My GODS, Rubber Duck, you don't have to be so gods-awful PUSHY! Sheesh…I'm just messin', don't worry. I didn't think this fic was so loved ^.^ *tear* I'm so happy…yes, it's still the medication. Oh, and this may not be very long…I want to finish it up and plus I've kind of run out of ideas. Heh…but at least it's something. Did you know I initially began writing this as a Kel/Dom fic? And yet no Dom anywhere…hm.  

Disclaimer: Heh, I've been forgetting this. I own no characters. At all. Okay.

Chapter Eight: Fear

It was like a light had burst through that dim haze of impassiveness, raining beams of illumination down on her. Kel stared down at her fingers, watching the tendons flex with new interest. She felt pure and whole…complete. She felt. She did not care what she felt…as long as she did.

King Maggur let out a shriek of fury. Incensed, he screamed something in his own language and the ten guards—plus about twenty more streaming through the doors—went into action.

And at the first sign of movement all Tortallans went nuts. They were indignant—their enemy-king had tried to murder their queen. They were furious—their enemy-king had stolen a young woman's gene. And they were bloodthirsty—their enemy-king had invaded them in the country's very palace, had taken advantage of the opportunity.

For every knight, every squire, every servant, it was war.

Getting hold of every thing even remotely sharp or painful, including spoons and candles, the Tortallans battled with all their strength. Even though they outnumbered the Scanrans, these enemies had been extremely well trained, and for every dead Scanran, two Tortallans followed.

Kel spotted Maggur escape out one of the doors, with Yano in tow. Teeth bared, she dodged attacks and followed them. When she could hear their voices, she slowed down.

"So, Maggur, what's next?" Yano asked in Scanran.

"My Scanrans will surely finish most of these Tortallan fools off," the king replied silkily.

At the sound of his unpleasant voice she bristled.

"And those who survive will either surrender to me, or fall under the blade of my other loyal followers hidden at the border."

They were in the royal gardens now. That last bit of information Kel quickly stored away for further use.

She stepped on a twig.

Kel used the brief moment it took for them to turn around to duck behind a huge rose bush.

"Someone's here," Yano whispered to his master.

"I know. And I think I know…who…it…is!"

Kel screamed as Maggur's ugly face poked through the bush, stale breath fouling up the air around her. His hands grabbed her neck and his long yellow fingernails bit into the tender flesh of her throat. As his hands squeezed she realized, He's going to choke me. I'm going to die by a man choking me through a rose bush.

At the same time she dreaded it, she loved it…because she was scared. She was terrified. No emotion ever felt so sweet as fear like it did then.

She could hear Yano's eager, breathless laugh and hear herself whimper as she struggled for breath. Spots were winking at her at the corner of her eyes. She was too weak to lift her arms to grab her sword, like she should have done first thing. Now she would die, because she had been foolish.

And then she would no longer feel.

Again.

"NO!" she screamed, and brought her knee up through the tangle of briars, feeling the delightful sensation called pain, fearing it, and kneed him in the groin.

With a howl of agony, Maggur stumbled back, only to be replaced by a snarling Yano. But this time she was ready. The blade of her sword made a ringing sound as she withdrew it, and with a buzzing whoosh sliced through the air. A loud crack—the sound of bone and flesh against metal—reverberated through the air, and where Yano's head once was there was now empty air.

Maggur stared brokenly at the headless broken body of his late lover as it stumbled back, limbs jerking reflexively, and crumpled to the ground in a bloody heap. He looked up and stared blankly at the sword coming for him. Inches away from his body, he straightened and even helped it find its mark by guiding the point into his heart. Soon, he, too, was dead, bleeding as much as Yano was.

Kel closed her eyes and put her palm against her chest, reveling in the frantic pitter patter of her heart.

"Kel!"

She wheeled around and found herself being squeezed to death by a blood-spattered Owen.

"Owen, are you okay?" she asked worriedly. He looked up at her.

"Oh, yes," he said cheerfully. "The fight was pretty hard, but we beat them, and damned if it wasn't a jolly show." His gaze wandered to the two dead bodies and he paled. "Now that's not jolly…not at all." He turned green and quickly excused himself.

Chuckling, Kel cleaned her sword and sheathed it once more. She felt weak and limp. She felt tired. She felt scared. She felt wonderfully, delightfully, joyfully, alive.

~*~

Ugh…shitty ending I know. Oh well. It was the only thing I could think of.