Lost Bloodlines Ch. 04

Locked onto her face as I was, I could only watch as another root speared up from the ground and sliced itself across Aqua's throat. Her voice stopped, and she clutched at her neck, a spray of blood covering her hands and chest as she looked directly in my eyes. She dropped to her knees, and toppled over.

I screamed. Rage and loss and terror tore through me like a knife as I watched Aqua collapse. I heard a pounding in my ears, the crashing of waves and the rhythm of the surf. I wrapped the comforting, pounding sound of the crimson ocean around my mind like a cloak and faded into unconsciousness.

-00000-

When I came to, I was standing, the green wizard's face inches away from mine. It was pinched in pain and I looked down. My claws were embedded in his stomach, and he gave a pained gasp as I twisted my talons within his flesh.

I blinked and looked around. The concrete walls around me were scorched, and black fire flickered in a circle around me. The three wizards that had still been alive when I passed out were scattered in pieces across the floor, dismembered and disemboweled in a macabre pattern of gore and viscera. Outside the flaming circle, the monsters and soldiers stared at me with open mouths, Victoria holding the fallen Aqua in her arms she stared at me in fear. Even Captain Brooks and Alana were terror stricken as they looked on.

What happened? What did I do?

I don't care. Aqua...

I turned towards the architect of my misery. I pushed my face even closer to his.

"Why? Why did you do this? What did we do to deserve this? I just wanted to be left alone!"

He coughed, and blood spattered from his mouth. The cough turned into a chuckle, and the chuckle into a full-blown cackle as he writhed in pain within my deadly grip.

"He's coming for you, my dear," he gasped. "He broke the world to bring you back. He's coming, and when he finds you, you will never know peace again."

He shifted slightly in my grip, suddenly we were surrounded by a cage of wooden tendrils. They hooked themselves around his body and ripped it from my grasp. The elderly wizard was entirely encased in the dark roots, and he gave a mocking smile before being dragged underground to where the roots originated. I screamed and fell to my knees as I beat at the broken ground where he disappeared. After what felt like an age, I felt hands tentatively touch at my shoulders, and I fell into their waiting arms and cried.

Author's Note: I've had the events of this chapter in mind before even starting to write the story, so it was great to finally realize them. The plot thickens, as they say. These chapters just keep getting longer, please let me know if you feel they're becoming too unwieldly in the comments below, I'm not sure how I should standardize them going forward. I'm still searching for an editor to help me manage this project, hopefully I'll be able to find one before I get too much deeper in the story.

Speaking of comments, I wanted to extend my thanks to all of the users who have left feedback and appreciation in the previous entries of the series, they've really encouraged me to keep writing and try to continue to hone my creative writing skills. Special shoutout to LiterKnight, SirDigbyChickenCaesar, and several anonymous users that left detailed reviews and thoughts for the story going forward, I really appreciate it!

-HistoricallyInaccurate