A dark chuckle moved through Drystan's body. Pain seared him as he worked to control his breathing. His body began to shake and his knees became weaker. Screams pierced through his head. Melora had been watching. He tried to be mad at her, but he was loosing strength to feel anything.

Drystan, Melora's voice begged in his head. Please don't give up. Remember your promise to me. Come back to me, Drystan. Her voice was shaking with sobs.

"You loose, Drystan," Alathic's dark voice whispered in his ear. "Your precious little mate will finally be mine." Alathic ripped the sword out of Drystan's chest and kicked him to the ground.

Drystan barely caught himself as blood pooled onto the ground beneath him. His body was working hard at closing the wound, but every movement that he made reopened it over and over. He was going to loose blood before his body had the chance to heal itself completely. He looked up as he heard his name being yelled from further in front of him. Dante and Draco rode through the army, slicing through anyone who dared to get in their way.

"Your friends think that they can save you," Alathic chuckled as he circled Drystan. He bent down and gripped Drystan's hair, roughly pulling his head up to look at him.

"You will never get to lay your hands on my mate," Drystan spit out. His hands flexed against the ground, trying to keep as still as possible for his body to heal his wound.

Alathic chuckled again as he shook his head. "Who will stop me, Drystan?" He pointed his bloodied sword over to Dante and Draco. "Those two? How would they be able to protect your mate if they wouldn't be able to save you."

"They're more capable of protecting everyone they love than you know," Drystan growled. His eyes snapped over to Dante and Draco and smirked as he noticed the dozens of bodies laying around them. Dante's eyes were red as he looked over at Drystan with Alathic's sword underneath his neck.

Alathic moved around Drystan, still holding onto his hair and kept the sword underneath his chin. Dante and Draco stopped in their tracks a couple of feet away from them. "Drop your swords or I will kill him."

Dante and Draco looked at Drystan before slowly dropping their swords. Blood splattered the burnt ground around them as bodies were piled behind them. Their eyes bore daggers into Alathic, but didn't move a muscle.

"Good," Alathic chuckled. "Kill them."

The rest of Alathic's army started to close in on the brothers. Before they were able to reach them, arrows flew through the air. Drystan smirked as a dozen of Alathic's men fell around the twins from the onslaught of the arrows. Carwel and his men came barreling through on their horses, cutting through Alathic's men. Drystan's hand itched to his sword. He slowly grabbed in and while Alathic was distracted by all of the chaos, he stabbed the sword through Alathic's side.

Alathic dropped his sword, allowing Drystan to move away from him. Drystan struggled as he got up to his feet, his sword still in his hand. Alathic's blood dripped from the tip of the sword onto the ground.

Dante and Draco, swords in hand, stepped in front of Drystan. Drystan's body was growing weaker by the minute. With each step he took, pain radiated through his body. His wound ripped open with every single movement. Blood dripped down his body and pooled at his feet.
Stay strong, Drystan, Melora's voice sounded through his head. Her voice held back tears as she talked to him. Remember your promise to me.
Melora, Drystan growled. If he survived, he was going to have a talk about obedience with his mate.

Come back to me, she repeated before disappearing from his mind.

Drystan gripped the sword tighter in his hands as he fixed his footing to give him a more solid base. "Let's get this over with," he growled as his eyes bore a hole through Alathic.

"We're right here with you, brother," Dante nodded.

Alathic straightened and turned to them, his hand still covering the wound Drystan caused in his side. "I'm done playing around," he growled, his eyes glowing red. He pointed the sword at the three men standing in front of him. "Everyone dies. Right here. Right now."

"Come at us, old man," Draco sneered.

Alathic moved at preternatural speed, swords flailing around in front of him. The three men held out their swords and prepared themselves for Alathic's onslaught.

It never came.

Alathic stood a couple of feet in front of them with his mouth opened wide. A hand, covered in blood was sticking out holding his still beating heart. Alathic shakily looked down at his heart, his eyes wide with fear. "What the-"

The hand ripped back through his chest, taking his heart with it. Alathic slumped to the ground revealing the owner of the hand.

"Melora," Drystan breathed out.

Melora stood there arm bloody staring down at Alathic's body with rage. Her eyes were red as she growled at him. Drystan's eyes snapped to her mouth as her fangs grew sharper the longer she looked at his father. Her hand gripped the heart tighter, squeezing the blood out of it. The blood dripped onto the ground.

Carwel ran up to her side and took the heart out of her hand. He turned to one of his men. "Torch it, now," he ordered. The man took a torch and lit the heart on fire. Alathic screeched and writhed on the ground. His skin began to decompose quickly in front of them. All around them, the men that Alathic had corrupted began to scream as their skin fell off of their bones. Any of the men who had taken Alathic's blood were to be destroyed just as he was.

Drystan couldn't take his eyes off of his mate. She stood there with her head held high as she watched the man who had made the past couple of months miserable for her decompose in front of her eyes. The red in her eyes began to fade as she slowly met Drystan's eyes. Her body relaxed as she looked at him. Drystan smiled as his knees began to buckle underneath him. Dante and Draco quickly caught him before he fell and laid him down on the ground. He had lost too much blood and was feeling too weak.

"Drystan!" Melora yelled out as she fell to her knees beside him. "What do I do?" Tears threatened to fall out of her eyes as she looked down at the wound on his chest.

"Melora," Drystan sighed. He knew that he was going to be fine. He had survived much worse. He just needed to stay still long enough for his body to heal itself. He moved his hand to cup her cheek, wipping away the tears that did escape and ran down her cheeks. "I'm okay."

"Okay?" Melora questioned. "You have a hole in your chest."

"He just needs rest and blood, sister," Draco explained slowly. A smile formed on his mouth as he looked at her. "His body will heal itself as long as he gets his rest and enough blood. He then cut his wrist and held it to Drystan's mouth. "Drink, brother."

Drystan did as was asked of him. Once he had gotten enough blood, his body relaxed and his eyes began to close. He felt Melora's hand tighten in his. "I will be back with you soon, my love. Just let me rest."