Another Love

The rain was coming down heavier now. Soon, the streets would start to flood. Kirsten didn’t even notice the rain slashing across her face like small, sharp knives. Her hand tightened its grip of her sword. Sebastian smirked at her, his sword slick with blood as the body crumpled at his feet, the ragged breaths audible even over the rush of the rain. The smirk still on his face, Sebastian raised his sword, wiping the blade clean with a rag. Kirsten didn’t know where he’d gotten the rag from, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t care less about him. Her attention was focused on the blood-spattered girl at his feet. Slowly, she stepped forward. She knelt slowly, falling to the ground, the sword falling from her grasp. With a shaking hand, she reached out and touched the dying girl’s face gently, wiping the rain away. Laurel’s eyes flickered, peering at Kirsten through rain-soaked eyelashes.
“Are you OK?” She croaked, her voice gravelly and quiet. A trickle of crimson blood escaped from the corner of her lip, and Kirsten wiped it away, her eyes stinging as she stared at the wound.
“That doesn’t matter,” she whispered, grasping Laurel’s hand in her own, soothing her hair with her other hand, “Why did you do that?” she asked, her voice cracking as her tears began to fall. Laurel let out a weak chuckle that turned into a cough.
“Someone’s got to look after you, darling,” she muttered, the ghost of a smile on her lips. Kirsten bowed her head, the tears falling freely from her eyes as she heard Laurel’s breath begin to get shallow. “I’m not going to live, am I?” Laurel asked, and Kirsten tried to compose herself, nodding.
“You will, my love,” she forced herself to smile, “It’s not that bad. We’ll get you help, and you’ll be alright.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Laurel whispered, her voice growing weaker, “Make me a promise.” Kirsten shook her head, her grasp on the brunette’s hand tightening. Laurel nodded slowly, hissing slightly at the pain from her bleeding wound. “Promise me… you… you won’t do anything stupid.” Her eyes slid closed, and Kirsten let out a choked sob. She nodded, not wanting to cause Laurel anymore hurt.
“I promise,” she whispered, leaning forward and brushing a kiss along the dying girl’s temple softly. Laurel’s eyes fluttered open one last time, hooded and tired from the effort.
“I’ll see you up there,” she whispered, and Kirsten nodded, barely able to see through her tears.
“I’ll see you up there,” she replied, her eyes not leaving Laurel’s face as the life slipped from it. A minute of silence passed. Laurel’s hand fell from Kirsten’s. Kirsten drew in a shaky breath, then raised her head to the heavens. A guttural, anguished scream tore its way from her throat, filling the air around them with her heartbreak. She bowed her head and sobbed. She’d almost forgotten about Sebastian until he spoke.
“You mortals are almost too easy to kill,” he said nonchalantly, cockiness in his voice, and she could tell he was pleased with himself. As quick as it had come, her pain disappeared, replaced instead with an anger so strong she was scared of what she would do if she let it out. Slowly, she raised her head to look at her enemy. Their eyes met, and he took a step back, the smirk on his face falling and fear in his eyes. Almost instinctively, he raised his sword as Kirsten stood, grasping her sword from where she had dropped it. For each step she took towards him, he took one back, and Kirsten found herself enjoying his fear.
Rage and hatred flooded through her body, and she raised her sword, a wordless cry escaping from her lips as she swung. He parried easily, but as the blows kept coming, he lost his balance, teetering on the heels of his feet before he fell to the ground. Bringing her sword down, Kirsten reveled in the howl of pain as she felt her blade sink into the soft skin of his shoulder, just underneath his collarbone.
“Please…” he yelled, “Mercy!” She paused, taking in the sight. This was the man who had relentlessly hunted and attacked her for years. He had killed many of her friends, and now he had killed the woman she loved.
“Mercy?” She whispered, “Did you show Darron mercy? Elias? Ruth? Did you show Laurel mercy before you murdered her?” She beckoned at the corpse of her love as she spoke, her voice growing stronger with each word until she was screaming, her anger reaching its peak. “You will get no mercy from me, Sebastian.” The man choked out something halfway between a sob and a laugh.
“You cannot kill me,” he hissed, clutching at her blade with his hand, “I cannot be killed by anyone!” Kirsten shook her head, resting her hands on the pummel of her sword, and Sebastian let out another yelp as the blade cut deeper into him.
“Don’t tell me what I can do,” she hissed, her voice full of malice and loathing. She closed her eyes, focusing on the sword embedded in her enemy. The familiar vibrations began to flood through her, and her eyes opened, fixing his with a glare. Her normally green eyes had been replaced by fiery amber, and Sebastian seemed to recoil at the sight.
Her mouth opened, and a single word left her lips, spoken in Scots Gaelic, “Teine.” Sparks shot from her fingertips, travelling down the grip of the sword onto the blade. Sebastian screamed when the sparks turned into flames, licking at his skin. His screams carried in the wind, and Kirsten found herself thankful that they were in the middle of nowhere; there was nobody to find them, nobody to hear him die, nobody to stop her. She let go of the sword as Sebastian began to burn, his screams still piercing the cool night air.
She watched for only a moment before turning away, her anger extinguished almost as quickly as it had erupted. She made her way back to Laurel, whose eyes were staring at the stars above them, unseeing. Kirsten fell to her knees, wrapping the girl in her arms.
“You always did love the stars.” she choked out, her tears falling once more. She bowed her head and tightened her grip on the woman she loved, scared of letting go, of admitting that Laurel was really gone.
When dawn broke, that is how her friends found her, cradling Laurel’s body in her arms while Sebastian’s body burnt behind them.