The Final Battle - Part I

Tynan:

I have done some bad things before, some evil things, and ones that I feel shame whenever I remember, but using my body to shield the man I swore to kill was another level of humiliation, not because I had to do it, for I was never a man who breaks his promises or backs out of a deal, but because of all the unwanted feelings and unwelcome thoughts that sat there in the back of my mind, threatening to cast a fiery assault on me once the battle noises are demolished.

Brother…

Family…

Wouldn’t be nice if the circumstances were different, and I in fact wasn’t alone in this world? But instead had someone to call family, someone to rely on and trust?

I guess I truly am cursed, always finding myself fighting those whom I am supposed to love.

Once I make it inside the temple, I drop Axel’s body to the side, taking the chance to breathe and allow myself to heal, his blood doing wonders to my weakened system, even if tastes like tar on my tongue, I avoid looking at him, not even to check on his injuries that he must have suffered as we passed the storm of magic whips with him in his human form tucked under my beast’s arm, I hear him scoffing as he tries to even his breaths, probably thinking the same thing as me.

“What now?” I ask after a few seconds, looking all around me at this strange place,trying to make sense of what little I can see for the place is drowsed in darkness, the temple’s gate in fact only let us inside a long, circular corridor where another stone wall with several arched apertures awaited, another trap, I conclude as I look behind me at the gate that just disappeared, taking away what little light that entered this place, “Let me guess, one door will take us where we want, and the others will take us to our deaths?” sarcasm drips off my tongue as glance at him while waiting for his answer.

“You watch too much TV!” he finally says between ragged breaths, still trying to recover from the earlier assault not to mention the blood loss he suffered, I huff and look away before catching myself, why the fuck is he talking to me as if I am indeed his little brother, and more importantly, why am I acting like one, I fight the urge to tell him that I never watched TV, and recenter myself and my focus on our mission, shutting all the unwanted feelings and thoughts.

“All these doors take to the same place, the great hall where the witches usually gather and perform their prayers and rituals”

“So what is the trick?” I ask impatiently, sensing their presence on the other side, but something holds me back from barging in there, a thread obliging me to make sure Axel is fully healed before I go forward, maybe it is my stupid sense of honor, or maybe because I feel indebted to him, but it was his blood that got us both here, and turning my back on him right now feels like a crime I cannot bring myself to commit, strangely, for I have never cared for such things before, especially when my little Ora’s life was at stake, so why now?

“There is no trick, at least no one that can work on you, the narrow passages that lead to the great hall are saturated with an ancient magic, mind traps as Ciana likes to call them.”

“What kind of mind traps?” I ask not really caring about the answer, after all, I am immune to magic, but something about his tone, about the way he is trying so hard to keep his shoulders pulled and stiff, about the way he can hardly keep eye contact for more than a few seconds obliges me to pause, and I hate myself for having to, I hate it that I am here worrying about his unsaid words while my woman is in danger.

“Anything really, it is a tricky magic that can find out about your wildest fantasies, your deepest desire, your greatest regret, or your worst fear, you never truly know, it just traps you there until you die from starvation or exhaustion, and even if you were rescued, it would be too late for you would have been eaten by insanity…”

“Well, not me…” I deadpan with a straight face, no longer beating around the bush, I know where this is going, I know what he wants to say but can’t, he wants my help, and this time, he has nothing to bargain with, nothing to offer me in return, and I somehow feel sorry for him, something in me asking me what if it was me?

“No, you will be fine, and so will your mate…”

“You on the other hand, you will have to go through those traps and either battle yourself or surrender to it, nonetheless, it would be too late in both cases, especially if I got there first.”

“What do you want? Name your price and I will pay it, just don’t hurt my mate, for all her flaws and mistakes, she is still mine, and if someone has to punish her, then it will be me, not you.” I see him biting his tongue as he tries to work out the rest of his words, knowing damn well that no matter how much pride he puts in them, they will still sound like begging, as a leader myself I understand his displeasure, but instead of feeling the joy I thought I would feel, all I sense is sympathy.

What is happening to me?

“And what it is it that you can offer at this point?” I ask while faking nonchalance, my gaze focused on his for no reason but to give him the respect a leader deserves, I tell myself this is it, this is the reason why I am bothering with him, but my beast shakes its head at me, fuck, this is gonna hunt me for a while.

“Anything you ask, money, land, peace…” Axel replies with clear umbrage, and my eyebrows go up as contemplate his offers, he is willing to go to such extreme lengths and even make peace with the man who murdered his sister just to save his mate, but I have no interest in what he is offering, for what I want isn’t something he can give me.

“I want you to give me a future promise, a word of a man…” I look at him with seriousness, dropping the nonchalance and the unnecessary thoughts and focusing back on my mission, “I don’t want anything from you now, and there could never be peace between us for we have both harmed each other in ways we can never fix, you stole my mate, you stole years and memories that belonged to me, you kidnapped and tortured one of my best friends, on the other hand, I killed your sister, I don’t see how there could be anything but enmity between us, I am not interested in your money nor your lands, so all I can ask of you is a promise for the future, and one day, I will come to you with that dept and you will have to pay, do you agree?”

“I agree…” the speed and determination with which he answers me are somehow astonishing, but again, this is what love does to a man, “In return, you will make sure that no harm falls on my mate until I find my way out of the magic trap, you will not harm her yourself, if you do, I promise that even death won’t stop me from chasing you until the very last day of your life”.

“You will not be stuck in the tunnel…” I say as I stretch, ready to finally find her, and him for that matter, “We started this together, we will finish it together, and you will be the man your mate needs and the one protecting her not me…”