Arlen

 

 

Arlen pushed the throne room doors open wide and stepped through. His mate was hesitant, but followed his lead.

The throne room was empty, except for Lorik, who was kneeling before the throne in prayer. It made Arlen sick to think he’d once considered the man a brother and cared for him only to have it returned with hatred. Lorik was poison to those around him. It was only fitting the fucker was succumbing to his own seeds of insanity.

Better to be praying I end it swiftly for him. So much more than he deserves. Arlen’s thoughts were taking a dark turn. He wanted to put an end it all.

Lorik never acknowledged Arlen’s presence. He knelt there whispering to himself until Arlen moved around him with his blade trained on the King’s throat. Unnatural black eyes leered up at him.

He’d never seen anything like Lorik before.

“You always were the clever one, or you thought you were, anyway,” Lorik said, standing up rigidly.

Lorik didn’t appear to be armed as he approached. Arlen lowered the weapon by a fraction of an inch. He was at a serious disadvantage compared to Arlen, who was as armed as any of Lorik’s personal guards would be. Arlen wasn’t the type of man to murder an unarmed person, no matter how guilty that person was.

“Let’s settle this like men, shall we? Or would you gut me like a true barbarian?” Lorik goaded.

“Fine,” Arlen gritted.

It was the last request he’d grant the psychopath. Piece by piece, he unloaded his sword and dagger. He placed them in Angie’s care, well out of Lorik’s reach. He didn’t trust the man to play by the basic rules of a fair fight, he’d never understood the meaning of fair. However, if Arlen didn’t abide by the pretense of being fair, Lorik could make Angela pay for it.

Before he could even turn back to face his brother, a fist collided with the back of his head, blurring his vision momentarily. Arlen staggered away from Angela and Lorik stalked him the entire way.

Lorik jabbed toward his face again, but Arlen was slightly ahead of him and dodged the blow. It was close though. Too close. Arlen ducked a third swipe and kicked at the side of Lorik’s knee, landing the blow just before a hand met the other side of his head. He wasn’t fast enough to get out of its way that time. Luckily, it only grazed him and wasn’t enough to phase him too much.

Arlen scrambled backwards, putting space between him and his opponent. It had been too long since he’d fought someone of Lorik’s skill, which had much improved since he’d last seen him. It was a mistake he wouldn’t allow himself to make again.

Arlen heard the creaking of the entrance doors and someone entering, but couldn’t take his attention from Lorik. He didn’t know what his brother was capable of and a single misstep could be fatal.

Lorik didn’t even appear to have broken a sweat yet, but Arlen was out for blood. His cheek was sticky with the crimson liquid from a tiny gash and a thin sheen of perspiration had broken out over his brow.

The pair circled each other in wide tracks around the royal chamber. Arlen caught sight of Angela’s lips moving as she spoke to Brokk before bringing his full attention back to the evil son of a bitch who was toying with him.

Lorik ducked behind one of the pillars. Arlen has careful as he moved to counter Lorik, but as he came around to the other side, it was vacant.

Lorik had vanished into thin air.

He searched the surrounding pillars and eyed the rest of the hall, but he found nothing. Round-eyed, he looked to Angela and Brokk with the hope they’d seen where he’d gone. Both shared the same look he did.

He took several steps towards the pair, away from the row of pillars.

“So quick to give up your search. I wonder, would you throw in the towel as easily if you were searching for, oh say, your mate?” came Lorik’s taunting voice from behind him, but when he turned Lorik still hadn’t shown himself.

Arlen spun towards the voice.

“Are you such a coward that you have to hide from me rather than fight like a real man?”

He was like smoke, Lorik slipped into view from thin air. It was as though he’d stepped through a veil between worlds. Arlen watched as Lorik settled a few feet from him.

“Gods help us. He’s inherited his mother’s gifts,” Arlen sent to Angela through their bond.

His thoughts went to Reina, Lorik’s mother.

Charging forth with a burst of speed, Arlen swung at him. He met nothing but air. Lorik had slipped away as vapor again only to reappear a few feet away. He was toying with Arlen and trying to tire him out.

“First rule in life, brother. Work smarter, not harder.”

Lorik slipped into a cloud of mist again, but didn’t reappear as quickly as he had before. The tiny hairs on Arlen’s arms rose like they knew he was being stalked, hunted. Arlen made his way around the room. He spun in circles, keeping his steps spry and light.

“Be careful.”

His lover’s thoughts reminded him of what he was fighting for. It wasn’t just his love for her, but the love shared by all of his people, people he had abandoned when they needed him most. Instead of stepping up, he’d fed them to the wolves.

An arm slipped under his chin, locking around his throat, and dragging him off his feet. His hands immediately shot to Lorik’s limb, trying to break his hold, but it was solid and unmoving. He gasped, fighting to draw in air, but couldn’t.

His mind panicked for a brief moment as he struggled before it flipped over to autopilot. He’d had years of training to counter situations just like that one. Arlen let that knowledge take over. He kicked back at Lorik’s legs trying to knock him off balance. When that was fruitless, he bent forward and then flung himself back, swinging his head in the process. The back of his head connected with Lorik’s nose with a sickening crack.

Lorik released his grip, dazed by his broken nose. Arlen dragged heaving gulps of air into his lungs and took the moment of distraction to jump on Lorik, knocking him to the ground. Arlen lost control. Liliana, his mother, even his father, each life taken could be laid at that monster’s feet. He’d taken away everything and was determined to be rid of Arlen, too. Angela would be in danger as long as he walked the Earth.

His knuckles crashed into Lorik’s struggling body again and again. His face was a mess of blood and forming bruises. As Arlen brought his hand down towards Lorik’s face again, it froze mere inches from his intended target.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t force it to close those final few inches. Then, like something out of one of those Star Wars movies, Lorik pulled some Jedi mind trick shit and lifted Arlen into the air without ever lifting a finger.

Everything inside him felt like it was twisting and contorting into knots. Painfully tight ones. Is this what a heart attack feels like? Arlen wondered. He peeked out towards his mate, her lips were moving, however he heard no sound. Nothing but the ringing in his ears. He was about to have the life squeezed out of him.

Lorik got to his feet, wiping blood from his nose. The man was hardly recognizable, yet he still stood tall with his shoulders back. His eyes were as dark as onyx and fixated on Arlen. He was calm and focused.

Blackness edged his vision which had begun to blur. His feet flailed, wildly kicking out at his attacker and never making contact. He found Angela, his gaze locked on to her and refused to leave. This was it. It was the end for him and he could find no better way to go than to do so with the peace of his love’s sweet face looking back at him. Even sobbing, she was beautiful. The darkness crept further towards the center of his sight until Angela was the only thing he could see.

Her delicate features began to blur out of focus, his body still jerking wildly as it tried to fight for survival. He’d failed her. He’d vowed to keep her safe and take care of her the way she deserved. His time was up and he was leaving her to Lorik. He’d damned her the first time he’d seen her. He should’ve known he couldn’t stay away. It would’ve been like trying to cut his own heart out.

Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes. He wished he could’ve gotten the chance to say goodbye and to tell her just how sorry he was for everything. He’d tell her that he loved her and wished they’d gotten the chance to have the future she’d talked about always wanting.

Pain radiated from the back of his head and his lungs burned with each breath he tried to take but was unable. He wasn’t sure how long he hung there in the air staring at her. It felt like minutes, though he knew it wouldn’t have been more than seconds. He thought about his parents and his sister. Was there an afterlife where he would he meet them again? Or was it all bullshit? He decided he’d wait for the day it was Angela’s time. He didn’t think he’d have to wait long, but they’d go together.

With that, he slipped into blackness.