I'd Give Up The World For You

Rukelion could understand where her anger was coming from but all it did was fuel his further. "The Mireans started it! I never would have had a reason to attack if they hadn't destroyed my country first!" 

"And I wouldn't have a reason to attack if you hadn't killed the one I love," the ice mage countered coldly. "Eliot meant everything to me so I'm going to take the one who means everything to you! I don't care what happens to me. My life was forfeit from the moment I lost him."

This stupid girl! He needed to get her away from Daisy but how? He couldn't attack directly and trying to heat the knife so she would drop it likely wouldn't make a difference considering what she was. She could cool things back down as quickly as he heated them up unless he used some serious firepower. That wasn't an option while his wife was being held hostage. 

She really didn't look good. Her head lolled to the side and her breathing was too slow. 

If only she was fireproof like he was! Then he would be able to attack without hurting her. If she wasn't in the line of fire he would have torched this wretch who dared touch what was his the moment he entered the room. 

Rukelion's blood boiled. "Stand down! You're going to die anyway but it will be a lot less painful for you if you let her go!"

A frightening smile lit her face. "Come at me if you dare. I'm not afraid of a painful death. I already died in spirit long ago. Seeing Eliot again is the best thing anyone could do for me. I don't care what it takes to get there as long as I take you down with me."

What was he supposed to do? He couldn't attack her without risking Daisy! Until he saw Ira stirring out of the corner of his eye. He was gesturing to go ahead on the count of three. 

Did he have a plan? Was there a way for him to block the woman they both loved from the flames? Rukelion could evaporate water easily so he was going to have to keep it light. Light flame was still enough to melt ice. 

He watched Ira count down on his fingers and on three he saw a thin film of water surround Daisy's entire body. That gave him the opening he needed to burn the ice mage. She screamed and dropped the knife but nicked Daisy's neck in the process. A small dribble of blood appeared but otherwise she seemed unscathed. 

Rukelion rushed forward to catch her with one arm and was now free to annihilate the treasonous ice mage with the other. Her screams were terrible but he didn't care. She deserved it for what she had tried to do. 

She was soon nothing but a lump of charred flesh on the ground. Once that was done he could turn his full attention back to his wife. He needed to wake her up and assess for further injuries. 

"Daisy?" he asked urgently as he patted her face. "Daisy, wake up!" 

Rather than waking up Daisy began to convulse in his arms. The panic he felt when he first came into the room and saw her held hostage began flooding through him again. The knife had been poisoned! Why hadn't he considered that possibility?!

Ira realized what was going on the same moment he did. "Sarabeth! Sarabeth, GET UP! I need to know which poison that was and whether or not you have the antidote!" 

The blonde girl on the floor groaned as she sat up and straightened her glasses. She took in the sight of the woman having a seizure and the knife on the floor and immediately began rummaging around in the many pouches strapped to her waist. 

"Here!" she cried a moment later as she produced a tiny vial. "She must have gotten the knife off me when I was unconscious but this one should do the trick."

Everyone else began slowly waking up to the sound of the commotion as Rukelion desperately poured the antidote down Daisy's throat. She stopped convulsing but that wasn't the only thing that stopped. 

The heat signature that had been coming from her belly for months had vanished and hers was fading fast. Her pulse was weak and it sounded like she was choking. He looked at Sarabeth accusingly. "That isn't an antidote! That's another poison!" 

Fear flashed in her eyes. "No, that's the antidote! I swear! I don't know why she's reacting like this!" 

"Sarabeth, what's in it?" Ira demanded. "She might be having an allergic reaction!" 

"Oh no. It has to be the bee venom! Has she ever been stung by a bee?"

"Not to my knowledge. Have you seen her get stung by a bee?" he asked Rukelion beseechingly. 

"No but what do we do about it? She's dying! You want to be a doctor; you have to do something! Please, I'll do anything if you save her!" 

"I want to save her too but I don't have a way to treat an allergic reaction! I haven't gotten very far in my studies; I'm only a second-year student," Ira said with tears in his eyes. "Someone needs to get a real doctor here but I'm afraid it will be too late."

"I'll go!" Nico insisted, speaking up for the first time during the chaos. "I'm the fastest. Stay here; I'll be right back!" 

Rukelion hadn't felt this terrified since the day he lost everything. It couldn't happen again. He wouldn't be able to survive that. Daisy had to live. She had to. He couldn't even think of the alternative. She was going to be fine!

Tears poured from his eyes as he monitored her vitals. When her heart stopped he looked up in a panic. "Her heart stopped! How am I supposed to start it again?!" 

Ira bit his lip. "I've never actually tried this. It's only a theory but—"

"I don't care! Do it!" 

"Alright, set her down."

Rukelion did as the boy said and he began concentrating fiercely on Daisy as she lay flat on the ground no longer breathing. He did something strange, seeming like he was hitting her on the chest a bunch of times in a row before pinching her nose shut and breathing into her mouth. 

At first he thought Ira was kissing her and was both furious and confused until he saw her chest rise and fall. When that was done he immediately returned to hitting her chest. He didn't know much about the medical field but if he had to guess Ira was trying to make her heart beat and breathe for her since she couldn't currently do it herself. 

He had never felt so helpless in his life. In every other terrible situation he had been in there had always been something he could do, be it run or fight. Right now all he could do was watch, unsure if the only person left he loved was going to make it or not. 

Ira looked like he was beginning to tire out and Ciara firmly said. "Switch with me." 

He briefly helped her position her hands to be sure she was doing it the way he had studied and told her how long she should try to do it before doing the breathing. She gave him a sharp nod before taking over and sat to the side, exhausted but anxious. 

Rukelion wanted to believe that what they were doing would work but his last bit of hope flickered out the moment he sensed that her soul had left this world. Daisy was dead and nothing they could do would bring her back. 

"She's gone," he whispered in shock. 

Everyone turned to look at him right as the doctor came in and began examining her fretfully. Rage, grief, and guilt warred within him with such force it threatened to tear him apart. 

His fault. This was his fault. He hadn't been able to protect what mattered to him AGAIN. Becoming strong hadn't done anything! In trying to save her he had helped kill her! Her and their child. 

A moment later the doctor confirmed what Rukelion already knew to be true and he howled in anguish, making everyone else in the room jump. The doctor backed away in fear as he gathered Daisy's body up in his arms and screamed his frustration at the world. 

Why? Why did everything always have to be taken away from him? 

Daisy hadn't deserved this. She had wanted to live a peaceful life with him and that had gotten her killed. This never would have happened if he hadn't gone down the path of revenge. Now he had absolutely nothing. 

This was the second time she had died! Why did she always have to die?! Wait. This was the second time she had died. She had lived somewhere else before and come here when she died.. Which meant it was entirely possible she had now gone to some other world. Her soul might still be out there!