“Elric?”

Holding her breath, Noelle nudged his room door ajar and paused momentarily, before stepping gingerly in.

During the initial stages of the illness, Elric had retained a good portion of his vitality and was still a responsive individual - enthusiasm would shine brightly in his face whenever Noelle found time to visit him by his bedside.

Not a stir of response came from him now, nothing that allowed Noelle to know he had registered her presence. Elric only lay limp on the bed, curled up tightly in a pitiful ball of pain. His eyes, glazed over with muted, burning agony, stared off into the dull grey wall beside his bed.  

“Elric…” Noelle laid a hand lightly on his shoulder, afraid that the slightest pressure would pain him further. His body was in a fragile state. There was no reply, only the choked, ragged sound of breathing filled her ears.

“My boy will be alright – he will finally be well again,” Mrs Aidan murmured softly into the night. “My boy will be alright.”

Sickness had wormed itself deep into the boy’s core, leaving Death’s vile poison to spread like an inky darkness that feasted on the human flesh. Sharp and shallow were his laboured breathing, his lungs so clogged with phlegm that each breath came in raspy, guttural growls, vibrating along the walls of the claustrophobic room. It was no resting place for a sickly ill person, but the sight of the unnatural boils – angry red swellings with dark mouldy-green hues, one bursting every now and then, was enough reason for the town’s infirmary to send him packing.

There is no cure, they had said, before giving up his bed to another more fortunate individual.

“There is no cure,” Noelle muttered bitterly.

Mrs Aidan seemed not to have heard her. Her attention was now focused on the vial of Defiance that the girl clutched tightly in her fingers. Those fingers trembled, and so did the hand that grasped the silver syringe.

“Do you know how to administer it?” Mrs Aidan asked uncertainly.

“Uh…”

“I believe it’s the neck. I know of a few acquaintances who have taken it before. There, that vein, see?”

“Thanks, Mrs Aidan,” Noelle gave her a brief nod and turned back to Elric.

She leaned in with the syringe, needle poised over his neck. His half-opened eyelids barely moved as the needle of the syringe plunged into his vein. As the contents of the vial slowly emptied out to mingle with the boy’s flesh and blood, Elric’s body responded, prompting him to give a sudden cold shudder.

Not soon after, a loud thumping on the door outside reverberated through the house, followed by a string of words that dripped with impatience.

“Mrs Aidan! Is Noelle in there?”

Mother, Noelle recognised the voice much to her annoyance, and it was evident that Mrs Aidan did too. They were, however, too preoccupied with treating Elric and failed to properly register the fact that Vanya Declan was right outside, demanding for her daughter.

Meanwhile, Noelle made sure that the syringe was completely emptied, before separating the needle from the boy’s flesh. The prolonged silence that ensued was only interrupted periodically by Elric’s breathing and Mrs Devonne calling out from the porch. Both Mrs Aidan and Noelle watched Elric with their breaths held, waiting for the slightest change in his condition.

Thump, thump!

“Mrs Aidan!”

“......aaaaah…...” Elric groaned. He turned over to face the ceiling and started drawing sharp breaths. His chest heaved up and down, his face twisted in discomfort; this, however, was the most Elric had moved all week. When he finally ceased squirming, Elric turned his head to the side and Noelle saw that his eyes were wide open - awake and alive.

“Noelle?” Elric sounded weak, but only a mere few days ago, his words would be accompanied by wheezing and coughing. Noelle was momentarily stunned. Beside her, a happy exclamation escaped from Mrs Aidan in the form of a joyous cry.

Thump, thump, thump!

The incessant knocking on the door, previously muted by the intensity of the moment only now managed to grasp Noelle’s attention. She frowned.                           

“Mrs Aidan! I know she’s there and I demand you turn her out!”

“Who’s that? That your mother, Noelle?” Elric wiped sweat from his face as his mother helped him up.

“Oh Elric! You are well enough to talk! Oh! Oh!” Mrs Aidan was obviously ecstatic and beaming away as she watched color return to her son’s face, forgetting briefly about Noelle’s presence - and Mrs Devonne’s at that. The desire to stay and see through Elric’s recovery overwhelmed Noelle, but the furious thumping at the door meant that the desire could not be fulfilled.

A great burden had been removed from her shoulders, but now, yet another awaited her outside.

“Mrs Aidan, I think I’ll see myself out,” Noelle said quietly. Elric’s mother paused and looked at her with a sad, forlorn expression.

“Ah… Yes… You should go, your mother must be very displeased by now, I’m very sorry Noelle.” Mrs Aidan managed a smile, “thank you though, thank you so much. Come back once you’re in the clear.”

“Indeed,” Noelle sighed. She was in for one hell of a scolding, on top of the meeting with the rest of the thieves concerning Ronan.

But most importantly, she had saved Elric.

~

Noelle was right: she did get the scolding of her life the moment she stepped out of the house, even more unfortunately in the presence of Dallen Braely, who had apparently accompanied Mrs Devonne’s journey across Blackfog to apprehend Noelle. It was infuriating to watch the smug smile on Dallen grow wider as Noelle got assaulted by her mother’s words.

To make matters worse, Noelle received another bout of scolding in the hideout, this time for losing Ronan. Noelle felt genuinely bad this time around; the poor boy had saved her, and thereby saved Elric, only to pay the price with his own life. The security in Dawngold probably wouldn’t kill a young teenager like Ronan, but there was a chance he would get tortured mercilessly in order to find out about the real criminal behind the Defiance theft: Noelle.

Meetings were, however, meetings; as Noelle suspected, sitting around the wooden meeting table in the hideout talking and discussing did all but actually help in saving Ronan. One would think that a three hour talk would result in a small task force being assembled, complete with an infiltration and escape plan. In reality, the Ring of Thieves were nowhere close to even that; by the end of the day, all that was decided was to send in a squad of thieves to scout the city.

Noelle never understood the logic behind waiting like that; if Ronan’s fellow thieves were desperate to rescue him, then they should just bust into Dawngold first thing in the morning.

When the meeting was finally adjourned, Noelle was let off with a final few reprimands before her mother went into the depths of the hideout to further discuss matters with the scout team. Noelle left the den as quickly as she could, intending to meet Elric and see how he was doing. She didn’t need to walk far though: Elric was waiting for her on the dirt path that led to the abandoned mine. Night had fallen and it was dark especially in the outskirts of the town; Noelle had taken a while before she realized the shadowy figure standing in the middle of the road was Elric.

“Elric!” Noelle threw herself onto him the moment she recognised him and almost knocked him off balance.

“I could still be filthy with whatever germs and mould, Noelle,” Elric strained to warn her as Noelle hugged him tightly. Noelle couldn’t care: for once, his skin was warm to the touch.

“I’ve missed you so much!” Noelle didn’t let go as she spoke.

“What do you mean, girl. You’ve been visiting me everyday,” Elric laughed. He slowly returned her embrace and sighed happily: “but it is great to be back…”

Noelle pulled away to get a good look at Elric: his face was rough, but save for a few persistent blisters, scars were barely visible across his temple. He looked generally smaller, with thinner arms and legs, a result of months of inactivity and being bedridden.

“What happened after I left?” Noelle started leading him off the dirt path, towards the plains.

“My father actually brought in a mage or some sort from Stormfront. He returned on the back of a Silverhawk an hour after you left; by then I could already walk around. This lady mage, Elza something… she said the Defiance counteracted the disease’s life leeching.”

“But you aren’t actually cured, are you?” Noelle stared unhappily at the ground.

Elric bit his lip and shrugged: “Not really. The Defiance gives me a few good years though. Thankfully, Elza says it’s more than enough time to study this disease and start treatment.”

The two of them stopped in the middle of the plains separating Blackfog and the forest encircling the town; the only light came from the moon above and the town of Blackfog, which was a good distance away from them.

“You saved me,” Elric brought Noelle close to him and stroked her cheeks; she looked up to see him tearing.

“Well, I, uh, I couldn’t let you just die like that. Not under my watch,” Noelle stuttered a little as she held his hand and grasped it tightly.

“I could feel you slowly leaving whenever I held you,” Noelle began, “it was, it was so horrible… I couldn’t bear it, I had to do something…!”

“Shhh,” Elric kissed her all of a sudden.

Whoa. Noelle froze; she hadn’t been kissed like that in a while.

“It’s over,” said Elric, smiling, “we’re able to continue where we left off last time, thanks to you.”

“Elric…”

“I’ve never loved you more, No-”

His words were cut short, replaced by a soft liquid explosion as Noelle felt something wet and warm splatter across her face. Her eyes grew wide with shock as she saw that Elric had a huge gash cut horizontally across his neck.

Elric took a second to realize something was amiss before clutching wildly at his throat and gagging for air; all his screams and cries were drowned as blood spurted from all over his throat, painting the grass with morbid, dark crimson flames.  

“Elric! Elric!” Before fear could wholly take hold of her, Noelle moved in and grabbed hold of him. She had never seen so much blood in her life and the sight was too much for her.

“Help! Anyone! He-” she croaked, almost choking on her words.

The dark silhouette of Dallen loomed behind as Elric’s now motionless body slumped closer to the earth. There was no mistaking it was him: his cream colored apparel made him glow under the moonlight, and as much as instinct told her to beg for his help, the condescending half-smile on his face told another story.

“Dallen!” Noelle growled. “What have you done?!”

“I would let go of that vile would-be corpse if I were you,” Dallen remarked, folding his arms across his chest, “you’re tainting yourself with his blood.”

“What is wrong with you? Are you blind? He’s dying!” Noelle yelled, all the while pathetically stroking Elric’s bloodied face. The poor boy was choking on his own blood.

“Is he in pain, Noelle?”

“Of course he is you little-!”

Dallen lashed out with one arm and Noelle saw a black blur of what looked like a whip. There was a sharp crack and more blood found its way onto Noelle; she held her breath as she watched Elric’s head roll back limply. It was now held onto the base of the neck by a bit of skin and tissue.

“There. I’ve relieved him of his pain. Aren’t I of great help?”

Silence.

For a good long moment, Noelle’s soul was wrenched, torn away from the realm of the living. She saw nothing; felt nothing. Her senses dulled into a throbbing numbness, all emotion that she had ever been capable of feeling sucked into a great black abyss.

Drip, drip.

Drip, drip, drip.

Her eyes, a glazed empty shell - they stared into the burning darkness, consumed by the world’s immortal void of hopelessness. Despair. Hatred.

Terror.

Drip, drip.

Blood.

Drip, drip. Drip, drip, drip.

Destroy.

Drip.

Then, a searing flash and agonizing burn. Hell-fire, smouldering; igniting; a brilliant blaze of fury and wildfire. Fell flames from the crevices of the Underworld, scorching pain lashing out in lightning and thunder.

The shrill, unearthly cry sounded again and again. It was unmistakably human, and it ruptured the night - a hysterical, almost demented cry.

Noelle instinctively reached for the throwing knife she had tucked in her boot and gave it a powerful underhand throw, fueled by anger and vengeance. Dallen’s smile disappeared for a split second as he furrowed his brows and jerked his hand up, deflecting the knife away from his face with a smoky black whip that materialized from his fingertips. Noelle roared and readied another knife, but she was whipped across the feet and she lost balance.

“You dare attack me?” Dallen reared his hand back and the whip followed, “I’ll shred you into-”

“How delightful. What exquisite taste, indeed,” an entrancing, melancholy female voice abruptly floated towards them from the shadows.

Dallen’s smug, grinning expression snapped. A low growl erupted from his throat. He became aware of a third party present and ruining his little moment of fun. He was also aware that the being present held an existence that ran conversely parallel to his.

“Remove yourself from that sickly veil, foul demon,” he hissed. The boy had ceased all movement, his body taut, eyes shifting warily from side to side. He still held his master hand over his head, poised as if ready to strike at any moment.

“Don’t you want to know what it is that I find simply impeccable?” The voice sounded hurt.

“No,” Dallen replied coldly, “I care not for the appetites of the likes of you. These are my grounds, and I demand that you leave. Immediately.”

“Pity.”

There was a soft rustling sound, followed by a figure emerging from the cover of the forest’s shadows. Darkness in the form of sticky black threads seemed to ceaselessly wrap themselves around her ankles. The inky tendrils caressed her; embraced her.

“Hatred, silly little angel,” came the soft chuckle. “Hatred is most delightful, served best with raw terror.”

Dallen noticeably eased himself as the woman appeared before them. Noelle could only watch the boy confront this mysterious figure from the ground; her legs had gone completely numb and the whip had knocked some sense back into her. She was now aware, somewhat, that she was dealing with a force that was not of this world.

“Elza de Bandiger,” Dallen snorted, “has the great tamer come to tame me?”

“Your existence is most ironic, Dallen dear.” Noelle somehow found comfort in Elza’s silky voice. “You’re a lot more menacing than the demons I know.”

Angels? Demons? Noelle thought herself becoming more delirious by the second.

“What do you want?” Dallen cut straight to the point and never broke eye contact as Elza circled the area, notably gravitating slowly towards Noelle. The dark mass that followed her was not as intense as before, but it still trailed behind her like a faint mist.

“I want you to ease up with the poor girl,” Elza tutted, “you had every reason to dispose of the boy but surely the girl is distraught enough.”

“The boy’s pitiful existence was nothing but an insult to God,” Dallen spat, “I had him executed under divine command and I will do so to the girl as well.”

“You’ve had enough dear,” Elza cooed, “besides, you wouldn’t want one innocent kill on your record, all because you couldn’t abstain from killing someone who has not even taken the Defiance.”

Dallen glared furiously at Elza, like a kid who had just got his favorite toy denied. His fists were clenched tightly by his sides and he had a scowl on his face that made him look much older than he was.

“I’m telling you, Elza,” Dallen retorted, “that girl should be more than happy to die at my hands. Have fun monopolizing her if you will.”

He turned and retreated towards Blackfog, slowly vanishing into the darkness along with his murderous intent. Noelle was only able to breathe properly once he was completely out of sight.

“Are you alright, dear?” Noelle turned around and found herself staring upwards at Elza. Now that she had a good look, she realized that Elza was a really beautiful woman.

Noelle’s mouth failed to form complete phrases as she struggled up onto her feet. She looked down at Elric’s corpse, lying eerily still on the grass. It was a sorry sight; he was covered in blood from head to toe, cold, unmoving. How would his parents react? What worse feeling was there in the world, other than having a bright spark of hope instantly extinguished before your eyes?

“I am so, very sorry for your friend,” Elza began. Noelle was surprised to find that there wasn’t a tinge of superficiality in her voice, or at least she thought there wasn’t.

“Hang on, aren’t you the mage Mr Aidan brought from Stormfront?” Noelle was pained to think how happy Elric’s father must have had been. To find out that your quest to save your son was futile…

“That’s the guise,” Elza tapped her fingers rhythmically on her hips and gazed upon Noelle with soft eyes, “I had every intention to rid your friend of his illness, but I’m not entirely a mage.”

Elza leaned in and grinned; Noelle was almost smothered by her perfume:

“I’m a Demon. And the puny little miscreant just now is an Angel. Ugh.” Elza wrinkled her nose as though there was something distasteful in her mouth.

Dallen. The very name made Noelle want to retch. It was a name she had always grown to hate.

“I thought Angels were all holy and good,” Noelle sniffed, her face still a little red from the ordeal, “how come this one’s such a jerk?”

“Oh please,” Elza laughed and made a motion with her hand, “Angels and Demons alike act however they want; we only work towards different causes. It just so happens that Angels despise the Defiance. They believe it’s the worst possible sin: to usurp another ‘lowly’ creature’s life and to use it for one’s own selfish needs. I personally think that’s rubbish, in fact, humans should get a little praise for coming up with something so ingenious…”

“Was that why he was killed?” Noelle took a step towards Elza and furiously asked: “was Elric killed because I saved him?”

“Well,” Elza hesitated. “Yes.” She bit her lip as she watched Noelle break down again. The girl had been overwhelmed by the sudden realization that Elric was never meant to get out of his plight alive; he was to either rot away in bed, with his family members watching helplessly, or to be brutally murdered by an Angel.

“...I am killing that rotten scum,” said Noelle, sobbing at each word, “I am killing him!”

“You are no match for-”

“I’m going to kill him or die trying,” Noelle interrupted Elza and stared deep into her eyes, “what have I got to lose? I’ve lost everything.”

Noelle went to retrieve her throwing knife; squinting through tears and the darkness. The female demon simply watched with morbid fascination as the girl drew the knife from the soil and give it a few twirls in hand. Noelle’s voice had been firm and resolute; she had been unfazed by the revelation that Angels and Demons existed, nor was she intimidated by Elza’s presence. The girl before Elza was out to kill an Angel and there was no stopping her.

“I can help you,” Elza finally spoke, just as Noelle was about to depart for Blackfog. The girl turned slowly to face her again. Her eyes burned bright, and tears no longer softened her features but added a ferocious quality to it, allowing the moonlight to glint across her eyes.