Adrian spread his wicked black wings. The sudden motion sent a gust of wind around. It would've completely messed up his hair (as it had messed up mine), but it was slicked back with massive amounts of hair gel. He took flight.
I wanted to fire an arrow at him, but I'd hit Liz too. I summoned my bow and a normal arrow. I shot the arrow and purposely missed. It didn't seem to get his attention, so I shot another one at his wing. Adrian deliberately dropped Liz. She fell to the ground and tried to tough out the injury.
Adrian and I landed on Mount Skelecea. We exchanged fierce looks.
"Well, well, well . . . look who we have here!"
"Don't pretend to be surprised, Adrian. You're a terrible actor."
Adrian spared me a smart remark and sneered. Then he went on about Liz. "You're so lucky you got to serve that girl. She's powerful and beautiful."
I didn't respond to Adrian. I looked over to Liz. She was struggling to stand up a couple yards away. The darkness had spread much more from when I had seen her on the ground. It must've been caused by being around such an evil being. The redness was now spreading onto her face.
"So how do you want to settle this, brother?" Adrian asked me. "Since you are the challenger, I'll let you choose."
I pondered my options. Did I really want to fight him? I knew darn well that he was stronger than me. Then again, did I have any other choice?
"You're wasting my time," Adrian spat. "I'll just have to choose for you then!"
Before I could realize what was happening, Adrian drew his long sword. It was dark and it glowed eerily. Adrian ran at me while flapping his wings to gain astounding speed. When he got close enough, he took a giant swipe. I barely dodged it. The air was sliced where my head had been just a heartbeat before.
He continued to swipe again and again, but got nowhere. My instincts were enough to keep me going. When he realized this, he jumped backwards and planted his feet firmly in the rocky ground. He summoned a scepter with a pitch-black stone on the top. It glittered like the night sky. He then stood with scepter in hand. He waved it around and sucked in the clouds that leeched off of the mountain.
I honestly had no clue what my brother was up to. Clouds can be bad at times, but they can't hurt anyone. What was he doing?
He didn't intend to hurt anyone. He expelled the clouds from his scepter and they flew over to Liz. They formed bars and trapped her like a cage. Liz let loose a scream that echoed over the mountain.
Then Adrian turned back to me. His eyes began to glow in blood red shades of hatred. It then occurred to me that I should be taking this opportunity to shoot an arrow at him.
I hurriedly summoned my bow and grabbed a light arrow. I was about to shoot when Liz screamed again. I looked at her. Darkness had completely taken her over. Even her hair had changed. It was jet black like a starless sky. She was choking! I raced over to Liz. I summoned a sword and sliced through hazy casing. Clouds were clouds, and they were cut easily. I found that I had only wasted my time. Liz disappeared into the air like when wind blows through fog.
I turned back to Adrian, who was now standing close to me.
"Jake!" Liz gasped like her neck had just been released from a stranglehold. Probably because that was what happened. She was behind Adrian. She appeared to have been tossed aside. My brother truly was good with magic.
"You're so foolish, brother."
"Shut up, Adrian."
I fired an arrow at my brother in anger. It was not a light arrow, so it just bounced off of him. He fired a purple ball of energy back at me and hit me square in the chest. It didn't hurt, but it sucked the life right out of me. I fell limply to the ground. I didn't want to fight anymore. I didn't have the energy.
Adrian walked up to me and kicked me. Pain flared through my chest.
"You're pathetic. I can't believe you even bothered coming here. You're only hurting yourself, brother," Adrian told me. He paused to kick me again. Then he continued. "You need to put yourself before your assignment."
"That's . . . not true," I said quietly through my pain.
"What was that, brother? You really should speak up."
"That's not true," I said for a second time. I slowly got to my feet. "The whole point of being a Guardian is to protect your assignment. I can keep living, but my assignment cannot."
Adrian gave me a nasty look. He was about to draw his sword again, but I was too quick for him. I fired a light arrow at him. It went right through his heart, and he began to disappear like salt dissolving into water. All that was left of him was his shadow, and that seeped into the ground. He was going back where he should've been in the first place.
"Oh no! Liz!" I yelled.
I ran to her side. The darkness had disappeared from her body. The light arrow was going right through her stomach. I hastily pulled it out of the bloodless wound. I held my outstretched hand to her stomach, but Liz pushed it away.
"Stop," she whispered.
"What?!"
"I don't . . . want you to heal me. If you do, I'll never remember you the same way. I'll never really remember how much you truly cared for me. Besides, what do I have to come home to? Both of my parents are dead."
"Both?"
"I could feel my dad pass on the way here. I just didn't say anything because I didn't want to slow us down," Liz explained.
"I see. But do you really want to die?" I asked her. "There's no turning back once you've made your decision."
"I know," she sighed. "Just promise to bury me next to your grave, okay?"
"I promise."
We sat in silence for a couple more minutes before Liz put her arms around my neck, pulled herself up, and kissed me again. But she didn't peck me on the cheek like she had in the morning. She kissed me on the lips. Liz let our embrace last. It felt good . . . like it was meant to be.
She set herself back on the ground and whispered, "Goodbye."
Then she was gone.
I'll never forget that moment, and I'll never forget Liz. I kept my word and buried her next to my grave. I picked the most beautiful flowers I could find and placed them on her grave. I made a tombstone from a piece of the night sky because she was always so fascinated by it.
Since then, I haven't seen Liz a whole lot. She went right to training and became a Guardian like I used to be. Now she's busy with an assignment of her own. I miss her a lot. I get lonely often because I did not reapply for another Guardian job. I don't know where my brother is these days, and I don't want to endanger another innocent human.
I can't help but wonder if we should've been together. We truly had our moments where we fit together like puzzle pieces. Maybe that's the reason why Liz could hear what I said and saw what I could at times. It was a truly unique bond that we shared. Now that I think about it, it's hard to imagine being with anyone else . . .
Anyway, I guess that's it. That story means a lot to me. But that's just me, and I'm just one angel in a world of billions.
