Chapter 53

Bitter Wishes

Omari couldn't move. She didn't feel much of anything. She was numb. She couldn't remember how to get up anyhow. She didn't think the wound was fatal, at least she hoped it wasn't, but at the moment she couldn't tell if she was dying, or just simply drowning. It sure felt like she was drowning. Omari struggled to breath, each one harder to take than the last. She felt like she was submerged in water and the surface seemed impossible to reach.

The more she struggled the farther away the surface seemed. Black clouds obscured her vision. The pain in her gut began to lessen, her lungs quit burning. Her body was ice cold now, ice and stone. She was sinking...and it didn't even matter to her anymore. Can't move... she stretched for the surface, reaching for something she couldn't see as the night closed in on her.

Cedric, she tried to call out for him. Cedric, she cried.

Seconds stretched into minutes when still no answer was given. Just as her eyes drifted closed she was shaken awake. The sound of someone calling her name brought her closer and closer to the surface. Her hearing was muffled but she heard them calling for her. Heard him calling for her. Slowly the sound of clashing swords and battle cries pierced her ears.

"Omari!" Percival came into view. "Open your eyes, damn it!"

Hoping it was an ally and not an enemy, she opened her eyes wearily. "Perc..." Omari swallowed hard, cutting herself off. "Percival?" She tried again. She smiled up at him, blood coating her teeth and dripped from her lips. The blood had a strange multicolored sheen to it, like a diamond. "What are you doing here?" She slurred.

"Looking for you," Percival said, his voice strained.

He looked down at her. She held her hands to the wound in her belly trying to stanch the blood flow but it seeped past her fingers in slow and beautiful rivulets. It didn't seem like she lost too much blood, but she was pale. Her lips were purple and her eyes were a bit unfocused. Still, he had faith that she would survive. She had to. He had only just found her.

"Lil' ol' me?" Omari hummed. She watched Percival as he looked her over. His face twisted as if he were in pain, and maybe he was, she didn't know. They were, after all, in the middle of a battle.

"Yes." Percival said simply, as if it made all the sense in the world.

"Why?" She laughed, but ended up in a coughing fit. More blood trickled from her pale lips.

Instead of obeying her wishes, or wasting time telling her why, he knelt down. "Come on," Percival sighed sadly. "Let's get you out of here." Percival picked her up and cradled her to his chest but she pushed against him. Percival barely even felt the pressure of there touch.

"I don't wanna move." Omari grumbled.

"I'm sorry, love, but we need to get you somewhere safe."

Omari wanted to laugh. Safe, there was nowhere safe, only safer. Percival picked her up gently and started on his way, keeping her close and skirted the battle, keeping clear of the fighting. He took her to the nearest cluster of trees and gently set her down, helping her lay down. He wadded up his ripped and torn cloak for a pillow and gently placed it under her head.

"Thanks." She wheezed. Omari rested and gazed up at Percival. Her lungs burned and itched. Her lungs seized and she started coughing again. She couldn't catch her breath and her skin felt tight and uncomfortable stretched over her bones. Her breath was now coming in quick rapped gasps.

"Hey, hey." Percival leaned down. He put his forehead to hers. "Just breathe with me. Your going to be alright." He assured me. He caressed her cheek and brushed her hair from her face. Her hazel green eyes dulled in color and took on a silvery-gold sheen as if there was something alive and moving behind them. Her strange red blood still shone with a diamond like shimmer.

"No. I won't." Omari looked at him with sadness. Resigned to her new fate. She now knew there was something very wrong. Merlin may have tried to save her, but...She had a bad feeling that she wasn't going to make it out of this one. She felt death's cold finger tracing her spine, caressing her like an old lover, tempting her to open up to him. Death whispered through her mind, I am here. Come with me.

Omari grabbed on to Percival's arm, anchoring herself to the present. He lifted her up so he could cradle her in his arms. He held her like she was something precious. Something he didn't want to lose. A daft thought and she knew it, seeing as her lifestyle and lineage forbade life entanglements with anyone other than her own kind, and she never really gave thought into having her own family before but suddenly being so close to death and finally meeting a man that made her heart beat faster... It was bittersweet.

Omari was thankful for the short time she had with Percival. One last ride, she laughed to herself.

"It was good to know you," Omari slurred. Her tongue felt swollen and her lips uncoordinated. Her head rested against his shoulder and lulled to the side. Her eyes drifted closed and her breathing slowed.

Panic filled Percival before he finally managed to get his emotion under control enough to think rationally. He felt a pulse at her neck. Her heart beat softly. She was still alive.