Endless

Chapter 42

Xavier

I took another breath of air.

I was alive, no, more than that, I was alive and felt better than I had in months.

I didn't know why Emily's blood had saved me from an early grave, but it did.

The thought of death gave me a chill, but I brushed it away.

I was alive and so was Emily, everything was alright.

I looked over my shoulder slightly to see her actually asleep. I was surprised, but I guess she was pretty exhausted and injured.

I looked forward again, we were almost to the coven. The area was starting to look familiar, I had walked the grounds around the coven many times.

The trees around me rustled in the wind, there was almost a peace to it, soothing to say the least.

I breathed in again, filling my lungs with air, and slowly letting it out.

A noise to my right snapped me out of my calm mindset, my nerves on edge.

I sniffed the air, trying to determine what was nearby. My eyebrows rose in confusion when I realized I recognized the scent, even though it was slightly off.

Malik appeared from the trees, dropping himself to the ground gracefully. When our eyes met, I immediately could tell he was different, that something had changed.

For some reason I felt wary of him and stood still as he quickly made his way towards me.

His chestnut eyes shined brightly and a smile danced on his lips as he closed the distance between us.

"Xavier! My love, I'm so happy you are alright." Malik said almost breathlessly when he was only about ten feet from me.

I took a step back as he neared and stared at him in confusion. His scent was off, his presence was much stronger than normal.

Now he noticed my hesitation and stopped completely.

"Love, it's me, I know I probably have changed slightly, but it's still me." Sadness shook his voice ever so slightly, then realization hit me.

His scent, his aura, it changed because he was no longer just Malik.

He was a master now.

"Cyrus is dead?" I croaked, still putting together the pieces, he nodded silently.

I took a step closer to him, sniffing the air again. It was still Malik's, just slightly different.

He looked over my shoulder, as if just realizing who was on my back.

"Oh shit is she okay?!" Worry stained his voice, I nodded my head.

"She's fine, she's injured but she'll be fine." I said, Malik closed the gap between us. Delicately, he raised his hand to my cheek.

"What about you? Are you alright?" He said softly.

"Yes... and no. Physically I'm fine, but..." I didn't know how to phrase my next sentence without sounding a little crazy. Malik waited patiently for me to continue, his thumb stroking my cheek lovingly.

"We were attacked by three warriors, Emily killed them but Mal...... I died. I don't know how but Emily brought me back with her blood only moments after my heart stopped. Her blood not only saved me, but healed all my wounds. I know how crazy that sounds but it's the truth."

I watched closely as his expression changed with my words. At first horror, then slowly to confusion.

"That's impossible, maybe you weren't dead." His voice strained, as if saying that caused him pain.

"I know I was dead, I felt my heart stop, so did Emily, but I came back, I'm okay." I said with a small smile, trying to reassure him.

Suddenly, Malik put his other hand on my chest while the other still caressed my cheek. He stared at me intently as he listened and felt my heart beating.

"I believe you my love, we can worry about the details later. Emily needs to get back to the coven." I nodded fiercely. "Here, let me take her, she must be heavy."

He said while moving to pick her up from my back, but for some reason I took a wide step away from him before he could touch her.

"No, it's fine, I'd rather hold onto her, I honestly don't want her to move much with her wounds." I replied, his face contorted into confusion again but only for a moment.

"Alright, let's get moving then."

           **********
Devon  

Thane hit me again, his fist connecting with my jaw with the force of a semi-truck.

I staggered slightly from the blow, but recovered quickly as blood dripped from my bruised lips.

I jumped back when he tried to do it again, using my element to push him back. It worked, but only slightly because he came charging only a split second later.

I moved around him and kicked my leg out, tripping him. He fell like a tower, his back hitting the ground with a loud thud.

Immediately I used my element again, trying to burn his flesh, but he moved with swift fury to knock me down as well.

The blow to my knee made a popping sound and I gritted my teeth but didn't fall. Instead, with my other leg, I kicked down, aiming for his head.

I was too slow, he rolled away and quickly stood to his feet.

We both breathed heavily, Thane smirked, his eyes bright red.

"It has been awhile since I had a worthy opponent such as yourself." He said through breaths. I didn't respond, only glared. This fight was taking longer than I expected.

I had thought that with my element I might have the upper hand. However, Thane was truly a master, his strength, speed and agility was impeccable. He easily dodged my element, his strikes broke bone, he was excellent at hand to hand combat and his skills outmatched my own.

I had to get him cornered somehow, I needed to trap him with my element in some way to defeat him. His strength was greater than mine, I would lose this fight if he kept coming with his brute power.

He charged again, this time coming at me with his body instead of his fist.

I moved to get away, but he was too quick.

Thane grabbed me and held me in place. A growl escaped my throat as I grabbed his arm and burned it with my fire.

That caught him off guard, his grip weakened. I took the opportunity, I gripped onto him tighter and jumped up, my foot connecting to his face.

I heard his nose crack, obviously broken from the impact. I didn't stop there.

I let go of his arm, and with a ball of fire I clenched my fist and connected it to his other cheek.

Thane staggered, I could feel his rage as his stared up at me, eyes blazing.

He crouched for another attack, but I had the upper hand now.

With my element and the full force of my body, I charged at him this time. The flames wrapped around my arms, burning away what was left of my shirt.

I could see the shock on the masters face as I came toward him. My fury flowing into my element as I crashed into him, burning his flesh.

He hissed loudly, desperately trying to push me off of him. I did not relent, I pushed forward, doing as much damage as I could with my flames before jumping back.

Thane looked down at his body, his bare chest burnt badly, the open wounds were blackened. He staggered, I thought for a moment he might charge at me again, but he eyes looked as if they were going in and out of focus.

The smell of his burnt flesh was revolting, I could even hear it still sizzling and it didn't look like it was healing.

Thane fell to his knees with a groan and growled at me through gritted teeth.

"You... have beaten me."