Eternal

I held her limp body in my clammy hands. I felt a single tear drip down my cheek. I almost knew for sure she had died-completely and eternally. She never sputtered or coughed on my blood, she just lay limp.

Did I drink too much blood?

Did I not give her enough of my own?

What went wrong?

The falcon cried high overhead, going back to wheeling in the stormy clouds. Chris, Balz, and Austin all halted when they saw my hunched over form, back to the wind. They saw her limp body and froze, just inches from ripping her away from me.

“What the hell did you do?” Chris growled. Austin lay a hand on my back. He always understood. Kneeling down to my level, the tall man peered down at Lily’s closed eyes.

“I drained her.” I whispered emptily. Her cold flesh pressed into mine, but I was numb all over. I tried to grant her that one thing she wanted, but I accidentally killed her.

“It’s for the best, man.” Austin patted my shoulder. I just shook my head, crying a little and shoulders heaving in the effort to disguise my sadness. Chris came over to me. I looked up, hard and stony cold glance into his eyes.

“Why didn’t you let me keep her as a feed-sub? She could’ve been down in the dungeons, she could’ve been still with us!” I begged him. His eyes softened, lips turning down in a frown.

“Alan, if she escaped, she could’ve revealed our presence. We can’t risk that.” Chris explained. I shook my head, not willing to believe it. I cradled Lily’s head in my arms, staring down into her lifeless form.

“No! Don’t you love Grey-Girl? Don’t you love her!?” I begged him.

“Well, yes, but she’s not a Witc-“

“Wouldn’t you do anything to keep her safe? Wouldn’t you do anything to make sure she’s happy?” I cried, tears dripping onto the cold stone tiles.

Chris had no answer to that. We all knew that he would do anything for GG. I turned my face down and closed my eyes, looking at Lily for the last time.

“Come on, Alan. Let’s go inside.” Austin told me softly. I heard footsteps and turned my eyes to see who it was. Oli’s face appeared. He stared long and hard at the girl in my arms. We all turned to him, slowly reading his growing expression.

“Lily?” He asked quietly. I wiped away tears.

“No, please tell me she’s not dead…” He breathed. Shouldering past Balz and Chris, he dropped to his knees next to her.

I couldn’t speak. Only I nodded.

“No! Bastard! What did you do to her!?” He screeched. Austin held his arm back before he could throw a punch.

“Oliver, it’s for the best. I know you’re new here, but we have to do everything we can to survive. This is for the good of the clan.” He soothed. Oli yanked free, anger boiling on his face.

I knew Oli was an old Witcher elite. Lily told me about him a couple of times. She was in his squad the last time she saw him. They had been pretty close friends, for as close as Witchers could be.

“The good of the goddamn clan!? You can’t use this as your crap argument! No, she was a good, truthful person! How could you kill her!? She didn’t hurt anyone here!” He exclaimed, yelling into Austin’s face. I sighed, stroking a piece of chocolate brown hair from her face.

“Look, we’re just trying to keep everyone safe here.” Balz attempted to soothe the newest member.

“No, don’t tell me that. Look what happened to Lily after ‘keeping everyone safe’. She was so good, so beautiful and you killed her! She was a good friend, an honest person! SHE DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO BE A WITCHER ANYMORE!” Oli spat, shaking his head. I felt the storm whip the strands of my red hair everywhere, but I had no care in the world. I lost that with Lily.

“What do you mean?” Chris asked, finally believing those words. Even though I said it, it had meant nothing then.

“I wanted to give her this mission so she could escape, so she could take a boat and go to an island I found for her. She didn’t want to be a Witcher anymore, but the others wouldn’t let her go. I figured if everyone thought she was dead, then she could at least live somewhere else. I guess her boat washed ashore and look what happened.” Oliver whispered. I bit my lip in sorrow. She was never lying…

There was long, heavy silence until Aus ran his hand through his hair. He looked tired and worn.

“Come on, let’s discuss this in the castle.” He called for us softly. Everyone nodded and we started to walk down the stairs. I gently put down Lily, in full view of the gathering storm, in full view of that crying falcon.

Austin gestured for me to follow and I walked down, stopping by Lily’s little room. I nearly broke out in choking breaths as I saw the book she had been reading.

“I’m going to spend some time here.” I whispered to him. Austin took one look in my eyes and nodded. He knew how painful it was when I lost Jasey. Now I was losing her all over again.

“Take your time.” He nodded and I left to sit by the window. As soon as I saw the rest of the party take off to the castle, I let out little cries of pain. It was the anguish of the heart coming to volume.

I don’t know how long I sat there, but I eventually stopped crying. All I could hear was light patters of rain.

And something else.

Looking out the window, I saw no one, no hound, nothing. Then I heard another gasp. And another….and another….

“Alan…” A voice breathed. I knew that voice, so familiar, so sweet and wonderful. I took off, racing to the top of the stairs.

And I saw the most wonderful sight.

A very dizzy looking Lily Erebos was standing with hair like a drenched, dirty waterfall, and eyes like those of an eagle’s golden orbs.

Notes

So here is your answer to what happened to Lily! Ha, you thought she was dead, didn't you? Nope! Anyways, I hope you like this chapter and I promise I'll write more soon, like the reactions of Chris and the others when they see that Lily is living!

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