Mede’s Sacrifice

The thicket was my sky and the brooding lightning was my ground.

Great. I must’ve passed out soon after.

When I next opened my eyes, it was raining and I was suffocating in Celphi’s arms. His familiar sturdy torso held me secure. I tried pushing away from his body, but his grip tightened in response. He still had the wings and extra appendages sticking out from his long tail.

’Cel… ’ I opened my mouth to speak and more water filled it.

A wild screeching from a distance cut through the rain. Mede?

I managed to turn my head to a pocket of air and assessed the situation as fast as I could. Celphi had a body of water wrapped around him like a thick sash. It swayed as if it had its own life. His breath was heavy, ragged. 

His claws dug into my sides possessively. I tried to move my head more so I could breathe, but his hold only tightened. His scales shimmered and reflected the stars above. His wings wrapped around me, cocooning us in rough, hot power.

This isn’t protection anymore.

The world shrank. Darkened. Celphi’s partial dragon form was shrinking back to human, but the change was wild and uncontrollable. He engulfed me in a prison of embrace and wings. I could only panic and thrash about as something started to form around us.

‘Ina.’ He whispered my name, but it was no longer love. Maybe it was. But there’s also more. Maybe it was desire. Maybe it was ownership. It suffocated me.

'What’s happening?' I breathed, my face mashed into his neck by that iron hug. I couldn’t move. I could barely think.

That was another moment that I won't be able to recollect perfectly. Celphi was wrapped in thick and heavy water, by no choice of my own, me too. It pulsed and swayed around us. Almost sentient but still a part of him.

Then Celphi shifted. His body stretched and shimmered, returning to a human shape. The water sheath around us compacted, hardened into something.

A container? Not quite.

‘What’s…A womb? A cocoon?’

Fucked. I am fucked.

I frantically searched for an opening. I didn’t have to be medically trained to know how bad this could be.

Was Mede trying to prevent this?

By the time he was fully in his human form, his grip loosened. I slipped free, but not out. The watery sac held me inside. I pressed against it, but it resisted like skin. Like a lumpy balloon. I had no power. I raised my head to an area where I could breathe and shout.

‘Celphi!’ I screamed in between gasps. ‘When I said don’t let me go, I did not mean this!’

Is he going to absorb me? Become with one me in this aspect?… Shit.

I pushed at the membrane, then at Celphi. Nothing. He passed out into a fetal curl. My heart was swollen looking at him. Just for a while, I felt bad for him.

But I had to get out first. Then I could feel bad for him as much as I’d like. Once I’m not in a mortal danger!

Outside, Mede was coming. Battered, wings torn, feathers singed and hanging in tatters. He looked like a fire ball in the middle of the night.

He really does look like an angry bird.

His eyes locked onto me, fierce and desperate. I saw him dive. His body alight. I ducked and braced on instinct, even though I knew it won’t help. His tackle hit the sac dead-on. Celphi and I went flying and destroyed everything in our path. I was tossed around inside, weightless and helpless, like laundry in a storm.

I wasn’t hurt. But the impact knocked the breath out of me, and the water quickly took its chance. I was drowning again.

Typical. Theme of my holiday here apparently. Nothing beats a Jet2holiday. Everybody stop holding my hand anymore. I’m sick of it.

Just before I blacked out, Celphi awoke from the tackle, kissed me tenderly, sharing some air for me to breathe in. It felt like the normal him. But the shared air wasn't enough. I was breathless. Behind him, I saw Mede diving for another strike. My lungs gave out. My eyes closed.

*****

‘Ina, you don’t need to worry. I will always come back. To you.’

*****

I didn’t know how long the cold lasted. When I came to, my body was cold, then warm. I forced my eyes open as I pushed off the ground. I saw Celphi close by. On fire. I reached for him and realized, I too, was on fire. Even more so than him

I almost missed that the serpent birthmark on my raised arm had changed. What had been a faint discoloration had become distinct. The serpent mark had additional wings and appendages. The fire seemed to avoid the mark. Though it burned inside me as well. I inhaled flames and exhaled smoke. My body rebelled at every breath. It consumed me. Different pain than inhaling water, but just as agonising.

Is this hell? I hate it here.

I struggled to push myself upright. Ash from my body and moisture from Celphi’s round sac of torture made it a slippery and untidy venture. I could only lift my head. More huffs and puffs of ash leave my nose and mouth.

When I had managed to get my footing, I realized that I was lying on a giant mound of ash. And it was on fire. And I was on fire. I slipped back directly to the ground with my face, eating ashes.

Isn’t it amazing? Princess of two divine mythical beings. And I’m face first in the dirt.

I groaned and tried to crawl, but the ashes made everything slick. My body felt heavy. My arms shook. I lifted my head to look around and realized Mede was nowhere.

'Mede?' I croaked.

‘Mede… I need you… ‘ The only answer was more ash.

It poured from my lips in weak, broken puffs. From my nose. From my skin. As if my very body had burned hollow and the remains were crumbling out. Ashes. Everywhere. Sliding over my cheeks, spilling with the tears I couldn’t stop. Ash instead of breath, ash instead of voice, ash instead of me. Flooded in gray until I couldn’t tell where my body ended and where the ruin began.

Without warning, a sharp, stabbing pain exploded across my back. I cried out and twisted in pain, fingers digging into what’s left of my fur outfit. Celphi’s shed skin dress remained intact.

Something bloomed under my skin. My core shooked in agony. I collapsed again, hugging myself tight in a fetal position. The pain was unbearable.

Is this how a lumbar puncture feels? Times a million.

‘He…help…’ I managed to whisper against the ashes drying in my throat.

I rolled around in pain and in tears. Writhing wouldn’t be enough to describe the feeling. I was late in realising that the fire on me did not cause me that much pain, but whatever growing on my back did.

I shrieked and thrashed around in immense pain, sending ashes in all directions. Like playing snow angel, but with charcoal glitter. The fire around me comforted me, keeping me warm, until I blacked out.

*****

‘Pick her up with care! If you leave as small a bruise on her, I will cut your arm.’

I was roused by rumbling from underneath the soil and someone lifting me. In fact, it felt like a lot of hands were on me. Holding me with care. Passing me around until I felt like I was placed on a soft mattress. 

Awesome. About time someone held me with gentleness, respect, and care. Just a lady who didn’t have to be rushed into anything.

My mind was awake, but my body just wasn't able to wake up. I was driven by waves of soil, almost swallowed by the ground, almost taken away again by Celphi, almost taken by Mede, almost torn to shreds by two gigantic creatures, almost absorbed by Celphi on his transformation ending stunt, then almost died of back pain. Fantastic resume. I fully understand that my body just had to crash out.

'Ok, take her away. That’s the one the queen wanted killed permanently,' an unfamiliar voice said.

Excuse me… who?

I felt the enclosure I lay in being dragged.

Wait. ME?

'You can leave this dragon boy to die here. Or you can kill him. I don’t care so long as we get that girl to the ritual hall,' the same voice ordered.

Celphi?

‘Sir we can’t find any traces of the Phoenix. Only these ashes. He must have been injured gravely but escaped,’ another voice reported.

Mede?

A cold hand travelled on my back, feeling the surface, studying my skin and the area where I felt the most horrific pain that ever existed. His touch lingered longer than it should. I felt violated for the first time in my life.

Never mind your goons! It’s your hand that needs cutting.

'She has a new promise mark. He has bonded with this girl. Let’s hurry and vacate. He’s the rescue head of Aelysium. He will certainly come back for her,’ he barked orders with urgency. ‘Also, leave the dragon, even if he’s weak, we don’t have time to deal with him if he awakens.’

What bonded?

The compartment I was in got dragged with ease despite the loud and rough digging sounds all around me. The rumbling noises matched the one from the forest edge.

I felt followed earlier. Was it them? Had they been waiting to take me from either Mede or Celphi?

‘Why does the queen want to kill her?’

‘When the queen tells you to do something, you do it. You don't get to ask the queen to explain herself.’

So everything really was for an execution! Huhu… I suppose I’ll finally learn why I was brought into this world. Though cruelly, it might be in the same moment I leave it.