[Bonus chapter]A Final Breath

Horror filled the faces of the villagers as the air around them turned heavy and thin. To them everything turned black, inaudible whispers could be heard echoing around them as the ground below them started to rumble and slowly crack.

"AHHH I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE," amongst the crowd, a villager with short green hair, and purple flowers plastered all around his body hesitantly stood up and yelled at her. His legs were shaking, and his arms were flailing uncontrollably as he yelled. "I AM NOT GOING TO LET YOU CONTROL ME," he said as he pushed his way through the crowd attempting to escape her grasp. He kept running, as fast as he could, trying his best to overcome his fear. Eventually reaching the other-side of the village, he turned around to see how far he had gotten, but when he turned around all he saw was his fellow villagers being massacred by her.

Vines and roots impaled the bodies of every villager, causing them to shake and spaz against their will as their life force was being ripped away from them. He couldn't hear screams. He couldn't hear cries for help. He couldn't hear anything. But what stood out the most, was the smile on her face as she collected more and more life force, widening more and more as she seemed to get stronger and stronger. All he could do was watch, and the thought of him being next flooded his mind, suffocating him over his own fear. He collapses to the ground, hyperventilating and struggling to grasp for air, he tries to think of his children, his wife and his friends, but they were pushed away and broken by the image of her smile as his heart stops.

All the vines quickly retract from all the lifeless villagers, each carrying a red orb, varying in size depending on the age and health of the people it was stolen from. Over 200 orbs are handed over to her, she looks at this in extreme excitement, drool seeps out of her mouth and she reaches for the pile of orbs, she grabs a couple handfuls and swiftly puts them in her mouth. As soon as she broke each orb in her mouth, she began to glow red again, this time brighter, so much brighter that she was drowning under the light, the sky above turned crimson red almost as if she herself became a third sun.

The pressure she created from the immense amounts of magic coming off her blew the village apart, shredding anything and everything that was close to her, but the red orbs containing the life force of all the villagers didn't get blown away, in fact it was almost as if the orbs where slowly moving closer to her as the light she emitted started to dim. Suddenly she stopped glowing, she instantly collapsed to the ground whilst having incredibly powerful palpitations.

"Hahaha, HAHAHAH, I want more. I NEED MORE," she yelled as the power surged through her made her feel like she was the strongest in the world, it comforted her. She crawled towards the pile of orbs and reached for more, but right as she was about to grab them, she stopped herself against her own will. Her pupils shrank and a quick yet terrifying scream filled her head.

"STOP," she tried to ignore the scream and reached for more anyways, desperate to feel the same ecstasy she felt.

"NOO," the scream grew louder and her head was suddenly struck with an unfathomable pain.

"Tsk, I thought I got rid of you," she said to herself as she smacked her own head twice. She stood up and looked at the red orbs raged by her inability to consume them. She swiftly turned away from the orbs and looked around her without knowing why. The once flourishing and beautiful village had been demolished, not one building or house still stood with only the sound of the waterfall making it slightly recognisable. The one thriving villagers, turned into mere dust within minutes. A slight pain filled her heart, but grew the more she looked around. She fell to her knees and grabbed her head with both hands.

"UGH, YOU'RE SO ANNOYING," she yelled at the top of her lungs as the sensation of a new pain caused her to bang her head against the ground. She went to bang her head against the floor one last time quickly realising it wasn't helping her, but was desperate to get rid of it, though right as she was about to hit her head she quickly stopped. She sensed something, something powerful. The anticipation quickly brought her to her feet as she looked into the direction where she sensed the power.

The sky almost instantly darkened and small sparks could be seen being formed above the forest, the sparks grew and grew and not even a second later a power lightning struck down through the forest. The magical pressure that the lightning emitted was something she had only felt on very particular occasions. Hysteria instantly filled her, overpowering the pain she felt before, causing somewhat of a hysterical smile to appear on her face. She went and picked up a handful of life force orbs and stored them for when she may have needed them.

"It's time for my next meal," she said as she licked her lips and made her way towards where the lightning had struck.

[OLIVERS PERSPECTIVE]

She is going to die.

But I won't let that happen.

There must be something I can do.

"You are back human," I heard Tyrus's voice echo, like it was bouncing off the trees. His voice had changed, he used to sound intelligent, with elegance hidden in the back, but now he sounded dead. His voice sounded scratchy and much lower pitched, every bit of elegance turned sour so much so it was ear piercing. Though he didn't sound aggressive, did he calm down? Or was he more cautious?

"You look different Human, it doesn't suit you."

"It's your fault I'm like this you bastard, stop hiding you coward," though I was angered by the pain he caused Venus, I was more than ever terrified to face him, he was a General, and a General of the Ogres at that. Even though I was caught off guard last time I wasn't sure I had any chance at beating him.

"Are you sure you want to face me, human? The Lightning Angel is dying."

"Like you care she's dying, you would have killed her if I wasn't here." I yelled as my breath shuddered, angered and confused by what he was trying to do.

"You're wrong human, of course I care whether she lives or dies," his voice appeared to be getting closer and closer, "If she dies, then Belias would have to wait another decade, and I can't have Belias blaming me for his boredom now can I." I swiftly looked behind me to see Tyrus standing next to a half burnt tree. Though his voice was noticeably different, everything else seemed the same, his horns completely healed, he no longer had black skin and his insane/hysteric demeanor changed to one of intelligence.

Venus let out a feeble cough and gurgled as the blood slowly filled her lungs. I looked down to Venus, desperately clinging on to dear life, and vainly wiped off the coughed up blood from the side of her mouth. Through the grinding of my teeth, I still heard him build up the audacity to speak again.

"Now if you excuse me, I must leave, there is something approaching which I myself don't want to deal with at the moment. But the next time we meet, you will face me, and the Lightning Angel will have the honors of facing Belias.

"WAIT," I said as Tyrus turned around getting ready to leave.

"IF YOU WANT HER TO SURVIVE THEN WHY DON'T YOU HEAL HER?" I yelled in desperation as Tyrus continued to walk away.

"Well, that would ruin the fun wouldn't it." He said as he gave a slight grin, and disappeared behind a tree.

"TYRUUUUUUUUUUS, I SWEAR THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU, I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU," I screeched as tears ran down my face.

I turned to Venus again and quickly lost hope.

I couldn't save Venus.

I looked back to see the roots that were still connected to me, I hesitantly grabbed one of the roots on my back and pulled it with the little strength I had left, feeling every little movement as the root dislodged from me. AHHHHHHH,"I let out an ear-piercing scream as I yanked the root from my back, almost as if severing a limb. I felt a sudden surge of agony, as if pulling out a knife, leaving a hole where the root was once connected.

The pain quickly faded as the other roots attached started healing my wound but not even seconds later, the root in my hand turned into ash, losing life almost instantly, rendering my one idea useless.

I barely felt the sharp rocks and thorns as I crashed to the floor, with ideas of how to save Venus racing in my thoughts, and her body in my arms, unmoving,

"Oh Venus, why did you have to fight him, we could have just ran away together, leaving this place behind," I took a second to pause and clear my throat.

"We had a mission to complete, SO WHY, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO FIGHT HIM." I yelled, though knowing her morals would never have allowed her to do so. My eyes reddened as tears rained down on her face while I stroked her silky hair.

"Oh Master, please don't cry, this isn't like you," she said as she languorously lifted her hand to touch my face. "I had to fight him, it is my duty to protect my master, even if it means killing myself in the process."

"BUT WHY ME, THERE IS NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT ME. I'M JUST THIS- FAT KID FROM ANOTHER WORLD VENUS, I DON'T EVEN BELONG HERE, I SHOULDN'T BE HERE, AND YOU SHOULDN'T BE DYING FOR ME!" My heart fell, and soon my entire body as I saw Venus' feathers slowly fall off her wings, her arms got weaker and weaker, and it took all of her strength to keep them up. Though I knew, I knew what was going to happen, I felt comforted, I didn't feel alone, the warmth of her hand made me believe that I belonged to this world. Seeing the strain in her hands I grabbed them, but selfishly kept her hand on my face. I wanted to feel her warmth one last time.

"You belong here Master, from the moment I saw you I knew there was something special about you," Her grip on my face loosened, she slowly lost sensation in her hand, but continued to speak as though nothing was happening "You may not understand. But all the memories I created with you, were the best memories I could ask for. You may have released me from my seal, but I follow you for who you are." Venus said as she smiled and closed her eyes causing tears to escape from under her eyelids.

"Don't cry for me,"

"I am not worth it." She meekly let out.

"You say you are not from this world, but I get the feeling you feel more alive here, than you did from wherever you came from. Don't let me ruin your freedom, be free" Venus said as her hand slipped off my face and collapsed to the ground, she smiled at me one last time.

And under her last breath, "Thank you, Oliver."