[Episode 30491] [Episode 30491]It would be tonight. He could smell the scents of wererat operatives on the wind, feel the tripping of spelltraps he’d laid, sense the magical bubble overriding any teleport, and hear the scraping of claws against his wife’s place. They’d sent a force - not enough of a force to kill, but enough to distract him - allowing Gothwrain to administer the killing blow.
Unless...
He looked out the window to the world outside. There was a way - maybe. He hazarded a guess on the teleport block and how long it would take to cover it, then covered his arms with towels.
“Do not go gently into that goodnight...” he whispered, and leapt out the window into the world beyond. The tactic took his adversaries by surprise for a split second, enough to give him distance. He could hear them scrambling for weapons, shifting their focus from stealth to battle as they leapt after him.
Out of instinct, he began to duck and weave; years of training for this moment had left him more than capable of dodging silver daggers. His mind expanded outward to sense the magical energies around him...
Gothwrain teleported about a hundred feet ahead, flanked by two bodyguards.
He smiled grimly. The fight was about to begin in earnest. He held his hand out to the ground and felt the labyrinth of pipes around him; water broke free from its prison and came to his call.
A tidal wave of force flew directly behind him, a crashing wall of water that devastated the wererat assassins behind him. He thought of pharaohs, and chariots, and charioteers, and wondered if he would have his own deliverance.
The knife that hit him in the back gave him his answer; like a marionette bereft of strings, he fell to the concrete. He grimaced as he pulled the silver death from his body, then shivered at the ice-cold feeling left behind.
He bit back a curse at his own carelessness. Another blade hit him, this time in the front; he looked at the dagger sitting in his chest, and sighed.
The wound was mortal, and everyone knew it.
His eyes took on Gothwrain’s gloating above him; his eyes narrowed at the silver knife in his hands. “You could have had everything, Hikaru. You would have risen far in our ranks... had your love for that simpering human not blinded you to reality.” He crossed his arms. “That woman isn’t going to save you now...”
He looked at the blade in his chest; he felt the burn of silver again as he pulled it out, then stretched out with his senses. He could feel them... see them...
He smiled, and eased himself to his feet. “She saved me long ago, Gothwrain...” He muttered a teleport spell, with the gate right behind him - and fell in.
New scents bombarded him as he landed with a dull thud, scents of cats; tears came to his eyes as he crawled his way to the door, and slid it open. He thought it odd that he didn’t feel any fear of the felines inside. Perhaps it was death, he pondered. Most fears involved death in one form or another.
He had only two fears - and he could handle both immediately.
In an instant, Ami and Michi were at his side. Like this, he could die happy - but there were things yet that had to be done.
“A...mi.” He gave the faintest of smiles, then grimaced. Doing this felt like a betrayal - but he knew it had to be done. He’d heard enough of the other side to know the result if he didn’t.
His hand clasped around Ami’s; he began channeling all of his power into her.
She gasped, and looked in horror at his hand. Angry denials and agonizing wishes spewed from her lips; he wondered at the strange texture of love, that it would take such form.
“Has... has to be,” he whispered, knowing he was beginning to fade. He moved his neck around, to face Michi - his wife, his love. “Love you lots,” he breathed, then turned around to face Ami - his blood, his daughter, the best of them both. “Love you. Sorry... had... had to...”
Words didn’t fail him; his body did. He felt the last of his power go into his child; his vision began to tunnel, then faded to white.
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(Posted Tue, 25 Feb 2003 05:09)
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