Night Watch I: Eliza, Ward of Andrew

*Andrew’s POV*

I went into a mental rebellion, a rejection of reality. I focused all my energy on something I could control, which became keeping the enemy as far away from Eliza as possible. I needed to give Dani space to work. Though most of the trolls that came within my reach appeared to be trying to flee, I’d cut them down anyway, so long as I could accomplish it without going too far. I was desperate to do something that would make some kind of difference. If I just killed enough of them, surely it would be like some kind of offering to the gods!

In my delirium I was only vaguely aware of Ashley and Alice arriving, Alice astride Fenwick. I could hear chanting and cursing, and every word seemed like a knife in my heart. When Papa and his Ghouls finally arrived a seeming eternity later, I left off of chasing trolls away immediately.

For the first time while unmasked, Papa looked at me with the empathetic expression of Tobias Forge, the librarian, his arrogance gone. “Andrew, I’m sorry, she’s gone too far beyond-“

I grabbed him by the collar and shook him, shook him hard, “-No! NO!!! I order you to do it, you have to bring her back to me-“

I abruptly fell silent when a gently glowing, luminescent light appeared, pulsing, at Eliza’s feet. I watched, clinging to some kind of desperate hope that it meant something, that there was a chance, as it grew and took shape. But I was not prepared for what materialized in front of us.

Juliet, softly glowing, smiled up at me. I was deaf to the reactions of the others as I fell to my knees, totally confounded. “Jules! How are you here? Eliza, she’s… Jules, I-“

I felt her gentle touch on my shoulder. “-Time is short for an explanation, so I cannot afford to repeat myself, Andy, listen well. My lifesblood bathed the Soul of the Forest, and it has carried a part of me with it for the last three years. It sends me here, now, to deliver a message: You must go after it, and destroy it. It is too great a power, too terrible a risk in the hands of the profoundly evil force that has it now.”

I stood hastily, “But I can’t; Eliza-“

Juliet shushed me by placing her finger to my mouth, “-Again, there’s no time, you must listen. The Soul needs you to be its champion, but I see that you must have your new lover in order carry on, to be happy-“

Embarrassed, I interrupted her, “-I thought you were gone, I-“

She frowned, “-Again, no time for argument! Eliza has gone beyond the reach of all but the greatest of powers. The Soul of the Forest is ancient, and while it cannot bring her back, it can facilitate a trade. A soul must be given to the realm of the dead for such wounds, and I volunteer mine. Not only do I want you to save our people, Andy, but I want you to be happy.”

Full of questions, I balked, “But I don’t understand-“

Juliet looked frustrated, “-Time is very, very short. Just remember that you must destroy the Soul, and if you survive the aftermath, you must find its replacement.” She paused briefly, “Kiss me goodbye once again, for the last time in this place?”

My heart full of conflict and confusion, I opened my arms and held Juliet, my beloved, for the truly final time. For an instant, I recalled, so clearly, the sound of her happy, hearty laughter, the joy she had brought to my heart as her lips touched mine. And then she was gone.

As my eyes filled with perplexed tears, I heard a loud, snapping noise, and turned to look at Eliza. The spear that had gone straight through gut her had snapped clean in half, falling to the dirt, and she was rising smoothly up off the ground! I moved instinctively to grab her, but Papa stopped me, “No, Andrew, wait!”

Eliza’s body started to glow, and the blood stopped dripping off of her. Just as the light became painful to look at, it was gone, and Eliza dropped to the ground with a thud. I wriggled free of Papa’s grasp and fell to my knees by Eliza, lifting her head into my lap. “’Liza?”

Desperation filled me, and I was trying to feel for a pulse when Eliza sat up and turned to me, looking accusatory, “What the fuck!?! What the fuck was that! What the fuck!?! Damn it! Fuck! Gods! Fuck!”

She stood up on her feet, totally steady, and patted her front and her back, then pointed at me, “What the fuck Andy? Shit!”

I started to tear up, “Are you pained, what-“

Eliza’s eyes bugged out, “-No! Not at all! Didn’t I just die, I could have bloody sworn I died?!? What the deuce just happened?”

I started to cry freely and I gathered a very disoriented, still swearing Eliza into my arms. For the moment, there was just the two of us in the world. She was alive! She was alive!

Notes

{:-D

destroy the Soul though... seems kinda like a bad idea, doesn't it?