Ok I have finished a second part to the story Close. I will post Close here again so you can read them together. I hope everyone enjoys it.
Close
The arrow was close.
He lifts his hand to his face.
Blood drips down his cheek.
A minor cut.
The arrow was close.
He turns to his healer to show her.
“Did you see that?”
His body freezes.
The arrow was close.
His sword falls from his hand.
He doesn’t hear it hit the ground.
He doesn’t hear anything.
His only thought is of his life.
His life that now lays motionless on the ground.
The arrow was close.
He does not remember moving, but now he is at her side.
She is barely breathing.
His hands are shaking as he touches her face.
His voice shakes with fear.
“Come on baby open your eyes.”
Her almond shaped eyes flutter open and closed.
He can see she is fighting the darkness.
He can see she is losing the fight.
His eyes move down to the arrow that has pierced her chest.
Her once smooth, dark Elvin skin now torn and bleeding.
By the arrow, that had been so close.
Her slender Elvin hand finds his.
Their fingers interlace.
His Human, hers Elvin.
The bond unbreakable.
Her voice is weak but her words are clear.
“It’s not your fault my love.”
Her words pierce his heart deeper than the arrow did hers.
The great warrior’s tears begin to fall.
His heart, nothing but a shattered mess.
One final kiss before the darkness takes her.
One final kiss before his own darkness swallows him.
Death whispers her name.
She has no choice but to follow.
His soul cries out.
No one hears it.
Black and Red Feathers
I watch him from across the battlefield.
He is a skilled warrior.
I watch as he cuts down another attacker.
How many does that make?
I’ve lost count, Oh well.
I have never seen anyone use a Katana so effortlessly.
Too bad he fights for the other side.
With him we might win this war.
Too bad I must kill him.
I notch an arrow on my bow.
I lightly run my fingers over the black and red feathers.
My mind briefly touches on the memory of making this arrow.
I store it away.
I make all my arrows.
Each one owns a life.
Every one of them has found its mark.
I take aim at the skilled warrior.
My breathing slows to almost nothing.
My fingers go from tight on the string to very light.
Nothing but my target I see.
I almost lose death upon him.
But my hand stays as light surrounds him.
A healer?
I lower my bow.
The healer would have to die first.
My eyes search the area around him.
Yes, she is there just behind him.
My body freezes at the beauty I see.
A dark Elvin female.
Her power radiating around her.
I am lost in her beauty.
I must have her.
Yes, I will kill this warrior.
Then she will be mine.
By choice… or not.
I quickly take aim again.
My heart pounding.
My hand shakes slightly.
Not like me.
Doesn’t matter, I never miss.
I lose my arrow.
Its path is true.
My eyes locked on the man about to die.
Eternity passes as I watch.
He looks at me.
No, he looks at the arrow.
I watch as he moves his head slightly to the left.
I can almost see the blood on his cheek.
He smiles as he feels the cut.
I underestimated this one.
I can see love in his eyes as he turns to the beauty behind him.
I look to her.
I can imagine the terror that must have overcome him.
Sorrow fills me when I see my black and red feathers.
My eyes go blurry.
It doesn’t matter.
I now know what life it owned.
Pity.
I would have loved to have her.
Guess it wasn’t meant to be.
I leave the battlefield.
My body is numb, but I don’t care.
This battle was lost before it began.
The sound of swords clashing, and men dying fades away.
It’s been two years but my dreams still haunt me.
His eyes, always there in the dark.
Why, why can I not get rid of this ghost?
I’ve killed hundreds.
Yet none of them haunt me as this one does.
The alcohol numbs my mind.
But even it can not stop his eyes.
I hear things in the night.
My paranoia grows strong.
I look at the three arrows deeply lodged into my wall.
Shooting at the shadows.
I have truly lost my mind.
I sit here in the darkness of my room.
I no longer bother lighting the candles.
They make the shadows dance.
Here in the dark only one thing moves.
I watch the moonlight slowly creep across the floor.
I lift the glass bottle to my lips again.
I watch the dark liquid slosh back and forth inside its glass prison.
It burns as it hits my throat.
I’ve come to love the feeling.
I look above the bottle.
I freeze as I notice the darkness has changed.
I can no longer see the door across the room.
Black, black is all I see.
I panic as I realize what I’m seeing.
The darkness sways with smooth ripples as it moves.
Towards me!
My bow?
Across the room on the dresser.
I try to run for it.
But something stops me.
An iron grip around my neck.
I’m almost lifted off the ground.
I franticly beat at the arm that holds me.
No good.
Too strong.
My eyes search franticly for a face.
Nothing but darkness I find.
I feel my feet dragging across the floor.
He is moving me.
Why?
Out of the corner of my eye I see the window.
The moon’s silver light seeps through it.
We become bathed in its light.
I look back at my attacker.
His black hood no longer shadows his face.
My soul screams as I look into the face of death.
The eyes that have haunted me for so long.
Now truly in front of me.
One hundred times more terrifying then all my dreams combined.
I cannot move as he draws me close to his face.
His words echo in my mind as he whispers to me.
“First the love”.
My mind is flooded with memories of them.
The love, the joy, and the passion they had.
Hot tears stream down my face.
“Now the sorrow”.
I feel my body jerk when the memories hit me.
But his grip remains strong.
All of his sorrow from that dreadful day to now.
All of it rushes through me.
I cry out as it rips and claws at my soul.
Minutes turn into hours, hours into days, and days into years.
Eternity seems to pass as my soul is ravaged by his memories.
My body goes limp as the memories pass.
So weak.
I can not lift my head.
Doesn’t matter, I know his eyes are still there.
They pierce into me, burning their way deep inside.
I can only let out a small whimper from the new pain.
Sharp, so sharp.
I feel myself flinch each time he pushes.
What is it?
I try to focus my eyes on his hand.
All I see is my blood covering his hand.
Probably a knife, slowly being pushed into my chest.
I feel the ribs give way as it passes through them.
The pain is unbearable, but I can not move.
Surly by now he must be close to my heart.
Death will soon release me from the pain.
I feel myself fall to the floor.
My back cold against the wood.
Strange how things become so clear when one is so near death.
I look at him.
His black cloak has fallen open.
My eyes don’t go to his.
I find myself looking at a small metal heart hanging around his neck.
Some how I know it belonged to her.
He is looking down at me as I lay here bleeding to death.
I feel the hate radiating from him.
I can not blame him.
I watch his hand move.
He places it on the end of the shaft in my chest.
I know the time has come.
He thrusts down on it.
My heart is pierced by it.
My eyes remain locked as he moves his hand.
Torn, weathered, black and red feathers.
My arrow.
Two lives it now owns.