We're Going To Die, Aren't We?

"Therion, I don't think we can do this for much longer," I pant as I cleave Heartstriker through a deathwing that charges at me. The deathwings attack us in swarms. Swarms of iron dragons the size of cats. Even though they are cute as fuck, they are deadly as hell.

All I can hear is the flapping of wings, the snapping of the strong jaws of the deathwings, the roars of mythical beasts, and the distant screaming of our people. All I can see are flashes of red and black. All I can feel is the heat coming from the deathwings. The scorching fire they spew. And the pain and exhaustion in my body. My muscles are sore and ache from the days of fighting. My heart sits heavy in my chest from all the lives we have lost in the past three days and nights and also for the lives we still have yet to lose.

I am beyond exhausted. We all are. But we keep on fighting. Keep on protecting until the last one standing. I know deep down there is no hope left anymore. Where our numbers decrease drastically, the number of beasts and monsters on Hanera's side increases. We all have lost hope, but we still keep fighting for those we love.

Therion and I are fighting for our little princess.

I scream out in pain when three deathwings attack me simultaneously. One attacks my legs, the other my torso, and the last spits fire at my head. I dive to the ground to dodge the fire but am too slow. The tips of my long red hair that reach my butt catch fire and start burning my skin. I try to extinguish the fire, but it is hard when I still get attacked by tiny dragons from all sides.

"Nives!" Therion yells in fear. From the corner of my eyes, as I try to keep the beast as far away from me as possible and simultaneously not burn alive, I can see him cleave through a few deathwings to arrive at my side. He strikes down two of the deathwings circling and attacking me before grabbing my hair and cutting it off at jaw-length.

"Are you okay?" he asks, pulling me back up from the blood-stained ground. I nod at him.

"I am okay. But I can't do this much longer," I confess. "Dug!" I yell and pull my husband back to the ground with me right as a burning body of an elf female comes flying through the air, just over our heads. I stare at the destroyed body of the female that landed a few meters away from us. A sob remains lost behind my trembling lips.

"We're going to die, aren't we? All of us. We won't last another day." Therion remains silent. I look away from the elf female to my husband. His face is stained with blood, sweat, dirt, and tears.

"We have to believe there will be a better day. One day," he says, nodding. I grab his hand and give it a little squeeze. I get up from the ground once more and run back into the swarm of deathwings circling a group of our people, screaming my battle cry.

___***___

A scream of pain makes me look up from the manticore we finally managed to overpower with five men. I pull Heartstriker out of the beast's neck and quickly slide down between its bat-like wings back to the soggy ground. My face and throat are stained with oil and blood,

Another scream of pain makes my heart clench and my palms go sweaty. I quickly turn around to the place from which the screams came.

"No!" I scream, seeing Kayol getting overpowered and thrown to the ground between the rest of the metal-controlling team's corpses. Both his legs are broken, and his face is bruised and cut. He stares at me while he lies there, almost on top of Lucian. His calming labradorite eyes find mine. And he smiles.

"It's okay!" he yells with a raw voice. He nods at me. "It is okay."

Fear washes over me, seeing from the corner of my eyes another manticore close in on him. No, no, no, no!

I dive underneath a harpy, slicing off one of her wings in the process, and sprint in the direction of my best friend. But the manticore reaches him before me. I watch it tearing Kayol's already heavy, bleeding chest open with his claws. I scream out and slump through my trembling legs. Tears stream down my face as I stare into those beautiful but hollow eyes belonging to my oldest friend. The guy who had stood beside me through it all.

Through the murder of my Dad when we were little. The loss of my little brother when I was sixteen. The death of my Mom just a few weeks after. Kayol was right at my side when I got crowned Queen. He was the one who gave me away to Therion at our wedding. Just like he was there when I discovered I was pregnant with Elin. He was there to help me with her. And he was there holding my hand when I sent her away to a safe place.

Kayol wasn't just my best friend. He was my brother, and seeing him die right in front of me shatters my already broken heart.