Chapter 29: Here & There & Back Here Again
Ladarsa walked over and stood above Sam, taunting him as he laid there in a pool of his own blood, mixing with the water on the ground from the rain.
"Who’s pathetic now?" the elf cried out happily, then bent down to look at Sam face-to-face. "WHO’S PATHETIC NOW?!"
"Still you!" Sam retorted, grinning weakly. "Still you! Still you! Still-" His words were cut off by a gurgling croak as blood pooled in his mouth, rising up from his stomach and through his throat.
Ladarsa smiled and held a hand to his ear as if trying to hear something far away. "What was that? I didn’t catch that! Say it again!"
The elf dropped his sword, straddled Sam’s chest, and began punching him in the face with both hands, one fist and then the other, over and over again, as Sam lay there choking on his own blood.
"Say it again! Say it again! HAHAHAHAAAAAA! Say it again, Sam!" Ladarsa cried out in a manic sense of joy as he continued the assault.
I have to do something... Sam screamed in his mind. He’s gonna kill me!
He tried to grasp onto any remaining Mana, but it was draining away quickly... He felt himself fading... Drifting into darkness...
"It’s a shame you won’t live to see what I do to your little girlfriends!" Ladarsa said as he stopped punching and looked down at Sam’s swollen, broken, bloody face. "Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to hurt them so badly that their screams of despair will reach you even in the Netherworld! Hahahaaaa!"
"No you won’t..." Sam choked out, suddenly feeling himself move back towards the light. "I won’t let you touch them!"
Ladarsa just laughed hysterically. Sam felt an intense inferno boiling up inside his Power Core, fueled by a desperate desire to keep his women safe. Mana was now flooding from his stomach, up his throat...
"Hahahahaha - AAAAARRRGGHHHH!!" The elf’s laughter was cut short as Sam unleashed a blast of emerald flames from his mouth, right at Ladarsa’s face.
The elf stumbled backwards, anguished shrieks ripping free from his lips as the fire engulfed his entire head. Sam mustered enough energy to rise to his feet, firing out subsequent blasts from his mouth to refuel the inferno before the rain could extinguish it.
Ladarsa turned and tried to run away, but Sam staggered after him, one hand clutching his stomach wound, the other hand flinging green fireballs in addition to repeated blasts from his mouth. The elf finally dropped to his knees, his entire body ablaze, his clothing turning to ash, his skin melting, his screams conveying the unbearable, excruciating agony he was experiencing.
Sam held out a hand, summoning his green katana back into his grasp. Then with a swift, silent strike, he decapitated Ladarsa. The elf’s cries immediately halted as his head smacked down on the wet ground and rolled a few feet away. His body slumped forward, and then the rain finally snuffed out the flames.
Sam took a few steps back, staring weakly at his fallen opponent. He dematerialized his blade and then collapsed onto the ground, looking up at the stormy sky above him.
At least I can die knowing they are safe... he thought to himself. Callie... Zules... I love you both so much... Sorry to leave you...
Samreon Qhousalar closed his eyes, and then with a final exhale, succumbed to his injuries...
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Koga and the others were eating dinner at Timmony’s Tavern. It was a busy night, many patrons sitting at different tables, upbeat chatter ringing out. Goblets of mead and platters of hot food aplenty, a house band set up on a small corner stage, playing a lively melody on lutes, drums, hurdy gurdies, and flutes.
"The grub here is so good!" Marmalade said through a mouthful of food as he tore into the huge turkey drumstick in one hand, followed quickly by a big spoonful of mashed potatoes from the other hand.
"Don’t choke, now!" Mallowa said with a grin, shaking her head.
"He’s not wrong, though!" Konnis added as he shoved a piece of juicy steak in his mouth. "This is delicious!"
"I agree!" said Deanna, devouring a bowl of stew.
Mephista looked at Deanna and laughed. "You eat like a man!"
Deanna stopped and looked at the devilgirl for a second, her mouth still full of food. Then she just shrugged and resumed pigging out, which caused Mephista to laugh louder.
Calista shook her head and grinned, then turned and looked out the window next to their table. It had just started raining outside. "I hope Sam’s okay."
"He’ll be fine!" Lazula waved off her worries.
"That’s weird," Calista said, still looking out the window. The others followed her gaze to see a woman in a fancy green dress running towards the tavern as fast as she could. She stormed in through the front doors, drenched from the rain.
"Does anyone in here know Samreon Qhousalar?" she yelled out over the crowd, urgency in her voice. That immediately alarmed Koga and the others.
"We do!" Calista was the first to respond. She jumped up and ran over to the woman. "We know Samreon! Is there a problem? Who are you?"
"My name is Gabrielle. I was with Sam at the Ball when Ladarsa and a group of Kyuubikuza pirates showed up!" she revealed. "I overheard Ladarsa saying they’d observed you at this tavern, and was hoping you’d still be here. Sam probably needs back up! He’s at the Mayor’s Palace fighting Ladarsa and the men right now!"
"Shit, if he has Kyuubikuza men with him, that means Ladarsa got his father’s blessing for the attack," Koga said with an angry growl. "Let’s go!"
As they ran to the Palace, Gabbie explained everything that had happened, including the mention of Maeve and Sam being a potential Unseelie Knight. In turn, they explained everything from their end.
The storm was getting worse as they got closer to the Palace, the fleeing party guests rushing past them. They pressed forward, running into the courtyard and sliding to a stop as they saw a burnt, decapitated body laying on the grass. And then, a few feet away, they saw him...
"Sam!" Calista shrieked out, running over and dropping to her knees next to him. She pulled him onto her lap and summoned her orange healing orbs, desperately trying to repair the wound through his abdomen. It had no effect. "No no no no noooo! Sam! Wake up! WAKE UP!"
"Oh no..." Lazula said in despair as she stood there watching, tears joining the rain on her wet face.
"Sam! Don’t leave us! Sam! NOOOO!!!" Calista buried her face in his chest and wept harder than she’d ever wept in her life. Lazula dropped to her knees too, wrapping an arm around Calista, and began weeping herself.
The others stood there and watched, everyone’s hearts breaking. Calista’s healing wasn’t working... Samreon Qhousalar was indeed dead, beyond saving, gone from the world of the living, laying lifeless before the women he had loved so dearly...