“Tears of the Forsaken”

by

Rose Marie Wolf

Part Six

Damien made it out of the Coven and into the night. The wind had picked up and snow was blowing toward the east. He shifted Marie’s weight, drew the cloak around her more, and started toward the thick trees. He would get her back to the village, and then he would come back to deal with Nikolai.

Marie’s sobs had quieted, but he could still feel her tears wet against his cold neck. She held tight to him in complete trust. He felt his heart skip a beat at this realization, but there was no time for it. He had to help her away from her.

“Just trust me.” He whispered into the folds of his cloak. He looked down into the shadowed form in his arms and caught a glimpse of red hair. He felt her nod against his chest.

She was weightless, like he was holding nothing. She was warm. He tried not to think about it and headed toward the trees.

He heard him before he saw him, and Damien gripped tighter to Marie. It was in vain though. A hefty force hit him, and he was thrown. He lost his grip, and she let out a terrified scream. He saw her fall, hit the snow and roll across the cold earth, the cloak floating behind her. He turned away and his face hit the stinging snow.

He sat up, sputtering, wiping the snow from his face. He drew his sword as he climbed to his feet. Nikolai was not there. There was no one. Quickly, Damien’s eyes searched the areas around him. The snow was clean and untouched around him, save for his own tracks. He let out a sharp breath and kept his eyes trained. Nikolai was no where to be seen.

He turned his head to watch Marie sit up. Snow clung to her bright hair. She stepped tentatively through the snow, her feet red with cold. She grabbed the cloak that had fallen, and wrapped herself in it. She shivered, and her teeth chattered when she spoke.

“Is it him?” Her voice was loud in the silence.

“Yes.” Damien said in a monotone, “but I don’t see him.”

Marie’s bare legs and feet poked from under the length of his cloak. She balanced on one foot, then the other. She was freezing in just her undergarments.

“I’m cold.” She spoke again. It was even louder.

“Shh.” He hissed at her. Immediately she fell silent, and her wide frightened eyes turned toward the dark trees. The moon hung low overhead, the light bright enough for them all to see. Still, he could not sense Nikolai.

“Stay where you are.” He told her, keeping his voice low. He saw her nod, then he stepped forward, toward the trees. It was then that he heard the laughter echoing around him. Marie let out a yelp of fright.

Damien spun and his heart leapt as he expected the worse. But Nikolai did not have Marie. She was safe, standing in the frigid cold. The wind whipped her hair. She stared at him, bottom lip trembling as she shivered. He let out a breath.

He turned back to the darkness of the trees, and Nikolai’s face loomed at him, inches from his own. Marie screamed, and Damien jumped, quickly moving his sword to attack. But Nikolai was gone again. His blade struck empty air.

Marie had fallen in the snow, and she knelt there staring at him. “Where is he? Where did he go?” She cried frantically. Her nose and cheeks were red. Tears were falling from her eyes again.

“Stay there!” He yelled at her. He knew she was terrified, and Nikolai would use her as a distraction. He wouldn’t allow that to happen. “Be quiet!”

He heard a sniffle when he turned his head. Again, he felt his black heart break. He didn’t want to be cruel to her. He never wanted to hurt her in anyway.

“Aleksander!” The ominous voice of his brother taunted. Anger welled within him.

“That is not my name!” He shouted into the empty sky. “Show yourself, Nikolai!”

“DAMIEN!” Marie’s next scream pierced straight to his heart. He turned. Marie had her hand to her face, blood seeping through her fingers. The scent of it drove him mad. Her face was white with shock, and when she moved her fingers to stare at the blood, he saw the thin line across her cheek.

“An eye for an eye!” Nikolai’s voice rang from somewhere. “A scar for a scar!”

“BASTARD!” It flared within him, and he could no longer hold his rage. He moved forward, toward her. Marie trembled. Nikolai was there somewhere…

And then he saw him, right in front of him. The scars on his face creased as it was a frown on his face instead of a grin. His sword swung at Damien, but he was quick. He swiftly ducked, and thrust his blade forward at Nikolai. It struck flesh, and the scent of blood lifted into the air. It fell scarlet on the pure snow around him. Damien froze.

He hadn’t known how close he was to her. He never knew she was right there, in front of him. He had been blinded by rage he swore wouldn’t control him. He had been taunted to the breaking point.

He stared into Marie’s jade eyes as Nikolai laughed behind him. He had done what he wanted. He had wounded Damien far worse than he could with any blade. His laughter rang.

Marie’s blood stained his blade, and with a cry of anguish, he pulled it from her chest and tossed it aside. Her undergarments were stained bright, and the wound gaped, just like her blood stained mouth. Her burning eyes stared at him.

“Damien--” she said, and fell forward. He caught her before she hit the snow. He saw her red hair, bright as the blood that poured from her, tangled around her throat, and his vision blurred with tears. The red droplets fell down his face in tiny streams. They were as cold as the skin they fell upon.

He cradled her, and Nikolai’s laughter faded from his ears. Marie lifted her blood-stained hand to his face. Damien saw the pendant he had given her slip from her fingers and fall into the snow beside her. Feebly, she touched him. Her skin was as cold as his. Her eyes looked beyond him.

She had been silent when he had struck, and now she began to cough. Globs of blood fell from her lips. Damien wiped them away with the corner of his cloak. She tried to speak and her words were soft and watery.

“Damien…”

“Don’t talk.” Was that his voice? It sounded so far away, so soft. A tear ran along the bridge of his nose, and dripped onto Marie’s face. He wiped it away.

No matter what he did, no matter how he tried to prevent it, he destroyed her. He had killed her. He had loved her.

“I am sorry, Marie…” He whispered. Marie coughed again, and he lifted her head gently. He wiped the blood away from her mouth again. “I didn’t want to hurt you…I never wanted…”

He could no longer speak the words. Marie’s eyelids fluttered.

“No…” He said. “Please don’t die…Marie…” Her breathing came out in faster gasps. She choked. “No, please…”

Damien pressed his forehead to hers, his tears free falling. She grew limp in his arms, and her eyes closed for the last time. She gave up her last breath, and was gone.

Marie was dead.

He tightened his eyes together, the last of his tears slipping out. He pressed his lips to hers, and tasted the blood upon them. It was the last kiss.

Nikolai’s cold cackling returned to Damien’s ears. He licked Marie’s blood from his lips and placed her body upon the cold snow. He composed her limbs, covered her with the cloak and lifted the fallen pendant and placed it in her cold hand. He stood. His fist closed around the hilt of his blade, and he turned slowly.

“No more games.” He said slowly, his voice dark. He lifted his eyes to see Nikolai standing across from him. His evil grin penetrated Damien, but he did not run. He lifted his head.

“Agreed.” Nikolai answered, mirth in his tone. Damien pursed his lips, and lifted his sword. Blood dripped down the blade.

“You made me kill her.”

Nikolai shrugged. “She was going to die anyway.”

“But not like that...”

“With you, yes. You couldn’t save her, brother, not even from yourself. She was going to die. I simply saved her from the pain of having to live with you.”

Damien saw red, and he closed his eyes. He let out a breath. “It ends now, Nikolai. No more talk. No more memories. No more games. Now, we fight.”

“I thought you would never ask.” And he was fast. He moved before Damien had even opened his eyes. He felt the tearing pain as the blade slashed across his side, and he moved just in time before it severed him into.

He panted, crouched, his own blood now joining Marie’s upon the ground. He took a moment to check the wound. It wasn’t fatal. He would heal quickly. He lifted his blade, and charged forward.

He anticipated Nikolai’s move, knew he would try to hide, and he spun. His blade clashed with his brother’s. He was pleased to see the surprised look in Nikolai’s golden eyes. Damien smirked.

Nikolai was in a rage at having been outwitted. He tried again, but once more Damien blocked.

“You learn quickly.” He spat, his face grimacing as he held his strength against his brother’s sword. “But you won’t ever forget!”

Damien roared, and shoved a powerful forearm against his brother. Both men stumbled. Their swords slashed and parried, and Damien felt his sword find little resistance. He slashed. The sword penetrated deep into Nikolai’s gut. He pulled back, and slashed again.

Blood sprayed into the air. Nikolai clutched at a useless stub where his arm once was. Crimson flooded from it, and he stared aghast. His arm lay in the snow, twitching as it clutched to his sword. Nikolai laughed deliriously. Damien’s blade was poised at his throat.

“You have me.” He laughed, “But you won’t win. You never will, Aleksander. How long will you go on? I gave you something to never forget. You will suffer, and you will suffer forever until someone comes along and you stand where I am now. Will you grant me death, brother? Will you release me from this pain of immortality and memory?”

There was no mocking in his voice now. Damien stared coldly into his brother’s eyes and saw the truth there. It had been too easy. He had wanted this. Damien set his jaw and thought it over in his mind.

“I will, but only because I have always been just. You do not deserve death. It is too good for you. But you will die, I promise you.”

Nikolai stumbled backwards in the snow, and Damien stepped forward and continued. “Although, I will never forgive you for what you did. You ruined my once chance at peace, and destroyed what was left of our kind in this Coven. May they judge you in Hell.” He pulled his sword back.

Nikolai laughed once last time. “Who will judge you, Aleksander? The angels in heaven?”

His laughter was finally silenced when Damien loped of his head. It fell into the snow, and rolled downhill. A trail of crimson followed.

Damien stood for the longest moment, staring at the body on the ground before him. He closed his eyes, and once more tears slipped from between the lids. His brother had spoken words of truth. He had been granted a gift before. He remembered nothing, and had been spared the pain of his mortal life in his immortal existence. But now…he would have to endure the green eyes staring up at him in pleading death for all of eternity. He would remember now.

He turned away from Nikolai’s broken body and returned down the hill. Marie’s body lay there, serene as if in sleep, but her skin now took on a bluish hue. The wind tore at her red locks.

It took him a while to dig through the snow and frozen earth, but he soon had dug the grave. He chose a place in the forests, near a road less traveled, beneath the largest of the oaks. He placed her body within it, his cloak acting as a shroud.

Before he placed the earth over her angel face, he studied the pendant he had given her on their first meeting. The silver crest was now blood stained, but the canine creature was still prominent. Had this been the seal of his family? He could not remember.

He placed it in the grave on top of her chest. It did no matter any more. It was from an era long gone. Damien could not look at her as he covered her body with the soil. She would rot in this earth, and he would go on, forever.

By the time he had finished, it was nearly dawn. He returned to the Coven, passing Nikolai’s body. The sun would destroy all evidence and ensure he would never return. There was a grim satisfaction in this, and Damien smiled to himself as he slipped into the comforting darkness of the Coven, and shut the heavy doors behind him.

In this modern age of televisions, automobiles and computers, Damien still felt alone. He had survived the years, passed among the humans as one of them without a passing glance. It seemed his fate was sealed. They would never know what he was, what he had done, where he was from. He was anonymous. No one cared. He was safe.

He stood on the corner street, watching the bright neon lights of the casinos as they flashed their advertisements. He smiled to himself. A modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, this modern city. Women sold themselves on the streets for poisons to kill their bodies, and men carried weapons because it made them men.

His time had passed. There was nothing left for Damien in this world. He pondered returning to the Coven. The place was ruins, covered in vines and grass, but he could always return there. After all, it was home.

There was not a night that went by that he did not think of her. Marie’s name was always on his sleeping and waking lips, and he saw her smile in the darkness. He would go there, and visit her grave, where she had long rotted away.

A yellow taxi stopped near the corner, and he turned his head. A flash of red hair nearly caused his heart to stop. He let out an involuntary gasp that went unheard.

“Taxi!” The female cried, lifting her hand. “Wait—Oh!” Her purse fell from her arm, and hit the sidewalk, its contents spilling and scattering. In a moment, he was at her side. He scooped the contents into his wide arms.

“Here you are, M’lady.” He said, handing her the bag and the contents. She stood and her piercing green eyes met his. Her face was flushed. His heart raced. He was looking at a ghost, surely.

“Oh, thank you. I’m so clumsy.” She apologized, the color rushing to her face. He wanted to touch her hair, to see if it burned. Instead, Damien spoke.

“It was…no problem.” The modern slang did not yet suit him.

And then she smiled, just for him.

“Thank you. Um, do you…” She pointed to the waiting cab. The driver was impatient. Her bright eyes gleamed, and her wind-swept hair looked absolutely beautiful. “Do you want to share a cab with me? I’m going uptown.”

“I would be delighted.” He smiled, and opened the door for her.

The time for tears had gone. It was time for smiles and laughter. Perhaps he wouldn’t return to the Old World. He climbed into the taxi after her, and slammed the door.

No more tears of the forsaken…it would only be a memory.

The End