teeth. She screamed as she fought back, latching her free leg on an exposed root, and held on for dear life. She faced the deadly plant and fired a lazer breath attack. The explosion rippled throughout the surrounding area and the vines went lax. She could hear movement all around her as she turned to see the remaining buds uproot their vines, using them to climb higher into the trees. She got up, shaking the limp bindings from her limbs and retrieving her mace. She couldn't stay here. She left the area quickly, picking a direction that had fewer and fewer of those terrifying things.
She found a small hollow where the trees thinned, a short steep drop infront of her before it then continued into more dense forest. Filia stopped to try and get her bearings. But the sun had set long ago, and the sky was blanketed in thick clouds, blocking any helpful starlight there might have been. She couldn't hear any sounds of explosions in the distance. Had he stopped his ruination of the forest? Had she been driven so far in the wrong direction that she couldn't hear it anymore? She wanted to call for him, but feared she would attract something elses attention first. There was a sound high up infront of her very quickly followed by a beam of green light that shot past her head, and exploded on contact a large form rising from the edge of the drop. She spun her head around to see the remains of some giant arachnid smoldering as it fell over back down the small hill, its remaining legs twitching as it smoldered. She faced forward again to see Xellos floating down from the canopy line, his eyes downcast and turned away from her. He wouldn't even meet her eye.
"Xellos!" Filia called out to him, but he still refused to look at her, instead he just stood there with tense shoulders and clenching his hand that fired the blast. She took a few steps towards him, Xellos was suddenly surrounded by thick whispy tendrils of black energy, halting her approach, but only for a moment. She steeled her nerves and her face turned stern. "I'm not afraid of you," she declared as she continued her approach.
There was a short burst of energy that exploded from him, knocking her down to the ground. "You should be," he said in a low tone as he slowly stepped towards where she sat on the ground. He looked down upon her as he spoke, "go home little girl. For your own sake, go home". He then turned and made to walk away from her, but she lept up and grabbed his hand before he could take another step, he stilled, but refused to face her. "You are continuing to make foolish choices young dragon," he said coldly.
"Xellos, please wait. I know we have some large issues to deal with, but believe me when I say I want to face them, with you, together. I know you care for me, even now. Please believe me when I say I care for you too. I don't want this to end. I get that there may be some differences that we can never defeat, I can accept that, I can even learn to move past them anyway. But I believe we should be given the chance to try!" Filia pleaded with him as she held tightly to his hand. She was terrified that if she let go she would never see him again.
"Some differences? Move past them?" Xellos grabbed her hand back firmly and roughly began dragging her stumbling behind him. A few steps later he teleported them to a small cliff near the remaining tree line, overlooking the smoldering remains of the eastern forest. She looked on in a small amount of horror at the shear expanse of destruction. It stretched as far as she could see, the heat from the smoldering flames crashing into her, almost ripping the breath from her lungs. "This is something you can move past?" he spat as he yanked his hand from hers, walking towards the cliffs edge overlooking the hellscape. "Time to face the harsh reality of now, ex-servent of the gods. I am a monster. A being made by destruction, for destruction. This, this is a taste of what I'm capable of". He turned to face her, black energy begining to swirl around him, slowly concealing him. "So tell me, Golden Dragon. You who worshiped the Fire Dragon King, you who could never even hope of defeating me if you had to. Can you move past this?" He growled at her as she saw his form changing. He was now a tornado of dark, evil energy. She could make out small streaks of red lightning in his form, red eyes and sharp teeth floating through the chaos. "I have slaughtered thousands of your own kind, and I relished in their screams. Answer me Filia, what chance do you think you have against this, against me!?"
Filia tensed her mouth and squared her shoulders as she looked right at him. Xellos. General-Priest to the demon lord Beastmaster Zelas. Slayer of dragons, trickster of men, a demon among demons. But... She slowly began stepping forward. He was also a lover of ice-cream -step-, a harmless prankster -step-, a defender of the world -step-, her protector, her love, her mate. She was an arms length from him. She looked up at him with gentle eyes. "I am frightened. I have no chance of ever besting you in battle. If you were to strike me down now, I could do nothing against you". She gently reached up and brushed her hand through the swirls of chaotic energy, small red crackels of power dancing around her fingers. "But I am still here, and I'm choosing to trust you anyway". To demonstrate, she flung her mace to the side, far outside her reach. Stretching her now free hand to run both of them down the edges of his form. "I'm not going anywhere Xellos Metallium. I'm right here".
She felt the figure infront of her shift as two strong hands appeared and firmly clasped her wrists. The chaotic energy fading away to be replaced by a dark cloak and purple eyes before she was pulled into a tight embrace, his face burying itself in the crook of her neck. She smiled and gently hugged him back. She felt him begin to tremble as she was flung down to the ground, Xellos was above her with his hands either side of her head, his fingers digging into the ground as he breathed heavily above her, glowing eyes staring down at her.
He saw her smile up at him with soft eyes. She had let her body go completely limp beneath him. "I still trust you Xellos," she said, closing her eyes and laying back with a peaceful smile.
Xellos was in the battle of his life. She was right there, right there. She's so open, so vulnerable. He could do absolutely anything he wanted to right now, and not she, nor anyone else could or would stop him. 'She trusts me'. His arms began to shake as he felt a growl rumble in his chest. 'Do it. Do it now! She's just lying there, she wont stop it, she'll just lay there and accept it! Take her. Take the chance while we still have it!' 'But she trusts me. She hasn't said yes. She didn't say she wanted this yet. She trusts me'. 'She trusts us to make the decision, so make the decision and mark her! She'll realise it's the right choice. So do it!' 'No. That's not what she meant. This isn't right. She trusts me. This isn't right! No!' With a willpower he didn't realise he posessed he ripped himself from ontop of her and stumbled away from her prone form, kneeling on the ground clutching his head as he fought for his very sanity, breathing hard and ragged.
Filia felt his body leave her own, and slowly opened her eyes and looked to his hunched form. She carefully sat up and considered him a moment, shoulders rising and falling harshly with his breathing as he clutched at his hair. She rose to her feet and approached him, gently resting a hand on his shoulder. She felt him tense beneath her hand as she lowered herself behind him, gently resting her cheek on his back, making quiet hushing sounds in an attempt to calm him. He lifted a hand and gently held the one on his shoulder, drawing from her calm demeanor and relaxing the tension in his body, but the tension in his chest remained. She gently tugged on his hand, turning him to face her. She raised her other hand to cup his cheek, meeting his eyes. They leaned towards each other and met in a light, tender kiss. It was over as quickly as it had begun, she rested her forhead against his own in affection before removing the contact. "Xellos, lets go back home now," she said softly. Without a word he stood up, picking her up bridal style and just held her for a moment, before vanishing into thin air, leaving the inferno to burn out.