Chapter 51: Not A Fairy Tale Adventure
"Stop!"
I called out to Taleena as I made my way back over. She was just about to deal the finishing blow to the masked leader of the group, but to me that was far too.....kind. If it weren't for this person, none of this would have happened, and Taleena would be alive instead of the walking dead. I hadn't noticed earlier due to just trying to stay alive, but now that things were winding down all I felt was sorrow and....anger. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳, 𝘈𝘓𝘓 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳!
"Mother! Mother! It's me Fiona! Look at me....please."
I looked over and saw Fiona pulling at her mother's arm, trying to call to her, unfortunately she would not respond like she used to anymore. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩...𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥�� 𝘵o 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳.
"What is wrong with her? What did you do?! Why won't she answer!? Answer me!"
Fiona ran up to me, eyes filled with tears, her voice cracking, screaming at me. She started to pummel my chest with her fists as she yelled.
"Give her back to me! Please! Just give her back!"
Fiona definitely took after her mother and was stronger than she looked. Her small fists hurt and started causing internal damage. I grit my teeth and..... let her continue. I didn't have the will to try and stop her, she was right about everything, it was all my fault.
Finally after a while I felt the pain stop. I looked down and saw her grabbing my shirt with her head down. I could barely make out what she was saying under her breath.
".....Please.....she....is.....all....I have....."
"...I'm sorry, if I could...I would.....but I cannot."
The truth was all I could say, there was no excuse, no sugar coated words, just the awful truth. I was powerless. With my words the final bits of fight Fiona seemed to have drained from her, and she collapsed on the ground.
"....Stay here, you can judge and punish me after I have dealt with that bitch."
I was ready to accept my punishment, even if that meant death, but I wanted to finish that whore off myself before that. I walked over to the bodies on the ground, all the masked people were dead except for the leader. I could hear shallow breathing coming from under the mask. I had all my minions surround her and prepare to attack if she made any sudden movements.
It was probably smarter to just kill her quickly and from a distance, but anger had blinded me. I bent down and ripped off the mask revealing a pretty woman who seemed to be in her late 30s. Normally my heart would flutter and I would have stumbled over my own words, but my rage gave me focus and all I could see was the person who had killed Taleena.
"You...."
"....What?.....haahhhhh.....hahhhh....Going to torture me now?...hahhh...hahhhh...."
Even in this condition she taunted me through labored breaths.
"Why did you do this?"
"Hahaha....*cough cough cough*.....you will get nothing....hahh...from me....."
"You say that now, but wait until I start ripping out your bones one by one."
I thought those lines would scare her, but instead a large smile crept up on her face.
"You think you....hahh...won? You....hah....know nothing. I am but one of many.....that Demon was a weakling.....no one....*cough cough*...can stop us.....and you.....you will not even get.....*cough cough*...."
What she had just said was terrifying. She was not alone, her organization continued to try and summon Demons in other places, and worst of all the Demon that took everything we had to kill....was just a pawn. I could feel the color drain from my face and it seems the woman could see it too.
"Hahaha.....*cough cough*.....that despair...all will feel it...and you....will not even get.....YOUR VENGEANCE!"
She suddenly seemed to swell with strength as I noticed a small item in her hand. It was a small circular disk that had an odd insignia on it. Before I could react she snapped it in half with her fingers and all the masked people's bodies erupted into flames. I jumped back to prepare to take cover, but the flames went out in the next instant. All that remained were piles of ash on the ground.
She was right, I had lost in every aspect. Taleena died, this loss meant nothing to their larger goals, and I couldn't even cast [𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞] on any of their corpses. 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?
I felt like I was about to break down, everything we had done, none of it seemed to matter. In the end I wasn't able to do anything.....𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.
".....mother...."
I turned toward the soft voice behind me. No, that wasn't right, we did accomplish what we came here to do. Fiona was safe, Taleena sacrificed herself to make sure of that, and I.....promised to take care of her. I can't die.....yet, I need to take care of her until my last breath. I walked back over to Fiona.
".....We should head back to town. Come with me....please."
"Why should I go anywhere with a Dark Priest who enslaved my mother?!?"
"....I.....I am not a Dark Priest, and.....I will release your mother now. Return to the eternal--"
I had turned around and was in the middle of casting the spell when I felt a tug on my arm. I looked back to see Fiona standing there tugging on it.
"...Can she stay?"
"She will stay around until a certain time.....the spell will end eventually."
"How long?"
That was a tough question, I still haven't figured out what I received when I leveled. Tarman was still around, lasting far longer than the first people I reanimated.
"I....don't know."
"I'll go with you....if we bring her with us."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded her head and headed over to Taleena and grasped her hand.
"I want to stay with her....as long as possible."
"...Ok"
**********
We rode through the night on the Forest Tigers heading back to town. Fiona was riding with her mother. I had ordered Taleena to cradle her from behind, hoping to give her some comfort. We had not said a word to each other since we started the ride back, but suddenly Fiona broke the silence.
"She feels ..... so cold."
"Y-ya....that will happen."
"You are a terrible person...no....you are a monster in human skin."
"Y-yes."
"I hate you."
While I knew she hated me, hearing it out loud in such a tone was heartbreaking.
"I'll hate you forever...and ever....and ever."
"That's ok...I will keep you safe regardless. Plus...I also hate me."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone