Skarr swooped down upon Kallen and Elmico, his teeth glinting faintly. He was close enough that Kallen could once again taste the acidity of his acrid breath on the air. She looked into his gleaming eyes and she knew, ‘I am going to die here…’
She sent a prayer up to Avandra, her lips quivering, asker for Her aid, guidance and blessings for her friends. She glanced down to look at Elmico’s unconscious body, then up to meet Asher’s gaze, then Mugen’s and finally Irovos’ at a distance. Then with a new look of determination in her eyes, she turned to face the beast head on. If she was going to die, Kallen thought, it had to be to protect them.
“You still have such strong faith in whatever god you worship that you’re praying now?” Skarr hissed down at her.
She could feel her heart beating in her chest and her throat began to seize up. It took nearly all the inner strength she could muster but she responded defiantly, “YES!”
Just then, it felt like her body was getting warmer and the fear seemed to drain from her spirit. Bolstered by this new found confidence, she put her hands on her hips and straightened her posture to square off against the great dragon.
Skarr recoiled slightly, clearly taken aback. Then, his expression changed altogether and a smile formed on his lips. He made a large sweeping gesture with his wings that created a very strong wind current, nearly knocking Kallen off her feet. She managed to stand her ground. Skarr chuckled, “You are an impressive creature. I have decided that I will let you escape. I have already taken plenty…” he motioned down to Elmico’s broken body, lying on the floor at his clawed feet.
Kallen couldn’t believe her ears. She gave him a look of incredulity and Skarr held a steady gaze back into her eyes. A shiver shot down her spine: he was telling the truth, he fully intended to let her go – but that would mean leaving Elmico behind. She looked once again ay her fallen comrade’s body. He was in copious amounts of pain, his skin had turned a deep and feverish red and his breathing was heavily labored. She couldn’t leave him there, could she? He was one of her precious friends, her ally; her family. She couldn’t just run away knowing the sort of fate he would suffer if she left him.
Just then, Mugen called out to her. He told her that there was nothing she could do, to leave him behind, that it would be "illogical" to lose both of their defenders in one battle. That was Mugen for you, never factoring feelings into his computations. Kallen considered his words but was struck by a moment of clear and decisive thought.
‘No,’ she thought, ‘friends are NOT expendable!’ Kallen knew that if their positions were reversed, Elmico would try to save her. In fact, he only got into this predicament in an attempt to haul her unconscious body out of the fray to safety when she had collapsed earlier this battle.
She knew that she had to try and rescue him.
Kallen sprang into action, trying to grab Elmico and escape with him, but the great dragon was far to fast for her. He crushed Elmico’s legs under his giant claw, and Kallen was unable to pull him free. Elmico gasped, clearly he could still feel the pain of his bones snapping despite his mental state. Skarr’s smile widened and he chided Kallen, “Oh no… You must go alone. This one is my prey…”
Kallen could hear the rest of her party calling out to her, urging her to run for her life, but their voices seemed so far away. Her mind was racing, should she attack? Should she try to pry Elmico out of the Dragon’s claws and risk upsetting him and lose her opportunity to leave? Should she run? She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her at the realization that there was really nothing she could do to save him. She cautiously bent down to get closer to Elmico and Skarr tightened his grip. Feeling the despair sink in, Kallen took one last look at Elmico. His eyes opened slightly. Was it just her imagination or was he smiling?
Almost instinctively and without looking back, Kallen dashed as fast as she could around the dragon and joined her companions in fleeing the dungeon. As she sprinted down the narrow passageway out of the room, she could hear the crunching of bones and the dragon’s wild laughter. A single tear fell down her cheek. This was what Elmico wanted – for her to live on.
Once out of reach, they shut themselves up in a room still strewn with wreckage from one of their previous battles.
Kallen could take it no more. She burst into violent tears of rage, frustration and anguish. She fell to the floor at her friends’ feet, clutching at Mugen’s thick ankles nearly knocking him over with force. The shattering scream of despair she let loose could have broken glass.
She had done it again. Another friend had died at her hands, to prolong her own life. It hadn’t been too long ago that she killed Nagha in self defense. She recalled Fargrim’s death after she had collapsed fighting the goblins, though she never had the time to grieve for him and had only been told of his passing long after she had escaped torture in the goblin base camp. She had only known Elmico for a short time, but they had worked hard together to defend their party from the foes they had encountered. Kallen realized that time means nothing to the heart; Elmico was her family and he had died for her sake, to protect her.
Asher knelt beside Kallen and put his hand firmly on her shoulder. He looked into her eyes knowingly, having too experienced the grief of letting down someone important to him. Kallen sat up with some difficulty, her whole body still shaking. The rush of adrenalin she had felt in battle was completely replaced with shock. She felt dizzy and began to sway.
“Pull your self together,” Asher cooed, bracing her and keeping her steady with one hand and wiping the tears from her eyes with the other, “Elmico may be gone, but it is exactly for that reason that you must be strong for us. You’re our only defense now and we need you to live on.”
He was right, of course. A true warrior would push on and fight even in the face of anguish. She had reverted back to the little girl she had been after Nagha’s death; a weakling who was helpless with despair. She tried her best to straighten up and even forced a grimacing smile.
Irovos too crouched down and gave Kallen a sad but reassuring smile back. Mugen joined them on the ground and reached his arm out. A compartment opened through his armor to produce a finely woven cloth, which he offered her to dry her eyes.
Kallen took it and proceeded to burry her face into it deeply. She thought about the good friends she still had.
Mugen had been traveling with her for a while now, she had come to rely on him for support and her trust for him knew no bounds.
Gesh, although he was not currently traveling with them, was always in her thoughts and she had looked to him for inspiration in battle countless times.
Irovos, though still shrouded in mystery, had proven himself a dependable ally with a sense of humor that never failed to keep her spirits up.
Manthurian and Modrin had been traveling with them as well up until recently and she found that she often missed their presence in her life.
Finally, there was Asher. He had looked past her race, her gender and her blood stained history into her heart. He respected her and treated her as his equal on the battlefield. She knew that he had faith in her abilities and it made her very happy to know that he was there to fight for her as she did for him.
Then her thoughts shifted to Skarr. That vile creature was still breathing, no doubt feasting upon Elmico’s flesh as she resided in safety, far, far away. She was overcome with contempt for the beast. Had he only let her go to see her squirm, or did that sadistic monster have a different reason? Did it even matter why she was released? One thing she knew for sure was that she loathed Skarr with every fiber of her being. She could feel the infernal wrath within her make her blood boil.
She stood up again with difficulty, staggering to her feet. Her face twisted and she let out another deafening cry to the ceiling. The room seemed to shake with her rage, “NEVER AGAIN WILL I LET SOMEONE I CARE ABOUT DIE BECAUSE OF ME! I swear to Avandra and all other powers that be in this world that I will claim Skarr’s head in Elmico’s memory and retrieve his remains to give him an honorable burial!”
She looked down into the shocked and awed faces of her companions, still crouching and looking back up at her. “My friends, you have fought bravely with me – you have fought for me – and because of that, know that I will stop at NOTHING to protect you. I will defend you till my DEATH! I PROMISE!”
And with that, all of her energy was spent and she collapsed into a heap among her friends. She fell instantly into a dreamless sleep and didn’t awake until some time later.
kill3rsushi Community Member 
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