Exodius Demon

Leliana

I picked up the dagger and looked at it long and hard as Melic stood behind me silently. How could he just leave me like that, so suddenly and without saying a word, when I was right next to him? He could have said something—I would have heard it despite arguing with Melic.

“Why?” I asked myself, gripping the handle of the dagger tightly as tears began to roll down my face. I’d thought we were doing really well together. Alucard and I hardly ever fought, if at all. It never lasted long and we were never rude or cruel to each other. What had brought this on? Why now?

My head was full of questions, but the only person who could answer them was gone without a trace or a word said between us, although there were so many words I wished I had said to him. I fell to my knees, still clutching the dagger tightly, and I continued to cry. Melic stood silent behind me.

“Alucard!” I screamed his name as loud as I could through my tears, in the hope that he would hear it and come back—that maybe he’d just wandered off a little way and I couldn’t see him. But he didn’t come. My heart ached and I longed, in a way I had never felt before, for him to hold me. Just when I needed his comfort the most, he wasn’t there.

I’m not sure how long I sat there crying and clutching his dagger before I finally tried to calm myself. I stood up slowly, still sniffling, as my tears continued unabated. I grabbed our pack; he’d left it here, so now it was presumably my pack, but I refused to relinquish the idea of it being ours, any more than the dagger I held was his. I placed it in the pack carefully, having no other place on me to put it, and closed the pack tightly.

“So—stupid left, huh?” Melic finally piped up, quite calm about it—not that I could blame her. She didn’t know Alucard or even want to know him. But that didn’t stop me from slapping her in the face for saying it.

“Ow! What was that for?” Her eyes teared up as she rubbed her cheek.

“I love him! I’ve loved him for a long time and never told him, and now he’s left! I never got to tell him, never got to spend the night holding him in my arms or feel him holding me!” As I stood there holding the pack Alucard and I had shared for the few years we had traveled together, I felt sudden determination, even through all my hurt, to find him again. I wasn’t ready to let him go, nor would I give up on him as far as helping him keep his demon under control, if I could help it.

“I love him, Melic. I won’t give him up for anything,” I said firmly. Melic looked at me, intrigued. I made my wings appear and flapped them a few times to warm them up a little, since they hadn’t been used for a while. “I’m going to find him.” I was ready to take off and begin searching for him; I just hoped I could find Alucard before the demon took him from me for good.

“Wait! I want to come with you, if you can carry me!” Melic said suddenly. “I’m curious about what makes you so devoted to him. I want to see for myself what it is.”


“There’s a way I can take you along, but you’ll have to listen to me and do exactly as I say.” I crossed my arms and stared Melic in the eye. I wasn’t very willing to even talk to her any more, let alone take her with me, but somehow I got the feeling it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have her along, although I wasn’t sure why.

“You name it, darling, and I’ll do it!” Melic smiled widely at me, making me want to smack her again just for what I imagined she was thinking.

“Take this pack and hold on to it tight. Don’t drop it, or I’ll drop you! Understand me?” I shoved the pack into her hands.

She nodded and took the pack, clutching it close to her chest. I took off into the air, twirling as I ascended in an effort to spot Alucard. Then I stopped turning and hovered, looking out to the horizon ahead of us. All I could see was what looked like a settlement of some kind; there was nobody walking alone. How did he get so far away from us so quickly? I wondered as I hung there, far above the ground. Melic and I must have been arguing longer than I realized, otherwise I’d be able to spot him from this high up.

With a heavy heart I began a dive, gliding off the air that was rushing through my wings and turning away from Melic, who waited patiently on the ground. She probably thought I intended to leave her there, but this was how I had always managed to get Alucard off the ground with me. I continued to glide down and turned around so I was lined up with Melic.

She bounced excitedly on the ground, gripping the pack tightly in her arms. I had got up a great deal of speed by now, so this was going to go one of two ways: I would either get a good grip on Melic and lift her off the ground, or she would cause me to crash. If I crashed at this speed I would be hurt, if not killed, so hopefully she could handle this.

I was almost skimming the ground as I came straight at her. She was still bouncing on her toes, with a big smile on her face, and suddenly I had a cruel idea that would get rid of that smile. Melic held out an arm for me to grab and instead I got hold of the pants she was wearing, that Alucard had given her.

“AHHHHHH!” She gave a loud screech of pain as I yanked the pants upward, hiking them up her rear as I lifted her into the air. predictably, the cloth began to tear and she started to panic, squirming around while I tried to get a better grip on her before she fell. I had expected the cloth might tear a little—it did with Alucard, too—but he didn’t panic. At least he was calm about it.

“Stop moving—and don’t you dare drop that pack!” I shouted. Melic went practically limp, aside from her death-grip on the pack. The fact of the matter was that I cared more about the contents than the pack itself; I had placed Alucard’s dagger inside it. As far as I was concerned, it was a little piece of himself he’d left behind, and I wasn’t going to lose it. He wielded those blades as if they were part of his very being.

I dove down quickly for a moment, so that Melic bumped into me, and I wrapped my arms around her tightly so she wouldn’t fall. Then I pulled back up and soared onward through the sky, watching the ground we flew over as carefully as possible. Heading to the settlement seemed like the most practical thing to do. I just wanted to find Alucard, I didn’t care about anything else; I was possessed with the desire to have him safe in my arms.

“My bottom hurrrts!” Melic shouted suddenly. I didn’t reply, only continued on the same route toward an area I saw in the distance where it looked like there were buildings.

It didn’t take long before we’d got close enough that we were skimming over what appeared to be tents, of poor tailoring, haphazardly scattered. It appeared to be either a settlement or an encampment of some kind, but I couldn’t tell for certain which it was.

Tents were the only structures present. Larger than any person really needed, they were patched together from pieces of leather and cloth, with bits of fur and animal skins here and there. I didn’t see anyone around, which made me wonder if the settlement was abandoned or if the people who lived here were just sleeping.

I began to descend, circling around once to make sure nothing was waiting to spring a trap on me, but all I saw was clear, empty grassland. I wonder where everybody is, I thought as we got lower.

I glided over inside the city and dropped Melic close to the ground. She hit the dirt with a thud, almost landing on the pack. She glared at me but didn’t say anything as she stood up and brushed herself off. I kept my wings ready in case something went wrong or this was some kind of trap, and I quickly picked up the pack Melic had dropped. I took the time to get the dagger out and gripped it tightly in my hand, ready for use if need be, should I even get the chance to use it if we were attacked.

“I don’t like it here—the wind tells me to leave. I want to leave,” Melic whispered urgently, but I ignored her.

“Hello? Is anybody here?” I shouted loudly.

Suddenly Orcs flooded out of the tents, axes and swords in hand; some were dressed and some half-dressed, some only in loincloths, as they swarmed around us. They were large-built creatures, with muscles that seemed overdeveloped even for their hulking bodies. They were hunched over slightly as they stood around Melic and me, glaring harshly and growling at us as though they were considering what to do with us. Melic, who was a little taller than I, found herself staring upward to look into their eyes. I found myself trying to think of a way to get out with Melic while staying in one piece.

“You come here why?” an Orc shouted as he stepped closer to us. His face had a long, knotted white beard but his head was otherwise bald. His skin was slightly paler than that of most of the others, which had a deep green tinge.

“I come searching for another who passed this way. Did he come through here?” I shouted back, hoping it wouldn’t anger them.

“We see no point-ears! You invade our home!” Shouting seemed to be the manner in which they spoke to outsiders, if not to each other. I wondered how one could tell if they were angry; at the same time I wanted to not think about their shouting in case it might mean we were about to be smashed and eaten.

“Has anyone of the small people crossed your path?” I asked again.

“No weak ones come.” He and the others moved a little closer, and I reaadied the dagger in my hand. If they killed us I was going to take as many of them with me as possible, although I imagined I might be able to fly out, even carrying Melic. None of the Orcs seemed to have any bows on them, though I couldn’t see the ones standing at the back of the horde.

“Fine, then we will leave!”

“No! You stay! Must pay for invading home. We eat you!” the Orc snarled loudly, and the others began to move in.

“Eat the Dryad!” I screamed just as loudly, yanking Melic over next to me.

“What? No!” she cried in panic, trying to pull away.

The Orcs stopped for a moment, to my surprise, as if they were waiting to be told why they shouldn’t just kill us then and there, and my mind began to race as I tried to think of something to tell them that would convince them not to kill us.

“This is a Dryad,” I said, indicating an appalled Melic. “Eating one of them will make you even stronger than you already are—and if you let me go, I’ll teach you how to cook her properly!”

“You bitch!” Melic struggled harder. I laid the dagger against her neck to make her stop.

The bearded Orc scratched his chin as if he was thinking about it, and the others appeared to be waiting for him before they did anything. I assumed this meant he was their leader.

“We eat her. You leave, but show how to cook first!” he ordered as the others moved in again and grabbed Melic roughly.

“Wait! Wait! You can’t kill her until I say, or you’ll ruin your meal!” I shouted quickly as they raised their axes to hack her into pieces.

Melic sobbed in terror as she sagged in several sets of big, rough Orc hands. I felt a little bad, but this was the only thing I could think of to stall for time.

“Follow me out to that field here with her. We need a really big fire, with lots of wood!” I waved to them to bring Melic along, but they were busily tying her up so she couldn’t run.

Damn, they’re going to make this as hard as possible, aren’t they? I tried desperately to think of a plan before Melic was set to dangling over the fire. Orcs were just simple enough to believe I really could teach them how to cook her some special way that would make them stronger. They apparently liked that idea; I wondered if they would consider allowing us to fight for our lives instead. The problem with that idea was that I’d be lucky to kill even one, let alone all of them, if they all fought together. I had no idea whether Melic would be any good in a fight, and now was not the time to test her.

I didn’t really expect any sort of distractionto work. The Orcs began to gather wood, piling it sloppily. Melic was tied up on the ground not far away, staring at me with a heartbroken look. I felt horrible for doing this to her. I knew it was wrong to let her be tormented like this just to buy some time to think; it might be different if I had a plan of some kind, but as it was, I was causing her mortal fear for no good reason.

Think, Leli, think! I hollered to myself. I kept trying hard to think of something to get us out of our predicament. What can I do to get us out of this with our skins whole? What would Alucard do if it was him and me in this situation? I asked myself. Then I knew.

“Hey! Which one of you is in charge here? I want to speak to the leader—now!” I was doing all I could not to show how very nervous I was, talking to them like that and making demands.

They all stopped at once and dropped their wood where they were standing, glaring at me viciously, and it crossed my mind that maybe they were about to grab me and throw me on the fire. None of them were moving that I could see, though, and their weapons were all sheathed now.

“What want you?” boomed a loud, stern voice behind me, startling me. I turned quickly and saw a young-looking Orc with very dark green skin and a short, bushy brown beard. His eyes were purple and fierce even for an Orc—the eyes of a warrior if I’d ever seen them. He stood up straight, unlike the others, and looked well dressed for an Orc in clean, thick leather with a fine patch job.

“I challenge you for leadership of this clan! I can do a much better job than you!” I couldn’t believe I was even attempting this, but if I got killed, at least I’d know I had tried.

All the Orcs except the young one began to roar with laughter at me. I tried hard to keep my nerve as the leader stared down at me.

“You think you Orc?” He cackled loudly. “Thrull will smash you face!” He drew his sword and charged at me, swinging wildly as soon as he got close enough.

I hadn’t expected my ploy to work, but it was all I could think of. I had no idea how to handle creatures like this politically, though I had the feeling Alucard could at least have somehow talked them out of eating us.

I dodged Thrull’s wild thrusts as best I could, afraid there was a real chance he would hack off one of my wings—which weren’t helping, because they were still out. I’d had no time to put them away, something I hadn’t thought about beforehand. I wasn’t used to fighting with them open, and from the time I’d learned how to make them disappear I always did so before a fight; but this time I’d opened my mouth without thinking about it. Now I had to worry about losing a wing in addition to the possibility that I might get killed.

Thrull swung overhead faster than I could back away, forcing me to try to block, which surprisingly enough I managed to do. However, I yelped as it sent a numbing pain up my arm all the way to my elbow and my fingers started to tingle. I had almost forgotten I was still holding Alucard’s dagger in my hand; remembering it now, I felt a sudden renewal of my courage. Knowing that Alucard had felled worse things with it than Orcs made me feel stronger than I really was.

I darted to the right as Thrull swung his blade into the dirt yet again, trying to hit me with another overhead swing; then I quickly jammed the dagger into his arm. The Orc merely pulled his sword out of the ground and renewed his assault, as if I’d done nothing.

Time it, Leli. Everyone makes a mistake eventually when they attack like that. I could hear Alucard’s voice in my head advising me. I waited, dodging as best I could, until Thrull made another overhead swing, then drove the dagger into his arm again, trying to make him drop his blade. The duel between us had become a game of patience; I just had to wait until he missed one of his wild overhead swings, then dart in and jab with the dagger. That would give me a for the moment. He made yet another overhead swing and I raised the dagger up quickly and this time jammed the blade into his hand. Sure enough, Thrull dropped his blade, but he immediately punched me in the face with his other hand, knocking me down and making me drop the dagger.

My vision was fuzzy and my head throbbed fiercely. Seizing the advantage, he grabbed my leg and whipped me into the air, then threw me back down onto the ground. I rolled along the ground; my wings hurt too now, and a few feathers pulled loose and scattered around me in the dirt. The other Orcs cheered loudly for their leader, and I had a feeling I was going to die before I even managed to stand up.

Thrull grabbed me by the front of my neck and lifted me into the air, squeezing just hard enough I couldn’t breathe, even though I was certain that large hand of his could have broken my neck if he’d wanted to. I struggled, punching his arm roughly with my fist, but that accomplished nothing as my legs were dangling in the air. I tried to kick him someplace vulnerable in order to stun him, but all I found was firm, hard muscle. The Orcs were covered in it, like a Drow in scales; it was hard to do anything more severe than poke them.

The cheering of the other Orcs was beginning to fade and I felt myself getting lightheaded from lack of air. I knew I had taken on a lot more than I could handle on my own. Running out of time fast and seeing nothing else I could do, I decided to try to fly into the air with Thrull. Fatalistically, I figured if I was going to black out soon anyway, falling probably wouldn’t bother me much.

I began to flap my wings as hard and as fast as I could, trying to pull us both into the air. I was jerked roughly away from him and he tightened his grip on my neck. I flapped harder. It felt as though I was either lifting him up into the air or he was being pulled forward as I tried to fly away from him. Either way, it aggravated him enough to slam me to the ground yet again and move quickly to stand on my chest, pinning me down. He was pressing harder and harder, and no amount of flapping was going to help me.

Then, out the corner of my eye, I spotted my dagger. I had no idea where it had gone when I dropped it earlier, after he hit me in the face, but now perhaps my luck was turning. I reached for the dagger, scrabbling with desperate fingers as best I could while Thrull applied increasing pressure on my chest. Finally I got my fingers around the handle of the dagger; I swung around and jammed it into his foot, twisting the blade as I did.

Thrull roared loudly and removed his foot from my chest, only so he could kick me away from him. His kick sent me into the air with a sharp pain in my side that almost caused me to drop the dagger again. Thrull stormed over to his sword, which lay on the ground not far from where he stood. I got up quickly, despite my body aching everywhere. I’m going to smack Alucard a good one for this when I find him, I thought to myself as I gripped the dagger tightly and wiped blood off my mouth.

In a last attempt to end this fight, I charged the Orc as he turned, sword in hand, in a ready stance. I was determined to kill this one at least, if no others, just to pay him back for the beating he’d given me. As I drew near, the Orc pulled his arm back in preparation for a wide swing, most likely intending to cut me in half at the waist. I held my breath and flapped my wings as fast and hard as I could while pushing off with my feet.

Thrull missed his swing completely as I rose, my feet clearing the blade with little room to spare; I landed on his broad shoulders, throwing him off balance for a few seconds. I pushed off him, jumping straight up and turning to face him with the dagger raised and the point aimed down at his skull. He turned to face me, his sword pointed at me. As I came down, I drove the dagger into his head just as he drove his sword into my stomach. I landed on my back with his sword still sticking into me; I was actually able to feel the tip of it sink into the ground where it exited my back.

I felt blood run out of the wound and down my side, spreading around my shirt, and I coughed up a large glob of it. The pain was immense, focused on just that one part of my body. I lay there for what seemed like eons, struggling to breathe.

“Let me up—I can help her! Let me up, now! Untie me quickly!” Melic was panicking badly, shouting at the other Orcs who were just stood there gawking.

I lay there, knowing I was dying. The sound of Melic’s screams began to fade. My surroundings were getting fuzzy, and my breath was growing short as I struggled to stay awake. I began to see a bright light surrounding me, and a pure, warm feeling accompanied it. The sword floated away from me and the pain dissipated as the light got brighter; then darkness took me, and I saw nothing more. Peace, was my last thought.

“Leliana, what are you doing?” I heard a familiar voice, one I hadn’t heard for years. “Leli, snap out of it! Stop your daydreaming and pay attention!”

“What?” Images came flooding back to me and I clearly saw myself staring down the stone road that leads down from the mountains of my home. I looked around quickly to see that I was back in the city I had left with Alucard, in the Dar’Gol mountain range. “How?” I asked, and looked down at my stomach. Nothing was there—no sword, no wound.

“Is something wrong, Leliana?” someone next to me asked again, and again that a feeling of familiarity came over me. I looked up to see a man with strawberry-blond hair and light blue eyes. He smiled and flapped his wings at me playfully.

“Captain?” I was confused. How was this possible? I knew where I really was: lying on the ground with an Orc’s sword sticking out of me, dying.

“Leli, I’ve told you a thousand times: address me by my name. That’s why I have one. Now, try it again.” He glared at me, a stern look in his eyes.

“Sorry, ca—Lucian,” I said, remembering his name. He had died long ago, when Alucard came to town. The Drow had invaded in large numbers. They were in the Dar’Gol mountains, starving, and had tried to find food in our city, hoping to include elves in the meal.

“Why do you look so upset to see me all of a sudden?” Lucian looked hurt. We had always been good friends, as were most of the guardsmen and -women despite rank or experience, so I could understand his being upset. I just couldn’t understand how he could be alive. He had died when the Drow attacked the city long ago, and yet here he was now, alive and breathing.

“You died in the Drow attack,” I said in confusion. “How is it you’re standing here? Six Drow took you down right here at the gate!” I ran my hands over his face, almost wanting to cry just because I was so happy to see him alive again.

“Ummm, nice to know it would take so many to get me…but what are you talking about?” He was confused.

“The Drow—they invaded, looking for food, remember? We had to kill them all. Where is Alucard—is he still here?” I looked up the road into town to see if I could spot him.

“What? Who? Leliana, you’re beginning to scare me a little. Maybe you need a rest.” Lucian placed a hand gently on my shoulder.

“No! I’m fine. Just tell me where Alucard is.” I was about to walk into town to find him when Lucian pulled me back.

“I have no idea who you’re talking about, Leli, but don’t abandon your post. The Council will be very angry,” he cautioned me.

I sighed heavily and stood there holding my sword and staring down the road as I tried to understand what had happened. Had I dreamed the last few years of my life in truth not having yet lived any further than this day? It was all so confusing. The pain I’d felt all over my body had been so real, yet now I was here, back in what I thought was the past. What’s going on? I asked myself.

The captain patted my shoulder lightly. “Somebody is coming up the road, Leli. Be kind and courteous, and gut the son of a bitch if he’s hostile in any way,” Lucian joked as I looked at the man approaching.

I recognized him right away. It was Alucard, just as he had been the first time I met him walking up the road with nothing but his daggers and the clothes he wore in the cold mountain air. He stopped for a moment halfway to us, just as he had then. This time I knew he was counting the guards on the wall and at the entrance. “He’s going to put his hands on his head now, then continue to walk forward,” I told Lucian, who just looked at me strangely until Alucard actually did it.

“How the he—” Lucian started.

“It’s the daggers, see the glint? He’s armed and is showing us so in a non-hostile manner.” I pointed to his waist.

“Clever for a human, isn’t he?” Lucian scratched his chin for a moment. “Still, be on guard. You never know how this will go.” He was still being cautious, but then, it seemed I was the only one who knew what was going to happen.

“Actually, I do know. He’s looking for some Drow—he lost their trail up this way.” Again I spoke without thinking.

“Leliana, are you sure you don’t need to rest a little?” Lucian was concerned.

“I’m fine. Worry about him.” I pointed as Alucard stopped in front of us, his hands still on his head. It was all happening as it had before, the only difference being that this time I knew what was going to happen before it did. I was making the captain nervous as I said it all out loud.

“Greetings, traveler. What brings you this far up the mountainside?” Lucian held his hand out to Alucard in greeting.

“I was hunting a small pack of Drow, but I lost their trail on the road somewhere. Have you seen them, by chance?” Alucard asked politely, shaking Lucian’s hand.

I had seen this all before; it was in my past, and now I was reliving it. Why? Why did I need to see this again? What was going on here? My mind was racing with different questions, but I seemed to be the only one who already knew what was going to happen.

“You mean our cousins, the dark elves?” Lucian was annoyed at the idea of some human hunting them, thinking they were monsters. Sadly, most humans think Drow are dark elves. Few know what a Drow really is.

“No, I doubt the Drow I am hunting are related to elves. If they are, I feel truly sorry for all of you.” Alucard laughed lightly at the captain. “Well, if you haven’t seen them I’ll leave. See you later, Leli,” he said as he turned around to walk down the road.

“Wait, Alucard!” I called after him, knowing full well I hadn’t mentioned my name any more than he had told us his. Something strange was going on—I wanted to know what, and I had a feeling he might know what it was.

“Yes?” he said, turning around. Lucian looked from me to Alucard and then back again with great confusion.

“What’s going on here?” I looked Alucard in the eyes, hoping he could tell me why this was happening.

“I can tell you in private, but not here, Leliana. You trusted me once before, and I betrayed that trust by leaving you behind. If you can find it in your heart to trust me again, I can explain why you’re seeing this again.” He faced me with his arms crossed.

I noticed that one of his daggers was missing. It had been there only moments before, though—or at least I could have sworn it was. I’d seen it when he was walking up the road. Now he only had one of them strapped to his back, and only one sheath.


“Captain.” I turned to Lucian at attention and saluted. “I request permission to leave my post early today, sir.” He raised an eyebrow at me as though I had just been struck in the head and gone crazy.

“I need a good reason for this, since I Imagine he’ll be going with you.” He crossed his arms and gazed at me, waiting.

He hadn’t been half this bad the first time this had happened; he’d almost willingly let me keep Alucard in my house when I’d offered it. First he’d tried to talk me into letting Alucard stay in his house instead of mine, because I lived by myself and Lucian’s family was there if Alucard proved to be a spy. My people certainly hadn’t stayed hidden in the mountains and safe for centuries by being reckless. Any and all visitors were kept under close watch, even our own kin, though they were given a little more leeway.

Alucard spoke up. “Well, sir, if you take a look at her waist there, she has my other dagger. She must have found it when I dropped it.”

I looked down at my waist at the same time Lucian did and saw Alucard’s other dagger tied there, with one of his sheaths. I wondered where it had been before, but I was more curious as to how it had got there at all. I knew Alucard’s demon made him fast—but so fast that he could strap it to me unnoticed?

“Ummm, right, so you’re who it belongs to.” I acted as though I had in fact just found it someplace.

“What was that I heard about something going on that you could only discuss in private?” Lucian didn’t seem to be buying our story.

“All right! You got me, Lucian—he’s my lover! I want some time with him before he goes out on his own again.” Lucian’s and Alucard’s jaws both dropped.

“Y-your what?” Lucian stuttered.

“Alucard is my lover. Don’t worry, he’s an elf; he just doesn’t have wings. He lost them in combat,” I lied quickly, trying to think of anything that would make Lucian stop questioning us.

“He’s one of us? Where has he been all this time? Why didn’t he just say that? Why did he leave?” Lucian bombarded us with questions too quickly for us to answer.

“All right, enough! I’m trying to be polite, Captain Lucian, but my patience is wearing thin. I outrank you still—now let me pass!” Alucard scolded sternly. Lucian looked very confused now.

“Oh, yeah? What rank are you?” Lucian was cross at being scolded.

“Lucuritis Nuferitis.” Alucard stated the rank he’d been given for aiding my people when the Drow attacked two days after he came to the city looking for them—two days from today, it seemed.

Lucian backed away from Alucard, speechless. He knew that people who were honored with that rank had truly earned it; furthermore, it proved that Alucard had been here before. It was the highest rank anyone in our city could achieve, and Alucard was the only non-elf to gain it. When the Drow had attacked the city in a huge mass—which, confusingly, would not take place until two days from now—he had saved all the children and women not in the army from being killed as they gathered in the city barracks for shelter from the onslaught. Alucard had been severely hurt in the course of saving people who meant nothing to him, and he’d done so for no reason other than that he was there and he was able to.

“Impossible! How did he—when did he—” Lucian looked at Alucard in awe.

“It’s a long story, Lucian. May I enter now, or do I have to do a dance, too?” Alucard crossed his arms impatiently.

Lucian sighed heavily and stared for a moment before signaling the all-clear for us to go in. “Leliana, before you two run off….”

“Yes?” I stopped for a moment; Alucard continued walking towards my house.

“He didn’t, ummm, get you….” Lucian fidgeted with his fingers and turned bright red.

“No, I’m not pregnant, if that’s what you mean.” I looked at him dully.

“Errr….” His face turned a deeper red. “ Wh-what I mean is, I w-was—”

“Don’t worry, Lucian. I’ll be fine.” I ran after Alucard, who was already out of sight.

It took me several minutes to remember exactly where in the city my house had been all those years ago, the last time I had seen it. I was half excited to see it again with all my things still in it, the furniture and my old bed. When I reached the house, I opened the door to see that the furniture was gone; there was nothing but leaves all over the floor and cobwebs in the corners. Alucard was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in what used to be my kitchen, waiting for me.

“What’s going on here? Where are all my things?” I was upset despite knowing that I was dead and none of this was real.

He kept his back to me, and the sadness in his voice was clear. “The world is falling apart, Leliana. Right now you exist between life and the void of death. Melic has you suspended here with her magic. She bound you to something in order to save your life after whatever happened that caused you to die.”

“What do you mean?” What he was saying was beginning to scare me.

“It means, Leliana, that something you have unfinished is holding you here, instead of your being able to pass on from this life. The question is, what? And do you want to pass on after you finish it?” He sounded as though he wanted to cry but was trying not to do it in front of me.

“I’m not sure what you mean. Why are you here—”

“You tell me, Leli. You brought me here when the Dryad performed her spell.” He turned around to face me. “The sad fact is that getting out of here is as easy as finishing whatever it is you need to do. Is there somebody in this city you never said goodbye to? Something you need to tell someone or something you need to do? Think, Leliana.” He stepped towards me until we were face to face.

“Actually, yes, I may know what it is.” I looked down at the ground and fiddled with my thumbs a little. Suddenly everything made sense. I was there because it was familiar and I was comfortable there among my own people. Why it was so close in time to the Drow attack wasn’t quite clear; that had been a terrible day and I’d lost a lot of friends, including Lucian. But then I thought of Alucard. I’d been brought back at this time because this was when I’d first met Alucard. Fate seemed to be shoving me towards him once again—as if I needed to be pushed any harder!

“Leli, time isn’t limitless, even here. What is it you need to do?” Alucard was clearly concerned for me, which made me wonder why he’d left me alone. I couldn’t wonder any more; I had to know.

“Alucard, why did you leave me? After so long you just abandoned me and left me there—why?” I looked him in the eyes as sadness slowly filled me. “Weren’t you happy with me? Did I do something wrong?”

Alucard placed his hand against my mouth gently. “No, Leli, you didn’t do anything wrong. It was me. It’s always been me. Me and my damned demon. He wants to hurt you in the worst way possible, and he’s almost constantly trying to convince me to do that.” He started to look away, but I stopped him by gently touching his cheek with my hand, caressing it lightly with my palm.

“Don’t turn away from me, please, Alucard.” I spoke softly, leaning my head a little closer to his.

Then I saw something I had never thought to see: a single tear rolled down his cheek. I’d never seen him cry before, but it appeared he was doing just that.

“I left because I’ve been a burden to you long enough, Leli. I’m a risk to your safety, and now I can see I got you hurt even though I left.” He placed his hand on mine and held it there, pressed to his face.

“Alucard, you’ve never been a burden to me. When we first left here together you were a hero and I wanted to understand as much as possible about you, as childish as that might sound. Then you grew into the dearest of friends, someone I could always trust to have my back and be there when I needed you.” I felt my own tears well up and run down my face as I confessed my feelings to Alucard.

He placed his hands on my waist and held me lightly, looking into my eyes with a sorrow I had never known from him except when he thought of his past with Merrick. It seemed like every burden he’d borne in his past and now in his present were spilling out of him and he couldn’t contain grief any longer, no matter how hard he tried.

“Leli, my demon wants to hurt you. He’s always trying to think of ways, and sometimes he tries to drive me to it. He makes horrible suggestions of how to hurt you or kill you, and I didn’t think it was safe to be around you any more. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you.” Tears ran steadily down his face and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him tightly.

“I love you, Alucard. I have for much longer than I should have without telling you. I wish I’d said something long before it came to the point of fearing I’d never see you again. I want more than a friendship with you—I want to give you my heart, my love, without reservation. I hope you will return my love and not send me away or leave me.” I buried my face in his chest as I began to cry myself, although Alucard remained relatively composed.

“I will always love you, Alucard. No matter what you say or do you will remain in my heart. You’re a part of me forever.” I held him tighter as I wiped my tears on his shirt.

“I love you too, Leliana. I never told you because I was afraid of my demon, afraid of what you might think of him if I ever told you. You of all people know how despicable he is.”

I looked into Alucard’s eyes and, with a hand behind his head, drew him in closer until our lips were pressed together in a kiss. Alucard made his feelings very clear in the way he kissed me, and I returned it with equal passion. A sensation of warmth flowed through me, growing more and more intense, and suddenly we were surrounded by the sound of rushing winds.

We broke off our kiss and I noticed that everything around me, including Alucard himself, was beginning to fade away. I didn’t know what was happening and it frightened me. I could hear Alucard’s voice echoing as I was drawn away, calling my name as he faded from sight. A dark-grey mist swirled around me with the rapid winds, and my body was growing hotter and hotter.

A sudden rush of air filled my lungs, then there was an uncomfortable feeling as though it had all been forced out again and my airway blocked so I couldn’t breathe. My vision faded into darkness as the wind continued around me, and I felt something pressing against my back. It was solid but not hard; something appeared to be protruding from my back, though I could barely feel it touching my skin. My senses were slowly coming back. Another voice was slowly becoming audible, crying and calling my name, along with the sounds of chirping. The warmth I had felt was slightly less intense now, and the wind was beginning to feel more like a breeze on my skin.

“Leli!” The voice came again. It sounded female, and it was familiar to me, though at the moment I couldn’t place it. My head throbbed and ached like it had been hit with a stone hammer, and I moaned softly. “Leli! You’re alive! I’m so happy!” the woman cried. I realized that my eyes were closed, and I opened them to a flood of blinding light, which made my head ache even worse.

“Oww,” I groaned. My limbs felt too weak to lift, let alone my whole body. The only thing that was still clearly present to my senses was the feel of Alucard’s lips touching mine.

“Who are you?” I grumbled. I saw only a silhouette of someone kneeling over me, blocking out the bright sun for a moment. So it was daytime, at least, and we were outside—but where? Until my vision went back to normal, I could only hope we were someplace safe.

“It’s Melic. Did you forget about me?” She sniffled sadly.

“My head is killing me and the light is too bright. I can’t see very well.” I tried to sit up, but my arms were still too weak to lift me. My body felt utterly drained from whatever had happened to me after my fight with the Orc. My hands wandered down to my stomach, where I had been impaled by his sword, and at once I tried to sit up again, surprised to find no trace of a wound. In the odd place I’d just been with Alucard, I had assumed I was unhurt because I was dead. But then he’d said something about that being the place between life and death. Did that mean I was just my spirit and had left my body?

“You need to sit there and relax for a while, at least until your senses come back.” Melic scooted away from me out of view and the light shone directly into my eyes again. “I barely managed to save your life, you know; you almost stayed dead.”

“I what?” I finally managed to sit up when I heard that. She had said it simply, as though she was telling me something ordinary and unimportant.

“You were dead, but I saved you. I used what little magic I could muster, considering how upset I was.” Her tone was giddy and cheerful and it made me want to choke her. I wanted to know what she’d done—if I was supposed to be dead, then why wasn’t I? Had she turned me into some kind of undead servant or something?

“What did you do to me?” I growled at her, trying hard not to fall over on my back again. I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to move easily any time soon. I noticed my wings were still out and limp against my body; I couldn’t move them at all. They made me even more likely to fall over; for something that made flight possible, they certainly seemed heavy now.

Melic started poking around in my feathers and messing with my wings, which were still sore from Thrull slamming me around. “Ooo, looks like you lost a few feathers, but nothing is broken.” She continued poking and prodding and I tried hard to smack her with a wing, but despite my best efforts I was far too weak.

“Your strength should return shortly. Just keep this close to you; you really don’t want to lose it now.” She slid the dagger over to me; it was in a sheath that looked like the one Alucard was missing in the place where I’d just been. It had been some sort of spirit realm; it had definitely been Alucard and not his demon I was talking to. But how had I got the sheath? He hadn’t left it with me when he abandoned us.

The throbbing in my head was finally abating. I reached over and weakly grasped the dagger. A strange energy began to fill me and warmth coursed through my body once again; it was pleasant, and I could feel my strength steadily returning.

“Melic, what did you do? How is it that I’m still alive if I was dead?” I turned to look at her; my vision seemed to be almost back to normal, aside from a lingering sensitivity to light.

“I don’t want to tell you. I’m afraid you’ll be angry,” she said sheepishly. She wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“I’ll be angrier if you don’t tell me now!” I said sharply. Another rush of warmth flowed through me, and still more of my strength returned.

“I might have...ummm...bound your...ummm...soul to the dagger—to keep you alive.” So saying, she curled up into a tight ball on the ground and put her hands protectively over her head.

“You did WHAT?” I cried, aghast. “Why would you do that? Now what am I going to do? My soul is in a dagger—what if the dagger breaks?”

Melic seemed very emotionally sensitive at times, but it was often hard to tell if she was truly upset or just being manipulative. That was something else I’d noticed she was good at: whenever she thought somebody was angry with her, she pretended to be upset enough that she might cry.

“I didn’t want you to die,” she mumbled sadly.

“But how did you manage it? You were tied up, the last I saw.”

“Well, after you stopped moving the Orcs started to fight over how to cook us. They aren’t exactly the brightest creatures, and the argument turned into a fight, with them beating each other up. While they weren’t paying attention I managed to slip out of my ropes. I got over to you and pulled the sword out just as your spirit was leaving your body. I watched you spit up a lot of blood and take your last breath, then you went limp.” She looked over at me tearfully.

“And then...?” I looked at her dully, too weak to get up and hit her like I wanted to. I couldn’t believe she would do such a thing. While I appreciated not being dead, I wasn’t at all happy about my soul residing somewhere it could so easily be lost.

“I moved your soul from your body to the dagger just as it passed between our world and the spirit world. Then I dragged your body away from the Orcs as quickly as I could, while they were distracted with their fighting. You aren’t exactly light, you know, especially with those big, bulky wings!” She scowled at me, although tears still at the ready.

“Great. So tell me, what happens if the dagger gets broken?” I demanded.

“Well, you’d die for sure then, but that blade would be hard for even a dragon to break, let alone anything less. At least if it’s made of what I think it is,” she said, seeming more casual about it than I felt she ought to be. She was talking about this as though it was no big deal. This was my soul we were talking about—it was a huge deal!

I sat there holding the dagger in my hands, feeling like nothing more than an empty husk. I took the dagger from its sheath and gazed at the shiny black gemstone blade.

“What are you going to do now, Leli?” Melic sat up on her knees and inched closer to me.

I didn’t answer, only stared silently at my reflection in the blade. It was like looking into a mirror and now I could see a hint of a faint glow about it. I didn’t know what to tell Melic. The truth was, I had no idea what I would do now. I still wanted to find Alucard, but I had no idea if that was still possible. He might be able to find us, but would he be looking? I sighed and a feeling of helplessness swept through me. Everything as falling apart after years of harmony, and it was mostly my fault—both for not telling Alucard how I felt and also for not doing something to stop him from leaving. I knew it wasn’t logical to feel that way—after all, I’d had no inkling he was going to leave me—but I never claimed to be a creature of logic.

“Leli, you could come with me.” Melic scooted closer still and put her arm around me. “The two of us could live very happily together in the forest.” She leaned in close and whispered softly in my ear, “We wouldn’t have any more troubles, just each other. We don’t need anyone else.”

I slid the blade back into the sheath and found myself actually considering it, just leaving here with her and not coming back. Come to think of it, where was “here”? I looked around, my vision back to normal now, and saw tall grass all around us. It looked like Melic had found a place out in the grassland somewhere, a clearing similar to the one Alucard and I had slept in before he left.

“I’d never hurt you like he did, Leli. I would take good care of you.” She gently took the dagger from me and set it on the ground next to her. “I would treat you the way you deserve to be treated.” She took my earlobe in her mouth and pulled on it gently with her teeth, sending warm shivers down my back. “I would love you as you know you want to be loved,” she whispered. She kissed down the back of my neck, suckling softly on my skin with each kiss.

I felt strangely unwilling to stop her, but it wasn’t because I particularly wanted her to kiss me. No, I was thinking of Alucard—wishing it was his mouth on me. I actually closed my eyes and imagined Melic was him.

She carefully lowered me onto my back and pressed her lips to mine in a deeply passionate kiss, resting one of her hands under my head. I closed my eyes and tilted my head backward to give her better access as she nipped gently at my neck, making her way down towards my collarbone. She pulled my collar down as far as she could and then began to kiss me again, making her way down the exposed skin of my chest.

A soft moan escaped my lips as I thought of Alucard. If only it was really him touching me and kissing me. Just imagining it made it feel so good.

A hand reached under my shirt and caressed my belly with delicate fingers, the feel of it exciting me as the hand made its way slowly up my torso. The soft-skinned hand massaged and caressed and squeezed my breast, and the thumb brushed my nipple lightly now and then, making it harden My shirt was lifted, exposing my breasts completely, and soft lips pressed against my belly, nipping affectionately at the skin. I held my breath and bit my lower lip in anticipation as the lips made their way up my chest, kissing my sternum and then taking one of my nipples into that hot, wet interior. Another hand began to slowly make its way under my pants.

“Mmm, Alucard,” I moaned. The hands and lips immediately stopped what they were doing, and my eyes flew open in chagrin. “Melic….” My heart raced as I looked at her; she was clearly confused. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.” I pulled my shirt down and turned my head away from her as she removed her hands from under my clothing.

“You really care for him that much?” she said, sounding surprisingly calm.

“I love him, Melic. I want to find him no matter what it takes or how long I have to search. You don’t have to come—I’d understand if you didn’t want to. You don’t even really know him.” I sat up quickly, determined now, and picked up the dagger, strapping it tightly to my leg. Melic glared at me angrily, with her arms crossed and her nails digging into her arms. “I’m truly sorry, Melic.” I stood up carefully, a little wobbly on my legs.

“It’s your loss!” she spat, standing up in a huff. “Hurry up, you need to get moving if you’re going to catch up to him!” She was very angry, judging by the sound of her voice. “We don’t have the pack any more but you do have your dagger.” She relented slightly, obviously not wanting to be left behind. “Make sure you pick me up before you fly off. I’ll help you find him, if it really means that much to you.” She was still huffy, but disagreeable help was better then no help at all. I just hoped she wasn’t planning to try to seduce me again.

Of course, it had only gone as far as it had because I was imagining Melic was Alucard. Oh, how I hoped I could one day feel Alucard touch me like that—only I wouldn’t want him to stop!