Huluppu Tree, Ch. 2 contd

If he could take control of himself, he could be rid of it all. Once again, he settled himself and began thinking about moving his arms, on his own. Again the pain moved to his chest, a voiceless sob anchored out of his mouth and in went more ash and rocks. Giving up wasn’t an option, getting rid of the pain was, and he had to endure. He decided to free his head and neck from it all next. Repeating what occurred before, but tripling this time. Tingling crawled across his scalp, relief hitting every follicle, he could feel lifting on his ears. Finally he could open his eyes.

Looking at his shoulders and arms in front of him, he realized that there were no burns. There were only lacerations from his fall. They were already healing. Panic spread across his face as even the realization that what he thought happened, didn’t.  The pain in his chest felt very real however, and getting a hold of it became a priority now. Must have cracked something, he thought, surprised he could finally think of anything at all again. The small victory gave him enough hope to bend at the waist and on all fours. Leaves, grass, dirt and rocks fell off of him and clung to his front side. Gradually he pushed himself back onto his feet with his hands and arms. Kneeling sent the pain directly from his torso and into his ribs, then up some more towards his shoulders. Panting through it, and heavy breathing kept him still through the duration. He rolled himself down and then back up, shoulders rolled back stretching the muscles. Finally the pain was subsiding. There was a large gash across his upper back and it was already healing.

He stayed like this for a long while. Focusing on what had just happened to him. He saw the burns, the cracked skin, black and dry. He felt it on every inch of his body. It had forced him to lose control and fall several feet down onto rocks. Nothing like this had happened to him for a long time. Not since.. since their fight with Azazel, when they lost. Was he reliving those memories? No, he hadn’t burnt then. Only her.

His gaze turned towards the direction of the peak. There. The signal he felt, it was coming from there. Instantly he got on his feet, wobbly, but he didn’t care. She was alive and calling for her. The bloodlink was still between them. She wanted him with her, she yelled for him. The agonizing pain he felt, it was hers. She was suffering intensely. How long had it been like this for her? He was angry. So very angry and it took him flying forward. He would destroy Azazel, this was the end of it all.

Once again, he was shocked into pain, the burning, had to take hold of it and remember that it was not his own, to not let it take him over. Gathering his strength he neared closer and closer to where he was sensing her. It wasn’t coming from inside the mountain. She was free. She was free and he was there to get her. Getting closer to her, more pain, more suffering. He lost his breath and felt his knees hit the ground. NO! No! too close.

His eyes closed trying to keep himself awake and in the moment. His head split with a headache. Forcing his eyes open a litte, his hands on his head, he saw a wraith. Black, cold as stone, dark black eyes.

“Lil-” he cracked out of his mouth.

She was on him, biting into his shoulder, pinning him down with strength she had never possessed before. If not for the bloodlink, she would be unrecognizable. Unlike before, there was no pleasure in the bite. There was nothing. A deep void that opened up dripping slowly full of the emptiness, a husk. He couldn’t move at all, couldn’t push her away, couldn’t speak to her. She sucked on him, and the only thing he knew was that her skin was not skin but charcoal. Hard and heavy like stone. Her force sprawled over him holding him. He felt the stone cold of her through the tears in his clothes. He tried to speak through his mind and there was not even a wall. The emptiness sucked him forward and he fell, fast hard and it didn’t stop. His spark was fading and she was extinguishing it effectively. Then there was nothing again. He was gone in a dream. Alone. Sobs escaped him, terrified of what had happened. If only he could have spoken to her. No, she wasn’t there.

His love was a demon throughout. A powerful one. An incoherant one. What did he do?

“Dee, wake up, you’re annoying me.”

A familiar voice called out to him. Anger welled up but he didn’t understand.

“Dee, so you freed the screech owl. How’d that work out for you friend?”

Hands and a powerful arm grabbed him by the foot and dragged him, he was helpless. He only wondered who it was.

“Nothing to say then? Fine. Jokes on you. She’s beyond reach. She only wants destruction. Our little bird doesn’t even know who she is. It’s hilarious. That’s what she deserves you know. For betraying me. For taking up with you. Thinking she can be something she isn’t. This is what you get as well. See what happens when you do bad things. We have our order and the both of you messed it all up  long ago. So now, you’re coming with me while she makes her mess.”

He realized he was in the air, being dragged above the trees, hitting branches and getting smacked in the face. No care taken that he was weak. Smoke and ash filled his lungs, then warm clear air. It was thick but no longer choking him.

“I’m going to show you the agony you put me through. I’m going to take you home. Chain you up and make you feel every little thing I felt. Then I’m going to show you what she can do. There’s no power greater than hers. And it’s only been tapped into a small fraction!” He laughed manically.

“Oops.”

Addair dropped back down through the smoke, forcing him to open his eyes, only to get a small glimpse of who it was. His mind snapped. Azazel. His body crashed to the ground breaking everything in him. On his chest, Azazel sat snarling in in his ear. Addair could only barely open his eyes. Azazels eyes were black and he smelled like sulfur.

“You have spent too much time on your throne king, you smell of sulfur and nothing else.” Addair croaked out the words full of malice.

“I would suck you dry, but dirtying myself isn’t worth it. I am going to punish you. You will never see the surface again. I am glad that you remember who is king here. Half my work is done.” Azazel ripped Addair’s throat open and he gurgled a tiny amount, still mostly dried from her attack.

“Dream. Dream of your beloved, but you are going to be what you were meant to be.”