New Life in a New World Ch. 04

The wolf girl leaned out farther from behind her cover, optimistic that John had overpowered the evil presence inside of him. She was very wrong. His eyes suddenly darted to her direction, eyelids narrowing as that look of hatred returned. She managed to duck back behind the rock as he raised his weapon and fired off two more deafening shots, both impacting the solid rock behind her. There was suddenly a loud, hard metallic click as the pistol slide locked back into place. Lydia looked back around her cover and saw John looking frustratingly at the gun. He was out of ammo. The half-lycan warrior took a deep breath as she realized that this was her opening. By the gods, she was determined to get him back.

She ran out from behind her cover and charged him at the speed only a lycan could move. As he looked up, she leaped into the air and kicked the gun out of his hand with her right foot and sent it clattering to the ground. Twisting her body around in midair, she kicked her left foot backwards and landed the kick directly on John's chest. He stumbled back and after the wolf girl landed her jump, she immediately turned on her heel and rushed toward him. With her opponent disarmed, all she had to do was knock him out and figure out how to remove the invading presence from his body. But as she neared, she skidded to a halt when he reached back to his belt. Pulling out his knife, he swiped it at her neck. She leaned back enough for the knife to just miss her jugular. It was far too close for comfort as she could feel the wind coming off the tip of his blade.

The enraged and possessed human swung his arm back toward her for another attack. Quickly bringing up her katana, she deflected it easily. John flipped the knife around in his hand and thrust it directly at her midsection. Dodging the attack, she used her free hand to knock his arm out of the way before landing a roundhouse kick to his shoulder.

She fluidly brought the katana over her head before slashing at a downward angle as he thrust the knife at her again. Her intent was to use the length of her sword to keep him at bay until she could either get an opening to incapacitate him or buy time for John to fight back against the dark presence. But she found herself holding back when he nearly charged into her attack. Lydia came to the terrifying realization that the darkness inside of him was hell bent on attacking her and self preservation was not on its mind. The presence controlling him would probably throw himself on her sword if given the option. Her strategy was suddenly altered, she could only defend and not attack.

The two blade wielding warriors continued to dance around each other. John flipped the dagger around once again, reversing his grip with the blade pointing downward. He sliced at the half-lycan again with a right hook. She bent her arms, pointing her own blade down and blocking the attack. Suddenly he used his other hand to grip her arm and pull her closer. He landed a hard booted kick to her stomach, forcing her to keel over. The wind was completely knocked out her and the pain so intense that she nearly vomited. When she managed to regain her footing and stand up, she was greeted to the sight of his blade quickly approaching her throat. Her quick reflexes allowed her to dodge the attack, saving her life by a few narrow inches. However, she could not move fast enough to prevent the blade from cutting deep into her shoulder. Lydia howled in pain as she pressed her hand against the wound, feeling the blood trickle down her arm.

The pain throbbed throughout her arm, making it difficult for her to wield her sword. She no longer had any time to draw this out. She needed to end this fight quickly. John lunged toward her again, trying to slice his blade across her chest. Lydia swung her katana upwards and knocked his knife back. Then quickly reversing the direction of her attack, she brought her sword back down and sliced deeply into his left thigh. He stumbled for a moment as she could see his pant leg quickly becoming soaked in the free flowing blood. She hoped that the pain would slow him down, allowing her a better chance disarm and restrain him. But John looked back up to her with a wide, malevolent smile. Slowly rising to his feet, he held out his left arm. The wolf girl gaped in horror as the evil presence controlling his body stuck the tip of his knife into his own flesh. He then slowly cut open a large gash on his forearm, blood pouring out of the self inflicted wound before running down his arm and off his fingertips.

"Nice try, but I can't feel any pain," he said with a sinister laugh, "But him? Well...that's different."

Her heart sank knowing that all she was doing was adding to John's terrible suffering. She trembled as she tried to think about how to end this brawl, but she was running out of ideas. He leapt forward and forcefully sliced upward. The half-lycan easily jumped back from the attack, when she saw her opening. His arm was almost wildly above his head from the failed attack. She ran toward him in the hopes of landing a hard blow with her fist and rendering him unconscious. But he was ready for her and she was soon met with his hand grasped tightly around her neck. He held the blade above her head, ready to plunge into her skull.

"I LOVE YOU!!!!" she screamed, squinting her eyes shut as she prepared to meet her end.

But nothing happened, death had not yet come to claim her. She still felt his tightened hand around her throat. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see his hand holding the knife quivering. His eyes were wide open with a pleading gaze. It was just as earlier where he seemed to be fighting back against the dark presence.

"K...Kill me...please," the real John finally managed to croak.

She wanted to feel a rush of hope after finally being able to get through to him. But instead she felt her heart sink in despair at his extreme request.

"I...I can't!" the tearful half-lycan stammered, "I won't do it!"

Her lover squinted his eyes, gritting his teeth as he tried to fight the evil presence. But he couldn't maintain control for long. He didn't care what happened to him, he couldn't let the presence harm her.

"If you truly love me, you'll do it."

"But..." she was cut short as she suddenly saw the rage filled glare come back into his eyes and his lips curled into a snarl. She glanced up to see his hand with the knife bear down on top of her for the killing blow. Forcefully shutting her eyes, she thrust her katana forward. She felt the small amount of resistance as her sword plunged into his midsection. His hand loosened up and dropped from her neck, she heard the metallic clang of his knife hitting the rocky floor.

Lydia gasped in horror as she saw the sight that awaited her when she opened her eyes again. She had successfully impaled her sword through his body, the blade entering just to the right of his midsection and exiting out his lower back. His shirt began soaking up the blood that poured out of him creating an ever growing wet spot. A large red stain spread to his pants, leaving his right side completely soaked in blood. His face was frozen in shock as the immense pain shot through every inch of his body. Arms dropping to his sides, he stumbled backwards and slid off her sword before falling to the ground.

"John!" the wolf girl screamed as she dropped her sword and rushed forward to catch him, preventing him from cracking his head open on the ground.

Gently laying him on his back, she immediately tried to apply pressure to the wound. But no matter how hard she tried, he was bleeding out faster than she could handle. A large pool of blood formed beneath him and spread out to the Lydia's knees. His eyes remained locked wide open as he breathed short, rapid breaths. His body began to convulse as he started to cough and spit out more blood, staining his teeth red.

"John, you can hold on just a bit longer," Lydia said in a panicked tone, "Sasha and Sirenia will be here soon and will have you fixed up in no time."

"L...Lydia..." he choked, reaching his hand up.

She grasped his outstretched hand tightly, pressing it firmly against her cheek. "Come on, just stay with me. Concentrate on my voice. Please...just hold on!"

"I..I...*cough*...love you...*cough*...I...never stopped...lov...."

"No no no no," she cried out in dismay as she saw his eyes begin to close, "Please no. Just hang on...PLEASE!"

He tried to keep his eyelids open just a bit longer, but they felt too heavy. He had already lost feeling in his legs and was beginning to lose it in his arms. His vision started to fade out, the world closing in on him. Feeling lightheaded and drowsy from the blood loss, he couldn't help but to close his eyes the rest of the way. The last thing he saw was the half-lycan beauty hovering over him. Her ivory white hair draping down over her face and tears dripping off the corners of her golden eyes as she cried out his name.

"John! No!" She wailed as his eyes closed the rest of the way, "Wake up! I love you, John. Just please...WAKE UP!"

His breathing became so shallow that it was barely audible, his chest hardly rising and falling. Lydia could feel his arm going limp as she watched the man she loved begin to fade away.

"Dear gods...NOO!!!!" she howled as she cradled his head in her arms.

Pressing her forehead to his, her tears ran off her cheek and onto his face. He can't die! She had just gotten him back. They still had a quest to perform together, a land to save. Solomon was still out there and had to be defeated. The hopes of entire races rested with him. He couldn't go...not yet.

"Adonis, please save him," she sobbingly prayed in desperation.

On the far side of the room and out of the wolf girl's sight, Lilith stepped out of the shadows. A devilish grin spread across her face as she watched the half-lycan weep over her lover slain by her own hands. Her husband would be quite pleased at how cruelly the young soldier met his end. The succubus was relishing the emotional torture the young man's lover was going through. How she would walk through the remainder of her short life knowing that she was responsible for her lover's death. Then again...she could end her pitiful existence right now. The demoness pulled out a small, thin dagger from her belt and began to silently move toward the wolf girl. Suddenly, two female voices echoed from the corridor and were coming closer. The rest of his friends had arrived. It didn't matter to her. The only one that Solomon was concerned with was dead, his agents could take care of the rest. Stepping back, she faded into the darkness.

Sasha and Sirenia rushed into the room only to come to the grim sight of the half-lycan crying over the blood covered young man. The dragoness gasped in horror as she dropped to her knees next to the mortally wounded human. She soon also burst into tears, feeling that she had failed to protect the man she cared deeply for. The necromancer did her best to try and hide her emotions, but her eyes still watered up. She may have only met this man a few hours ago, but he had defended her when so many would betray her. But it was the sight of Lydia, the woman she tried to kill earlier, wailing over her lover that pushed Sirenia over the edge. It didn't matter how she felt about her, no one deserved this.

"I...I had to," the wolf girl finally managed whimper, "It's all my fault! I murdered him!'

The dragoness quickly understood what happened. Lydia's katana, stained with blood, lay only a few feet from them. John's knife, even closer. She recognized the knife wound on the half-lycan's shoulder and the slashes from the sword on the young man. She could see the guilt in her friend's eyes begin to consume her.

Sasha grasped the half-lycan's arm firmly, "You did what you had to do, you did not murder him."

Lydia helplessly looked up at her two companions. "Help...please," she pleaded in a small voice.

The necromancer kneeled down next to his head and pressed two fingers against the side of his neck. Pausing for a moment, she then pulled away with a morbid look in her eyes.

"I can feel a pulse, but it's very weak," she said to the group sadly, "He's not going to make it."

The dragoness lowered her head in sorrow but Lydia turned to the necromancer with a desperate look on her face. "You can bring him back, right? Revive him from the dead?"

"It doesn't work like that," Sirenia replied, shaking her head, "I only can bring back the dead as puppets, not as themselves."

"But you deal with understanding how souls work with living things. There has to be something that can be done?"

The necromancer lowered her eyes, "I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do for him."

"PLEASE!!!!" Lydia screamed.

She looked into the half-lycan's eyes, a mixture of grief, desperation, and determination. The woman in front of her was not about to let her lover go. The truth was, that there was something that the necromancer could do. Something that only a few had been rumored to have done before. But the risk was much too high and it would involve the help of someone she had hoped to never see again. But as she looked into Lydia's golden eyes, she knew that she would never forgive herself if she did not at least offer it as an option.

"Once a soul passes to heaven or hell it cannot be retrieved," Sirenia sighed, "But it is possible to pull a person's soul back from purgatory."

The half-lycans eyes widened with a new sense of hope. There was a chance they could save him!

"In theory," the necromancer continued, "We can push his soul into purgatory at the moment before death. We place a manufactured soul in his body and heal his wounds. After that, we can take him to someone who I think can bring him back."

Lydia was about to say something when Sirenia interrupted her, "But...this is incredibly risky for him and has a low chance of success. If we fail, his soul will be trapped in purgatory forever. An eternity of nothingness. Honestly, the humane thing to do would be to let him pass on so he can be with his ancestors. However, the decision is yours to make. But make it quick as he only has moments to live."

The wolf girl clinched her fists as she tried to weigh her options. Sirenia was right, the best thing for John would be to let him die and guarantee an afterlife for him. But she was not ready to let him go, not after she just got him back. Gods! What if they failed? She was already consumed by the guilt of mortally wounding him. But could she live with the knowledge that she was responsible for killing him and damning him to a fate worse than death? She wished her father was here to guide her. What would he do? If there was even a small chance of getting her mother back, would he take it? Even at an immense gamble?

"Lydia, I need an answer now," the necromancer said anxiously.

She took a deep breath and looked up at Sirenia, ready to make her decision.