Chance

Aurelia
The city was filled with the sounds of battle. Rock would smash into the buildings so hard the floor and walls would tremble slightly. Massive waves of water would rise up in the distant view I had then crash down to the earth out of where we could see the damage it caused.
And every now and then I would see flashes of red light from the fires mixed with flashes of a silver light that I knew had to be from Saira.
As long as I saw those silver flashes I knew she was alive. That was all I could hang on to right now. Kairios, hopefully he was safe somewhere, that he would be the one of us all that got out of this place alive. I knew that had to be impossible from the sounds of the battle below.
I was still tied to the chair with invisible chains as I watched Zephyrus watching me. Nothing had been said since I declared that no matter what he did to me, it would all be meaningless. I started to wonder, was this how it all ended? Everything that I fought for ended here?
Galorian had to be dead. There was no way that his body would have been able to survive that fall. And if it had, then he would have died slowly by now. I don’t know what was more upsetting. All I knew was that I was responsible for his death. He would still be out pirating the seas if he had not fallen for me and declared his love. His crew mates, Mana, where ever he was. And the ship. All of it would be left waiting for him to return, but he never would.
We would never be able to see the sights that he promised me. I was full of regrets and dreams that would never come true. I wanted to cry so badly. But to shed a tear here, with him watching me, was something that I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing.
“Are you hungry? I’m sure all that anger you carry needs fuel?” His question bothered me, but again I would rob him of any satisfaction.
I would not answer him. I would not let him take care of me, no matter how much I hungered. I told myself that all I needed was to end him, then I would be able to eat and rest.
“Why do you resist me? There is no way for you to win. Life would be better, more fulfilling if you would just accept what is and be mine.”
“For the same reason you will not surrender and end this conflict. It is impossible, as you have said.”
The bonds around my body constricted and tightened to the point that I could barely breath. Pain lashed through my flesh and muscles and it was all I could do not to cry out. I would let his power crush me to death before I gave into him.
“I can taste your disobedience. It fills the air with a sweet scent,” he drew a deep breath in, “like honey.”
He stood and walked closer to me once more. “I wonder, what else of you tastes of honey.”
I tried to break the bonds. I put every thing I had left in me to break them. All I succeeded in was making them grow tighter than before. This was it, the end for me.
Inigo, Vesta.
I thought of my children. I would never see them again. Never know what beauties they grew into. I would never hear Inigo laugh and I would never see Vesta breath fire. My heart started to burn with a pain that was similar to the moments that I waited for Inigo to cry after his birth. I failed them. Left them this monster to deal with. Even Miranda, whom I thought I had saved from a terrible future, would now have to face this evil man.
What could I do now to save them? As long as they were far from here that was all that mattered. I gave over to the thought that I would never be able to see them again. They would never know me. Darkness started to cloud my mind.
The battle sounds outside started to grow louder and seemed closer than it was mere moments ago. Zephyrus stood and walked over to the ledge. He looked down at whatever scene was below and his shoulders came together as his hands balled into fists. He then turned to me and said,
“Your friends are very persistent. They must care for you deeply. Come. See.” He waved a hand without looking at me.
My body moved with out my permission. I could feel the tendrils of his spell tighten on my arms and legs. I tried to fight each step that I was forced to take. I used every ounce of strength that I had left. And lost.
The ledge came closer and closer and my will became less and less. I now stood next to him, so close that our shoulders touched.
“They have fought well, but you can see that they are losing.” He pointed to where the hundreds were held off by my two companions.
“Please, let me go.” My voice was so small that I didn’t recognize it.
A moment of silence passed between us as I watched the nightmare unfold before me. Precious seconds ticked away.
“What will you do for me in return?”
“I…” what could I say that would allow him to set me free and save them. “I will give myself over to your will, as long as they both survive.”
“Done.” Was all he said with a half second of thought, and with a snap of his fingers and the bonds slipped from me. I took a free breath and moved my arms.
He grabbed my hand and a searing pain washed up my arm.
“If you do not return to me, this mark will burn until I alone undo the spell.”
I looked down at my hand. In the center of my palm was a symbol. The shape was similar to my own transformed body. A thick middle with two wings that spread out to the edges of my hand.
“What happens if I don’t return? If I can live with the pain?”
“I will be able to find you where ever you may be hiding. Go, save them if you can.”
He turned from me and looked over the scene below. There was no time to waste so I jumped off the edge and let the change take over. My body burned as it changed and all I could think of was that my power still had a tether of some kind. I would not be able to fully access the depth of my power.
I flew to where the fighting was the loudest. I passed over them and found that Saira was standing alone with Kairios on his knees behind her. He was injured and dark red covered his chest where his hand tried to cover the wound that was hidden under the deep, dark red.
I roared as loud as I could to draw her attention. She looked up with a steady stream of tears running down her cheeks. I dropped down and blasted the front row of demons with my fire. Some fell back while the others gave into the flames and burnt to ash.
My claws dug into the rocky soil and I let free more flame at the oncoming horde. They would not stop and intended to kill me regardless of what their master wanted.
“Come on!” I heard Saira yell as she tried to pull Kairios closer to me.
He was so white that I feared if we moved him he would not make it. I flapped my wings and started to lift off the ground. I would have to grab them both.
I saw her grab him under the arms and ready herself for me to grab onto her. The demon horde was getting closer and closer. Soon I would have no time to get away. I had to try.
A small amount of relief washed through me as my clawed hands reached around her. I pulled them close and pushed my wings harder than I had ever before. I cry escaped me. I was so weak and everything burned.
Almost to the roof tops, every ounce of relief left me as I saw a boulder of heavy stone flying at us. There was no time to move, all I could do was pull them close to me and hope that my body took the brunt of the attack.
But it never came. Inches before it was about to crash into us, a stream of black and white light clashed with the rock and small diamonds rained from the air where the two forces met. Part of my mind registered that the defense had come from the tower but I didn’t have time to look to see if he was still watching me. More attacks flew at us just missing me. I was able to climb higher and higher.
I could feel small rips starting to form as I climbed higher and higher with the extra weight. An unknown amount of time passed as I tried to get us high enough into the air that I was no longer concerned by the attacks below. What had to be seconds of reality felt like hours to my mind and body. I was near the end of my ability to fight.
With no where left for us to go I decided to go back to him. It was the safest option that I had at the time. If he wanted me to be compliant then he would have to keep my loved ones safe. My landing into the room was ungraceful and painful. My body slammed onto the hard floor before skidding into the table.
I laid there breathing deeply.
“Aurelia!” Saira yelled as she scrambled to her feet and came to stand by my head. “I can heal you.”
Her hands came to rest on the length of my neck and warmth started to spread through me. The pain seemed less but I was so tired that I wouldn’t be able to change back to my human form.
“Welcome sister.” Zephyrus said from across the room.
Saira’s body went ridged and the magic died.
She turned slowly to where his voice came from and said, “brother.”
“Your friend is bleeding on my floor.”
My eyes shot to Kairios where he was laying unmoving on the floor in a puddle of his own blood. Everything stopped. A pain like no other lashed through me. My heart started to beat so hard and fast that my ears started to pound and little white lights floated into my vision.
I tried to stand to go to him but my legs had other plans and I came crashing to the ground once more. Not him, I bagged silently. Let him survive this. I cried out all the emotion that I was feeling. My roar one of pain and frustration. The sound of it bounced off the walls and filled the ears of everyone within the city walls.
And was answered by another roar, one that was familiar in a way.