The Blood Order

L

I let the darkness nip at me, speckles of black taking over my vision. Myrina's corpse lays skewered in front of me acting only as a reminder now.

Hallie runs into the room, blade slick with blood. Her eyes are feral as she searches for me. When she lands on me, then Myrina, she gives me a small smile. Her feet slam against the floor, keys hanging limply from my fingers. She takes them from me, clicking off the chains one by one, "Are you able to walk?"

"Hallie..." I groan but move to stand. She grips my side tightly holding my bleeding form against her. I feel the small movements we make together towards the exit, her cheering me on under her breath.

"The King has gone berserk. He needs to see you alive before he'll calm down. His troops are winning, the Tazi are trying to withdraw."

I hold my chest tightly begging it to stop bleeding. Always so fucking weak.

"Come on, you got this. He's right outside." My body ignites with the prospect of seeing him. While I hadn't realized it, being apart from him was horrid. My body felt off, my mind sluggish. And now, being able to see him, something in me digs deep a new energy fueling me.

We slam our bodies through a door stepping onto blood coated grass. My j'kani is standing across a small field, the tendrils of black surrounding him like a wave would a surfer. He seems stoic, a blank face presented as he slashes through his opposers. His focus is razor sharp, nothing braking the silent hold his anger has on him.

"J'kani!" I scream as loud as my bad lungs will let me, my free hand coated in bright red raising to the sky. I call upon any strength I have left, "RAPHAEL!"

The deaths pause. His eyes search over the crowd, the people not yet killed falling to their knees at this demanding presence. I hold my hands up, Hallie steadying me, "You're loosing too much blood." She whispers against me, but I keep my hands raised patiently waiting for him to find me. A savior against my own pain.

The blood order, tazis, my abuse, everything falls away. Thoughts of his soft hands, his demand for me to eat, his rather loving way of being around me while its rather brash. I need it. Something begins to consume me, the rash thoughts of needing him like I need air.

Whether this is the bond, or blood loss, I'm running with it. He drops from his elevated stance and with a speed unseeable from the naked runs to me. His soft hands caress me gently pulling me into him with such care that the tears I was holding back fall freely, "Please, help me."

I cry to him, Hallie nods running off to handle other things. Raphael looks over me taking in my soaked clothing. The burns were gone, but the indentions and rash from the chains still held strong around my wrists, "I got you baby. I have you now."

"I need to pass out." I mumble. He pats my face lightly.

"You have to stay with me. Tell me something you've always wanted to do. Anything." He attempts to keep his voice steady while he runs me through the people. I feel the hold I have on reality slipping quickly.

"Fall in love." I whimper, my ribs seethe in pain adrenaline wearing out. I force myself to keep going, "Be happy. Fly on a plane. See the beach..."

My voice wavers. I can't keep going, "And for once, live my life like I want to."

The blank fills my vision, my heart slowing in my chest. I can feel my breathing lag, and my body start to shut down. Raphael growls above me, and I could've sworn his tears fell over my face as he ran.