The strangle of life

As the necklace adorned itself around her neck. A striking bold green light surrounded her neck. With threads of red thorns in the light, the rope-like structure gripped her neck harder.

The choking of Aurienbergie's neck kept getting tighter while she gasped for air to inhale. Her blood pressure rose significantly as her nose started to bleed while she felt the extreme pressure of the necklace.

Putting her hand around the necklace and pulling it outwards in an attempt to stop her suffocation, her lotus-like delicate hands clenching itself in the thorns of the outline of the necklace.

Arabella was already exhausted, she had no energy left to spend on saving Aurienbergie. Even if she wanted to save her, her body wouldn't support her.

Yet to give it a try in an attempt to save someone's life. She had to gather her stand and use it to get the necklace off of her neck.

After living for more than 130 years, the maturity in life becomes quite visible. It was the same with Arabella.

She had seen death, death of her closed ones , death of her fellow human friends and had also witnessed the change in the society.

One death of an unknown person would not matter to her anyways.

Her eyes cold with a familiar expression as she continued to watch Aurienbergie suffering.

She had initially thought of helping her but if she did it ,her body would probably denounce her. Her powers had just helped her in her recovery. If she used it again, the products will not be beneficial.

While this absurdity continued in the room. Eldon was enjoying his bliss in the lake.

Bathing like he had never before. It's difficult to find such peace in an active capital state or at a Marchioness house.

As the remembrance of his childhood hit him, he drifted away in his own thoughts.

Away from the world, in that divine lake, he closed his eyes while his thoughts replayed his betrayal and the struggle.

He has to pay greatly for things which were not even done by him. The blood on the floor, the gasping priest.

Wait, the same gasping sound was coming from nearby too.

His mind alerted him.

He quickly left the lake while giving it a goodbye look and wrapped a towel around his waist.

He left his apparel out to dry while he wandered in the nearby grassland to find the source of the gasping.

"The cottage!"

That was it , the sound was coming from the cottage. It was very clear, it was just his brain deceiving him from the voice.

He ran towards the cottage, his bare, free legs stepping onto the new spring's grass as the linnets sung in the background. Crushing those green lives, he reached the cottage.

Thud~

He opened the door with great force unbinding his sewed chest. Small streaks of blood running down from the opened wound giving him a warrior's physique.

He finally reached the room where Arabella was sitting and watching the melodrama of life and death.

"Are you insane? Help her!"

Eldon shouted , running towards Aurienbergie and helping her pull the necklace outwards.

"Mind giving us a hand?"

He said with sarcasm as he looked towards Arabella and continued his pulling of the necklace.

Aurienbergie's condition was getting worse. Her gasping was getting louder and louder.

"Pulling it out is not going to be of any use."

Arabella exclaimed as she lifted her right leg and put it onto her left, almost wrapping itself up.

"The necklace needs an ancient jet, which is one of the many objects given to humans during the god's arrival on earth. Sad enough, most of these objects are now heirlooms of Nobility. The royal emperor's family has five of them while the duchy has two and the Marchioness and Baron have a single item."

Arabella explained.

"Well, I am a Marchioness too but I don't have an heirloom. All that I have is a single sword, given to me by my grandfather while I was a kid."

Eldon told Arabella as her eyes widened with the word Marchioness.

"So you're a 'Marchioness'. Interesting. Show me your sword."

Arabella demanded as she exercised a little with her arm, moving it from left to right while using her other arm to stretch it.

"But, I lost it in the forest, while we were trapped."

Said Eldon continuously pulling the necklace out, it was probably with his and Aurienbergie's efforts combined that she had not choked till now. At that moment, Eldon was not in his complete health either.

The thorns outside were an even huge problem. His palms had sulked into those things, making the blood violently come out.

Somehow, even that painful blood was useless. It dried on the necklace making it even coarse.

"No, you have not lost it. Aurienbergie tagged all of our things along herself. It's in a cloth bag in the room left to the hall. You can fetch it from there."

Aurienbergie said.

"But she'll die if I even leave her for a second."

Eldon complained while he looked sympathetically towards Aurienbergie. At that moment, it is difficult to say if what Eldon felt was a sympathy or an empathy towards Aurienbergie.

Watching someone struggle without anyone at their side was a common experience for him. Perhaps, it was one of his attributes that he saw in Aurienbergie that made him empathetic towards her.

"Just put a comb around the necklace. It will do the job just fine or might even be better than fine."

Arabella suggested while she reached out her hand to grab the comb kept on the nearby table.