Run - Chapter 26

The trip back to Pevek was harsh. Zion's military aircraft was a bit smaller than most. All the soldiers were crammed in the back. They didn't seem to mind though. Vladimer was assigned their commander. He was explaining the situation." You will listen carefully to my every command. This not a kill on sight. This is like no other mission you have ever conveyed. This mission is exceedingly dangerous. The fugitive Drakon Lazar is possessed by a dark entity. We are going to try to pull the spirit out of him, without doing any harm. If we cannot do so, he is lost to us. At that point, when I give the signal..." Vlad put his hand up in the air, and then laid it down at his side. "Then you may spring, and kill." He finished. The soldiers nodded. "Any questions?" He asked them. "No sir!" they roared back. "Carry on then." He said, then walked away. He came to sit beside me. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Yes. I'm fine." I replied. "I'm just thinking." He looked at me. "What are you thinking about?" He asked. I swallowed hard. "Why is it so easy for you to agree with yourself?" I asked. "What are you talking about?" he frowned. "It's so easy for you to except killing our brother." I said. He looked taken aback."Draven, that's not so. I love Drakon as he was. I love him as our brother. He will always be our brother, but at this point he is also an enemy. Enemies must be taken care of.

I'm not saying we're going to kill him." he hissed. I looked out the window. I could feel Vlad's eyes boring into me. I had to say something. "Remember when Drakon and I were little, and we wouldn't drink blood? You used to ask us if we wanted to play a game, and if you won we had to drink and if you lost we could have candy instead. Of course you always won. Drakon and I would try so had to beat you." I smiled. He sighed and stopped looking at me. He looked ahead. I turned to him." Do remember when Drakon ran away from home, because he said Mother didn't pay enough attention to him. It was after Penelope and Priscella were born. You went after him, and I went with you. It was raining that night. You had tracked him to the lake, and that's when I saw him in the water. He had slipped in. You had to go in after him. I remember how upset Mother and Father were when we all got back home. Father wanted to punish him, but you plead Drakon's case and changed Father's mind. The worst Drak got was a cold." I laughed. Vlad suddenly slammed his powerful hand down on the seat in front of him. "Draven. Stop. You're not helping this." He said gritting his teeth. "Do remember when Mia-" I began. "Shut up!" Vlad snapped at me, baring his teeth. He looked into my eyes.

I could see pain there. "When Mia died all Drakon wanted to do was make you happy. He did everything he could. Now, I want you to remember that when he is, so-called, lost to us." I hissed lowly. Then I turned back to the window, and didn't look at Vlad the rest of the flight. The plane landed at 9:57 pm. Vlad went over the plan with Marcello, Father, and I, before we were ready to go. Five of the soldiers were going to surround the brick house. The other five were going in with us. Two soldiers were to collect Adella, and the rest of us were going to pin Drakon down, while Vlad stabbed a vessel into his chest. The vessel was supposed to capture the Dark one. Anything could happen. When Vlad was done explaining, he gathered our troops, and we were off. As we reached the house the five soldiers chosen to surround the area moved into position. Everyone was tense.

Vlad marched toward the house and everyone else followed. He didn't pause ounce. We came to the door and he knocked it open. It crashed into the wall. We all stormed in, then stopped abruptly. We could all see Drakon sitting in the middle of the room. He was in the chair he had been in when we left him. He didn't look up at us. His head was bowed. The dark shadows emanated off him. As I looked closer I could see blood trickling down his face. It looked as if every orifice on his head was bleeding. I looked around the room to see if I could spot Adella. She was hardly visible, but in one of the black corners I could see her lying there. A gravely voice spoke up, and we all jumped. It echoed around us. "We've be waiting for you." It said. The voice had come from Drakon. Vlad cleared his throat."Brother, we have come to help you." he told him. Drakon chuckled darkly. "Help?" he laughed. "Son, please cooperate." Father pleaded. Vlad then signaled the soldiers to apprehend Drakon. Three of them ran forward. The first man to get to him grabbed his arm. There was a loud cracking sound, and that man fell to the floor. The other soldiers skitter to a stop. Somehow Drakon had killed the man without even touching him! We were all shocked. The soldier lay there beside my brother, blood flowing out of his skull. "How did he do that?" Father hissed. Drakon laughed again.

His laugh was such an evil thing. I took a breath then said. "Drakon, if you listen to us we can help you." His head lifted slowly. My stomach turned as his visage come into view. His eyes had been gouged out. All that was left, was the bloody dark sockets. His face looked dead, except for the sharp grin he wore, from ear to ear. "I am not Drakon. I am the Dark Lord." he hissed. My heart leaped. This was true insanity. "Drakon, I know you're still in there." Father growled. The dead face frowned deeply. "Father please make it stop." a voice cried. This voice was truly Drakon's. The two souls were sharing one body. Father began to run forward, but Vlad stuck his arm out and stopped him. "Don't do it. Not yet." Vlad to him. Father looked at his eldest son." What should we do then?" he asked. "You have to keep control Drakon. If you can keep the Dark Lord from taking over your body, we can help you." Vlad addressed Drak. Drakon's morbid face nodded."Do you have control now?" Vlad asked him. "I think I can hold it." he replied. "Alright." Vlad said."Go!" We all ran at Drakon in a flash.

We tackled him out of the chair and on to the ground. His skin felt like wax paper in my hand. Up close he looked even more like a corpse. He didn't struggle, until Vlad pulled out the vessel. The vessel was speeding toward his chest, when there was a demonic scream, and Drakon tensed. All a sudden everyone was thrown into the air. I crashed into the wall, opposite everyone else. I was close to Adella. As I sat up, to get to my feet, I saw Drak stomping through the room. He was roaring, holding his head. "Stop!" he yelled. The second he yelled, his body fell flat on the floor. He lay on his stomach beside the soldier he had killed. I watched as his hand reached out to the dead man. Drakon grabbed the soldier's knife, and jumped back to his feet. It looked like he was fighting himself.

Everyone that had been knocked to the floor, sat and watched. Drakon kept ripping at his head with one hand, as the knife came ever closer in the other. I realized that he meant to kill himself, to stop the evil being! "Vlad slid him the vessel!" I yelled across the room. Vladimir looked over at me, them chucked the horn like vessel at our brother. It hit Drakon in the back. He swiftly turned around. He looked like he was going to grab it. But then instead, he kicked it! I gasped, and quickly crawled over to where it had be kicked. I snatched it up. As Drakon continued to fight with himself, I ran at him. I was going to stab him with the thing myself! He was turned away from me. The vessel had to go into his heart. I grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, but I wasn't ready for what I saw. Drakon had already lost the fight over his body. His throat was slit. Blood gushed from the gash, but his body still moved. He slashed at me with the knife. I ducked. I didn't have time to think, I stabbed Drakon's chest. The body went limp and fell to the floor. The dark demon was dead, and so was my brother.