Arrival

Chapter 27: Kysael- Transformation

He screamed in horror as black, feathered wings softer than silk burst through his shoulder blades, and he cried in agony as he clawed the sand beneath him.

I cringed at his screams and cries. My heart raced, breaking for his pain, but happy that he was going to change into something good, something not evil.

He cried out brokenly as his hair changed from solid white to pitch black.

And then he screamed with a ferocity I didn't recognize as his own voice and his eyes changed, going from scarlet to the rich, bright orange of a setting sun, green flecks around the pupil.

And finally, the screaming and crying and thrashing stopped.

He breathed harshly as he caught his breath.

And then, in what felt like a very long time, finally he stood to face me, and I was overwhelmed with his handsome appearance.

Blood coated his white tunic, but I could see past that to see the changes in his body. He held up his hands, staring at them in fascinated horror.

"What...." even his voice had changed a bit, going from the seductively evil dark tone to a richer, creamier tone. "What have you done to me...?" He asked.

I kept my confidence. "I have transformed you, Mafrien, into what I have known you would become since the first time I laid eyes on you on that battlefield that fateful day."

He met my eyes. His eyes were angry, fearful, but.... happy.

"I....I'm a Skyelf...?"

I smiled. "Congratulations, Mafrien. Welcome to the Light Realm."

His wings rustled, and he cringed. I imagined that they must still be tender.

"Kysael!" Kelose shouted as they ran out from behind large desert stones, waving frantically, trying to get my attention. "Kysael, look out, its-!"

Mafrien stepped to block me from the intruder's view, and I could barely see around him to see the same Darkelf from the visions that I'd had.

Unprepared fear speared my heart.

I wasn't ready for this.

I wasn't ready to fight.

My body still wasn't completely healed from my injuries, my leg was still bad. Every negative, down trodden and self-conscious thought I had ever had forced its way through my stunned and frazzled mind, making me afraid.

Coal also came to the future battlefield for the future of the world, and got between us and the new threat.

He was fulfilling his promise to look after me, and my mind eased its negative thoughts a bit.

"You look good, Prince," Coal said softly. Then louder. "Lord Kellerok-"

When he interrupted, goose bumps rose on my flesh, the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck standing at attention.

It was rich, but foul. So, so very foul.

His very voice almost sent me into shivers. It was the most frightening of all the voices I had ever heard in my life. "Shut up, wyvern. I thought that I sensed the power of a new Skyelf. But Mafrien.....my son.....my son, in whom I was so proud, and now I can barely stand to even look at your wretched new form. You are no longer my son."

"Good," Mafrien said.

"So, this is the girl that you have been mating with for so long, and had a secret heir to overthrow me with, hm?"

My blood burned with the implications. He had known.

He had known Mafrien's plans all along.

Mafrien startled. "You...you knew...?" Apparently, he was shocked by this news as well.

Kellerok laughed, throwing his head back. "Of course, I knew! I could smell her disgusting hybrid scent all over you!"

Mafrien held out his arms at his sides, as if to shield me. "What are you going to do?"

"I am going to slaughter you all," Kellerok said.

Mafrien stood his ground. "You will not touch her," Mafrien warned.

Kellerok held up a hand, and a flame began to form in his hand, that extended to become a sword of solid fire.

The flames stayed in the shape of a blade, but it flickered with the light of the flames.

Fear ran through me.

Like the angels of heaven, he had a sword of flames...?

But how? I didn't understand this. How could it be possible?

But then I remembered; The Skyelves had been the children of Angels and Humans, and that was how they had become elves. Then they had asked the creator to create new races of elves using their own traits and abilities.

I remembered the history. I remembered the lessons.

And now, I was about to fight this fallen son of an Angel...?

I truly, truly wasn't ready for this...!

Dragon and Kelose ran to be by my side, one of them on each side of me, and Mafrien in front of me, his wings and arms spread out to shield me. Moserre stayed back, simply observing. He was to be a witness. He knew that he couldn't defeat the Darkelf King.

"You two need to go and get Manwen," Mafrien told them quietly. "He is the only one truly powerful enough to know how to defeat my father," he said. He reached a hand into the pocket of his pants, and pulled out a single key. "Go and get him, Dragon. You are a healer; you need to get out of here. Now."

Dragon looked at me, and I nodded to him. "Go."

He ran without looking back.

When he was gone, Mafrien reached his arm back out, and startled when Kellerok moved toward us with blinding speed, ducking under Mafrien's delayed punch, to punch Kelose hard in the torso. Even as he did so, Kelose stabbed a knife into Kellerok's thigh. But that was the furthest that it went.

I could hear the bones splintering, the sickening crack. I could hear the rush of air leave his lungs as his mouth opened wide, a surprised look full of startled pain fill his face.

Kelose gasped, blood spewing out of his mouth, and his body was thrown like a ragdoll to the ground behind us.

Mafrien kicked Kellerok, knocking him back a few feet.

I could only hope that Dragon would be back soon.

Because, as of that moment, Mafrien was much more powerful than I was....and there was little that I could do to fight against the Darkelf king right then.

Mafrien continued to take punches and hits, protecting me as his father tried to get around him to get to me.

They took to the air, surprising me with the fact that Kellerok had webbed wings of his own.

I took a good look at Kellerok...

He had long, long white hair in a mohawk that was braided on top of his head, reminding me strangely of Kirinae's preferred hairstyle choice for herself.

His skin was much darker than Mafrien's had been, his hair was a little grayer than Mafrien's had been.

His eyes were, of course, the color of blood, but there was purple around the pupil that made his eyes a frightening shade.

I looked back at Kelose. He was still clutching his stomach, gasping, his golden eyes wide. He wasn't fatally wounded, but he definitely wouldn't be fighting again during this battle.

Just as I was praying for his return, Dragon finally returned, Manwen trailing behind him as quickly as his stiff legs could manage to bring him after centuries in a dungeon.

Kellerok stopped mid-punch, and descended back to the ground.

Mafrien returned to his protective position in front of me, despite being tired and worn down.

I was flattered by his concern for my safety.

I turned my attention to the two kings.

"Manwen," Kellerok said. "How do you like the fresh air?"

"I was beginning to think that this day would never come. It has been a long wait for me," Manwen said, and his eyes met mine. "But now, my visions will finally come to fruition," Manwen said softly.

Kellerok met his gaze, and laughed cruelly. "Visions? Of this little hybrid infant? What, of her death? Because that is all that will be being fulfilled here!"

Kellerok shot forward, and even my Wraith eyes could barely keep up with him.

Manwen was stabbed...

Kellerok had shoved his entire arm through Manwen's chest.

His hand was holding Manwen's dispatched heart on the other side of his battered body, and he dropped it unceremoniously to the ground with a thump.

I gasped, and Mafrien jumped, startled.

Dragon rushed to Kelose, healing him as they watched in terror as our battle came to its dramatic beginning.

"Manwen!" I cried. I grabbed his still beating heart and rushed to him, Mafrien covering me, protecting me as he went back to battling his father, making it so that I could get to the Skyelf King.

I crawled over to Manwen, who was fading fast.

"Manwen," I said softly. "Please," I begged. "I don't know what to do!"

I hovered over him, and he watched me. "You....will save us all, Kysael. You will light the skies with your light, and save my people." He laid his hands over my chest, and I began to burn. "Eat my heart."

I startled. "What?"

He nodded stiffly, jerky. "Do it. You need it for what I am about to do, young one."

Shakily, I pulled his heart, the thumps starting to slow, to my chest. I held it, cradled it protectively against me.

In my peripheral vision I could see Dragon watching me with disturbed fascination even as he continued healing my Soul Bonded... I knew that with his enhanced elven hearing, he'd heard what Manwen had told me to do.

Slowly, shaking, I pulled the heart to my mouth and took half of it in one bite.

The burning got significantly more intense as Manwen's hands began to glow, and his eyes squeezed shut with pain.

With another encouraging nod from the Skyelf King, I took the rest of the heart into my mouth, and I felt it thump one final beat sickeningly before it slumped down my tight throat. Sweet sounding words that I couldn't understand came from his throat, chanting...

And then the burning pain blinded me to everything else.