34. Libby

Ihad hoped that between Hyx and I and all the memories of our past lives, we could take on the Bargaron easily enough. Surely, he couldn't take both of us on.

It turns out, he most certainly can. Elyzin moves with a speed and ferocity like nothing I've ever seen before. Like something out of a nightmare. And then I realize that he really kind of is.

He's the reason we've been torn apart from each other so often. Why we keep meeting such brutal ends.

It makes my blood boil, and I charge at him with a scream and launch myself at him. He's busy trying to fight off Hyx and can't stop me from landing on his back and jamming my elbow into his head.

"Ow!" I shout as my elbow hits cybernetic parts. Right, he's made of metal. Hitting him is not going to do the trick.

Elyzin manages to kick Hyx away and then throws me off his back. I hit the ground hard but nothing feels broken.

Hyx rushes over to me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. But how are we supposed to stop him?"

The Bargaron doesn't give us a moment to think about it and charges us. Hyx runs right at him, and they begin to punch and kick at each other.

"You're the brains between the two of us!" Hyx calls out between punches. "If you've got an idea, I'm all ears."

Right. I'm a scientist, I can figure this out. I just need to dissect this like I would anything else.

Think, think, think. He's made of metal and organic parts. What will make him break down?

I rule out throwing water at him as his metallic parts are probably high quality and very water resistant. For a time, at least. There are tree branches around here that could pierce his organic half, at least. But there seems to be more metal than man at this point.

Elyzin delivers another swift punch across Hyx's face. Hyx growls and starts attacking him wildly.

I need to hurry. Unlike Elyzin, Hyx is fully organic. His adrenaline can and will run out and then he'll be too tired to fight.

Why couldn't I be one of those cool scientists who's always going on adventures and carries a gun?

Then I spot a ravine that drops down into a lake. And while the drop isn't too far, it gives me an idea.

I could use the Bargaron's metallic and organic parts against it. If we could tie something heavy to it, it would sink. It would probably be too heavy to just swim up.

And the organic half wouldn't be able to survive long underwater. I highly doubt the Bargaron has system backups to keep him online if the organic part of him dies. And the metallic half will short-circuit if we can keep him down there long enough.

Elyzin throws Hyx and I run towards him.

"Lure him to the ravine," I hiss, and then I keep running for the trees where I see a log.

Using all my strength, I push the log to the cliff. Hyx is doing exactly as I ask, and he and Elyzin are coming closer.

When the Bargaron is close enough, Hyx knocks him off balance and I shove him over the edge. As he begins to fall, I push the log after him. It falls on top of him and sinks under the waves.

I'm breathing heavily as I lean back on the ground. "I can't believe that worked."

"Do you think it'll hold him?"

I shrug. "It'll at least let us catch our breath."

Hyx snorts and shakes his head. He walks back a little and surveys the area. "Let's go back to the ship and see if we can find anything to get out a signal."

He begins walking and I move to stand when I hear something strange. Something that sounds like it's coming from the ravine. I peek over the edge and gasp.

It's Elyzin. He's scaling the ravine side like a spider and heading right for me.

I scramble to my feet and am about to call out to Hyx when Elyzin launches himself towards me and grabs me by the throat.

"Did you really think that would hold me?" he shouts. He lifts me up by my neck and then bangs me into the ground.

Pain shoots through my body.

"Libby!" I hear Hyx shout.

Elyzin rams me into the ground again and then releases my throat, only to deliver punch after punch to me.

"If it wasn't for you interfering, we wouldn't have to be here!" the Bargaron screams. He's frenzied and spiteful, and this time, he's going to kill me with his bare hands.

Hyx tackles him, and they roll away.

Get up. I need to get up and get away.I tell myself. But I can't move.

I see something sharp and metallic in Hyx's hands. It looks like part of the ship. Then he stabs Elyzin in the side with it.

I let out a strangled, smothered breath that sounds more like a gasp. There's a pain in my side and a watery feeling in my chest that makes me fear my lung is punctured. The edges of my vision have a gray quality which I'm not quite sure how to interpret, but I'm sure it isn't a good sign. I'm going to die. I'm going to die again!

Hyx turns his full attention on me. He's at my side in an instant, looking over my broken body.

"Libby," he murmurs. "No, no. Please, love, please stay with me. Don't leave me again."

The pain is almost overwhelming. And over his shoulder, I can see Elyzin getting to his feet again.

We're going to die.

But instead of the fact making me more afraid, a strange sense of calm fills me. I smile at my fated mate.

"I love you," I manage to get out. "And I'll love you in every life."

Hyx shakily cups my face, and I grasp one of his hands. Then fire fills his eyes. "I'm not waiting for the next life. I chose this one with you."

And then he does something entirely unexpected. He begins to sing.

However, calling it a song doesn't do it justice. It's the sweetest, clearest sound I've ever heard.

Slowly, the pressure starts to ease off, and I begin to breathe regularly again. The rest of the pain recedes, and I sit up.

Hyx finishes the song, and he smiles. "I remembered it. An Ishani healing song. When I needed it, I finally remembered it."

I smile, too, and tears gather in the corners of my eyes.

Then I remember why I needed healing in the first place. Hyx and I seem to realize it at once, and we both turn to look at Elyzin, ready for anything.

But instead of being met with murderous rage, Elyzin looks shaken. He begins to tremble and takes a step away from us, clutching his head.

"I remember," he whispers. "I remember when I was Ishani, too. I remember my people, my friends. I remember you. How did it all go so wrong?"

He begins shaking his head and squeezes his eyes, like he's experiencing something painful. And maybe he is. He falls to his knees.

"They found me. They took my mind and tried to make me one of them. And my useless jealousy and pride made it all the easier to do it! I was so angry with you, Karvex, putting me aside for her. They knew it. They knew I was weak."

He grips his head, recoiling at the memory. "They turned my mind inside out and then used me like a puppet! I can feel it even now, eating away at me. Like a virus taking over my very being."

He lets out a strangled laugh. "I don't even know how much of me is even me! It's nearly all gone. Every life, it takes a little bit more of me away."

Despite everything he's done to us, something twists in my gut for him.

Elyzin looks at us, almost frantically. "I was once so pure. From Ishani, to Reaper, to this. Everything that's Ishani in me is being stolen away. There's going to be nothing left of me."

Then his face twists in fury, and he lets out an anguished cry. "I may not know who or what I am anymore, but I won't be one of them! I won't go through another life being forced to betray my own kind!"

Even from here, I can hear a mechanical whirring sound. And I've heard that type of whirring enough times to know that it means something in a machine is about to go very wrong.

I grab Hyx by the arm and drag him away from Elyzin. He gets the idea, and we move away just in time.

Smoke pours out of the tortured Bargaron, and then he explodes. Hyx throws himself over me as bits and parts of him fly everywhere.

When I'm sure it's passed, I look to the now darkened spot where Elyzin stood. Something seems to shift around us. A weight that I hadn't noticed before suddenly lifts.

I may have hated the corrupted Bargaron that hunted and killed us all these past lives. But the Ishani who sacrificed himself to save us, I will always remember.

In the end, he didn't die a slave. He died an Ishani.