Sleepwalking Past Hope

I had left her so fast it was hard to comprehend. The guild was slowly eating away at my heart, but thinking back to that night, I had no choice but to abandon her. And though I would like to think it was for her own good, she never knew that.

"Hurry Ville, we haven't much time. They're getting closer."

Leaving the swirling bodies behind me, I followed the sound of Burton's shouts. He and Mige were the first to spot them, just as they entered the grounds. It had started to rain, so they were easier to sniff out; their scent picked up in the wind. Threatening my nostrils to flare in disgust. The stench of their rotting flesh made my soul cringe. With every fiber of my being, I shook in unease.

The enemy had arrived.

My mission was clear, but even in my mode of defense, I couldn't shake the image of her eyes imprinted to the back of my own. How forlorn and lost I had left her. I assumed she was smart, but how much could she figure out on pure instinct alone?
No matter how curious my brain, now was not the time. We needed to terminate the problem before it began. The halls were drenched in dead silence, but my steps pounded like thunder in my ears.

When I had found Burton and Mige, they were running to the foyer where we knew they would most likely intrude.

"They've never gotten this close before, so we'll have to prevent them from entering to our best ability". I said, instructing the rest. I wasn't much of a fighter, but I could stratigize with the best of them.

"Mige, Burton- take the South corridor and block the entrance."

They ran off, speeding like light to man their post. To my left stood Gas, to which I had no idea where he came from, and someone else I didn't expect.

"Linde...where's Emma?"

Smiling at me, he turned and blew out the last lantern in the hall.

Pointing to the sky, he whispered, "Harder to sense", a cheeky look plastered on his face.
As soon as he spoke, his form was swift down the west corridor. Following him, my mind still stuck on her. Once beside him, he finally answered the burning question at the front of my brain.

"She's safe. I sent her off with Vadrana and Manna in the car. They'll stay and see to her."

My heart lifted, if only for a split second. But now was the time to fight.

Weather I could negotiate my way out of it was the question now.

I sensed everyone go rigid- their muscles tense, preparing for the worst. Feeling the same strange feeling coming on, I prepared myself for David. David the clever; David the snark; David the enemy. He was seeking my thrown, draining my power along with it.

That thought propelled my feet forward. We sped readily down the corridor, colliding with bodies, awaiting our arrival. Reaching the first of Davids brothers, I grabbed him swiftly by the neck and with a firm grip, ripped his flesh with little effort. He lay wounded on the ground, awaiting his permanent death. Before I moved on, I breathed in the ashes floating gently in the air, slowly, subtly regretting what I had done. My first honest kill in decades.

"Ready to talk the talk?" Linde spoke at my side.

"Only if you can walk the walk..."