Lydia watched as the figure raced across the field, away from the Alptraum. She smiled as she turned away from the window and walked back into her throne room in her mountain fastness. She would be prepared to receive James Sterling.
Count Sornione strutted into the hall, "Shall I have the archers shoot?"
"No, Sornione," Lydia glared. He was so impatient. No, they would have to be deliberate.
"But, ma'am, if I may be so bold, I would suggest we at least fire at it to let it know who's land it dares intrude upon." The Count said imperiously.
Lydia grimaced, "We want him to come this way. Now, please, open our gates so that our guest can be welcomed."
The Count stayed where he was, "Why do we want this foreigner to step foot in our mountain? This has never happened before, and I will never allow it to happen as long as I'm alive."
Angered to be thus defied, Lydia stood up, and then she walked slowly down the stairs. Sornione stepped back a pace. "How dare you question a direct order." She said it in a voice barely above a whisper, but it held the force of a tornado.
Sornione stared hard down at her into her once brown, now black eyes. She didn't have any respect for him. She didn't think he could wipe her life away in a-
Count Sornione never had a chance to finish his thought, for the next thing he knew, he was being struck by lightening. Then he was hurled back against the stone wall. He groaned, his vision dimmed, and a black warmness was about to envelope him. But before he lost consciousness, he heard Lydia's voice filter through the darkness, "Who is wiping out who's life, sweet Sornnione?" She laughed.
* * *
James Sterling stretched his long legs as far as they would go, and pulled them back as quickly as he could, racing and propelling himself off the rocky ground. The Bear-man was just behind him, snarling. When he had jumped through the portal, James had almost been struck dumb with wonder. But when death is on your heel, you forget your surroundings and run. That is life is, running until you have finished your story, running until you are full to the brim and ready to burst. Death catches you, only when your story is done. Only when it is time to meet your Maker.
Jame's story was no where near the ending. As a matter of fact, he was more alive than he could ever imagine. He breathed, pumping air down into his engines, finding another gear he never knew he had. He turned a tight corner that dead-ended abruptly. He whipped around as he heard the Alptraum come racing around the corner. He looked around for something to defend himself with, there was nothing. Nothing but solid cliff face. He grimaced.
The Alptraum growled, he gathered himself, and just when James Sterling was making his final prayers, he was grabbed from behind and hauled into the cliff face. The last thing he saw was the beast flinging itself before the cliff swallowed James Sterling. Then he knew no more.
* * *
Jason Sterling hauled himself up into the saddle, the early morning mist rising from the ground. He shivered, it had to be below freezing. Alepp could definitely get cold in the morning. His fellow companions were mounting their horses around him as they prepared to head up into the mountains. Jason looked up at the snow capped peaks in the distance, he sighed inwardly, it was going to be a long journey.
"Hey Jas," Abraham rode up alongside him, "Have some bacon." Abraham handed him a slab of bacon.
Jason smiled.
He ate.
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