Chapter 65-Defy Fate
Tanui was certain he would have lost his head had he not blocked the strike when he did, although the force of it still pushed him back a few inches. He took the opportunity presented to him when Tamli pulled his weapon back to crouch and lash out at the hybrid's legs, hoping to cripple the original to make the fight easier for him. His arm already was becoming numb, blood staining and seeping through what little cloth he had wrapped around the wound as he leaned back to avoid a slash aimed at his chest.
It took him by surprise when Tamli retreated a step suddenly, lowering his weapon to the ground as he shifted into dragon forme. The memory of the vision of his near-death while attempting to shift had left an impact on him, Tanui realized as he trembled while watching the hybrid alter its body into the more powerful might of a scale-flier. Once Tamli has shifted, the clone noticed the original hybrid walk over to Finca's body slowly, nuzzling her cold, clammy scales before raising his head and snarling at him, leaping in for an attack. He had not expected having to fight against his own other forme but, as he twisted away from the attack, it made sense if he truly wanted to conquer the best and prove he was the one worthy of being known as the dragon-human hybrid that survived.
Picking up the hybrid's sword from where it lay, Tanui hissed in surprise as the contact sent a wave of ice along both his arms and he let go of the weapon, only to find his injured arm and the bloodstained robe around the crippling wound getting sliced off with a shard of ice. Screaming, his hand went to the small stump of what was left, feeling the crimson liquid pour from the open area. In his weakened state he couldn't even heal his own body from an injury that could prove fatal depending on how long the fight lasted.
Snarling at Tamli as he shielded his body as best he could with his staff, Tanui moved backwards to try and put some distance between them. He remembered from the fight with Finca that getting in at close range wasn't good but long range also posed several problems. With Tamli a master of both ice and light elements, Tanui knew he would have to work hard to weaken the hybrid or else his own death would come swiftly.
"I knew you would go after my sword once I put it down," Tamli growled as the edges of his maw glistened with ice crystals. "So I enhanced it against you. Every time you pick it up, more ice coats your arms and, as you saw, those body parts freeze fast and then shatter with enough pressure."
Continuing to retreat, Tanui reached for the wraith's essence, hoping it would starve off the pain so he could try and end the fight quickly. A prolonged battle might just see the end of him so he had to make this quick to prove a point. Tightening his grip on his staff, he charged forward, being met with icy claws as he twisted and turned, trying to fight his way free of everything that had happened to him since he had discovered the original hybrid and killed his Master.
Slinking backwards after a few moments, Tamli blinked as he watched the clone stop and clutch at his head, sinking to its knees as a wailing cry rose from within it. He almost felt pity for the creature but shook his head, moving in to blast him with light and be done with the fight. Tilting his maw to be even with the back of the copy's head, he was about to let the attack loose when a sudden surge of icy fear gripped him in his tracks. He knew that sensation . . . had felt it already during the fighting when his beloved Finca was taken from him. Another dragon was dead because of a conflict that never should have started in the first place. Wondering briefly what friend had been killed, Tamli made the conscious choice to shift back into human forme, reaching out with telekinesis to grab his sword from where it lay.
Tossing off the remaining cloak he still wore, Tanui managed to come back to his senses as he rose to his feet and noticed Tamli had shifted again. Unsure of how to take the action, he hesitated as the blade in the hybrid's hand glowed an eerie icy blue. Something about the color put him on edge but he wasn't sure why exactly, he silently noted as he planted the end of his staff into the ground.
"I doubt you know this," Tamli commented as he glanced at the glowing sword in his hand, "but when you copied my sword, it brought out an interesting property hidden within the ancient steel it was formed from. Each blade made during the time spent in paradise has a certain element attached to it. It seems that mine bares a connection to ice, wouldn't you agree?"
Tanui hissed, narrowing his eyes at the gifted weapon as he silently cursed his luck for having his own sword destroyed by the hybrid only days before. Now he had only one arm and a staff that was meant to be two-handed. Letting a low snarl ripple from his throat, he raised his weapon from the ground and charged forward, swinging it out in front of him as Tamli neatly side-stepped out of the way as if he had never attacked in first place.
Eyes narrowing, Tanui twisted around and tried to follow Tamli, each strike seeming to land too late to even do any damage as the hybrid had already evaded the move. Snarling in disgust at himself, he wondered whether to let the wraith take over but knew he wanted to personally see to the death of the original. Tightening his grip on the wood, he felt lightning spark down his arm, the feeling comforting as he knew the material he was holding would conduct the electricity and make it so he didn't have to worry about his metal leg being in any danger.
"Giving up already?" Tamli taunted with a smirk, his eyes cold as Tanui felt the base of his skull throb dully, the lasting effect from his fight with Finca slowing his normal mental reflexes.
"Why would I?" He snapped back, feeling the wraith's essence inside of him grow anxious and cause a small amount of cracking along his left cheek. "Finca was just holding you back from your true potential! You could be so much more if you just embraced what she despised about you . . ."
A sudden constriction around his throat drowned out the rest of his words as Tanui found himself in a powerful telekinetic choke hold, the pressure hurting his neck as he saw a brief shine of unshed tears in the hybrid's eyes. Tamli quickly hid the display of emotion but Tanui knew he had hit a nerve with his comments, exactly what he wanted to accomplish. If he could push the original over the edge and make him think without reason, then victory basically was his for the taking.
"Never call my mate by what she was not. Finca knew there were limits and she accepted that from the day we bonded as human and dragon years ago. I will not have you tarnishing her memory!" Tamli screamed as Tanui let out a strangled cry, the constriction on his throat nearly making him black out.
Gesturing with a hand behind Tanui towards where Finca's body lay, Tamli continued, "You are the one that should have died back there. Finca never deserved what you did to her . . . Rados and Roylezn were not worthy of the fate you gave them either . . . Amia didn't know the monster he created when he made you but I wish he had known. If he had heard of your trouble, he would have killed you on the spot and ended his mad project. None of this would have ever happened!"
With each word, Tanui noticed the glisten return to the hybrid's eyes until actual tears began to fall. Once the choke hold vanished minutes later, Tanui sucked in a deep breath before coughing, spitting up some of his own blood as he fell to his knees, dropping the staff to the ground. The wraith's gleeful stirring within him nearly made him sick as he reached for his weapon and used it to get back onto his feet, trying to starve off the weariness that was slowly descending on him from his destroyed arm and the pressures of the last few days. Retreating several steps, the clone tried to get himself mentally back into the fight as Tamli rushed for him again and threw him to the ground.
Held by the sheer weight of the hybrid above him, Tanui felt his staff drop from his hand as Tamli tightly gripped his wrist, shoving it back into the dirt painfully even as he tried to lift his arm to try and attack. Feeling the cold steel of the original's blade graze his throat, the clone realized Tamli had passed the sword into his left hand, quivering as the sensation brought the memories of the torture back into the forefront of his mind . . .
Blood trickled from Tanui's lips as Tamli entered into the cell once again, having changed into a pair of black shorts and a white muscle shirt as his right hand curled around a small object. With his hands held above his head once more and his back barely healed from the scarring left on it from the dagger hours before, the clone weakly stared at his captor in dulled interest as Tamli walked over to raise up his chin with a finger. Purple irises met muted red for a moment before a jarring pain tore through Tanui's chest, the sensation forcing him to bare his full weight on his wrists as his body convulsed and then hung limply.
Moving back a step, Tamli chuckled softly as the object in his hand flickered in the dim light that managed to break through the dusty glass of the cell. "It is interesting how even the simplest of devices can be used for torture," he mused as he glance down to the small metallic prongs that stood out from the rest of the black device clutched so firmly in his grip. "You may possess the skills needed for electricity but this tool can still be used against you to an alarming degree of usefulness."
The electricity-generating weapon wasn't of their own making, Tanui decided as weariness descended on him. For some reason, Tamli had been able to briefly cross realms to go onto Earth and into the territory of humans to gather the object responsible for the shock he had received. Still feeling the effect of the shock, his gaze dropped to the floor as Tamli turned to leave.
"Tanui, I warn you now that you had better be up to the challenge when the time comes for our final confrontation," Tamli announced mentally before walking out and abandoning Tanui back to the isolation he knew kept every other dragon safe from him . . .
Pulled back from the memory he would rather forget, Tanui clenched his teeth and let electricity surge from his fingertips, feeling the pressure on his arm and body both fade as Tamli rolled off of him to avoid the strike. Sitting up, he glanced down to see if the strike had done any damage to his metal leg as the hybrid got back onto his feet and passed his sword back into his right hand. There was a slight bit of charred metal along the top of the artificial limb but the main part was still functioning, although he had to be careful with how fast the original could strike as it might slow him down.
"You don't know how much I want to kill you right now," Tamli remarked as he walked over, dragging the tip of his sword along Tanui's collarbone, "but I wouldn't be doing Finca any honor if the slaughter wasn't drawn out to match her own."
Digging the talon-like portion of his metal limb into the ground, Tanui threw himself at Tamli, ripping the sword out of the hybrid's hand with a telekinetic shove as he pulled down the original onto the ground. When he tried to get back onto his feet, he realized that the ground under them was slowly turning into mud, signaling that a steady rainfall had begun without his notice during their fighting as he slipped and landed painfully on his left side. Raising his head, he blinked as he glanced around to see that where they had been exchanging blows was now a vast muddy terrain that presented its own problems.
"It seems that nature itself wishes to aid in our conflict," Tamli muttered in amusement as he rolled away and found his footing, moving his sword back into his hand through telekinesis as Tanui struggled to get up.
"You call this an improvement?" Tanui snapped back as lightning briefly flickered along his arm, forcing himself to stand as he raised his staff out of the mud and back into his hand subconsciously. "With the fighting we have been doing, this weather will only slow us down!"
Tamli briefly glanced at his blade before he answered, the words spoken reminding rather than angry. "Amia should have trained you to fight in such conditions, hybrid."
Hearing the words so fiercely spoken out against his Master, Tanui couldn't stop the scream of rage that tore from his throat as he charged forward, leaving a long scratch along Tamli's side as the hybrid tried to avoid the hit. Twisting his staff, he managed to inflict several scratches before Tamli could move away, although he followed with a powerful blow meant for the head that caught his target on the edge of his shoulder instead. The hit still had enough force to cause Tamli to fall onto the muddy ground, dazed as the clone hesitated to deliver the finishing blow.
Disoriented from the attack, Tamli somehow managed to force the staff out of the copy's hands as his eyes found Tanui's crimson irises. Even with his weapon gone, the rejected clone still refused to end the fight as he knew he should, something about the amethyst irises before him holding him back. He had no explanation for why the image seemed so familiar or the reason behind his sudden reluctance to end their fight.
'Kill him!'
The quiet rasp of a voice he had silenced so long ago startled Tanui and he instinctively let electricity flicker from his fingertips as his Master's command echoed through his head. Killing Amia had given him peace of mind for days until the mental decay had returned to plague him and remind him of his place in the world as a defective clone, leading to him endangering Nethial in Tel-var and distancing himself from the ones that only wanted to help him.
Clutching his head, he snarled softly as he closed his eyes, feeling the wraith stir nervously inside of him. He didn't have to fulfill his destiny and could let Tamli walk away from their conflict without another word. Torn over how to act, a darker part of his mind reminded him of why he had been created in the first place and he growled, dropping to his knees.
Unconcerned with his artificial limb now, Tanui lowered his hand from his skull and opened his eyes, finding Tamli's gaze as the original glanced at him with worry and perhaps pity. His palm tingled with electricity as he went to place it on his chest, knowing now he was making the right decision by choosing to end it this way.
Worry turned to panic as Tamli caught on to his plan, a rising fear present in the hybrid's voice. "What are you doing? Tanui, it doesn't have to end this way," he begged as he tried to reach out to the clone.
"I've done so much wrong that nothing I ever do could make up for it. Finca, Rados . . . countless others I killed only to fulfill the purpose Amia gave me. In all the bloodshed I lost sight of who I had once been, an identity that was stripped from me the more the decay progressed." Tanui was impressed with himself to keep his voice so steady as he pushed aside the feeble attempt made by Tamli. "I attacked the ones closest to me, thinking they were the source of my pain and misery . . . Nethial was left scarred and Ladetis can no longer fly because of me, because I pushed them away right when I needed them the most."
"Everyone makes mistakes," Tamli whispered as he drew back his hand and Tanui felt the first arcs of electricity flicker against his skin, burning through the tunic's thin fabric. "You were scared and reacted out of instinct when you isolated yourself. I should know, I've done it before only to regret it later."
Closing his eyes, Tanui pressed his palm against his chest, feeling the electricity surge through his entire body. He heard his metal leg whine pitifully before the smell of burning flesh signaled he had destroyed the artificial limb and was ruining what natural skin and bone remained. The erratic voices that had plagued him for so long seemed to silence themselves as he felt his skin become charred and he briefly heard Tamli cry out his name . . .
Encountering a clone in mid-shift, Dhran pulled his sword from its sheath and sliced the hybrid straight across its chest, retreating as it let out a dreadful scream before falling to the ground dead. With the mass of dragons and hybrids alike fighting in the skies above him, he had to be careful to avoid accidently getting into the path of a dead scale-flier, although he had Seraphina warding off attacks from both above and around as best she could as she stayed close to him. Despite her small size, she could kill the copies who had taken human forme with little effort and shove their larger foes out of the way.
A sudden burst of electricity rose high into the sky from the west, its location similar to where Finca had died and Dhran clenched his sword tighter, fearing the worst. If Tamli had been unable to kill the erratic clone known as Tanui then what chance did any of them have against the psychotic hybrid should he choose to target them next? Concerned and worried, he felt Seraphina's mind brush against his own, her very presence soothing his fears as he briefly glanced at her to see the same uncertainty reflected within her own irises.
"Tamli will be fine, Dhran," Seraphina growled softly as she turned to rip apart another clone, her claws glistening a bloody red as the ground around them slowly became mud that mixed with the crimson fluid of their dead enemies. "He has the wisdom of the ancients to guide him and I suspect Finca is as protective of him in death as she was while she was still alive . . ."
"But what about the clone? He did target specific individuals close to Tamli for a reason . . ." Dhran responded as he twisted his blade through the body of another insane copy of the hybrid.
Seraphina snorted, raising her head proudly to glare at him with a single iris as a low snarl rippled up her throat in protest. "Airu, trust my judgement, please. Was I wrong about Aurelia? This event is beyond your control and you know it."
Dhran sighed, realizing her words were correct but he was still concerned about Tamli. In the time he had known the hybrid, it was clear they had a leader among them. With Uria missing and possibly dead, the one they rallied around might soon be Finca's mate . . . if he was the one to survive the fierce battle against his darker copy.
Taking his first breath after the death of the psychotic hybrid, the dusty air caught in his throat and sent him into a coughing spasm. Unable to catch his breath as he lay on his back, Tamli wondered if he would die where he was as it felt to him like hot ash and smoke was filling his lungs. His body jerked with every rasp of a breath he tried to reach for and he heard something twist in his back, the sensation of pain clouding his senses as he dug his fingers into the muddy ground around him for support.
When he did manage to get a clear breath a few minutes later, he thought for a second that he had been the one to sacrifice himself as Tamli wearily opened his eyes to see the chaos that remained of the field where he had fought Tanui to avenge Finca's death. Wisps of smoke rose from the ground as the very spot where the clone had been was nothing but a large ring of black. Broken, twisted trees cradled the small area they had fought in and the resulting blast from the clone's death had covered him in mud and ashes. The impact had thrown Tamli back several feet but he was alive, although it seemed to him unfitting to get his victory by the self-destruction the copy had shown.
Struggling to sit up, he made a mental note of all the injuries that seemed to have arisen since the end of their vicious fight between copy and original. Glancing down, he saw the muck that covered his body and noticed several large burns across his chest and along his legs and arms. His back twinged painfully as he rose into a sitting position, the movement making him dizzy. Once the sensation had passed he experimentally moved his left leg just to see the extent of his wounds, hissing in discomfort as he felt swelling and tenderly reached down to discover he had somehow twisted his knee during the explosion. He also suspected his arm from where Tanui had struck him down to the ground was possibly broke or either his shoulder was deeply bruised because every small movement sent pain radiating throughout the limb.
The numerous scratches Tanui had inflicted and the countless other wounds he had obtained seemed trivial compared to the emotions that finally were able to rush through him now that the fighting was over. Finca . . . His mate, his partner-of-heart was dead. Maybe the clone had been right to admit he couldn't be redeemed after all he had done?
"Tamli?" The quiet timidness of her voice slowly revealed it to be Nethial as he collected his composure and turned his head to glance behind him, seeing her walk up from the direction of the rest of the battle between Corruption's forces and the resistance of the Compound.
"Nethial," he whispered softly in response as he noticed her clothing torn and covered with blood. "How are the others doing?"
Placing a hand on his shoulder, she knelt next to him, gazing at the dark ring of ash that stood in the center of the field. "The battle is . . . Tamli," she rasped in warning, "don't change the subject away from yourself. I know you're grieving over Finca . . ." She paused for a moment, her eyes fixated on the final remains of the cloned hybrid. "Tanui is dead, isn't he?"
"He killed Finca," Tamli muttered softly, glancing away as tears collected in his eyes. "Tanui did the one thing I never dreamed he was capable of achieving . . ."
"Tanui was deranged even when I first met him during my darkest moments. It wasn't until Tel-var that I understood just how dangerous he was," Nethial remarked as Tamli briefly glanced up at her in an attempt at trying to be interested in what she was saying. "I know Finca meant everything to you. When Ladetis killed Attor, I wanted nothing but to avenge his death. It was only after learning that it was to stop Jhira from killing me did I understand and forgive him for his actions-"
"What does that have to do with me? Finca is dead and the one that killed her electrocuted himself to death!" Tamli snarled, cutting off Nethial and she promptly lifted her hand away out of worry.
Her attention turned elsewhere as Tamli realized the majority of the blood on her was not from killing other clones. Numerous gashes leaked the crimson liquid and he quietly chided himself for not asking how she was doing in the midst of their most dangerous conflict with the darkness. Taking a second glance over her, he saw that one of her metal legs had a large hole in it, revealing the delicate inner workings. He briefly wondered why one of the clones hadn't taken advantage over that weakness and destroyed the limb but it could have been from a conflict right before she came to find him.
"This feels familiar, doesn't it?" He teased softly, hoping to draw her back into the conversation as she continued to stare off distantly.
"It does." Her voice was cold and emotionless, giving Tamli the impression she was struggling over how to respond to the death of the clone as she finally sat down next to him. "Do you regret not knowing Raoul until now?"
It was several minutes before Tamli softly answered, his voice catching in his throat as he continued to gaze upon the ruins of what had plagued him for weeks. "I only regret my decision to be a part of Amia's twisted idea that multiple souls could exist within one being. When I discovered the clones had been created, I knew Amia had overstepped his own moral boundaries, if there had been any in the first place."
"How was it for you?" Nethial asked as she gently placed her hand over his, giving it a light squeeze. "To be trapped inside there with Santerous and Amia?"
His eyes flickered to her before his attention went to where her hand rested on his own. "Confusing at first," he admitted, "but it became lonely after a while. Everyone we knew had either died in the war against Corruption or had gone back to the Dominion for protection. There was many days when silence ruled over all three of us and in those times of quietness I found myself thinking of you."
Tamli paused for a moment as his eyes drifted to the necklace Nethial wore that Tanui had made for her before continuing to speak. "I wondered what my life could have been like if I had stayed. How I would have seen my son grow up to be a powerful influence and the trials I could have faced because of our actions. Those times made me realize just how cruel fate can be but I never lost my hope that Amia would see to his downfall by his own hand . . ."
Nethial surprised him as she tightly gripped his hand and Tamli silently cringed as the motion jarred his wounded shoulder. He didn't say anything to inform her of the pain but the silence between them must have made her uneasy because she quickly let go and looked away.
"Nethial," Tamli whispered softly as he felt weariness descending over him. "Tell me the truth. Is what I sense in you real?"
Her hesitation confirmed what he had begun to sense only within the last few moments. Something had happened between Nethial and Tanui but he couldn't quite figure out what their connection was. He had seen her glance at the remaining ashes frequently during their conversation but her mannerisms suggested nothing had occurred.
"I was hoping to avoid having to tell you this," she muttered quietly. "There was more that went on in Tel-var then I originally mentioned. Tanui rejoiced at my restoration and we-"
"You made love to him," Tamli interjected, a trace of anger lacing his weary voice. "That's why I can sense the faintest beginning of new life within you. I thought the clones were sterile."
Nethial slowly returned her gaze to him, her reluctant behavior further confirming his belief that she was indeed now carrying the clone's offspring. "All but Tanui were created to be unable to reproduce. Amia had high hopes for the psychotic hybrid."
"I suspected as much," he softly responded as his eyes closed, his own force of will the only thing keeping him sitting up.
Her hand tentatively reached up and brushed against his cheek, the sensation taking him back to the nights they spent together in paradise. Bracing a hand against the ground, Tamli used his other to grasp hers and pull it away, cushioning it gently. With his body and mind exhausted, he was afraid of what she might try if he let his guard down.
Unable to keep his arm steady, Tamli fell back onto the ground as he clenched his teeth to keep from screaming in pain. There was certainly something wrong with his back but he would have to figure out exactly what it was later. He heard Nethial call out his name but he was already fading, consciousness fleeing from him . . .