Category : Stories

Sub Category : Fantasy

“Listen here Doctor Kevorkian, you will figure out why that man in there has been unconscious for a week from a simple shoulder wound or I swear to every god listening I will drain every ounce of life from you and give it to a flea bitten rodent!”.

Mel had mostly recovered from the bruises and cuts she endured at the hands of the Hunters. The odd sharp pains in her ribcage reminded her of the 5 broken ribs that were still healing despite her advanced healing; however, nothing hurt more than watching the man who saved her life suffer.

Since arriving at the hidden island base she has assumed control of all protector operations. She knew it was her fault they no longer had a chief of staff; she did her best to fill in the gaps while he recovered.

The recovery however was taking far longer than it should have. Mel did not honestly believe that the doctor was helping Cye to die. Simply put she was just frustrated without being able to help.

“Look, I am doing my best. They laced the bullet with something designed to interfere with your physiology. Until we can get it out of his system it is going to be a long battle.”

“Actually Doctor Lawrence, you have done good work, but I am feeling well enough now that you can be discharged from my case without fear.”

“Cye! I am so glad you’re okay.” Mel shouts immediately. Then as though suddenly remembering she is a princess quickly recomposes herself. “Oh by the way, you’re fired.”

Cye chuckles slightly. “You don’t have the authority to fire me.” he says as he walks past her on the way to his office. “May I speak to you privately please?”

“Absolutely sir. We have a few developments to discuss.”

“Not you, her. You can return to your regular patients now Doc.”

Mel passes by the Doctor on her way to follow Cye with a childish grin on her face. The doctor is left stunned in the corridor.

Mel follows in silence as they slowly navigate a series of corridors to a small room with only a table and two chairs. The single light in the room is the only fitting in the room making for a greatly unimpressive room. Cye closes the door behind her and stands on the table. Reaching up to remove the light fixture with his uninjured arm. “I need to know everything that has happened since we arrived.”

“What? You drag me all the way back here to this tiny little hole that no one ever visits to interrogate me without so much as a thank you.” she says adopting an angry stance with her arms on her hips.

“You are right, thank you. Please excuse my rudeness. There is much that you are not aware of here-” Cye pauses as he removes a small device attached to the light fixture. “and this is only a small part of that.” he continues dropping the device to the table and crushing it under his bare foot.

Stunned, Mel’s position softens as she looks cautiously at the his foot. “Was that?” she asks trailing off.

“An electronic surveillance. I find them everywhere around here lately. This is why I need to know everything that has happened since we arrived.” He answers while taking a seat.

“Well, first I grabbed medical care for both of us. Thanks to you they only had to wrap up a few broken ribs and bandage a few small cuts. You saved my life Cye.”

“I swore an oath to protect you to the queen herself. It was simply my duty. What happened next.”

“Well the place was a little disorganized without you in charge it seems. There was an ogre in charge by the name of Ed? He seemed greatly incompetent so I took charge of things.”

“What did Ed do?”

“He let me take over and assisted me where he could. Then we received a report of a team that had attempted a rescue of two Kitsune. Apparently they managed to save the girls but encountered a Manticore and lost a team member. They didn’t say anything except Todd fell in battle.”

“Interesting, did he mention Ava?”

“Actually yes, something about invoking an oath. Then he said he gained a recruit. The young Kitsune named Kei that helped locate the missing two.”

“Did any other reports come in?”

“You know there was one that stood out.”

“Which?”

“There was a report about my mother. It was from one of the teams watching her. She had not taken audience since the first hunter returned.”

“Why does that report stand out?”

“Well, I get that she is upset, but why did the report include her address?”

“Excuse me?”

“The report was about her daily routine and included her address for some strange reason.”

“Did Ed read this report?”

“Of course, he told me he reads all the reports to help sort out the unimportant ones.”

“Alright that’s all I need to know.”

“Hold on a minute. We need to talk about us.”

“Mel, whatever it is you feel about me will pass.  I have sworn an oath to protect you. As beautiful as you are all there can be between us is responsibility.”

“Excuse me?”

“I have had my great love, there can never be one to take her place.”

“You know what? You are right.  There can’t be anything between us.” she says standing up. Her tone level with a hint of danger.

Cye stands up and leads the way to the central command. Mel follows close behind sneering at him relentlessly. The winding corridors eventually open up into the central command chamber.

As the two walk into the room Mel instantly recognizes the girl on the screen. Eve was pleading for help with the ogre with tears streaming down her face. “You have to have someone available, this is the queen we are talking about.”

“What is going on here?”

“The First Hunter just kidnapped the Queen.”

“No!” Mel shouts, tears forming in her eyes.

“Eve, I assure you I will personally investigate this.” Cye replies camly while staring down Ed. “I will come see you shortly.” Cye circles the central the console pressing a button to end the conversation.

Mel looks over at the two men and realises the staring contest. “This is not the time to be measuring each other.  The queen! Hello?”

“What was your price Ed?”

“He has my family, you would never understand.”

“You expect me to believe he has in custody somewhere a mother and two child ogres and I have no idea about this? Come on Ed, we are talking about the mightiest beings on the planet and a mother at that.”

“He does! He proves it regularly!”

“So you give him the rest of the subs?”

“No, it’s a simple trade, my family for hers.”

“Ed, your fired. Take your family back to the rest of your kin and hope I don’t survive the rescue.”

“It doesn’t work like that Cye, her ”family“ for mine.”

“So that’s why you never gave me the antidote. So we have treason, aiding and abetting a known felon, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted murder. You understand there is no choice but to execute you for your crimes. I just have one question, how long?”

“That’s your only question? A month Cye, that disgusting excuse for a human has had my family for a month. You will not keep me from them!” he shouts the last as his disguise fades and the hulking beast behind the image takes form.

Cye draws his weapon emotionlessly. This battle has been fated for a month. The minute Ed decided not to trust him made this necessary. All culminating in a fight between close friends. A flick of the wrist and a sweeping arc of the right foot establishes a ready pose.

Ed grasps the central console and strains to lift with muscles rippling. It is only now that the advantage the ogre wields over the elf becomes clear. With a mighty roar the massive ogre rips the console free from its mounts and throws it directly at the pair.

Mel freezes at the sight of the feat of brute strength. Unable to move, she can only watch. Suddenly a push from the side and she finds herself flying out of the way. Turning back she sees the console crash into where she just stood. A last second glimpse of her savior etches into her mind.

She falls to her knees in despair. She had killed him like she always feared she would kill a cursed, except this one won’t return.