The Kiss of Death

I never wanted it to end like this, I can tell you that much. It was never my fault it happened. At least, that's what I've been telling myself. But how am I supposed to know? It was my fault he was dragged into this whole mess. So, I guess it is a bit of my fault that his fate was this.

It all started when we were together at our cozy home. We were talking as we sat by the small fireplace. He had his arm wrapped around me in a loving yet, protective way. He always did that. I guess it makes sense. He was once a soldier in the military. He had seen things many would never even imagine. He had demons he fought every day. I can see it in his deep brown eyes when he stares into the fire, I was one of the only things that kept him from falling apart.

But he would never know, he was the only one stopping me from breaking.

I was a quiet girl, but it wasn't for a good reason. I had never told him. But I was wanted. Not in a good way either.

I had seriously messed up a few years back when I still worked for Ironclaw. A powerful anti-dragon group who have been working their whole life to destroy dragons. Don't ask me why I was working for them. To this day, I still wonder why I did. The dragons never did any wrongdoing to me. I don't even remember when I joined them.

He was the one who showed me the joy of freedom. He showed me how to break away. I will always thank him for that. I never told him that Charlie, the leader had vowed to ruin my life. Why would I? Charlie couldn't really do any damage to my life.

Or so I thought.

We were snuggled up together and I was starting to doze off when I heard a noise that sent chills down my spine. My loving husband was on his feet almost instantly. He signaled me to stay where I was. But me being my stubborn self, got to my feet anyway. He didn't bother fighting me, instead he rushed to our room where he had hidden his old rifle.

I had told him, he didn't need it anymore. We were safe. No one would hurt us anymore. He wasn't in the army, I wasn't on the run. We would live peacefully till we died. That's how it should've been. It was how life was supposed to go for us. But I guess we were lucky he wasn't one to let go of things so easily.

He came out with his rifle. Its stock had 'Dawson V.' engraved on it. That was his name, Dawson Velez.

His name still brings pain to me, even after all these years.

I grabbed my hand gun and together we carefully walked out of the house. Dawson stayed in front of me, using his body as a shield. Almost instantly I heard gunfire, both from him and others. I already knew it was Ironclaw. I stepped out from behind him and began to fire my pistol as well. Together we slowly advanced while trying to hold off our enemy who I still didn't have a full clear view of.

Then I heard a noise that I never wished to hear. Dawson cried out in pain and fell to his knees. A group of fully armored men rushed over to him and pinned him to the ground. I yelled with rage and discharged a few rounds from my pistol. One of the men nearby collapsed to the ground, his helmet shattered. But the group who had Dawson were unhurt. One of them used the stock of their gun and hit Dawson over the head. There was a loud crack as the stock made contact and Dawson went limp. One of the guys slung him over their shoulder like he was nothing and then motioned to me, before disappearing, taking the love of my life with him.

I was quickly surrounded and had guns pointed at me in every dereliction.

"Azure Velez." A cold voice declared, "Do you yield?"

I looked up and spotted Charlie. He had a small smirk on his face, "What did you do to Dawson?" I hissed.

"Don't worry, he's perfectly fine."

"That doesn't answer my question, Charlie!" I hissed, making the others tighten their grip on their guns, which were trained on both my head and heart.

He chuckled, "You haven't answered mine either."

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO DAWSON!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"He's in the helicopter." Charlie hissed, "And if you don't cooperate, he'll be deeper than six feet underground when i'm done with him."

I froze, "You wouldn't dare..."

He smiled, "Do you want to take that risk?"

I paused and one of the men stepped closer to me. I bowed my head, "Fine, but leave him here..."

Charlie just smiled and then I felt the sharp pain as the guy hit me in the back of the head. Charlie walked away as my vision blacked and I slipped into unconsciousness.

...

I woke up in a dim and cold room. I sat up and looked around. But there was nothing much to look at. Only a pair of bars In front of me. That's when I knew I was stuck. He had won.

I slammed on the bars as a guard walked by.

They stopped and looked over at me, "What do you want Azure?" He asked, coldly.

"Where's Dawson?" I asked.

He just flashed me a small smirk and walked away, leaving me alone. My mind began to race, afraid for Dawson, wherever he was. I silently hoped Charlie left him at our house like I had told him to. But I knew how he worked all too well.

I heard the sound of footsteps and two people talking, "How did he even slip out?"

"You think I know?"

"Um, you're the one who was guarding the hall he was in... So, yeah. You should know."

"Well I don't..."

"Fine... Did you have to shoot him with a bow of all things though?"

"It's what I use... Do you have an issue with that?"

"No... It's just annoying to remove arrows from people..."

"First of all... He tried to kill me. Secondly Charlie doesn't care if he lives or not..."

"Okay, but you're in charge of keeping his cellmate under control."

Two guards turned the corner and I instantly realized they were dragging Dawson behind them. Rage filled my bones almost instantly.

One of the guards unlocked my cell then pointed his gun at me, "Stay where you are, Azure." He hissed, as the other guard dragged Dawson inside. I looked over at the guard as he leaned Dawson against the wall. As he stepped away I spotted an arrow wedged deep in Dawson's chest. I got to my feet and the guard who had his gun trained on me, fired, hitting me in the arm. I cried out with pain, and the other guard ran out of the cell, locking it. I didn't bother trying to attack them, instead I rushed to Dawson's side. He was breathing in a weird way. But he was alive. I gently put his head on my lap.

"Are you okay, darlin?" I asked softly.

He looked up at me, his brown eyes already looked distant, "Sweetie." He rasped, shakingly raising a hand and brushing it along my face.

"Yes?" I whispered.

"I love you."

"I know you do..."

"I'm sorry..." He wrapped his arms around me, hugging me carefully.

"For what?" I asked.

He was silent for a long moment then he whispered, "I'm not gonna survive, darlin'."

Tears began to fall from my eyes, "Don't say that..."

He kissed me. For a long moment I sat there, enjoying the feeling of his kiss. Once he finally moved away he whispered, "Thank you for everything my love..."

"No, Dawson..." I whispered as his eyes began to grow more distant, "This isn't how our story was supposed to end!" I cried.

He smiled slightly, "But don't you see? This is how it's supposed to end... Darlin' you're meant for something more. Fate knows that. I'm somehow stopping you... Somehow my death will help you onto a greater path... Take the path my love... Do what you're supposed to do." He kissed me one last time, "Goodbye, Azure. I'll be waiting for you on the other side..."

With that he grew limp in my arms and took one last ragged breath. I silently held him, watching his chest, hoping for one more breath. One sign to show me he was alive.

I sat there for hours, hugging his dead body. The whole time I was praying it was all a dream...

It wasn't.