The Sacrifice

"You can go." I could have, if I was selfish enough. Dan and Mike both looked at me. They knew me well enough to know what my answer would be. So, we attacked her. I threw bombs at her, but she was faster than me. She created a defensive shield with her vines. Mike threw a dagger at her, slightly cutting her cheek. She stared at him in disbelief. Then Dan threw a grenade at the water in front of her. The grenade exploded, creating a huge fountain of dirty swamp water. The queen was nowhere in sight. Things went according to plan. We ran to the portal - the one on the trunk. All of a sudden, Mike screamed. A root had pierced through his right shoulder blade. "Go", I told Dan. "No, I won't leave you", he retorted. "The Black Thorns need a leader. Don't worry, we'll be right behind you", and I casually pushed him through the portal. The portal closed almost immediately.

I went to help Mike and carefully pulled out the root. He screamed in pain. I tore a part of my clothing and wrapped his shoulder with it. I helped him up, and we stood in silence, listening. Then we heard the slithering of the roots and jumped out of the way. Despite the injury, Mike was holding his own in the fight. He even came up with an idea to defeat the demon and get home. The queen attacked again. We split up and, unsurprisingly, most of the focus was on him. I grabbed my chance and circled around the demon. She was unaware of the string I was quickly wrapping around her. The string was thinner than thread and had been soaked in flammable substance. I lit up the end of the string, and shot an arrow through the demon's arm. The arrow pinned her to the tree, and she burst into flames. Mike and I hurriedly climbed our way to the top of the dead-looking tree, glancing every now and then to the burning creature. We were at the top when I saw the vine coming towards us. I instinctively pushed Mike to the portal, and was knocked off the tree by the swinging vine. I fell to the dark muddy water on my back. I've lost count of the times I've broken it. I made a short sad chuckle. How ironic it was for me - someone who was keen on isolating myself so I wouldn't have to care about anybody but myself. I stared at the closing portal above. I saved them. I saved the ones I love. But now, I'm trapped in this unknown world without any certainty of seeing them again. There must be another way out. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my options. I could go back to Satyro and head out after I recover. I could try to find another portal. But, I couldn't even move, let alone travel back to that demon village.

"You are a fool." My eyes snapped open, and I saw the queen standing beside me. "I gave you a chance but you threw it away. You must think you've saved them, but portals are unstable. There's no guarantee they've been transported to the right time." I shot her a confused look. "You knew all along that the portals will close after one uses them. So why? Why sacrifice yourself?" she asked earnestly. "Because they are my friends and I love them." The queen laughed, "Love? I wonder if they will still love you when you meet again? If, you meet again." I started coughing and saw blood on my hand. "I've lived for thousands of years and you are the first I've met who was willing to die for others. Of course, you've always been interesting - showing sympathy and even shedding tears for my kind." How did she know that? "Nonetheless, you were still very foolish. It was great though, that display of bravery. This is the last time we meet. Goodbye." She stabbed me in the chest, and I felt her thorns piercing my heart.