Amber's P.O.V.

The light whirled around me I closed my eyes and I was keenly aware of the smells shifting in the air. I could immediately tell when the smell of blood and dirt hit my nostrils where we are. I opened my eyes and there were the ing trees again. I didn’t waste time regarding them this time and I looked around quickly searching for the Wolf. I saw the faint glow of weak eyes staring at me from the woods. “Hey buddy, how you doing?” I edged closer to him trying to keep an eye out for the Demon. The Wolf whimpered as he came closer to me. I noted that the limp in his step had gotten worse. “Hey, just stay there buddy, it’s ok, I’ll come to you.” His lips pulled back in a snarl and I spun around quick enough to see a fist flying at my face. I fell backwards and the Wolf moved to come in front of me. I was just fast enough to stop the blow of the Demon to the Wolf’s body. I pushed back against him fiercely and slammed my head into his, almost regretting that decision instantly. Stupid hard Demon head, Krystal materialized next to me as the Demon backed up. I jumped back from her, expecting her to grab me, but then I noticed her eyes, they weren’t glowing. “Krys?”

“Yeah, it’s me Amber. God this is hard!” She hissed and I saw her eyes struggling to remain the same color. I looked away from her quickly and charged at the Demon, it seemed genuinely confused that Krystal wasn’t grabbing me like she usually did in these dreams and I planned to take advantage of its confusion. I released a series of wild punches knocking the Demon to its knees. I was about to grab its neck when I heard Krystal yell. “No Amber! You can’t kill it!” I growled and moved back from the Demon, falling into my fighting stance and regarding it carefully. It got up quicker than I was comfortable with, it looked towards Krystal quickly, I heard a hiss escape her lips and when I looked towards her, her pupils are almost glowing. I growled and jumped towards the Demon, knocking it back into the tree behind it.

“Hey face! You want to tangle?! Let’s go!” It looked back at me, it was like it almost didn’t want to fight me. A fist swung out and knocked me off my balance, almost. I flipped back up kicking it as I did. It reached its hand up and I thought it was going to swing down at me, I rolled away quickly but turned just in time to hear a loud crack from the tree behind it. Motherer! It swung the large branch at me and I don’t have time to duck as it hit me head on. I stumbled to my knees feeling the blood drip down from my skull. me that hurt! I saw a flash of fur to my right and the Demon easily batted the Wolf away, turning his attention away from me and back on the Wolf. I was faintly aware of the whimper echoing through the woods as I got up to my feet, and I couldn’t tell if it came from me or the Wolf. I grunted and with one last push of energy I jumped on the back of the Demon’s back knocking the branch out its hand as I did. I felt the Demon reaching back to grab me, but in a flash the Wolf was at its neck ripping at the flesh there. The Demon roared, pulling me off its back before slamming me down into the Wolf, I looked up and through blurry eyes I see the Demon stumble back grabbing at its neck uselessly. I looked down at the Wolf and watched as its glowing eyes started to fade.

“Amber!” I heard Krystal yelling towards me but it was all too much and everything started to spin again. Then there was nothing, just blackness.

Part II

“Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering.”
― Paulo Coelho, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

Krystal’s P.O.V.

“Princess?” I smiled launching myself into Amber’s arms. Amber stumbled back a few steps but kept a firm grip on me, chuckling against me as she held me tight. “I guess you’re happy to see me, eh?” I blushed, nodding against the taller girl’s neck as I continued to hug her tightly.

“I miss you Amber.” Amber sighed at that, placing me down gently before looking into my eyes. Her deep brown eyes staring sadly into mine.

“I miss you too Princess… I… I might not-“ I cut her off, pressing my lips to hers in a desperate kiss. Amber grunted against my lips but kissed me back nonetheless. She had a dazed expression on her face when I pulled away from her and I couldn’t help but giggle at that. We’d kissed many times over the course of these three weeks, but still Amber reacted as if it was the first time. “I…um… what?” I chuckled and smacked Amber’s shoulder lightly.

“Stupid.” Amber flashed a wide grin at me, her newly acquired fangs glistening under the fluorescent lighting of the room.

“Do they bother you?” I gestured towards her teeth, and Amber considered it for a moment, rubbing her tongue along the sharp edges of her fangs before speaking.

“No… well… not really, I mean… it when I accidentally bite my tongue or something, but other than that it’s fine. This thing though.” Amber pointed an annoyed finger at the tail behind her. I chuckled kissing her cheek lightly and watching as her tail began wagging of its own accord. Amber followed my gaze and blushed, grabbing her tail in her hand forcing it to stop its motion.

“Awww… Leave it Am! It’s cute!” I laughed harder when Amber’s tail started wagging more forcibly and Amber turned a deep crimson color in response. “Aww does my stupid like when I call her cute? Hmmm? My cutie pie?”
 

“Yah! Kryssss.” Amber whined in response and I laughed again, nodding at her.

“Okay, I’ll stop… I still like it though. I can tell when you’re happy now.”

“I’m always happy when you’re here.”

“And when I’m not?” Amber frowned at that.

“I… Krys..” I nodded.

“I know… I’m sorry.” I placed a soft kiss on her lips. “I would stay here forever with you if I could.” Amber shook her head in response.

“I wouldn’t let you. You deserve to be out there, not trapped in here.” She gestured around the room and I sighed looking around the dank room.  There was a single bed lying in the center of the room, the walls were a gray color. Other than a steel door on the opposite side of the room there was nothing else in the room.

 “Why does it look like this? It could be brighter, maybe some decorations?” Amber shrugged.

“I don’t know, I guess I don’t have a great imagination. Or… maybe you don’t? Whose dream is this anyway?” I shrugged in response.

“I don’t know… is it… is it the same when I go?” Amber shook her head in response.

“What… what is it like?” I hesitated with the question, not knowing if I could deal with the truth.

“It’s all kitties and puppies and rainbows.” Amber answered sarcastically and I nodded, knowing better than to push her.

“That bad huh?” I paused taking in Amber’s somber expression before speaking again. “Well I’m here now… and why exactly are we not making out?” Amber chuckled in response.

“I thi-“ I cut Amber’s words off with a heated kiss to which Amber responded quickly. A growl rumbled in her chest and I smirked against her lips, enjoying being able to provoke the sounds from her.  We kissed passionately for a couple moments more before we had to separate for air. Amber’s forehead rested against mine as we gulped in breaths of air, her warm breath dancing across my lips. Amber was about to lean down and kiss me again when her focus shifted, she looked across the room and I frowned.

“I don’t wan-“

“You have to princess.” I was about to protest when Amber placed a soft loving kiss on my lips, her whiskey brown eyes looking into mine. “I lo-“

“No! No you don’t say that, not now. Not like this.” Amber looked at me sadly and I kissed her again. “When you wake up, that’s when I want to hear it. Not here.” Amber nodded.

“Okay princess…. You have to go.” I nodded, hugging Amber tightly before turning and walking to the open steel door, I turned around one last time Amber smiling at me before I finally walked through the door.

I woke up with a start. “Damn it!” I looked over at Amber’s sleeping form, caressing her cheek slightly before sitting up. “It’s real… isn’t it? You’re really there with me?” I watched as Amber’s body remained unresponsive for a few moments before sighing and getting up. I had been having the same kinds of dreams since Amber had slipped into her coma, and as much as I wanted to believe they were shared dreams between her and I, I couldn’t be sure. If they were, then it would be great, perfect when she woke up. If they weren’t… then what? What was I waiting for? For Amber to go back to hating me? I don’t know if I could handle that. I walked towards the bathroom deciding on a shower before dedicating the rest of my day to watching over the sleeping girl.

I sighed as the warm water cascaded down my aching back. My muscles were sore to say the least. For the better part of three weeks I’d spent most of my time hunched over a small hospital bed, watching as Amber slept. We were successful in the binding spell but Amber’s body was too weak to absorb the trauma of the two demons merging and she had slipped into a coma. Three weeks, three long weeks of watching and waiting. I only left her side for short periods of time to shower and eat. And really only because the others insisted, I didn’t want to miss her waking up.

I didn’t know what else to do except wait and pray. Pretty silly, huh? I mean, I’m a hybrid, a hunter of demons, my world is overrun by ungodly creatures and still I prayed. It comforted me though, doing something that I knew Amber believed in. She didn’t remember much of her parents but she still wore the rosary her mother left behind around her neck and in the times when she thought no one was looking, she’d shut her eyes, clutch the cross in her palm and pray.  

She was like that, always pretending that nothing mattered to her, pretending that she didn’t believe in anything or anyone. That no one affected her. When we were younger, she did it through jokes, always laughing serious issues away, keeping people at arm’s length through constant teasing and messing around. I was the only one she confided in, the only one she leaned on, the one she held when the nightmares got too real. Then the transfusion started and all that changed.

(flashback)

 We were excited, scared, but excited. We were the first, the ones who would lead the human race into a safer future. We were the strongest, the fastest, the smartest. We were the first, she was the first. But the Xialeth demon was too strong, too evil and she almost died in the process, if I wasn’t there she might have. I screeched for them to stop, when I saw her collapse, breaking through the guards and shoving myself into the sacred circle. My father called for them to stop, noticing that I had moved in harm’s way. When they checked her vitals, she was so near death that they quickly executed the dangerous Xialeth demon and began researching new demons to use. Or at least that’s what I believed at the time.

I spent the next few months nursing her back to health, trying to convince myself that her far off stares and muttering to unknown figures was just a temporary illness and that it would fade. But my Amber was buried, buried so deep under the demon’s infection that I could barely see her. There would be fleeting moments, when she would look at me, and I swore she recognized me as her face contorted, trying to form words to express her thoughts to me. At night when she snuggled up next to me, her head resting against my heart, I knew she was trying to thank me as she rubbed gentle hands over my stomach, mumbling incoherent words against my chest.

After her body recovered and her mind didn't follow, I barged into the sanctum of the Elders meaning to demand that they stop researching a new demon and find out how to fix her. But when I entered, what I heard blew me away. They hadn’t noticed my entrance and I heard my father’s voice booming out into the room.

“We will NOT use the Xialeth demon on Krystal. It’s far too dangerous, we’ve already lost one valuable warrior to it, I will not lose my daughter as well.”

“Elder Jung, don’t be unreasonable, it was your idea to use the Xialeth demon to begin with. Maybe if we just adjust the transfusion process we can taper the effects.” I recognized the voice as Elder Hwang and I moved into the darkness growing curious as to what the others would say.

“I don’t care if it was my idea, it’s too damn dangerous and I will not allow you to put my daughter through the process!”

“We knew it would be dangerous when we started and we still went forward! The only thing that has changed now is that it’s your daughter on the line and not the orphan!” I flinched, hating the way they referred to Amber but still wanting to hear what was going on, if they knew it was dangerous why did they proceed with the process?

“That is a big difference! No one will miss that child! That’s why we used her first, just in case something like this happened!” I gasped in shock over my father’s words and all of the Elders turned noticing that I was in the room. My father’s expression softened as he looked at my sad shocked face, tears starting to cascade down my cheeks. “Soojung…” He called to me and I shook my head at him my hands trembling as I watched him step forward. “Soojung…. Please…. I did this for you.”

“You… you… monster…” I spat the word at him and he flinched back, hurt flashing over his eyes as he looked at me. He went to pull me into a hug and for the first time in my life I struck my father, my fist falling across his jaw with a hard thud. He flew across the floor and looked up at me with a pained expression as I yelled at him. “DON’T. EVER. TOUCH. ME! You are not my father.” I spun on my heel and ran away from the room, collapsing into Amber’s arms as I sobbed. I knew the girl couldn’t properly process what was going on but she sensed my sadness as she held me tightly and rocked me back and forth in her arms, trying desperately to whisper comforting words to me.

“Pr-princess… I…no…sssh ssh… hey…my princess… please…I… in the night… when… when…when we aren’t awake… I… think you see me… like I see you.” She seemed confused by her own words, but her tone, and the way she my hair gently as she spoke them made my heart swell. I looked up at her and placed a small kiss on her lips.

“I love you too Amber.” Amber smiled in response, holding me against her heart until we both drifted off into sleep.

After that night I refused to speak to my father, and spent all of my time researching and talking to the alchemists and sorcerers about ways to help Amber. In my research I came across the information about the Rylocth demon. It was the direct counterpart of the Xialeth demon, they existed in the same dimensions, fighting endlessly with one another, the Rylocth could deflect the powers of the Xialeth demon, it could calm the effects of the Xialeth’s infection in those wounded. The Rylocth, was powerful, but not as ruthless as the Xialeth was, it didn’t have the same brute strength as the Rylocth, but made up for it in speed. The Xialeth had telepathy and teleportation where the Rylocth had healing powers and amazing agility. The Xialeth was winged and massive in size, while the Rylocth was made of lean tight muscles, having a prehensile tail with a sharp tipped end. And in certain accounts, humans who had been infected with the poison of the Xialeth demon had been cured by the blood of the Rylocth.

With this information I knew what I had to do. I prepared the information and I went to the only two mystics who I knew wouldn’t turn me down. Victoria and Tiffany. They hesitated at first, claiming it too dangerous, but when I threatened them, telling them I’d find a dark sorcerer to do it if they refused they relented and agreed to try the process for me.

I captured a Rylocth demon, and when the time was right, we snuck into the sacred circle, sealing all the entrances as the started the transfusion. It was dangerous, and I hadn’t known at the time but the Rylocth demon that I managed to capture was a high level warrior and her power was intense. The elders heard the process and tried to break down the doors, to stop the process, but the spells we had cast to keep the barriers up were too strong and they couldn’t break through. The transfusion process was about 80% of the way done when I felt my knees buckle from the pain. All at once I heard a fierce howl from behind the door and a loud slam that shook the entire room.

A few moments later, through hazy eyes I saw as a large black demon flew through the door, its eyes red and angry as it approached me. It immediately latched onto the Rylocth demon, pushing it from the sacred circle and breaking the transfusion process. I collapsed to the floor, only faintly hearing the struggle between the two demons, growls floating up to my ears for a few moments before the scuffle was over. The large black demon limped over to me its red eyes fading into familiar brown ones as I looked up at it.

“Amber?” I passed out after that and when I woke up in the infirmary I immediately looked around desperately for the other girl.

“She’s not here.” The voice came from my left and I flinched when I felt the soft hand caress my forehead. “God, Soojung you had me so worried.”

“Where’s Amber?”

“She’s being held in the cages. She’s been uncontrollable since you’ve been passed out.” I sat up immediately at that, the cages? How could they put her there?! “No one can keep her calm like you do Soojung. She… she killed Elder Park.” I heard my mother’s voice catch on a sob as she said the words. I gasped in shock. Amber… killed someone? Before I could say anything my mother continued, answering my unspoken questions. “When… when you were doing the transfusion, they tried to break down the doors but couldn’t and then out of nowhere Amber came in, full demon form and they tried to subdue her, but no tranquilizers would work, she was determined to get in that room. When she knocked the door down, Elder Park… he pointed the gun at you… she lost it, she killed him before she killed the Rylocth demon and collapsed next to you. Since then she’s been in the cages… they want to execute her Krystal.” I gasped, standing up immediately, no they couldn’t execute her! It wasn’t her fault, she was barely of right mind, and she was only protecting me. They did this to her! It’s their own fault.

“Mom…. I can’t let them do that! They have no right!” My mom nodded.

“I know sweetie, what they did to her…” She slammed her fist angrily on the bed next to me, gritting her teeth as she spoke. “If I had known…” She trailed off and I engulfed her in a hug.

“I love you mom, but I have to save her.” She nodded again.

“I know you do sweetie… that’s why I bought you this.” My mom handed me a bag full of stuff, and some weapons. “You take her far away from here…. You keep her safe.”

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Hey guys, here's another update for you. So much for making it less confusing huh? I have two dreams and a flashback sequence in there... damn! Sorry guys! It doesn't seem that bad as I'm writing but then when I go to update I'm always like "... oh... that's... damn..." Thanks for all of your comments and subscribes. Will color changes help? Make the dreams one color, flashbacks another color and regular stuff just black? Would that be better? Please let me know. And let me know what you think of the story so far. Thanks!