Eternal

She looked absolutely terrified.

Now that might seem like an obvious statement. It was four very angry looking vampires against one measly mortal. Pretty clear winner, right?

Well, Lily was a Witcher and I’ve never seen a Witcher this terrified. Sure, they might try to raid our castle and look a little shocked before I rip their heads off, but you know, I’ve never seen this level of fear in one of those elite assholes.

But she was different. I always knew Lily was different.

“Alan Ashby, is that a Witcher!?” Chris fumed. I heard them trying to get into the secured door. I always barred the door to the tower before I came up.

“Um, no?” I tried. I could hear Austin audibly sigh, even from up here. Lily looked over the edge of the crumbling tower that shook at each vampiric blow to the blocked entry.

“Alan, they’re going to kill me.” She muttered, mostly to herself. It looked like our options had been narrowed down for us.

“No, I won’t let them.” I pulled her closer to me. She fell into my chest, basically trying to be absorbed out of this world. I heard the grey cloud boom as they hurled lightning bolts. A storm had gathered to match the mood of the intense moment. The sea pounded like war drums of a cult gathering its courage.

I hoped we had the courage for this.

There was no more nights trying to hide the fact Lily was here. There was no way around trying to figure out how to let her go without the secret of where we resided spilling to the other Witchers. We didn’t have weeks, days, or even hours.

We barely had a minute.

“Lily, I won’t let them hurt you. I won’t let them touch you.” I whispered to her, wrapping my arms around the twenty year old girl. I rubbed her back, but I felt the numbness spreading over me.

We couldn’t fight here. If I fought, Austin would punish me later. Even if we dueled this out, there were too many of them. Lily would be killed in seconds, or thrown off the edge of the tower. I couldn’t let that happen to her.

This wouldn’t be another Jasey Rae. This wouldn’t be me seeing her die all over again.

This. Won’t. Happen. Again.

I heard a falcon flying dangerously high in the clouds. It seemed to be that same falcon that was constantly annoying the night hounds. That must’ve been Jasey Rae.

“Jasey, help me!” I called to the sky over the roar of wind. There was a shattering sound as splinters hit the wall from below.

“Alan Ashby, what are you doing with that Witcher girl!?” Chris snarled. Austin held back, unsure of what was happening. I caught his eye, silently begging for him to understand. Without words, I pleaded for him to see what she looked like, how she was so similar to Jasey Rae, to see what she meant to me.

Balz hung near Chris’s side. I couldn’t see Oli. He must be down, guarding the door in case we tried to escape. Balz just looked confused and slightly annoyed. He must’ve been sleeping and had woken up. Chris looked pretty steamed.

“She’s not like that. She understands now!” I exclaimed over the gusts of vicious wind.

“She’s a cold hearted killer! She’ll ruin us all! She could’ve killed you, Alan.” Chris stated flatly. I hugged Lily closer to my body. I could feel her shivering in pure terror. It reeked into the air.

“No, she’s not like that! I promise, she’s not like the other Witchers. She knows we aren’t just mindless killers. Lily doesn’t want to hurt us. She doesn’t even want to be part of the Witchers anymore!” I told them, yelling until my voice was hoarse.

“Did you name this pet!?” Chris spat. Out of everyone, he had a strong disliking for the Witchers, probably the most out of all of us. He hated that they had taken away his old home, forced him here.

“Lily is her name and she’s not some mindless beast!” I screamed back at him, facing turning red. I saw him start to growl in anger.

“Alan, she will trick you, she is lying to you. She is just a mortal, a human, a pet, a Witcher.” He snarled. I resisted the urge to leap at him. I had to protect Lily with everything I had.

I had never felt this deeply about a mortal since seventy years ago.

“Ginger, you have to see. Lily might be telling you one thing, but she could be lying to save her life. She could be tricking you.” Austin attempted to calm me. I saw Balz shift nervously from foot to foot.

Lily looked up to me, her eyes watery from the imminent doom. I tore my gaze away for barely a second to look at her.

“I wouldn’t trick you, Alan! I don’t want to be part of the Witchers anymore! I don’t want to kill people when they are possibility innocent! I don’t want to slaughter families because the leaders say that they’re all necromancers!” She choked out. I held her closer to me. Her hands clutched onto my cloak, burying her face into my shirt.

If she was going to die, Lily didn’t want to see who was going to kill her.

“Alan, step away from her. We’ll make it quick, I promise.” Balz told me softly. I bit my lip trying to decide. We were backed up against the far corner of the tower’s roof. The wind howled in anticipation of my choice.

And then I had a single thought. One way to save her, and it was only a fifty percent chance that it would work.

“No.” I stated firmly.

And then they lunged for us.

It happened so fast, I could barely register. It was as if the world turned to slow motion and we all had our individual moments. The three mans’ bodies were flying through the air, ready to tackle us and push us off the edge. I saw Austin linger in the background, but not for long.

Without warning, a falcon flying faster than thought possible surged from the sky like a flying arrow. The avian attacked Chris’s face and shoulders, sinking her talons into the flesh. Chris leaped back, knocking into Austin and Balz.

The falcon gave me just enough time to do what I needed to do.

I leaned over, pulling Lily away from me. I barely glanced into her beautiful eyes to know that she knew what I was going to do. Her head barely nodded, giving me permission.

That’s when I sank my fangs into her neck.

She let out a yelp of pain before falling still. I sucked the sweet blood out of her neck, the liquid gurgling over my tongue. I focused on not draining her completely so that she would be alive, just barely.

I felt her pulse slow beneath her. I kept one hand on the small of her back and one around her shoulders as her eyes fluttered closed. I thought I might never see that sparkle again, but then I had to focus.

The falcon shot into the air, nearly avoiding the blow by Chris. The avian shrieked and pecked at the attacker’s heads, but they were already starting to descend on us.

As I ripped away from her neck, I saw a little blood flow from the two wounds. I knelt down, pushing Balz away from me as the falcon attacked Chris. Holding Lily in one arm, I pushed my fingers on the wound to stop the bleeding. She still had to have a little blood left.

Using my sharp fangs, I cut a little slit into my wrist and let a few jewels drip onto my pale flesh. Holding it over her barely parted lips, I let a couple drips wash into her system.

The only difference between this process and using vampire blood to heal someone was that an injured person had to have enough blood in their system to counteract the vampiric blood. If they didn’t have enough blood to counter it, then the person either died…or was turned.

So in the horror of the hour, amidst the screams of both immortal and falcon, I drained the girl I loved and replaced her life blood with my own.

And all the world fell silent.

Notes

Sorry I haven't updated in a couple of days! I've been a little busy. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Eternal! The end of Part Two will be in the next couple of updates. What will happen? Will she survive? Will the vampires let her? What's going on!?!?!?!

Don't forget to rate! We've got eleven more votes until we get to the contest!! I would love to start the contest before Christmas!!!! Let's get it going, wolves!

Love you all and stay beautiful!