My Necromancer Wife

Arya

The poison is spreading faster than I'd hoped. It has covered most of my upper hand. It's probably the reason I hadn't been able to heal fast enough - it is weakening me, rotting me from inside.

I had almost panicked when I opened my eyes and saw Xian Xi kneeling beside me, thinking that he had seen my arm - but he hadn't.

Now, we have to face Dove. I don't want to fight her. I don't want to fight anyone.

My eyes flash to the Annihilator on the floor beside me.

"You should rest". Xian Xi says, placing a restraining hand on my knee.

"Let me take care of her".

Before I can respond, he dashes off.

I stare after him.

Then, I catch a brief glimpse of it - her soul. It shines like a tiny piece of the sun.

Then, it disappears.

That's the real her, not a clone. Arigana is still alive somewhere, but suppressed.

I rise to my feet, ready to warn Xian Xi, but the clones shuffle and I can no longer tell which one is the real Dove.

I squint my eyes, searching for any trace of the faint glow among the moving bodies.

All of them are attacking Xian Xi at once.

His swordsmanship is very impressive. He somehow manages to dodge a good majority of their attacks, only suffering a few cuts and slashes.

He runs his sword through one of them. I hold my breath, afraid that he may have just killed the real Dove.

To my relief, she breaks into dust and vanishes into the air.

I have to warn him. Arigana is still alive somewhere - if only I can reach her.

I won't give up on her - the same way she didn't give up on me. She deserves to live - even more than I do.

I bite my arm with a grunt, watching the blood trickle down my arm and transform into the sword I have come to rely heavily on.

"Sorry, Xian Xi. I'll rest some other time". I whisper to myself.

I rush forward.

Xian Xi's eyes meet mine above clashing swords and moving bodies.

His expression is disapproving.

I ignore him. My major concern is finding the real Dove and getting across to him.

A sword narrowly misses my neck as I dodge. If I had taken any longer, my head would be rolling along the polished floor - just as Han's head had done.

In the chaos of dodging, my back slams into something solid.

I look over my shoulder to find blue eyes looking back at me.

"I told you to stay back!"

"I know. I came to stop you".

"Stop me? Whose side are you on, Arya?"

"Yours! Why would you even ask me that?"

He blocks an attack before leaning back on me.

The Dove clones start circling us, like predators stalking isolated prey.

"They're obviously going to kill us. Why would you ask me to spare even one of them?"

This would be hard to explain.

"Arigana is still alive in there".

None of the clones attack, yet. It's like they're waiting for something to happen.

"Who the hell is Arigana?"

I'm taken aback by the question. I hadn't realized that he doesn't have the slightest clue as to who Arigana is.

"She is a member of the Peace Corps. You won't know her. Bottom line is that her soul is trapped in Dove's body".

"Who the hell is Dove?"

I swat my forehead with my palm.

"These are copies of Dove, but the real one is among them. No matter what, we can't kill her".

He heaves a long sigh.

"How would I know which of them is the real one?"

I shrug.

"I have no idea. I saw her earlier - I mean, her essence - but then, it disappeared. We just have to trust our gut".

He nods and dashes off again.

My eyes are wide and alert, scanning for the slightest trace of Arigana's essence.

Xian Xi runs his sword through another of them, dust whipping into his face.

Instead of reducing, they're only multiplying.

"Should we run away instead?" I ask aloud, mostly to myself.

A sword slashes through the sleeve of my arm.

Then, it glimmers again.

I seize her by the collar of her tunic, pulling her forward forcefully.

Her body slams against mine and we fall to the ground in a tangle of limbs and swords.

Her fist slams into my abdomen, earning a groan from my parted lips.

My grip on her collar only tightens. She starts coughing from my strangling hold, each one more violent and air-deprived than the last.

I squeeze with all the strength in my reserve until her head finally falls to the side.

I reach for the pulse at the base of her neck - she is not dead... not yet.

The clones start vanishing one by one.

Xian Xi halts an attack mid-air as his opponent disappears.

He turns to me, his eyes darting between me and the woman in my arms.

He puts his sword back in its sheath and approaches with caution.

"Is she dead?" He asks.

I shake my head slowly, feeling for her pulse again - just to be sure.

He comes closer and crouches down beside us.

"I didn't expect her to go down that easily. She seemed quite the formidable opponent". He says.

"She didn't go down easily. She's just unconscious".

He looks down at her.

"What are you going to do with her now?"

Now that I think about it, I don't really know. I had just been working impulsively, without an actual plan.

I shrug.

His eyes widen.

"You don't know? What if she wakes up and slits our throats right now?"

"We could tie her up. Look, I know it sounds crazy, but she's in there. I felt her. I just need to find out how to free her from wherever Fang trapped her".

His eyes darken when he hears Fang's name.

"It's a lost cause if Fang trapped her. How can you free her when you can't even free yourself?"