They entered another cavern. From the looks of the bundles of leaves and grass on the ground, they had entered a sleeping chamber. It was deserted and unfortunately, there was only one exit, the way they'd come.
Without a moment to lose, they headed back out the tunnel, stepping over the corpse and hurrying into the main cavern. Everything seemed so still, then they heard a roar and a Vidarian curse.
They took a new tunnel, the one that the commotion was coming from. Halfway up the tunnel they were met with a big fight. Two Torin against two Vidarian, and one of which was wounded badly.
Immediately, Qwinn and the other man joined the brawl, attacking quickly before the Torin realized they were now out numbered.
Qwinn ignored his aching elbow as he slashed the dagger he was holding across one beasts snout. It reared back in surprise and howled in pain. The other Torin jumped at Qwinn, but was slammed in the stomach by Qwinn's short, stalky soldier and knocked off balance.
The king hurried out of range of its claws and teeth and grabbed a sword from the weapons strapped to his back. Newly armed, he jumped back into the fight, slashing his sword in a deadly fashion. For a moment, his weapon bounced off the hard armor of its skin. He concentrated through the sweat dripping over his face. He located a vulnerable spot and dived for it, driving his sword through the unguarded flesh between its shoulder and neck. He grunted with effort, driving his sword as deeply as it would go. The beast howled in agony then pulled back its head and spit phlass onto Qwinn's face.
Immediately, his hands left the hilt of his sword as he grabbed for the torturous slime. The spit had narrowly missed his eyes but was beginning to burn his cheek. The other soldier finished the Torin off and knelt by his King. "Sir!"
Qwinn grabbed the cloth beneath his leather armor and tore it, wiping desperately at his face. Though he got a lot of it off, he still felt a sting. His soldier untied a small pouch at his side and proceeded to dump water on Qwinn's cheek. The burn subsided and Qwinn thanked his soldier, quickly scouring the tunnel. The short soldier was kneeling next to his comrade that was injured and from the look of it, not doing well.
Qwinn quickly crawled over to the pair, hoping that it wasn't too late. The man had lost so much blood. His fears were confirmed when he placed a hand over the injured soldiers heart, trying to feel for a beat after ripping the armor aside. The skin was already beginning to cool.
His brows furrowed, "He's gone." He tried to call upon the image of the gash in the soldiers head so he could heal it, but no vision came to mind. He was dead.
The soldier kneeling beside them nodded solemnly while swipping a hand across his eyes. Qwinn stood, still very aware that they had not yet found Alison. "We will give him a proper burial when this is through."
His men nodded and cleared the sadness from their throats, focusing on the mission. They continued up the tunnel, weapons at the ready. He was sure all of his men hoped this would be over soon and that in the process they would not meet death.
They entered another room that was empty with a short tunnel leading back outside. From where they stood, they could see the battle below. Bodies lay everywhere. To Qwinn's relief, a majority of them were Torin bodies.
Qwinn was filled with a greater sense of urgency to join the fight below. It seemed as though his men felt the same. They ran down the tunnel and immediately entered a third. They came across a body of one of his soldiers, putting them on high alert. They slowed, not wanting to run into an ambush.
Ahead, they could see the light before they reached the end of the tunnel. The short stalky soldier put a hand on Qwinn's chest, shaking his head. It seemed that he intended to go first, as to protect his king. Qwinn licked his lips, gripping his sword tightly. He followed the soldier into the cavern beyond.
As soon as they cleared the mouth of the tunnel, the short soldier was attacked. A Torin warrior clammed into his side, knocking him across the room. Qwinn and his other soldier hurried in, weapons flying.
Qwinn grabbed his dagger and took aim, sending the blade flying through the musty cave air and into the beasts eye. It howled in pain, clawing desperately at its eye.
Qwinn looked around quickly, taking in the room and calculating the dangers. Against the corner of the room stood what looked like a cage. There were figures huddled inside. One popped her head up and Qwinn's heart flipped at the sight of Alison's red hair. She was alive!
At that moment, Qwinn was slammed backwards by a blur of black, hitting the stone wall hard and crumpling in pain. Desperately, his eyes searched for who had attacked him.
What he saw stopped his heart cold. The Torin did have a king; the very monster he had so surely dispatched weeks ago. As Qwinn processed the unbelievable sight, the Torin charged him again.
Thanks to his training, he reacted quickly by rolling out of the way and hoping to his feet. On his way up, he unsheathed the second sword from his back. To his surprise, the Torin King looked to be in good shape. Qwinn inwardly cursed himself; he'd known that the Vidarian were wasting time before going to war. However, he noticed the fresh scars on the King, mainly by his mouth. The beast was as ugly as ever and recognized Qwinn the moment he laid eyes on him, proving this by growling low in his throat.
At that moment, the King launched through the air, his jagged and deadly claws exposed. Qwinn dove to the right, narrowly missing being sliced in two. He rebounded, stabbing his sword through the air, making contact with the King's leg.
The Torin roared and danced out of the way. He bared his teeth, snarling. The Torin King was almost three of Qwinn in thickness and none of that size was made up from fat, it was all muscle. The commotion seemed to bring the women out of their trances.
"Qwinn! Look out!" Alison screamed as the Torin King rushed him, baring his weight low so that Qwinn could not simply roll out of the way this time. Qwinn reacted quickly, leaping into the air. He didn't clear enough height and immediately his legs were knocked out from under him. Helplessly, he flipped head over heels, landing on his back and was sorely at the mercy of the Torin.
Qwinn gasped desperately for air, pulling himself to his feet, despite the agonized burning of his lungs. He trained his dark eyes on the beast, also spotting Alison. She was gripping the bones that made the bars of her prison, biting her lip nervously, her eyes full of fear, for him.
He ripped his mind away from her; he needed all of his concentration to defeat this beast. The king launched again, roaring as he connected with Qwinn's chest, sending them both sailing backwards.
Qwinn gripped the beast's mouth shut, so as to avoid the dangerous teeth. The beast bucked, trying to knock him off, but Qwinn held tightly, trying to squirm just enough to get a hold of another dagger tied to his belt.
The Torin king suddenly rolled, catching Qwinn's leg painfully under his massive weight for a moment. Qwinn grit his teeth in pain, trying to maintain his grip.
The beast slammed his head into the wall, succeeding in dislodging Qwinn from its face. Qwinn crumpled.
Alison screamed his name, but things were blinking in and out of focus. The Torin had knocked himself into a dizzy spell, and some part of Qwinn's mind he realized this was the perfect time to attack.
Gathering every ounce of strength he had left, he grit his teeth harder, fighting his weakness. Diving into the depths of his soul, he called upon the strength of his ancestors and every drop of magic passed down through his bloodline. After a painfully slow moment, he felt the power begin to hum and warm in his stomach.
The Torin King bore down on his legs, preparing to deliver the killing blow to one of the two Qwinn's he was seeing. Qwinn found himself in such a state of peace, for a moment he wondered if he had already died. Then, from his crumpled position against the wall of the cave, he saw the Torin begin to charge.
The warmth in his stomach spread and he lifted his arms forward. From someone else's point of view, it might have looked like the King's feeble attempt to protect himself, but Qwinn knew differently. Somethin
g was happening to him, something that he'd never experienced in all his centuries of life. He was purely following the instinct of his body.
The Torin opened its large jaws, ready to devour the helpless Vidarian King, when a light began to glow inside of Qwinn's chest.
The strange occurrence did not stop the beast. Alison screamed, the sound resounding a million times against the cave walls and the warmth turned into a fiery blaze. Anger, fear, worry, disbelief and hope flourished in him, sending the burning from his stomach and chest out through his arms, almost as if channeling fiery energy. Qwinn roared as the energy shot out of the palms of his hands in the form of fire orbs. They soared through the space remaining between the Torin and Qwinn, slamming into the large figure in an explosion of light.
The Torin hardly had a moment to react before he became engulfed in flame and incinerated within seconds.
No one moved, no one even breathed as they stared at the disintegrating body of the Torin King.
The stench of charred flesh filled the air as Qwinn turned his wide and disbelieving eyes to his hands. The warmth had left him as soon as the fire had soared. Somewhere inside he knew that if he concentrated and called on it, the fire would return.
The other Torin seemed transfixed to the body of their dead leader. That was all that Qwinn's soldier needed to deliver the deathblow.
Qwinn shakily pushed himself to his knees, fighting the intense wave of nausea that hit him. He didn't have time to worry about his injuries or the mysterious fire, his mission was still clear, he needed to get Alison out of here; she was all that mattered.
He used the cave wall as a brace to help himself stand and carefully made his way toward her. He had lost a lot of blood and was growing dizzier by the minute, but he felt relief for the first time since he had found out she was missing.
As he neared the cage, his soldier sliced through the lock and Qwinn's world pitched dangerously. He fell, hitting the cold stone ground. Alison came running out of the cage, kneeling by Qwinn. He found it hard to keep his eyes open, oblivion calling him so temptingly.
Her beautiful face swam in and out of view. She was saying something, but he couldn't hear her. He smiled weakly and lifted his hand to cup her cheek. She pressed into it with her own hand and tears filled her eyes, those beautiful eyes. She was safe, he could rest easy now, he thought as he allowed his heavy eyes to finally close.
"NO! QWINN!" ALISON CRIED AS he closed his eyes. His hand fell limp from her grasp and her tears spilled over.
When he had burst into the cave, it was then that she realized how in love with him she was. He had come for her. She was certain that she loved him, and now, watching him bleed out onto the ground, she felt as if he were taking her heart with him.
"Come back. Please?" she sobbed, her forehead pressing against his, as if too exhausted to hold herself up any more.
Just then, more soldiers filled the room, swords drawn and bloodied, eyes scanning the room wildly for the enemy. Vin shoved his way through the group, his face covered in blood , but shining with victory. His eyes landed on Qwinn's still form and a frown grew on his mouth. He pushed men aside until he was kneeling beside Alison; tears streamed silently from her eyes.
"I apologize, but I need you to move if I am to help him."
Hope bloomed in what was quickly becoming an empty shell of a woman. She quickly backed away and Vin placed his hands directly over the open gash in Qwinn's chest. He closed his eyes, concentrating with every ounce of his being.
Before her very eyes, the blood on the group began to move. At first she couldn't believe what she was seeing…it was almost as if the blood had begun to collect itself into small streams and those streams were flowing back to the wound. Alison gasped as the blood moved back up Qwinn's side and returned to the wound.
When almost every drop had returned, Vin pulled back, suddenly gasping for air as if he had been running and looking very pale, even for his skin color.
"Quickly b-bind the wound!" He stammered.
Soldiers hurried forward, sacrificing strips of their tunics to staunch the bleeding.
"I don't understand…cant you heal him?" Alison asked in a shaky voice.
Vin looked grim, his hands still pressed against the wound, trying to hold the blood inside. "I can only control fluid…I cannot close the wound."
Alison turned fearful eyes back to Qwinn. There was still a chance he could die.
Even though he was her captor and had hurt her, he was her hearts song.
Alison watched helplessly as the others bound the wound and a couple of stronger soldiers lifted Qwinn into their arms, carrying his weight easily. She had no choice but to allow them. As she tried to stand with them, she crumbled back to the ground. Her limbs quivered violently, not only from her whole ordeal, but now she was being tested in a way no one should ever be; not only Qwinn's life, but her heart was on the line. If he died, she would die too.
She did not know when she had come to the point that she could not live without him. Now that he had entered her life, she couldn't imagine the world without him. If she knew that he was alive, she'd be alright. Even if he didn't want her, she could find strength and move on because he continued to live, continued to exist.
The soldiers made their way out of the cavern and Alison was shocked back into action. She stood, shaky at first, then as she got her bearings, rushed to the cage made of bones and offered her hand to the poor Vidarian woman who continued to cower in the corner. Vin appeared behind Alison, looking just as shaky, but for the strength in his eyes. "We must go."
Alison turned pleading eyes to the woman. "Come with us. You will be safe," she said, not even sure the woman could understand her. "Safe," she offered again.
Vin watched the rest of the soldiers file out nervously and tugged on Alison's arm. "We must leave now. Leave her."
Alison shook him off and entered the cage, kneeling slowly before the woman. "Please, come," she said, offering her hand once again.
The woman turned fear glazed eyes on Vin then back to Alison. She began crying as she covered her face.
"Alison. We must return to the palace at once. The King must be healed before it is too late and I will not leave you here," Vin nearly begged.
Alison frowned and stood carefully, knowing that leaving the woman here would mean her death. She would either starve or venture into the forest and be eaten.
Vin grabbed firmly to Alison's arm and tugged her towards the mouth of the tunnel. Alison sighed, defeated, and turned her back on the woman, silently wishing her luck. They were a few steps from the exit when Alison suddenly felt a cold, trembling hand find hers.
The woman glanced hopefully and fearfully up at Alison, who squeezed her hand reassuringly. The trio moved quickly through the dark tunnel. Alison tried hard to keep her head level. She needed to be strong, not only for Qwinn, but for this woman. Vin had a firm grip and led her easily through the tunnel, even warning her about a body blocking the way, which led Alison to confirm her thought that Vidarian's had excellent sight in the dark.
The trip out of the cavern seemed much shorter than the one in. It wasn't long before Alison's eyes landed on the carcasses all around. Blood was everywhere, splattered on the walls, puddled on the floor and seeming to stream from the amputated limbs and even a head.
She quickly diverted her eyes to Vin's back and focusing on nothing else. She heard the woman clinging her begin to sob again and held tighter. She knew that the carnage would only get worse once they made it outside.
She stared at the strange leather of his armor and tried to block out the rank of battle from around her. One thing she knew for sure, she would never forget this day. The vision of these bodies and even Qwinn getting attacked by the Torin beast would haunt her dreams for eternity.
Vin kept quiet as they followed the others out. As soon as they entered the fresh air, Alison found that she couldn't hold it back any more. As she sucked in large gulps of clean air, she could no longer co
ntrol the bile. She wrenched her arm from Vin's and threw up. It wasn't until she had finished emptying her already empty stomach that she realized she had thrown up on a body.
She scrambled backward and right into Vin's chest. He steadied her and took her hand once more. "Stay close. I will protect you."
Larius rushed to them, panting and swiping an arm across his forehead, smearing blood there. Vin nodded toward him and Larius joined their group, keeping a very close eye on Alison as they walked.
Vin helped her step over the bodies. Unfortunately, in order to watch her footing, she had to stare at the ground.
She stepped over bodies of Torin and of Vidarian's… an arm here, a shredded torso there. Tears stung her eyes at the thought of the war, over her. If she would have never run away, they wouldn't have died.
Vidarian's had been victorious, however, no one cheered. Grim mouths were all she saw. The soldiers that were able carried the wounded and a few soldiers began to fashion crude stretchers from large branches and tunics. Alison's eyes scanned the battlefield and found nothing but sorrow. Then her eyes fell on a large group of men surrounding something. Vin dropped her hand and hurried forward, shoving through the crowd.
Larius instantly took guard by Alison. "What is happening?" she asked.
Larius furrowed his brow. "The healer is trying to save Qwinn."
Now it was Alison's turn to push through the crowd. Larius and the other woman followed. She shoved aside many men, for once not afraid of some of their monstrous forms. Though she was small, once they realized who was trying to get through, they moved aside, giving her room. After fighting her way through the soldiers, she fell into the clearing that held Qwinn in the middle.
An ancient looking soldier had his hands over Qwinn's bare chest. His eyes were closed and he chanted to himself as he concentrated on healing the King.
Qwinn looked pale and ashen, not moving. Alison stared at the shallow rise and fall of his chest to reassure herself that he was breathing.
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