When Belladonna woke up, the face she saw hovering over hers was the one she wanted, but it was gone soon enough and all she could see was an undead warrior.
She smiled still. Smiled because he came back, smiled because she knew it was him.
He apologized for leaving, he appeared extremely worried to have met her in the state which he did. He had wrapped her hand with a piece of his cloak and that must certainly have an effect on him, she knew.
She wasn’t angry; anger wasn’t even close to anything she felt at the moment. It was an odd serenity.
Too peaceful.
He wanted her to take him to her friends and she nodded.
Alaris. She must see him.
“Your hair glows slightly and one of your eyes has dimmed into silver, are you alright?”
“It must be the magic.“ Her hand was still hurting, she hadn’t healed yet. She frowned, looking around. This wasn’t where she had passed out. It was still the forest certainly but this place was different. “Where was this place?” worry took over her voice the next moment, complete panic. “What day is this?” She turned to him sharply, her gaze flying to his shoulder to estimate the time left from his sandglass.
It was low, really low.
“The Blood Moon is today?”
He nodded.
“No! It can't be! The sun is already setting!”
“I would have taken us to where we have to go but I don't know where we must go.” There was urgency in his voice, just as there had been in the beginning. Now she understood why, it was because he was running out of time.
With one hand clenched around the bottle, she grabbed his wrist with the other, muttering to herself, “there is only one permanent solution.”
She ran, pulling him along but he pulled her back.
“Is there a shorter way?”
“They will be there, Dogori, the White King; we can’t fight them all! You can’t use your cloak either, for the same reason we didn’t use it before.”
“Is it shorter?”
She nodded.
“Are you certain your friend will be waiting for you?” he asked like his whole life was relying on her response.
“Yes.”
He jammed his scythe against the ground and a gigantic winged beast of darkness formed out of thin air. He mounted the beast and pulled her along, putting the reins of the creature in her hands that he held in his. The beast took off onto the air and she pushed back into him as they elevated, and he pulled his cloak around her.
Like this, they wouldn’t see them.
She embraced the moment like a stolen one; resting silently against him, crying in her heart and hoping that this wouldn’t be their last.
It was so painful to have him be this close and still not be able to tell him who she was.
But that wouldn’t be for long, after all there was one permanent solution.
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The beast moved really fast and in only a few minutes, they were in the midst of their enemies in the sky. There were thousands and thousands of t\\hem. They were too much.
Worst that she had even imagined.
Dragons above and warriors below, all led by the White King.. Dogori was there too, somewhere on the ground while the White King led those above.
Belladonna’s heart was racing wildly the closer they got. She felt Eli’s hands tighten around her as they got to the White Kind who hadn’t shifted totally into his dragon and only had his wings out. At the moment they were about to fly past him, he turned and for that moment her heart skipped a beat because he was staring right at her.
But then their beast flew past him and she turned back to watch him turn away.
He hadn’t seen her.
In seconds, they were so far away.
Belladonna let out a breath of relief but her relief didn’t last because soon enough they were crashing to the ground.
The beast vanished but she wasn't the one to hit the ground with a disastrous thud, Eli broke her fall.
“We fell,” she exclaimed as she raced up to her feet.
“No, w– we did not.”
She frowned, looking back at him.
Did he just stutter?
“We have to keep going. We are so close.” She attempted to hold his wrist while trying to check his sandglass but he moved away from her, his grip tightening on his scythe.
“You must go to Alaris now, she is coming for me.”
“Alaris can wait a—” She stopped immediately, when she looked at him, his gaze was already resting on her. “Eli?”
This time, he was the one she saw. He wanted to take a step toward her but he stopped and frowned.
“She must not meet you here.” He drew the end of his scythe between them to form a line. “Go.’ that sounded like he had spoken from a distance.
Her eyes widened.
There was something between them.
“Eli!”
“I love you, Donna.” That sounded even more distant.
She would lose him.
Again?
No!
By Ignas, she wouldn’t let that happen!
Afterall, there was one permanent solution.