"Come on, Evensin, you can do it!" She teased him. Poor guy, he let fear rule too much. If he just let go-
The thought had barely entered her mind when Riin fell onto the other side with an audible "oof".
"You ok?" She called out, catching the sincere tone of her voice and quickly dismissing it.
She could hear his audible rambling as he began to curse everything in existence. Finally, with an exasperated huff he answered, "Yea! Coast is clear. . . are you sure this is safe- That's not fair." A note of jealousy laced the last bit as Atrina made little work of the wall and landed soundlessly in front of him.
Her smug grin seemed to only further frustrate Riin. Frustration is a good look for him, she thought.
"Of course it's 'safe'. Now why don't you stick close to me. I promise there won't be anymore climbing."
More cursing under his breath. . . Riin must really be nervous, she thought with great satisfaction.
"What was that Riin?" She called behind her.
"Nothing! So, what are we . . . doing here again?" A bit of concern betrayed the confidence he attempted to exhibit. He was trying to hard to act nonchalant in front of her, and he was failing so miserably. It was too cute!
She stepped up to the back door and willed it open. The staff inside all turned their attention to the both of them and an air of questions were exchanged amongst them. Security was quickly called, their guns trained on them as they shouted out warnings. Atrina's smile only grew as her eyes fell upon her prize.
"Darling, we're here for my diamond, of course."
It was so far out of left field that Riin almost asked Atrina to repeat what she said. What did she mean by-
ReplyDeleteA sharp blow to the head by the butt end of a shotgun almost reduced Riin to his knees had not other surrounding guards grabbed hold of his arms. They shook him back to his feet, despite how dazed he was, and barely made out a figure stepping into his line of sight.
"Sorry, sweetheart. It was fun, but I have much more important things in store."
Her words rang crystal clear despite the slight ringing in Riin's ears. He wasn't sure if he should laugh or scream. He did neither, for his head was pounding horribly, but that didn't minimize the boundless confusion and increasing anger he was feeling. Riin knew better; he'd had his suspicions, despite Atrina's reassuring remarks about how she truly cared for him. That she was going to help with his little diamond problem... God, he was stupid. His brother was right after all. Anyone, everyone, is looking to take advantage of you. If you keep being reckless, it'll end up getting you killed.
Of course, Riin never did like taking orders from his brother and hey, he'd been on his own for so long that Skilar's advice seemed moot point anyway.
He felt sharp tugs from each guard on either side of him pulling him forward and he considered briefly fighting against them. A hard object hit the back of Riin's legs, making him stumble onward awkwardly in his captor's grasps. Dammit... his body was useless. The witch was probably a helping hand in that. No, he couldn't let this happen. He had to protect the Diamond!
"I do hope you plan to share the spoils, Atrina."
Everything stopped; Riin was starting to make a habit of almost falling over whenever something happened. The air was suddenly altogether too thick to breathe in and, what's more, the Diamond began to increase in temperature. A new threat was near and, judging by the way the following silence itself was ringing with pure deafness, it wasn't just a threat to only Riin, either.
Shit, Sarai. How did he find her?
ReplyDeleteBefore she could even blink, Sarai blasted her with his power. He sent her flying towards the wall, every ounce of her body shook from the force and head-splitting pain radiated throughout.
"You are a hard one to find, you know." He turned his eyes towards Riin, a sadistic smile played across his features as he focused on the diamond. For whatever reason, Atrina found a part of herself shift. A protective force slammed in her heart and suddenly she unleashed a powerful blast of her own, catching the bastard of guard.
It's for the diamond, its for the diamond. Her mind continued to repeat over and over but somehow, she began to think it wasn't. Although, she would never admit otherwise.
"Back off, you slimy old fart. This is mine." Whatever "mine" implied seemed to hang in the air between the old warlock and her.
"Oh, tisk tisk, Trina. Are you-" She sent another shock wave, silencing the old fucker before he said anything he would regret.
"I should have never. . ." A bit of confusion began to settle in as she heard a grumbling. Was Sarai. . . no that wasn't his voice. She turned to look behind her where Riin had been left tied up from behind. He was. . . complaining. She knew she shouldn't find that amusing. . . but it was damned adorable. He looked like a little child put on a time out! Minus the fact that his life was in danger and that she . . . technically. . . put him there.
"Don't turn your back to me you whore!"
Atrina sneered as anger pulsated through her.
"Shut up." With only a thought, she summoned a portal behind the warlock. The wind whisked around the area, displacing all the furniture and papers and sucking them in like a blackhole.
"Not this time!" She just had enough time to reach for a safe holding before she felt her legs give out from under her and her body begin to move towards the portal she opened had opened. Shit! Her own spell used against her! Atrina began to curse her stupid mistake of letting her guard down and with every fiber of her body she began to claw for anything to grab onto. No, no, no! She wouldn't be dragged in with him, she wouldn't!
W-What the hell? Riin scrunched his eyes closed, the pull of the black hole tugging at him violently. He'd been tied to a nearby beam but the gravitational force of the portal Atrina had summoned was beginning to increase exponentially and the cement itself cracked underneath the pressure. God, Riin was going to die if this continued but he couldn't think of what to do because the fucking Diamond was practically on fire. The heat radiating from the Diamond was nearly suffocating, adding onto the already stifling situation as the black hole stole even the air itself.
ReplyDeleteBut none of that mattered when a shrill cry carried of the roar of the black hole and Riin's eyes flashed open to see someone losing their grip on the mantle of a nearby staircase.
Atrina.
No! Riin cried out in pain. Jesus, his chest was burning. He could barely see, the agony was so blinding. White light was starting clouding his vision. He would've believed he was fainting if not for the fact the sights of nearby guards and even Atrina herself shifted their attention onto him as a brilliant glow reflected against their eyes. Could they... see the white light, too?
Riin squinted against the brightness, his limbs tingling with a soft wave of warmth. The light pulsated, emitting surges of pure power throughout the room as it rippled akin to that of disturbing the surface of water. The effect was almost instantaneous; the black void shrunk in size and faded in color until it all but vanished by the third wave of light. Upon the fifth pulse, the Diamond began to dull in vibrance. Gradually, the room was returned to a state of normal luminosity, allowing Riin to properly view the area once more. What he saw was almost more terrifying than the black hole had been. Every pair of eyes, including Atrina's and the warlock's, were trained on the young Evensin in awe and (strangely) fear. Although, if the Diamond was able to neutralize the effects of two of the most powerful spell casters in existence, Riin had to admit he'd be every bit as awestruck and petrified as everyone here looked.
Holy shit. Atrina stared incredulously at the seemingly innocent boy she had brought. The same boy who could not climb a wall. . . was able to make marshmallows out of her spell in seconds.
ReplyDeleteAnd now. . . She tore her stare away form Riin and met those of Sarai. A single moment of silence hung between them before both of them simultaneously took off running towards Riin. If this hadn't been a life and death situation, Atrina would have laughed at Riin's face expression as he saw the two of them make a mad dash his way.
She couldn't let Sarai get the Diamond. The very thought of that bastard with that kind of power sent a shot of fear and adrenaline through her body. She used the energy and summoned an powerful cage to trap Sarai. He quickly countered, destroying it in minutes and cast his own spell. At first, Atrina didn't know what he cast. . . until she felt it. Her limbs felt a million pounds heavier and suddenly Atrina was on the floor, immobilized.
"Shit!" Sarai was already upon Riin by the time Atrina broke free from his stupid spell. She was running low on power. . . she was useless again!
"This will only hurt for a moment, little one." Sarai's methodical voice cut through Atrina as she watched him reach for the Diamond.
And yet, somehow, that was not the fixation of her worry. No, what had her body moving. . . what had a surge of pure angry energy course through her body was the look of utter terror that Riin gave her. It pleaded her to do something, anything and somehow she knew, she would do everything and anything.
Just as Sarai took hold of the Diamond, Atrina channeled all of her power into one massive attack. It connected head on, sending the old warlock through the opposite wall. The attack nearly drained Atrina, but she had bought time.
She rushed over to untie Riin, though she found herself not being able to make eye contact with him. Did she actually feel. . .remorse? She quickly tossed out that possibility.
"Um. . . Atrina?"
"Hold on, I'm almost done."
But Riin kept fidgeting and tossing around.
A bit frustrated Atrina pulled the rope free with a final yank.
"There, you little. . ."
Almost out of this nightmare, she thought happily as she stood to face Riin. Except, once again, she met the gaze of that godsdamned old bastard of a warlock. Riin stood in front of him, his eyes glazed, surely from a spell Sarai had casted upon him. He hadn't been trying to get away from her earlier, he had been trying to warn her Sarai was there. Shit. . . Atrina knew she had nothing more in her. A sense of desperation hit her but she would not show it. She wouldn't give Sarai the satisfaction.
"Why don't you sit and watch as I take what you want away." He willed her body to kneel before him, making sure she was able to see as his hand grasped the Diamond within Riin's chest.
A gut wrenching scream tore out of Riin as flashes of lightning began to lash out around them. Atrina watched, helpless to save him. . .and a feeling of déjà vu washed over her. Had this happened before?
It couldn't have. She would have remembered this feeling of utter failure before. What was the worst part? Riin's pain. The Diamond had been fused with him for so long. The extent of damage it could cause him from the removal... she had never thought about it before now.
When Riin had come to the morning after the annihilation of the Evensin household all those years ago, his whole world changed. Creatures born from his own dreams relayed to him what happened after he'd fainted with the Diamond in his grasp. On the very brink of death, the Diamond had fused with Riin, it's new host and protector, and used it's power to sustain the young boy's life. The Espers had spat out words like "chosen" and "destiny" but at the time they were all just words to Riin. It didn't matter to him. He had done what was ingrained in his brain since he was but a small child and that was to protect the Diamond at all costs. It was only recently that Riin was starting to regret attempting to secure the accursed jewel in the first place.
ReplyDeleteBut that would be the last coherent thought the young Evensin would ever have.
Everything ached and burned and it seemed every nerve in his body was alit with unending pain. He couldn't even writhe in the warlock's grasp, couldn't muster up the strength to get away. There was the vague smell of burning flesh that added onto the grotesque scent of warm, gushing blood, but that was about the extent of how much Riin could grasp. His eyes darted in so many directions, though he couldn't register any of what he was seeing. There was only pain, only the claws of death raking at his chest. All it took was one firm tug from the warlock before the Diamond broke away from Riin's ribs with a deafening SNAP! and the world practically went black.
He fell, hitting the floor hard as his limps went limp. He gasped for breath, small and agonizing, but effective, if only for the moment. Knives stabbed into Riin's chest in his fervent desire for air. The warmth of his blood streaming onto the floor reached his arm, then his face, in the source of only several seconds. He was cold, so, so cold... And Riin grew colder upon hearing the first voice, her voice, after his tangent of screams.
"NOO!!"
Riin! Atrina felt a stab of pain in her chest, as if her heart had literally broken at the sight of Riin on the floor. The pool of blood that formed around him was like a timer, taunting her with how much precious time he had left.
ReplyDelete"Oh, don't be so emotional. He was a pawn afterall, wasn't he? You were always after this, weren't you?" Sarai held the Diamond to the light as if marveling at its beauty... All she saw was a piece of rock bathed in Riin's blood. Yea, Trina. . . a piece of rock that is vital to Riin's life.
She was running out of options. Magic was out. . .leaving only her Valkyrie side. A side she now wished she had honed in more. No!
Riin was running out of time! Sarai was going to go into a fucking hour long monologue, she was sure of it! Think Trina, think! She became increasingly aware of how much she was actually caring for the boy. She should be thinking how to get the Diamond from Sarai and escape. But no, instead she wanted to save the boy. Fuck her emotions.
The only advantage she had was her knowledge about the Diamond. If she could just trigger it. . .
"Even with that power you still cannot defeat you you old shit!"
That grabbed his attention.
"You fucking whore, I hold the power in this situation. I have defeated you! You dare mock me?"
"I only find it amusing how you had to get the Diamond to help you defeat me. You're older than me, were older than me when we first fought and I still kicked your ass then. Face it, I hold more power than you will ever know and you fear me for it." She allowed herself to grin, teasing him until she saw the flare of the Diamond as it began to react to Sarai.
Yes, that's it. . . She cast a worried glance at Riin, he only had seconds left. Her heart highjacked into gear as she saw how pale he was. His eyes closed as if already dead.
No, please!
"You little bitch! This will be your death!" But just as he lifted his hand, the Diamond burst to life. As if rejecting Sarai, it burned in his grasp until he could no longer hold it. It dropped to the floor in a loud clank, its brilliant rays filling every corner of the room. Atrina took her chance. She moved just enough to knock it closer to Riin, her mind almost pleading with the thing to save Riin.
She never got a chance to know whether or not it worked. Sarai's hand closed around her throat, the other, burned, was enclosed in a ghostly light. He would try to take her power by force. Although, many witches or warlocks would panic in this moment, she didn't. She stared the bastard straight on, knowing for sure he would never succeed. Not in this manner. A loud bang sounded as if his presence angered the Diamond. With a flash of a blinding light, she felt the grip vanish from her neck. She dropped to the floor, squinting at the source of the light for any chance to see if Riin was all right. But instead, she found herself slipping into unconsciousness.
The first thing Riin experienced as the darkness receded from his eyes were the echoes of a fiercely blinding white light. He was convinced right then and there that he was dead as he gazed into its brilliance. Riin had been prepared to die for the Diamond more than once during his life but he couldn't feel any more reluctant to dying than he did now. Oddly enough, he could give less of a damn for failing to protect the Diamond and Riin was ready to face any kind of "higher judgement" for that thought. The real reason he was against dying was by all accounts just plain stupid but (and he hated himself for admitting it) Riin couldn't bear the thought that Atrina might be dead. It amazed him how much he still cared for her, even when she made it blatantly clear she was using him in order to obtain the Diamond. At this point, Riin would've gladly relinquished it to her just to be done with the damned thing. It was because of the Diamond that he lived life alone, that he had no one to trust but himself. He didn't want that kind of life anymore. The only thing Riin could wish for, however, was that Atrina somehow retrieved the jewel and fled far, far away with it.
ReplyDeleteRiin choked on a gasp as pain resounded through his chest and he felt that familiar breeze of warmth washing over him. Was he reliving his last moments in death? No, it was too vivid, so warm against the contrast of his cold skin...
Riin blinked, pulling himself from the spell of eternal slumber, and at once recognized that he was at the place where Atrina had taken him. He was alive.
A cautious and blood drained hand moved over shakily to his chest, finding without fail the smooth, warm surface of the Diamond against him. More than against, in fact, and Riin bit out another groan of pain as the jewel seemed to sew itself into the young Evensin even more robustly than before. The power thundered through his body, repairing every injury from the minuscule to the more severe of wounds, and Riin swore he could actually feel the Diamond's... happiness? Like it was ecstatic to be back with it's proper protector.
He would revisit that at a later time, now that he seemed to have been granted extra. But what did it mean?
Although the Diamond was fully intact within Riin, his limbs refused to support him in his attempts to even so much as sit up. He could barely muster up the courage to sidle on the floor, which proved especially troublesome when Riin's efforts to move in any manner possible brought his attention to a nearby form slumped on the floor.
No. The worst possibilities jumped straight to the forefront of Riin's mind but he was still too dazed to properly register any of it. His muscles screamed in protest and the smell of rotting blood overwhelmed his senses but he pressed on regardless. Every second it took to get to her was agonizing in and of itself and it seemed as though an eternity passed before Riin reached close enough to see the witch properly.
ReplyDeleteThere was a distinct discoloration around Atrina's throat, indicating someone tried to suffocate her. Riin could only hope they didn't succeed. He reached over to her, willing his arm to remain as steady as possible as he rested his hand upon her neck, searching for a pulse. It was difficult to find, partly because most of Riin's blood was clinging to his clothes, and thus the cold, numb tips of his fingers couldn't pick up anything. He finally noticed a sign of life when he could make out faint breathing cutting though the silence. Riin sighed, collapsing completely onto the floor beside Atrina. Thank God.
It was about another twenty minutes before Riin found enough strength of grab hold of a nearby pillar and pull himself up to sit and it was longer still after that before he reached out with his hand again for Atrina. Summoning the compliance of the Diamond, a god-like warmth raced through Riin's arm and into the witch, instantly healing the abrasions covering Atrina's body.
Riin sat there for the longest time after healing her, the still very much bitter part of him wanting to flee the scene before Atrina came to and to have nothing to do with her again. He let those thoughts cross his mind, knowing that in the state he was in that he wouldn't get awfully far away, besides the fact that she could probably trace him down anyway like she did before. So, all in all, Riin was basically stuck with the witch for the rest of his life (which totally didn't have him smiling like an idiot at that conclusion). In the end, Riin supposed all that was left was the answer to the question of who could have possibly returned the Diamond to him.
You already know the answer to that one, Riin thought and he couldn't fight the smile that line his lips. Well, well, Atrina. Looks like there's more to you than meets the eye.