Choices

“There. Past the brook.” Agamori spoke in Daniel’s mind as he nodded his head out past the tree he was peeking from behind.

Daniel slid his head to the left and squinted his eyes until his vision cleared the tree, and he could see the squadron of goblins and trolls camped out in a clearing. Ever since they attacked Rosemary in the meadow, Daniel had grown very fond of exterminating goblins and was always glad to rid the North of the slimy, stinking vermin.

With her rejection of him still fresh on his mind and ripping through his chest, Daniel felt particularly cruel today. So, when Agamori gave the others the command to flank the enemy and flush them towards the trees they waited behind, Daniel was more than pleased to make his presence known.

While Agamori’s men charged the squadron and drove them towards the forest, Daniel showed himself as he walked towards them with an evil grin.

Every word Rosemary said to him echoed through his mind and stoked the burning building in all the molecules of his body. His skin tingled as the blue flame rose from his pores, and an icy wave of exhilarating hate crashed down over him. His eyes turned as black as the void of space, and not even a glimmer of light or hope escaped the windows of his soul as he prepared to lay ruin to the creatures hurtling towards him.

It was true that Rosemary’s presence in his life made Daniel stronger and gave him new powers he’d never even dreamed of, but her dismissal of his affections made him burn even brighter and hotter.The angry, devastated pile of nothing she’d left him in made him especially dangerous and formidable.

He could have ended things easily; he’d done it before. Incinerating his enemy was too quick today, though. Daniel wanted them to feel the suffering that sat in the pit of his stomach, knowing that he failed the very person he was born to save. The trolls and goblins would pay the dearest cost today for the sins of the Earthborn man who sired Rosemary’s child.

Snatching the hilt in his fingers as he reached behind his head, Daniel drew his bastard sword when the first troll approached. While the troll swung through the air like a lumberjack and chopped his ax down towards Daniel’s head, the warrior spun out and plunged the sword into the beast’s side between his ribs. As his lifeblood drained quickly from his beating heart, the troll fell to his knees, and Daniel looked over his shoulder then set the troll ablaze.

Daniel carved his way through the creatures with his faithful brother Agamori by his side. When the flames of the last beast rose into the cool air and the ashes spread out through the wind, Daniel sensed an incoming projectile barreling towards them, and he pushed Agamori to the ground.

The ‘thwump’ through the air was heard before Daniel even felt the arrow sink into his gut or the next one bury itself into his chest.

As he groaned and gasped against the air he tried so desperately to force into his quickly deflating lung, Daniel gnashed his teeth at the beasts racing towards them. Like the blazes of Hell themselves had been unleashed upon the world, two giant balls of flame shot from Daniel’s mind and cremated them mid-sprint.

Agamori crouched there on the ground with his mouth agape in amazement. He saw many dreadful miracles since Daniel arrived in the Realm, but at that moment, the ancient warrior knew he was kneeling before the King of all Ruin, the legendary Master of the Flames.

As Daniel doubled over in pain, weak from his injuries and the blood pouring from them, Agamori wrapped his arm around his back and shepherded him towards the horses. “Hold on, Daniel.”

Feeling his very life force draining from him, Daniel clutched at Agamori’s clothing when they reached the Great Hall of home. Through noisy breaths and gurgled speech, Daniel stumbled underneath Agamori’s brawny arm as he tried to hold him steady while they walked across the hall. “Tell Rosemary I love her.”

When Agamori saw his sister grab her chest as her eyes widened in horror when she reached the top of the stairs and looked down on them, he shook his head as he grunted and lugged Daniel towards his mate. “You tell her yourself.”

Like someone drove a knife into her very soul, Rosemary moaned out in pain as she raced down the stairs. “Daniel!” Throwing her arm around his other side to sturdy his gait, she did her best to help Daniel reach the infirmary.

Fearing he’d harm the child she carried, Daniel tried to stop her through his chattering teeth. “N-no, I’m t-too heavy. You’ll h-hurt yourself.”

“Shh!” Rosemary warned him. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

Daniel murmured in her ear as the world dimmed, and his whole body shivered from blood loss. “I love you.”

Laying him down on the infirmary bed, Rosemary’s trembling hands hovered over Daniel’s wounds, and she closed her eyes as the graveness of them sunk in. Speaking over her shoulder to Agamori, Rosemary said, “Go get father quickly.”

While Agamori raced to the laboratory, Rosemary turned to gather supplies just to have Daniel’s bloody, wet hand grasp at her wrist. “Don’t leave me.”

She leaned down over him and shook her head as she wiped his hair away from his eyes. “I’m right here. I just have to get some bandages.”

Daniel’s face gathered into a pouty, quivering frown as he tried to suppress his heartache. “No, don’t leave me, Rosemary. Don’t leave the Woods.”

She realized Daniel knew of the plan she’d been discussing with her father before he arrived, and her teary eyes blinked away. She decided to move to the lands of her mother’s people in the West to avoid any scandal that might disgrace those she loved.Before she had the chance to ease his worried mind, Agamori and Nicolas returned. “Gather padding, Rosemary.” While she went to the cupboards, Nicholas sat on the bedside and cut away Daniel’s shirt and vest. “Daniel, I need you to use your mind to pull out the arrows. I’m afraid I’ll only make it worse if I pull with my hands.”

Daniel’s eyes never left Rosemary until she returned, and then he glanced back to Nicholas and nodded. His pale skin and darkening lips only confirmed the seriousness of his condition. At the ready, Rosemary gave a stack of bandages to her father and uncorked the potion.

His ashen face was drenched in beads of sweat as Daniel clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth, then screamed through them as he willed the arrows from his body. Nicholas and Rosemary slapped their bandages on his wounds as soon as the arrows cleared his skin.

Pressing with all her might with one hand, she dumped the vile into Daniel’s mouth, then threw herself against his shoulder and rocked against his arm as she whispered into his neck. “You’ll be alright; it’s alright.” Her lips slid around his shivering cheek and whimpered against his skin. “Everything’s alright.”

In an instant, Daniel’s skin warmed again, and his breathing quieted. Nicholas turned to Agamori and nodded towards the door. The only thing that Daniel needed now was his mate. There was no medicine for his broken heart other than her body pressed against his.

Gently pulling his bandages from Daniel’s chest, Nicholas smiled to himself and nodded at Rosemary as the wound wove itself back together. “Your skills as a potion maker are impressive.” When he saw how Daniel clutched at his daughter, Nicholas grinned in embarrassment for the way he was encroaching on them now. “You seem to have it all under control, my dear. I’ll leave you to your work.”

“Please don’t leave the city, Rosemary. Don’t make me chase you.” Pulling her closer as the pain subsided, Daniel pleaded with her to just accept their fates. “No matter where you go, I’ll find you.”

Her fingertips gently traced the ridges of his chest muscles, and she yearned to give him what he wanted, but her tears dropped to his skin instead. There were no words that could comfort either of them right now. Placing a soft kiss against his collarbone, Rosemary settled into his arm and slid her free hand to his other shoulder, then tucked herself in closer. “I love you, Daniel. I’m sorry for everything. I should never have left the Woods.”

Taking her chin in his dirty hand, Daniel pulled her to look into his eyes. “Don’t be sorry, just be mine. Stop fighting this thing between us. This is meant to be."

When Daniel’s thick eyelashes wove together, and he snored quietly underneath her, Rosemary pushed herself up from his hold, then leaned over his face and pressed her lips against his.

Soundlessly gliding to the door, Rosemary shut it behind her and faced her father. He’d warned her that her plans were needlessly unkind, but Rosemary was sure that what she was about to do was the best thing for everyone.

“Are you certain, my dear?” Nicholas crossed his arms as he rested against the open window of the Healer’s Hall.

Shaking her head as tears welled in her eyes, Rosemary rubbed her hand over the twitching in her belly. “I’m not certain of anything anymore.” As she swallowed her choices down hard, she finalized her decision. “I’m leaving at sunrise.”