Malik&Joan2

"Where are the reinforcements? Ira, take the injured and go. Damn it, where are the knights?" cried Professor Dyna.

Joan still lay unconscious as the fight continued. Every man and woman, boy and girl fit to fight, held their ground.

"Ira! It's Joan, she won't wake up," cried Malik, holding Joan's head in his lap.

Professor Ira Lugh rushed towards them after recovering some of the fallen.

"I've got her, Malik. Go, they need you," advised Ira, taking Joan from Malik and attempting to heal her.

"She is not opening her eyes," said Malik with a tear dropping from his right eye.

"Go! I've got her."

Malik ran back towards the battle, his suit crawling back, covering his skin. He rode his vines towards the demon, angered and grieving. Zeke Larken, the descendant of Earth, fired a bunch of sharp and speeding leaves towards the demon to distract her.

"Flash her, Eden," Zeke told the Light descendant.

Kreya had been scratched and bruised many times by now. Even her tremendous power was limited; she was slowing down, and her counterattacks weakened.

Malik took the final leap, hoping to end it once and for all. When it stopped, his blade was less than an inch from Kreya's heart. She had Malik by his neck after barely avoiding Zeke's attack, which left her bleeding even more and absorbing Eden's flash with her darkness.

Kreya had Malik's life in her hands. She made a sharp, short, and ominous spear out of dark lightning, ready to take away one of the threats to her.

"Malik!" yelled Joan, who had only just woken up. "Let me go!" she screamed as she struggled to loosen the grip of her captors. She engulfed her hand in flames, finally making them let go. She ran toward the person who meant everything to her as she screamed in frustration, firing at the demon.

Joan was shattered as she watched her friend, her partner, and her love getting stabbed through the chest.

"No!" she screamed in agony, watching Malik fall, bleeding, slowly losing his suit as she ran towards him.

Thud! Malik hit the ground as Joan reached him.

Malik looked at Joan with a smile. "God! You are beautiful."

"Stay with me, Malik. Everything is going to be okay," Joan assured Malik, pressing his wound and trying to hold back her tears.

"Everything is just perfect," were the last words that came from Malik as he fell unconscious.

"Please don't go, I need you," requested Joan, no longer able to stop her tears. "Malik!" It was now dark as she cried, holding him to her chest, and the rain poured in.

Joan's cries echoed on the school ground and were heard by everyone there.

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A tear dropped from Zail's eyes, seeing Malik lie lifeless and hearing Joan's cries.

"What is this that I am feeling, Zayries?" Zail asked the crow sitting on his shoulder.

"I don't know. Maybe it is because of your human form," replied Zayries. "Master, the boy appears to still be alive."

Zail tried to get a better look to confirm, but Malik and Joan were gone, probably taken inside. He watched the battle continuing, Aydenhall losing more and more people, and Kreya getting weaker and weaker.

"Stop her," said the familiar voice in his head. It was a command from the being Zail served.

Zail followed without a word.

"Stop it, Kreya," commanded Zail telepathically.

"You dare order me, Human!" thundered Kreya. "Where are you, coward?"

"Look above."

Kreya looked up in front of her. She spotted a figure standing on the roof but was unable to identify it because the moon behind the silhouette blinded her.

She threw one of her dark spears at the silhouette, only to see it returning at full force, aimed at her face. Kreya barely managed to avoid it, but she was struck with a flame arrow in her right shoulder by one of the archers.

"Who in the devil's name are...?" She was interrupted by her surprise.

Kreya found the unfamiliar face that was Zail, half an inch from hers. Zail grabbed her by her neck and teleported far from Aydenhall, to plains that were dampened by the rain, and threw her on the ground as soon as they reached.

She crawled on her side, trying to get up as her eyes fell upon the terrifying appearance that was Zail's truth.

His eyes were pitch black; in his hand, the rusty sword was now a black greatsword with red edges. Kreya could see who Zail in truth was. She felt both absolute fear and respect.

"In the Devil's name? Ha ha," laughed Zail. "I am the Devil," he said in a deeply scary voice, with his sword pointing at Kreya's chest.

"Please forgive me, master," begged Kreya, kneeling to him.

"This is not why I brought you here."

"You freed me?"

No reply was offered to her. The look Zail gave her was enough.

"Why?"

"You can travel between the worlds, can you not?"

"Yes, master, it takes all of my energy, but I can."

"How many can you take with you?"

"Just myself, lord. Taking anyone with me is beyond my capability."

"Ahhh!" Zail slashed a hill to their right in frustration. "You, useless daughter of Lucifer."

"I am sorry for disappointing my lord," apologized Kreya, shaking, terrified of him.

Zail sighed in disappointment.

"Go to hell, Kreya, and tell the Great One, my master, that I will find another way."

"Yes, my lord. May I ask who is this 'Great One' who is worthy for my Lord to call him his master?"

"He is a force beyond our comprehension. Just know that if you fear me, fear him more."

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"Where did the demon go?" questioned everyone who was left standing on the battlefield.

But that was not something Joan was concerned with at that moment. Professor Ira Lugh had somehow managed to keep Malik's heart beating as he lay in the infirmary.

"Please tell me he is going to be okay."

"I cannot say," replied the apologetic professor.

"You are the best healer we have, Ira. Please do something," pleaded Joan.

"I already did what I could do, Joan." Professor Ira felt a bit guilty telling her this. "The most you can do now is be there with him."

Joan's tears, soaked Malik's pillow as she continued to weep. Exhaustion from the battle was the only thing that stopped her cries and pleas for her lover's recovery.

Two hours had passed midnight when Joan passed out on Malik's bedside. A few night lamps and the moon were the only sources of light at that hour.

"Are you sure, master? Are you ok with the consequences?" Asked Zayries, who sat on the shoulder of her master.

Zail was standing in the corner, looking at the infamous duo so helpless in their bad times.

"Yes, I am certain."

"May I ask, master, why are you doing this?"

"Now with my plan failed, he might be useful."

Zail moved closer to Malik and laid his hands on Malik's chest and abdomen. "My lord- let him live." His eyes turned pure white and his eyes started to glow. Zail's mind once again was in the presence of the one he served.

"Are you truly willing to carry a such burden Zail?"

"Yes."

"Remember your mission, Zail, you have but one chance."

His eyes opened and saw Malik was unchanged. "It's too late. He is already gone." Zail's failure brought a tear to his eyes, which he could not comprehend.

A sudden loud and deep breath, followed by coughing, broke the silence of the night. It was Malik! He was awake and well. The sudden movement woke poor Joan, who couldn't be happier seeing everything she held dear coming back to her. She hugged him like it was the first and the last.

Seeing Joan wake up, Zail immediately teleported away from the room with his companion as Malik became unconscious again.

It was both a happy and sad moment for Aydenhall. She had lost some of her children, while many made it back. What purpose does Zail seek, and how far will he go to achieve it?

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