Fan Fiction ❯ Trancending Death ❯ Condemned to Death ( Chapter 27 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Aurora and Shadow both hurried though the main gates of Alex’s castle. They were both in such a hurry that they didn’t have to time react when a figure suddenly stepped out in front of them.
“Whoa!” Kiba exclaimed as he tried to avoid the two young demons.
Despite his efforts, both of them collided with Kiba full force. The would have almost succeeded in toppling him over, but at the last second they both grabbed hold of Kiba’s flailing arms and stopped his sudden fall.
“Sorry about that,” Shadow muttered.
“It’s okay lad,” Kiba replied. He looked into the eyes of both the demons. He seemed to be able to sense something in their disposition and knew that something was wrong. “Now, tell me what’s got you two in such a hurry. Don’t tell me you’ve seen dead men too.”
“No, not dead men, but you’re not too far off,” Aurora remarked. “We saw a dead girl, or at least I think she’s dead.”
Kiba seemed to understand the meaning behind Aurora’s words. He looked at the demons with more curiosity now and seemed more intrigued by what they had seen. “ Are you saying you’ve seen the lass again?”
Aurora nodded slowly in response to his question. She looked towards Shadow to see if he would offer anything concerning what had just happened to them. However, when she looked at him, she realized that he was deep in thought, his mind a hundred miles away from where they were.
What could he be thinking about at a time like this? I guess he could still be thinking about that fact that he is going to be a father. What a Hell of a way to find out that you’re going to be a parent. I know Shadow really doesn’t like the idea of fighting against Alex. Doing so would be like committing suicide. Still, the fact remains that if we don’t stop him, then not only will we lose our lives, but the lives of our unborn children as well. Shadow’s torn between betraying his friend or losing his family. There really is no easy answer for this one.
Aurora realized that Kiba was still waiting for her to explaining to him what had happened. Aurora glanced once more at Shadow, who seemed to be paying a little more attention to what was going on. Still, his jaw was locked and his eyes were set in determination. Aurora sighed and looked at Kiba.
“We saw Brittany again. She told us that we had to stop Alex. She said that Alex’s heart is slowly giving way to the darkness. His heart and soul are being torn apart. It’s like there are two different sides to him. A light side and a dark side. The dark sides winning, so his soul is being torn apart. Since Alex’s heart is some how connected with the heart of this realm, whatever happens to his heart must affect this realm as well. Which means if his heart falls to darkness, Alex, the all we know, will cease to exist. That means the heart of this world will turn to darkness and then this realm will too, cease to exist.”
Aurora was unsure of how Kiba took this news. His face was a cold mask, and for a split second Aurora shivered slightly beneath his gaze. Finally, Kiba’s cold gaze broke into morbid sadness.
“This is what his path has led him to. He will seek out his own destruction, and in his search for this, he will bring destruction and ruin upon all he swore to protect,” Kiba said softly. Everyone was quiet, unsure of what to say. It was as if the grim finality of what was occurring, had enveloped all of them. They each knew that regardless of what they did, the end result would probably be the same. At the same time they didn’t want to think that such a grim future would be possible either.
“What do you intend to do lass?”
“I’m not sure,” Aurora replied. She looked over once more towards Shadow, who this time nodded and turned to Kiba.
“Earlier, you had said something about us seeing dead men. What did you mean by that?” Shadow asked.
Both Aurora and Kiba looked surprised by Shadow’s sudden question. Kiba recovered from his shock and quickly answered Shadow’s question.
“A little while before you came barging in, I had a visit from some unexpected visitors,” Kiba stated. He saw the questioning glances from both Shadow and Aurora, and thus continued his story. “Baou, Yaza, and Scriar came to me. Evidently they have seen Alex. That is why I wasn’t shocked when you had informed me of the darkness that is consuming Alex. The darkness you speak of, is the being known as Razriel who is slowly corrupting Alex’s soul. Alex is unable to deal with the truth of what he is doing. Thus, he is once again becoming the heartless being known as Razriel. He is going to the Central Realm to kill the humans that live there.”
“What are Baou the others going to do?” Shadow asked. It was apparent that both him and Aurora were shocked that Alex was going straight to the Central Realm.
Kiba sighed and looked away from the two demons. He shook his head sadly and looked out the window towards the afternoon sky. “They are going to try and stop him. They are going to set the armies of the eastern realm against him. They are going to try and keep him from doing anything that could spark a war within the realm.”
“Then that is where we need to be,” Shadow said. He looked at Aurora and explained. “I’m not sure whether or not I am willing to fight him, but I can’t stand by and do nothing.”


Baou watched as the others departed. The two elves who had been with Rire had decided to travel with Yaza and Scriar, to speak on the behalf of the elves in regards to what Raion would do. That left Rire and Baou to travel alone to the Central Realm. Baou flexed his wings and turned to Rire.
“Try not to slow me down,” Baou remarked.
“If you’re thinking of flying you are a fool. If Alex spots you trailing him, who knows what in the Hell he would do,” Rire replied. Baou looked pissed at what Rire had said, but at the same time acknowledged the fact that he was right by lowering his wings. Rire then smirked as he threw back the folds of his cloak. Baou was surprised to see him wearing a dark brown vest, brown long sleeve shirt, brown pants, and a brown boots. He instantly realized that the clothes were made of a very durable material made for fighting and mobility. Rire quickly removed his cloak completely, revealing his bow, dagger, and quiver full of arrows. He then folded his cloak and put it into a back pouch. He looked up confidently at Baou and continued. “As for keeping up, do not forget that I too am a trained assassin and an elf. These woods are my domain.”
Baou smirked and nodded, surprised by Rire’s actions, yet also pleased. “Well then, let’s go.”
With swiftness that neither one could imagine, the two warriors easily began to make their way through the forest.
“Alex has a good two hour lead on us. So don’t worry about moving silently. For now we just need to cover as much distance as possible in a short amount of time,” Baou stated as they began to run through the forest.
“How do you intend to catch up to him? We are fast, but if he uses the power of his crystals we’ll never be able to catch up to him.”
“He won’t use them,” Baou confidently stated. He launched himself off of a tree branch and deeper into the forest, Rire was running right behind him as he asked.
“What makes you so sure about that? Why wouldn’t he want to use them? If he wanted to get their so quickly he could use the crystal of speed and be there by now!” Rire responded.
Baou looked back at rire, thinking about what Rire had just stated. Finally he shook his head and continued. “No, if he uses the power of the crystals he runs the risk of someone sensing who he is. That’s something he wouldn’t do.”
“What do you mean? He doesn’t want people to know who he is, but he goes out and kills a group of assassins. Why doesn’t he want his identity to be known?”
“Would you, if you were connected to the slaughter of a hundred humans? When I saw him, at first I didn’t even know it was him. Even now I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t saw that girl’s necklace dangling from his neck. His face was covered, and he didn’t tell me who he was. He had claimed to be an assassin. Nor did he try to use any of his demonic power when he fought us. He used only as much as was necessary. I think he wants to keep his identity a secret so that if he succeeds with brining the girl back, he won’t have to worry about being hunted for his actions. So if he was planning to use the power of the crystals, there would be no point in keeping his identity a secret.”
“So, you recognizing him was something he had hoped to avoid,” Rire said slowly.
“Yeah, my recognizing him is going to cause some trouble. I hope that I won’t cause him too much trouble, but at the same time I don’t have a choice. If I can succeed in talking him out of this before he kills any innocent people, then it will be better for everyone. I just hope I can talk some sense into him before Raion decides to attack.”
“What makes you think he wants you to stop him?”
“He doesn’t! No one would want to be stopped if they could bring back someone that they’ve lost. It’s the way that he’s going about it though, that’s forcing me to take actions.”
“Razriel, Alex, has always been a very rational person. Not to mention a very stubborn one at that. When it came to anything concerning that girl, he was like a man possessed. What will happen if you cannot his steadfast convictions? What will you do then if you cannot change his mind? Will you regroup with your troops and proceed to try and stop him by brute force, or will you let him continue his massacre of humans until either he succeeds in bringing his love back, or wipes out all the humans?”
Baou stopped dead in his tracks and turned toward Rire who had also halted. “Do you think I enjoy what I am doing? Hell, if it would make everything go back to the way things were, I’d gladly let him kill all the damn humans he wants to! The fact of the matter is, is that he might not bring her back by sacrificing human lives. Kiba told me that there’s a good chance if Alex can’t bring her back with human sacrifices, he might try using demons, maybe even elves as sacrifices. It is for that reason that I cannot let him do this. I cannot let him become a monster like Zanatos. I cannot let this realm fall to darkness once more. Still, just as I cannot let him do this, I cannot fight my friend. In answer to your question, if I cannot talk Alex out of this, then I will not return at all.”
Rire nodded at Baou’s words. “This is the third time I’ve been proven wrong by a demon. The second that I’ve seen a demon show compassion and actual emotions. So, you’re going to talk to him, knowing that he might kill you if you do?”
Baou sighed and nodded. “I’ll die if I fight him, at least this way there’s a chance for redemption. Now that you know all of this, you can turn back if you want to.”
Rire chuckled and looked ahead, past where Baou was standing. “All good things must come to and end. I have lived a long life and had but one regret. That regret was to never find a love like people such as Kiba or Alex had found. A love worth fighting for, a love worth dying for. I like you, could never fight Alex. Not just for the simple fact that it would be pointless, but because I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s feeling now. If he has become Razriel again, I know he will still feel love for this girl. It is that love that made him become Razriel once more. A love that strong, is something that no physical force can overcome. So in other words, you’re not going to get rid of me that easily. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I want to talk Alex out of this. Still, I shall try. If we don’t succeed in doing so, then we’ll die trying.”



Author's Note: Okay, I had something really good that I was going to say...but now I lost it. So, I'll just ramble for a little bit. Well, X-3 is coming out tomorrow, yay! Oh yeah, anyone know what 2 times Rire was proven wrong by a demon? Review and let me know what you think. I'm interested to see if any of you actually paid attention in the first book ; ). Well, I've gotta run. Take care, hope you liked the update.

P.S. PLEASE REVIEW!!! Ahem...thank you.