Mini-Series: Part 5 - The Showdown (Finale)
The footsteps slowly closed in on the area, with the slight clanking of plate armor drawing near. I had a fear rising inside me, then was confirmed hearing Beloric's voice. My heart sank deeply. This wasn't happening.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beloric slowly approaches the middle of the room, "I'm here, Khasarah. Alone, just as you asked..." He looks directly at her, not fearing the others around him.
Khasarah smirks, "Beloric my dear... It has been too long... I hope you are as alone, as you say you are..." Khasarah then nods to a few guards to check the pathway into the room they were in. She then motions for a few others to take his weapons. "It would be helpful if you cooperate... I'm sure you understand. I can't have any foolishness." She smirks, "As much I do remember it." She then lightly chuckles.
Beloric eyes the guards around him, eventually handing them his weapons. He then looks back to Khasarah.
Beloric: "I have a proposal..."
Khasarah gasps and smiles, "Oh?... Please do enlighten me, darling..."
Beloric sighs and then continues. "I will give you what you want, but we do this my way... I'm offering myself in exchange for Ly's freedom to walk out of here, unhindered and alive..." he then looks sternly at Khasarah. "Should anything stray from this plan... I won't hesitate to do what needs to be done... This ends now... and you will never darken her door ever again."
Khasarah pauses for a moment, bites her lip, and smirks. "I'm glad you are finally seeing things my way, darling..." She then appears in thought, looking deviously. "I think your requests can be arranged."
Just then, the guards come back from scouting the cave. One of them, an orc, speaks.
Orc: "All is clear."
Khasarah smiles, pleased. She then slowly approaches Beloric, as her finger traces along his armor, making a complete circle around him, and looking him over. Beloric stands idle.
Khasarah: "I told you that we would be together again..." She then stands back in front of him and kisses his cheek, before backing up.
Beloric closes his eyes and finally speaks, "I demand to see her...now..." He looks sternly at Khasarah once again.
Khasarah smirks and motions for a few guards to grab the key from her hand, and then bring Lycandria to the middle of the room, in chains.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hear the guards footsteps close in, as I squirm a bit knowing what was to come. I still couldn't believe what was happening. I then notice my chains loosen, causing me to fall forward from being so weak. They detached me from the chains on the wall, but I'm still bound to a harness with all the locks still around my wrists and ankles. They pull me up, and slightly drag me with them, unable to walk as I normally do.
As I turn the corner, I see Beloric and Khasarah awaiting my arrival. I look into Beloric's eyes, and can see the pain in them, as he sees my condition. I'm then shoved to the ground in front of them, grunting in pain. Beloric begins to move toward me, but is then stopped by the drawing of blades, holding him back.
Khasarah: "Not so fast..." She smirks, and then orders her guards to stand down. Beloric stands back in place and looks down at me.
I then look up to him with sorrowful eyes, after catching my breath. My voice quivers.
Lycandria: "Bel... you shouldn't be here... Don't... do this..." Tears start to run from my swollen and beaten eyes.
Beloric looks down at me, holding the tears welling up in his eyes, "I have to..." he lightly whispers. Khasarah interrupts.
Khasarah: "The deal has been struck, this happens now or never, darling..." She looks at Beloric for an answer.
Beloric pauses and finally gives the nod. Khasarah nods to the guards behind me, and they unlock me from all my binds. I slump to the ground, and immediately fight my fatigue to get up to Beloric.
I wrap my arms around him tightly, ignoring the pain. He wraps his arms around me as well, as I begin to weep, not wanting to let go. I then pull back and look up at him fully, knowing it could be the last time I ever see him. My hands caress his face and I lean up to kiss him dearly, even with my busted and cut lips. The feeling of his lips against mine, I valued more than any other time we had ever shared before. I then whisper to him.
Lycandria: "We can run, right now... we can do this...together..."
Just then, I feel the forceful hands of the guards rip me out of his arms, dragging me away from the area. Beloric turns to me with tears in his eyes, as I'm screaming for him.
Lycandria: "No! NO!...Bel!... BEL!!!..... I LOVE YOU!!!" I scramble with every bit of fight I had left in me to get free, but I can't. I was too weak.
He looks at me and speaks, as they put him in a harness and binds, "You are free, now... and that's what matters... Have a good life, Ly..." He finishes as a tear finally falls down his cheek.
I continue to scream for him as I'm dragged away. I then see Khasarah reach into her pocket and activate a stone, opening a portal behind her and Beloric. I watch in horror as the both of them disappear before my eyes. The portal closes, and all that is left is Khasarah's unit. I then suddenly feel a cool wind rush through the cave, and the sound of arrows releasing behind me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just then, I see Blindseer leap onto the back of one of the guards dragging me, as the arrows released from Amelia slam into the neck of the other. She comes racing up, accompanied by Electra, Gweneth, and Sorya. The League was here, they had been waiting.
I fall to the ground in a heap, face first. The League finally reaches me, as they prepare to slaughter Khasarah's unit. Amelia checks my condition, then looks up glaring at the Horn preparing for battle. Electra gives the command, as she looks down at me, then back into the room.
Electra: "Kill them for what they have done... kill them all..."
Amelia, Gweneth, and Sorya follow suit, as Electra stealths and enters the room. Amelia stands to guard me, while Blindseer follows the others.
I remain on the ground, feeling as if everything that could have gone wrong, just happened in front of my very eyes. I was in shock, I still didn't want to believe what had transpired. I wasn't ready to accept that I may never see him again. I just couldn't bear the thoughts, as they begin to torment me, much like the first time he was taken. I was reliving this hell all over again.
The thoughts of the life we could have had start to flood my mind. He told me one day he was going to marry me, and I remember just how it felt to hear those words release from his lips. Every tender kiss, touch, and moment we shared before, and now to think that life might never happen. How could it just be, gone? Absolute fear and despair begins to wash over me. I felt my will to live, slowly begin to leave me.
It was then I remembered the orc, Zul'fron. My heart spiked with fear. The League, they didn't know. I give my best effort to crawl back towards the room, as Amelia was still firing arrows into the room ahead of me. I crawled as fast as I could, hoping and praying I would reach her in time. I finally reach her boot, tugging at her and calling for her attention.
I then looked up as she released the arrow meant for Zul'fron. I look over to see him attempting to flee and stay clear of the fight. The arrow catches him in the throat, and I watch in horror as Blindseer pounces on him to finish him off. My heart sank even deeper into my chest, wondering how that was even possible. Not only did I lose Beloric, but now I failed to save a good orc, one that I come to call a friend. If it weren't for him, I don't know if I'd still be alive myself.
The sound of battle still filled the air. Despair finally fully takes hold over me, and the pain and exhaustion both physically and emotionally finally do me in. My head falls onto the dirt of the cave floor, and a deep feeling of hopelessness begins to take me. Everything went dark.










