5 The Prince of Ashrya

"Who are you?" Erick Rashak rasped.

His throat was on fire and his tongue, parched. He hadn't slept in days, and had barely eaten anything, but Erick wasn't hungry. It was his thirst that was raging and overwhelming him.

His eyes burned, but he desperately tried to keep them open so that he could maintain his watch on this strange woman. He was at a distinct disadvantage. He was flat on his back looking up at her.

The woman, with her long dark hair hanging over both of them like a sensuous veil, looked like she was trying to seduce him. Her large dark brown eyes were pools of desire, making his insides burn hot. She did not look like any normal woman that he had ever seen. She was absolutely stunning!

Her face was like an angel, and she had the body of a sylph. Her skin was so pale, it was almost translucent, and he could not stop staring at her tiny mouth, with those soft pink petal lips. The sweet scent of this woman was driving Erick crazy.

Against his will, his lower body began to stir of their own volition.

Those tender petal pink lips were, at the moment, open and gasping for air. And what he mistook for eyes that were pools of desire were actually tears of pain springing out from her tear ducts.

Shreds of Erick's sanity returned. He snapped back into full consciousness and suddenly realized the woman was gasping for air because he had a choke hold on her neck.

This Azurian girl was frantically clawing at his hands---the ones that had a tight grip on her neck--so he relaxed his grip slightly.

But Erick Rashak was no fool. He continued to keep a tight hold of her, just in case she decided to do something sneaky or try to attack him with some sort of magik spell.

Her pale heart-shaped face looked fragile. In fact, she looked so frail, he could have easily snapped her in two. He stared in amazement, as her long dark lashes fluttered against her face. He had never seen such beautiful eyes.

It was obvious that she was neither Ashryan, with their pale blueish features, nor Entryon, with their coarse, prominent dark features. He could only assume she was Azurian, which meant his cousin had been able to break through the fissure, and they were now on the other side of the twilight membrane between the worlds.

They had finally made it to Azure.

With his fingers loosened enough for airflow, the woman gasped as a breath of air flooded through her windpipe.

She coughed reflexively, but could do little else. Her eyes watered. Large fat tears suddenly fell, splashing onto his face in fat warm droplets.

"You ask me who I am, but you choke me to death so that I cannot answer! What kind of monster are you?" She croaked, almost choking on her anger.

"I did not kill you, did I? You should thank me for being so merciful." He snarled, his eyes never leaving her beautiful face. Even as furious as she was, she was like a gorgeous snarling little feline, spitting and clawing at him in futile spats.

"You were unconscious for hours! If I wanted to do something to you, I would have done it then!" She took another shuddering gasp of air. "Let me go!"

"As you wish!" He bared his fangs and pushed her away with more force than he realized. The woman was truly tiny! The force of his thrust threw her onto the carpeted floor. As she fell backwards, her body crashed into the coffee table, sending it skidding a few feet away. The oriental blue and white flower vase on top of the table crashed onto the floor, shattering into pieces on the hardwood floor.

Seconds later, there were sounds of feet, rushing down the stairs.

"Hell fire, Erick! What have you done!" A highly distressed Zander ran over to the woman still lying on the ground. Behind him was a hovering Daran and a fluttering Quill.

Zander touched her face and winced as he saw the darkened bruises on her neck. "You idiot!" He roared at Erick. Then, he picked the woman up and carried her over to the love seat. "I am so sorry, Mira Lee. Are you in pain?"

The woman he called Mira Lee gingerly touched her throat. "Hurts."

Zander nodded and reached out to touched her neck. Blue sparks began flying from his fingers, and within minutes, the bruises on her neck dissipated.

Meanwhile, Daran had quickly reached Erick's side. He began a physical inspection on the prince and did not ease up until he was satisfied that Erick was in no mortal danger.

"Erick, get a hold of yourself." Zander's voice came from somewhere across the room. "This is not a war zone, and you are in no danger here."

Erick blinked. The room was spinning. He bit his lip in a desperate attempt to hold onto his consciousness. He could not pass out again at this critical moment. "Let me up." He commanded.

"Yes, your Highness." Daran quickly complied, all the while, surreptitiously slipping him critical life force through his finger tips.

"Save your energy," Erick said to Daran. "Heavens know when you will be able to re-energize." He felt slightly better now that he was sitting up on the soft leather bed.

"Your Highness' well-being is far more important." Daran responded with deference.

"Do not disobey me, Daran." Erick's eyes were cold and threatening, although in his severely weakened state, there would not be much that he could have done if Daran went against his will.

Daran nodded, not saying anything, but Erick could tell the Entryon was only pacifying him.

"Get me water." Erick coughed, sending stars shooting through his field of vision, nearly blacking him out.

Damn this weak body. Ever since that day, when his own brother had tried to kill him, Erick had been on the run, and getting weaker and weaker. There was nowhere he could stay long enough to recover his strength. He could only remember days upon days of endless running, just one step ahead of those who wanted him dead.

Between Zander and Daran, they had managed to keep his energy source stable enough to keep moving, but he could tell they were also at the edge of their endurance. If he continued to drain them, they would go over the energy cliff and would no longer be able to recover from catastrophic failure.

Daran came back with a crystal glass of water, and Erick took a sip. Instantly, he doubled over, spilling most of the water onto the soft rug. He was so damned thirsty but his body could not take in the fluid he so desperately needed.

His insides churned, making him feel sick to his stomach. Erick anger surged. He could not die in this godforsaken world, so far from his home!

"He's dehydrated." The woman named Mira Lee spoke up from where she sat. "If he can't take in water, his organs will eventually fail. He needs intravenous fluids. I can help him with that." She stood up. "Have him lie back down again. I'll be right back."

Erick did not see where she went. He was too busy trying to keep from dry heaving. He closed his eyes so the room would stop spinning, and found himself once again, lying on the soft leather bed.

He was so tired. His exhaustion was so great that he could not fight the darkness that was encroaching onto his senses.

With a sigh, Erick succumbed once again, into the depths of unconsciousness.