"It is either you are trying to protect her, or it is that you do not know what she is. So which one is it renegade?" Dan asked Liam.
He was somehow surprised, did the renegade Angel really not know that the human he was with was a mixed-blood? Or was he just pretending not to know so that he could try to protect her from him? He smirked, anyhow it was, he was going to leave only when he had the human in his possession.
She was going to be his trophy to rub into the faces of those elders who had thought Scott to be higher and more skilled than he was, and he was going to brag about that's most especially to the other dying Archangel and he would very much up his price. Oh, he was going to get all he wanted with just one frail mixed blood in front of him, he just had to get rid of this obstacle. He had to kick Liam to the side then he would be able to have her.
Liam shifted his head slightly toward Leticia but never took his eyes off the Nadri, with his brows perked. Mixed blood? Her? The human girl he had been with was mixed? How was he not able to tell but more so, why had they been able to bond if she was mixed blood.
Liam cranked his head towards the Nadri, the revelation of Leticia being a mixed-blood just made it even more serious, he had to make sure that this Nadri does not come close to her, if he needed her then it was definitely for no good.
"But she is a mixed-blood and I can smell her blood from her injury, my nose does not deceive me." He leaned sideways to get a better look at Leticia and added. "By the way, that was a nasty bite. Well then, moving on, I have come this way for her and I shall have her before I leave."
"What do you need her for?" He decided to ask, he knew that the Nadri was not supposed to answer him if he was a smart one but he also knew that there was nothing good that could come out of him leaving here with Leticia. Not like he would just allow this Nadri to take her away anyway but he wanted to know why.
"Do you really need that information?" Dan stroked his chin like he was pondering on whether to tell Liam or not, then he smiled. "Well I guess it would not hurt for you to know, it concerns your type after all."
Liam's brows perked up, it concerned his type? What Angel would be in need of a mixed-blood and why? He could only think of Renard. What was he up to now? He decided to play smart.
"If it truly concerns my type then I should know what you need her for, should I not?"
Dan leaned on a tree, scratching his claws against the bark. "You should know Renard?"
Liam lowered his sword and stood even straighter. He was right, he knew Renard had to be involved.
Dan smirked when he noticed Liam's countenance. "So you do know him. Then you should know that he is... what is the word now.... not going to be himself for long."
"What does he need her for?" Liam was direct.
"She is a mixed blood." Dan spread his arms. "She is the cure. More specifically, her blood is the cure."
Liam glanced over at Leticia who stood still, both her eyes fixed solely on the Nadri creature cautiously and a tight grip on her sword. Her bleeding and broken arm hung limp beside her still dripping with blood, but Liam noticed that the wound was no longer as wide as it had been, it had begun to seal itself. He looked at Leticia's face but her attention was still on the Nadri creature. He turned to face Dan.
"So now that you know all that, why I need her and why I must have her..." Dan continued, pushing himself off the tree. "You should also know that I do not plan on leaving her without her renegade. I will take her away from you today."
Liam stepped away from Leticia and burned his gaze on the Nadri, swinging his sword in a low circle and flexing his wings repeatedly, circling his shoulders, ready to shred the Nadri to pieces if he took any step closer. "You and what army, Nadri?"
"I do not need an army to get to her." Dan chuckled. "She is only human, I can bet that she herself does not even know what she is or what she can do." He cocked his head to the side so he could see her. "That is if she can do anything."
"You may not need an army to get to her Nadri, but I can assure you that you do not stand a chance with me." He smiled. "You will be needing more than just an army to get past me."
Dan crouched low and balanced on his hind legs, putting one leg in front of the other so he could attack at any time. "Sometimes Liam, you become a little bit too cocky for your own good and then you end up putting someone else in danger."
"Step back behind the trees and do not run away." Liam ordered Leticia with his thoughts but Leticia did not move, She had not heard what Liam had said as all her attention was on the Nadri creature, it was strange and it was the first time she was seeing such a fearful creature. She shook internally.
Liam, noticing that she had not yet moved, screamed at her again in his thoughts. "Leticia! Move behind the trees! Now!"
She snapped out of her trance and did not delay but immediately scrambled back towards the trees, holding on to her injured arm. She was scared of the Nadri as she had never seen or heard of the creature before now, plus it was also not a good thing that it had come only for her but what was he talking about her being mixed blood? How was that even possible? She knew she was human and nothing more. What exactly was going on, she desperately wanted to find out more.
From the safety of being behind the tree, she watched Liam and the Nadri size each other up, slowly circling the place before the fight began. The Nadri attacked first, leaping straight for Liam with its arms stretched forward and its claws extended fully. She gasped.
* * * * *
Sheila ran until she got to a place not so dense enough with trees to allow her to spread her wings and fly out of the forest. She was breathing fast as she tried to scan the forest for any sign of Leo but she could not calm herself down as she kept flying in a zig-zag pattern towards the stream. For the first time in a long while, she was feeling scared and unstable and she could not gather her thoughts together, she wondered if this feeling of fear was coming from her or if she was feeling just what Leo was feeling at the moment.
She was hyperventilating and she felt dizzy, then all of a sudden, her wings cramped up and refused to flap anymore. She began falling out of the sky at an angle and losing consciousness as she did. She struggled to breathe, she could not keep her eyes open, her flaccid wings wrapped around her as she got nearer to the ground, breaking the top branches of some trees and as she hit the ground with an immense force, she slid across the rocky banks and came to stop in the water, barely conscious.
Just as Leo was breaking out of the forest, still riding fast on the horse, he caught sight of something falling rapidly out of the sky and he saw it hit the ground with a loud sound, sliding across and coming to stop in the water. He drew the reins on the horse, still at a reasonable distance away from whatever had fallen into the water, and watched it. He was still shaken up after what had happened in the forest and did not want to take any chances.
He edged the horse forward slowly and it started forward with a trot. Leo looked on, the thing in the water was still moving or trying to move. He looked closer and noticed that what was moving in the water was a pair of wings, he jumped down from the horse and started on a slow run towards the water, then he spotted a face and ran faster. No, no, no.
"Sheila..!"
He ran faster, stumbling on the rocky bank but managing to stop himself from falling. Multiple thoughts were running through his head, what had happened? Was she alive?
Yes, she was! He corrected himself, wanting to really slap his face for thinking such. He needed her to be alive.
He jumped into the water and got to her, lifting her head above the water. Her eyes were struggling to remain opened and she was gasping for breath. The water was very shallow here so he did not need to struggle in lifting her head above the water.
"Sheila...?" He placed his hand around her shoulder, lifting her head to rest against his chest, and used his other free hand to get her wet hair out of her face. He shook her slightly.
Sheila could see Leo, she could feel his hand around her shoulder, she could hear his rapidly beating heart as her head was on his chest, sure could also feel his helplessness and fear and she could tell that he was worried for her. She was breathing fast and shallow, her muscles felt like they had been pounded by a large rock, all mushy and flabby and she could not lift them. She still tried to flap her wings, they moved but they were only able to pat the water.
"Relax Sheila," Leo spoke to her. "Try to relax. You have lost all your strength."
"We need to leave here." She said to him in her thoughts. "It is not safe for us to be out here, with me like this."
Leo knew that but he wanted Sheila to relax and get her strength back. "We are in the water Sheila, the stream which you had told me about. They can not step in."
"They can fly." She spoke in her head. Leo nodded. He knew that too.
"I need you to relax Sheila if the water can repel the demons then maybe it could heal you and give you back your strength." Although he did not know what other miracle the water was capable of performing, still he strongly believed that it could do something to restore Sheila's strength.
He took her hand in his and steadied his breathing so that Sheila could do the same, breathing in through his nostrils and exhaling out his mouth. Sheila followed suit, closing her eyes as she did. She concentrated on her breathing, enjoying the cool water washing over her body, and slowly she felt her strength returning. She opened her eyes and smiled at Leo.
"I am feeling a little bit better, let us go." She said to him.
"Are you sure? Can you stand?"
She nodded. "Help me?"
Although she still felt weak, she could at least stand and with the help of Leo.
"The mountains are much safer than being out here in the open. I can not protect you like this." She explained.
"I understand. I will help you."
Leo placed her hand across his neck so she could rely on him, helping her out of the water as they both crossed to the other side of the stream.
Sheila's thoughts still swam in her head as she kept thinking of the Nadri they had encountered in the forest and a part of her knew for a certain that as long as he was still out looking for mixed blood, their paths would still cross.
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