Breath of the Immortal
A story of Lies, Lust, Manipulation, and Deceit
Chapter 18
“What should we do with her?” Syeira asked Didier when they were far enough away from the estate and deep in the glen.
“I don’t care what you do with her. Kill her if you wish! I have no need for her!” Didier exclaimed, shoving Patia down onto the ground.
“With pleasure!” Syeira grinned, pulling a dagger from her belt. “Should I stab her through the heart or slit her throat?” Didier’s back was turned, his mind on other things. “My Lord, how shall I kill her?” Syeira asked again, bringing his attention back to her.
Didier looked down at Patia and grabbed the knife from Syeira’s hand. “Tie her up against the tree and leave me to her demise,” he changed his mind.
“But I wanted to kill her!” Syeira protested like a child.
“Do it, or you will not see the light of tomorrow’s dawn!” he demanded.
Syeira obeyed and took a very weak Patia over to a nearby oak tree, pulling her arms back and tying them together. Because Patia was so small in stature, her arms could not be fully wrapped backwards around the tree without pulling them out of their sockets at the shoulders, so Syeira made sure the rope was tight enough but not too tight, lest she free herself. Once the chore was complete, she looked up at Didier, who kissed her waiting lips and dismissed her, telling her to go back to the estate and wait for him there, where he would be ready to rid himself of his soul once and for all.
“Now my dear, your dearest Lel will come for you and when he does, you will watch him die!” Didier smiled.
“Why do you want to kill him?” she asked innocently.
“Why? My dear that boy has been the bane of my eternal existence since before your time! And now I finally have the power and means to destroy him!” he laughed aloud.
“What did he do to you?” she asked, pressing the conversation further.
“He never listened to orders, he was disrespectful, and he took the one thing I thought I would have forever!”
“A woman?” she asked.
“No, my love of the sea!” He lifted her chin up with one finger before continuing. “But you my dear will be the perfect bait to give him his just reward for making my life not only last for all eternity but becoming an eternity in hell!”
“What will you do with me once he is dead?” she asked, gulping from fear.
“I shall set you free. I have no use for you once he’s gone. Are you not the least bit concerned, moncherrie that he will die?”
“No,” she said flatly.
“You do not care for him?”
“I cared for a man once but it is not Lel.”
“Then I guess I was wrong in thinking you would make his death more dramatic than it really will be,” he mused.
“Maybe you should have captured my sister instead. I’m sure she would have given you the dramatic encore you would have liked!”
“Your sister? I knew there was something familiar about your face!”
“My sister is in love with Lel even if she may deny it through and through!” Patia spat, angrily.
“Hmm,” Didier mused, “perhaps you will be more useful than I thought!”
* * * * *
“Damn you, Didier!” Lel shouted as he cut violently through the underbrush, racing against time to find Patia and get her safely back to the village unharmed. He needed her alive and well, not only to redeem himself in the eyes of the clan, but also to redeem himself in the eyes of Tiana as well. He was not going to allow centuries of bad blood between him and Didier, as well as Didier’s lies and manipulation, to punish him now.
Then it occurred to him- the only way he could survive this was with Syeira’s help. She had given him the ability to live as long as he had, even if she had taken his memory as a token. What he needed to do was destroy Didier and make sure Syeira remained alive, otherwise he would die as well and all his efforts would be defeated.
Something caught his eye in the clearing up ahead and his thoughts were snapped back to reality. He couldn’t quite make out what it was but there was definitely movement. Whatever it was, he did not want to scare it off, especially if it was a person who might have some clue as to the whereabouts of Didier. Dawn had not yet risen, so the light of the moon was all he had to go by. Creeping slowly through the underbrush, trying not to make a sound, he made his way to the clearing. That’s when he saw her. Patia was tied to a tree, blood dripping from her neck.
“Where is he?!” he demanded, reaching around her and the tree to untie her. She was too weak to even lift her head to respond. He caught her body as it fell from her own weight.
“Looking for me, Lel?” a dark, sinister voice bellowed behind him.
Carefully laying Patia’s body down on the ground, Lel turned around to face Didier, this time as the full creature he had so long tried to destroy. His eyes glowed red and his teeth flashed white by the light of the moon. Lel hardly recognized him as the man he used to consider a brother on the ship, but he knew that this creature had to be killed, lest it killed him first. It had already attacked most of the French countryside, as well as gotten to Tiana and Syeira. From the look of the wound on Patia’s neck, it had gotten to her as well, and there was no way Lel would stand down to a creature that attacked those he cared for.
Lel drew his sword, but Didier was too quick for him to react, and he was on him in an instant. Instead of fighting back against Didier, Lel was forced to defend himself against the beast’s quick jaws, which were ready to rip him apart before he could blink. His blade was flung from his hand and all he had to shield himself were his own arms, which were already being ripped and bitten by the beast. He was able to get his legs up enough to kick out, causing Didier to fly backwards, but no sooner had Lel regained his sword, Didier was upon him again, lashing out with blood-stained teeth. Lel cried out in pain as Didier bit hard on the arm that shielded his face.
Through gritted teeth, Didier spoke angrily at him. “This is what you get for not following orders, for getting in my way of having what I want, and for meddling in my affairs!”
Lel grabbed at the ground, trying desperately to find his sword, but had to shield his face again from the beast’s teeth. Again, Didier bore down on his arm, causing more pain and more blood to spill from the open wounds. When Didier had mercilessly finished with him, he was weak, bleeding, and could barely open his eyes from the pain. He had no idea if Didier had taken Patia with him or whether or not she was still alive. Lel closed his eyes one last time before falling out of consciousness.
* * * * *
“Syeira, where are you?!” Didier bellowed through the hall of his estate. He had been able to rid himself of Lel once and for all and make it to the estate before dawn, which in his mind was a successful night. Unfortunately for him, he had sent Syeira away and a gypsy with that much power left to her own devices could get her into trouble. He called out through the entranceway again, his voice echoing through the parlor room and the great hall.
“She’s a little preoccupied at the moment, Didier!” Tiana said, entering the hallway outside the parlor room. Didier scarcely recognized her, because her skirt was torn shorter than its normal length and her tunic shirt slouched slightly, exposing one bare shoulder. Her hair was tousled and did not gleam in the light of the candles that lit the room.
“You really think your ropes can hold me?” Syeira exclaimed from behind her, causing her to turn around and come face to face with a heavy book that sent her stumbling backwards.
Tiana lunged for Syeira’s throat with her bare hands, attempting to strangle her, but Syeira dropped the book, grabbed her near the shoulders and pushed her to one side, causing Tiana to fall forward and hit her head against the wall. Didier decided it best not to interfere with their quarrel. In fact, he rather enjoyed watching them fight each other. Either way, he’d come out the victor! But when Tiana shoved Syeira into a corner table and a vase came careening down onto the floor, Didier decided it was best to take this quarrel elsewhere.
“Syeira stop this!” he said. At once, and to Tiana’s amazement, Syeira obeyed, and decided against shoving Tiana back. “You both are going to turn my home into rubble if you keep this up. Now, what is the meaning of this?!” he demanded both of them.
Syeira spoke first. “She’s not real, Didier! Her body fades just as easily as the sun on a cloudy day! And what she needs to remain whole and mortal she’ll never get because I will never give up the book!”
“Please Didier,” Tiana begged. “Syeira has nothing to offer you but a life of torment and grief. Please, help me.”
“You don’t deserve to live!” Syeira chimed in, ignoring her cry for help. “You are weak. You are incapable of handling the power that this book holds!” she screamed, holding the book high above her head.
Didier nonchalantly plucked the book out of her hand, leaving her with a surprised look on her face. “You do nothing but torment for pleasure! If you are going to take my soul than do it and do it now!” he demanded, throwing the book at her feet.
“Take your soul?” Tiana asked, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. “If she takes your soul, I cease to exist! You let me drink from you! You are a part of me! If your soul leaves you, than I die as well!”
“Better to be dead than living for all eternity in hell, moncherrie! Besides, if you die you’ll just be joining Lel there anyway!” he smiled.
“What did you do to him?” she demanded.
“He is in the hands of another power now I’m afraid!” he mused.
“You killed him!” she gasped.
A scraping sound turned all of their attention to the door, which was left open enough for a small beam of morning light to shine onto the floor. Didier stepped back into the shadows as the door was pushed open and a body dropped to the floor, weak and exhausted. To Didier’s surprise, it was Syeira who ran to Lel to tend to him and not Tiana. This gave Tiana the opportunity to grab the book and find the one chant she was looking for.
“Give back what you have stolen, give back what you replaced; it is time to give back what you have taken from this time and space. What you have done to others will now come undone; it is now time to reap the power of one. From me to you and you to me; the power of one we shall be. Let everything you stand for, disappear as these words are true; and let the power of one stand anew! Two become one, and your spirit is free; from me to you, you to me, so mote it be!” she shouted out loud.
Syeira stood up and looked at Tiana with wide eyes as her body started to glow around her. “You used the wrong spell, my dear!” she laughed. Her body began to fade in the doorway until she was almost translucent. Didier could do nothing to stop what had already begun, but he knew already what was going to happen (the ball that once hovered over Tiana’s deathbed gave him a substantial clue). Syeira continued to laugh as her body turned to a cloud mist and rushed across the room to Tiana’s body. Into her ears, her nose, her mouth, her chest, the cloud mist entered, causing her whole body to convulse on impact. Tiana hadn’t counted on this happening. All she wanted to do was get rid of Syeira, not bring her into herself!
Tiana slumped to her knees on the hard wood floor, the light from the doorway casting a shadow over her face. When her body stopped shaking, she looked up at Didier with new eyes. He smiled at her from the shadows of the other side of the room, but her eyes quickly left him and drifted over to where Lel’s body still lay in the doorway. She rushed over to him, book still in hand, and turned him over onto his back so that she could talk to him.
“The book,” he breathed. “Syeira gave me immortality and now Didier takes it away.”
“What would you have me do?” she asked him, brushing the hair away from his face.
“Find the curse of immortality.”
Didier’s hand on her shoulder caused her to look up. “You don’t want to do that, do you?” he questioned.
“Lel needs me,” she sighed.
“Just remember who you would save with that book,” he mused. “A man who has betrayed your trust and lain with your sister after you were pronounced dead or a man who has saved your from the hands of death many times over.”
She looked down at the book in her lap and pondered his words as he continued. “Your sister lies on the brink of death by the very hands that you wish to cure. My blood was enough to cure you and it is enough to cure her as well, but if you save Lel he would very well betray you again.”
Lel took all of his strength to grab her hand with his. “Please Tiana. He speaks ill of me for his own selfish reasons.”
Tiana looked up at Didier, down at the book, over at Lel and back to the book again, before getting up. She knew there were consequences of using the book, as she now still felt the tingling sensation of Syeira’s power inside her. If something went wrong, she could lose them both. But if something went right, one of them would die. She didn’t know whether or not Syeira’s powers were enough to keep her alive if Didier lost his soul. But she also didn’t know if she had gained enough of her powers to keep Lel alive. Her sister was more important to her than the heart and love of either of these men, yet she felt compelled to love them both. She closed her eyes, gripped the book against her chest, and let fate take its course.