Secret War: Warhammer 40,000, Ben Agar [list of ebook readers .txt] 📗

her counter cut. Hence, I knocked aside Katrina a mere millimetre with a desperate defence before the short sword sliced through my guts.

Elandria's second attack was a thrust, the tip of Setsukia moving so fast straight at my face that the sword seemed to phase into reality, and I leaned away. My dodge was quick enough to keep Setsukia from impaling my skull but not fast enough to prevent it from opening an ugly, gigantic gash across my cheek and tear off Feuilt's bandage.

Crying out as the horrific pain spread, I leapt back, away from any follow on that Elandria could muster, then fell into a defensive stance.

Elandria stood, her swords held limply at her sides, grinning at me with that sinister grin of hers.

"You are slowing down," she stated.

I could barely respond with the lull in the combat; my fatigue was back at full force, my heart was thudding through my chest at a mile a minute, and I couldn't stop gasping for breath if only I were at full strength if only I could breathe properly.

Elandria shrugged. "You are weakened, but even at your best, Attelus Kaltos, I am sure that I would win."

"Dream...on," I managed and glanced briefly over my shoulder to check on Feuilt and Olinthre, who both stood frozen still with expressions of utter awe.

"I don't want to fight you, Elandria," I said, turning back to her.

"Really, why did you try to shoot me then?"

My jaw twitched slightly, so I don't have to waste my frigging time fighting you, and I was aiming at your leg. I also thought but said nothing finding it hard to imagine a convincing lie.

"So tell me, El," I said in an attempt to change the subject. "Did I save all those people at the Twilight bar?"

"Not this again," she growled.

My jaw set as sudden anger welled at the pit of my guts. "Yes, this again," I growled, "did I or didn't I? Now spit it out before I kill you."

Her face turned grim. "I am not telling you, so if you by some miracle actually kill me, you will miss out on it."

"There are no miracles; there is only men," I said, suddenly recalling the quote although I could not quite remember from where it came.

She grinned again. "If that is true, then you are positively screwed."

I grinned back. "Then I am positively screwed, I guess, but really, I don't mind that it would be you who screwed me."

Elandria's face immediately turned a stark red, evident in contrast to her deathly pale skin.

I stepped forward, looking her straight in the eyes, her drugged dead but somehow still beautiful brown eyes. "I-I don't want to fight you, Elandria."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I don't want to fight you!" I yelled.

"Why don't you want to fight me?"

"Because I don't want to kill you!"

"Why don't you want to kill me?"

My reply caught in my throat; why was she pushing this? Damn it! I turned my attention to the floor, unable to keep eye contact with her any more.

"B-because I don't want you to die, Elandria."

"Why, Attelus don't you want me to die then?" she said softly.

I glanced at her. Why, because you are so damn beautiful, it hurts every time I look at you?

"Just because!" I snapped.

It was pathetic! But I couldn't; I just couldn't talk properly; my heart leapt like it wanted to burst out of my chest, my throat had a massive lump in it, it was hard so, so hard.

It was strange going from one second fighting her, to this, me struggling to confess, well I had no real idea what I wanted to admit exactly.

She tilted her head slightly, her pale face a mask of utter bemusement.

"Why, Attelus, why?"

"Because Elandria," I sighed, "I don't want you to die; it's because I know what you have been through."

I paused, trying to swallow back the lump in my throat, "and I know that you never had any choice in the matter, any choice to be what you wanted to be, to do what you wanted to do. That-that any real choice in your life was stolen from you when you were so young a-and you didn't deserve that Elandria, no one does; I-I want you to live so you could one day have your own life to escape this crap, too."

My left hand clenched into a tight ball while the right gripped my sword's hilt all the harder, "and that may be in your new life that I'd be able to be part of it, that I'd like to be by your side to help you through I-I."

I dropped my sword and kicked it away.

"W-what are you doing?" she demanded, her voice now high pitched, almost scared, her expression of grim determination disappearing entirely into one of extreme uncertainty.

"Giving you a choice Elandria," I answered, feeling tears welling in my eyes. "You can kill me or let me pass, but either way, I know now that you truly aren't the monster that you claim to be; your uncertainty now is proof of that."

Elandria was shaking in utter terror now, and I could even see tears in her own eyes; she had utterly no clue what to do, "Attelus..."

I closed my eyes, "just make the choice, Elandria; I won't fight it either way."

"What the hell are you doing!" I heard Olinthre roar, "don't just give up, you idiot!"

I ignored him, and despite my eyes being closed, the tears now flowed freely.

"I-I," stammered Elandria, "I don't understand, I-I just don't, why can't, why can't I do it? Why can't I kill you?"

Then I heard a clatter as she dropped her swords. "I-I can't."

My eyes opened, and I was greeted for the first time Elandria cry, and by the Emperor, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen as they weren't tears of sadness; they were tears of joy, utter joy.

In all honesty, I had expected her to kill me that her years of brainwashing would win, so to see her Elandria somehow overcoming it was so astonishing I could not help stand in shock and awe. It filled me with such unbelievable hope that if she could do it, why couldn't I?

Despite my self, I approached her, pulling her into an embrace she didn't fight, only tightly embracing me back and sobbed raggedly into my chest.

I held her all the more, and it was then I truly realised that I loved her, and she truly loved me too, and the joy it brought was beyond description.

The single gunshot roared, reverberating the very corridor to the core, and Elandria suddenly gasped, her eyes widening with shock, and she collapsed so fast that I had no time to catch her. I just saw with dawning, utterly numbing horror the vast ragged hole in her back.

My shock was so intense I never saw Taryst slip back through the curtains at the end of the corridor, a smoking gun in his grasp; neither did I hear Olinthre scream the rogue trader's name and run after him nor Feuilt sprint up to try to help me with Elandria.

I fell to my knees and slowly pulled her into my arms, turning her limp form over so I could look into those big brown beautiful eyes; it seemed so unreal I couldn't begin to comprehend.

She smiled weakly and whispered, "you're so stupid."

"H-how?" I managed.

"Th-that you didn't believe Castella when she said you saved all those people," her voice was barely a whisper now. "Because you did save those people, Attelus, you did."

"Please don't talk, El," I said, wiping away my tears with a forearm. "T-try to save your strength."

"Thank you, Attelus Kaltos," she said, ignoring my plea, and she placed a soft hand against my cheek. "Thank you for caring for me despite all I did, thank you for being the only one who-who."

She never got to finish her sentence as her hand fell away, and she gasped one last time, then died still cradled in my arms.

 

 

Chapter 10

 

It must have been a good minute that I knelt and held her close, the world; everything was but a blur, my attention fixated down, down to the only girl I had ever really loved. I never loved Glaitis, no it was some form of sick, idiotic infatuation developed from her oppression that both Taryst and I had mistaken for love.

I felt nothing, not the tears flowing down my face or even Elandria's blood soaking through my clothes; it was unreal, nothing real.

But no matter how long I held and looked down at her, she was still dead; there was no miraculous opening of eyes, no sharp gasp for air. I would've attempted genuine resuscitation if I wasn't so brain dead. Or perhaps deep down, I knew that it would be all for nought.

Feuilt was the one who brought me back to reality, the medicae actually having to grab me by the shoulders and physically shake me to do it.

"She's dead," I said, never hearing Feuilt's yelling even though he was right in my face. "The bitch is dead."

Feuilt's sudden backhand connected with my face, sending agony through my cheek.

"If you loved her, then don't you dare talk about her like that!" He yelled while flicking his hand to cope with the pain.

I clutched my jaw, staring at the floor, then sudden anger welled within me, and my attention snapped straight up at the medicae.

"Why the hell not!" I roared. "She was a bitch to die on me; how could she do this to me, how could she!"

"Do you actually think that this death was by her choice?" snapped Feuilt with extreme exasperation. "Are you so damned selfish and arrogant that you believe that she died on purpose to spite you? To make your life more miserable? What? To add more stupid melodrama to this retarded story of yours? Grow up!"

"B-but she-!"

"It was a bullet in the back!" He interrupted. "She never saw it coming, Attelus! Even I could tell that she wanted more than anything to be with you! That she wanted to live! Get the hell over yourself!"

He was right; I was being idiotic, had my paranoia got so rampant that I would believe that she would do this on purpose? I felt physically sick at the very thought.

Feuilt approached me and leaned down to take Elandria from my arms.

"W-what do I do now?" I asked Feuilt.

"Take Elandria, take her back to my clinic; you are in no condition to do much else right now."

I wordlessly nodded, looking away, ashamed of my pathetic performance.

"W-what about you?"

"I am staying," said Feuilt. "Olinthre ran into Taryst's den someone needs to help him."

"I-I loved her."

"I know Attelus, I know you did," said Feuilt. "Now go."

Nodding again, I began to get to my feet but hesitated midway.

"No," I said.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no, Taryst did this; I need to know why, and I need to make him pay."

"But-!"

"This isn't up for argument, medicae," I interrupted while giving him Elandria. "You're a good person, Feuilt; you deserve to live; I won't allow you to throw your life away, not for this."

Feuilt looked like he was about to argue but stopped, nodded understanding and made for the elevator.

"Don't die, Attelus Kaltos," he said. "Life is tough, but you must live on,