by Tiya Rayne
The blue and silver in his mismatched eyes fade away and gets swallowed up by black. That darkness that lays buried down inside him has pushed to the forefront. Lightening cracks across the sky turning the dark night into day for a moment. The lightening is followed by deafening thunder. Then the sky opens up and rain pours down. This time the rain has nothing to do with my tears.
The door to the narrow passageway opens and Assassin, Avalia, Drago, Rykan, and a small army of Avalia’s soldiers walk out onto the roof with me. On the other end I see more of Avalia’s soldiers lead by Bilal, Himrol, Mogo, and Hyland.
Nevy starts to laugh as he stands between me and Assassin.
“You’ve all come to die?”
“This is the end, Dark King.” Assassin says shouting over the rain, wind, and thunder. “Our army has the castle surrounded. We’ve killed all the soldiers inside your walls and the others are too far away to save you now. We’ve won. Give up now. Denounce the Northern throne, set Lilly free, and we will allow you to live.”
I couldn’t believe it. They did it. They’ve won. And no one else had to die. Well, at least not anyone I cared about. Assassin would even let Nevy live. My heart is overjoyed.
“Listen to him, Nevy.” I say touching his back.
He turns to me slightly, those black eyes staring down at me.
“I don’t want you to die. I’m sorry I couldn’t love you the way that you wanted, but I do love you. I love you so much that I want to see you happy.”
He blinks and when he looks back at me his mismatch eyes are back. I smile, glad to see my Nevy back.
“I release you from your father’s curse, Nevy. You are free to have as many babies as you want with whoever you want.”
Nevy looks shocked. He glances down at his body as if he could feel the curse peeling away from his skin. When he looks at me and smiles I know I have done the right thing.
He pulls me into his chest and gives me a tight hug. I wrap my arms around him.
I am glad that I could give Nevy what he wanted, and I am glad that this war is over. When I finally pull away from Nevy, he places his head to my forehead and exhales.
“I’m sorry, Lilly.” His words make me freeze. He places a kiss on my forehead and when I look up at him, the darkness has taken over his eyes again.
“Nevy?” I plead.
“All I want is you.” He whispers to me. “Now!” He shouts.
The moment the word is shouted a portal opens up and out comes an army of those frightening creatures. They pour out non-stop and attack. The last two to exit through the portal is Ofilla and Phillisius.
I watch as those creatures charge at my friends. Bilal stabs at one of the hideous creatures, but it doesn’t stop. The creature lifts Bilal and tosses him over his shoulder right before grabbing a soldier and ripping it’s head off.
I hear a roar and I turn to find Drago in his dragon form over our heads. He picks up two of the creatures, opens his mouth and burns them into a crisp with fire, then drops them to the ground. He flies back over to do it again and this time picks up three of the monsters before burning them and dropping them down. Nevy runs to the edge of the tower we are on.
“Kill that fucking Dragon!” He shouts down.
Drago picks up a few more of the creatures, burning them and then dropping them to the ground. Just then a large arrow flies through the air. It misses Drago by an inch and slams only a few feet into the ground right before me. I jump back as the stones from the impact fly up.
A loud cry from the sky causes me to look up and I see that one of the large arrows has hit Drago in the leg. He swerves in the sky trying to stay up, but another one of those arrows flies up and hits him in the side.
“DRAGO!!!!!” I scream his name as he plummets to the earth.
I run to the side of the tower and find his body lying still against the ground. The large black dragon doesn’t move.
The rain mixes with my tears and wash them away. I turn just in time to see a fire ball fly by and nearly hit Avalia. It seems that Avalia and Ofilla are in a battle of their own. Blue flames appear in Avalia’s hands, and she tosses it at Ofilla hitting her in the side. The witch nearly tumbles down but gets back up.
I’m startled when Bilal grabs my arm.
“Come, Lilly. We must get you to safety.” I turn to try to find Assassin.
I didn’t want to leave without him. He is fighting Nevy and one of those creatures at the same time. My handsome elf is beautiful in battle. He is handling his own. I know I couldn’t stay, I would only be in their way. I allow Bilal to grab my hand and lead me towards the door that he entered.
We suddenly stop. I look around Bilal just in time to see Phillisius pull his sword out of Bilal’s chest. My guard drops to his knees in front of me. His head turns and his eyes are watery as he stares back at me.
No!
“Bilal!”
“I’m…..sor….” he falls over before he can finish his sentence.
I drop to my knees beside his lifeless body. Another friend that has lost his life.
Phillisius grabs my arm and wrenches me up from the ground.
“You can’t leave, Human. You don’t want to miss the chance to say your final good byes to all your pathetic friends.”
I jerk away from his bruising grasp. He lets me go and I pull back my arm and punch him in the face. My hand hurts like a bitch, but it was worth it to see the blood pour down his nose. Of course my victory is short lived, he smacks me so hard to the ground I bite my tongue.
“I should fucking kill you.” He wipes the little blood from under his nose. He takes a step towards me, but a silver blur runs pass me and attacks him.
Tipper!
I smile as my little silver familiar claws and bites at his face. Phillisius can’t get her off him. Every time he gets a good grip on her she turns into something else. Finally he yanks her off and throws her to the ground. She lands in a crouch like she’s about to play football. No longer in an animal form, she stands to her two feet. Her human form looks nothing like Plinket’s. She’s short, maybe coming to my chest. Her hair is a mass of short wild curls that are silvery white. Her skin is gray, and etched throughout her body are silvery symbols. Her hands consist of three clawed fingers, and her feet are the same just bigger. Her female parts are covered by silver fur. Her facial features are sharp like felines, it reminds me of the actress Angelina Jolie in that recent Disney movie. Her red eyes narrow on me.
“Are you alright, girl?”
How I’ve missed her speaking in my head.
“Yes!” I say.
Tipper turns back to Phillisius.
“You fucking familiar. Look at my face!” He shouts.
His face is a mangled mess of blood and flesh.
Tipper snarls at the elf.
“I’m going to kill you and that bitch.” Philisius growls.
He charges at Tipper, but she turns into a fox and attacks him. She clamps on to his neck and holds tight. He fights to get her off but she isn’t letting him go. I hear the crack right before the blonde elf drops to his knees. Tipper yanks her head back pulling out the front of the elf’s throat. She drops the chunk of bone and meat, then turns to me.
She gives me a proud fox smile and I can’t help but laugh.
“I saved my human.” She preens, strutting in a circle in front of me.
“Yes! You’re my hero. Now come here so I can rub your belly.”
Her ears stick up with excitement like I knew it would. She runs over to me. I didn’t see the creature until it was too late. With a sling of his blade, he beheads my sweet familiar. The rumble of the thunder absorbs my scream of agony. I crawl to Tipper’s fallen body. My hands dig into her still warm silver fur. My sobs pause in my chest, before erupting into the night. My brave little friend is gone. Her blood pools around me, staining my white dress.
Tipper’s blood mixes with countless others as it runs like rivers around me. I follow its trail to carnage. Bodies lie i
n the rain. Most of them are soldiers from Avalia’s army. So much death already.
I look around me and see more people fighting for their lives. Kalana—the beautiful girl from the eastern kingdom that I followed into the woods that night—is using that rhythmic fighting style against one of the creatures. She is winning, but she is bleeding heavily from a wound to the arm.
Hyland is back to back with Himrol. They are fighting off attacks from all sides. Hyland takes a blade to the arm and he goes down to his knees. Mogo is standing over an injured Lydell fighting back a creature. Rykan is at his side trying to help. Assassin is still holding his own against Nevy and the largest creature, but he is bleeding and favoring one side. Nevy has an open wound on his chest. I watch as Avalia get hit with a fire ball from her sister and lands face down. She doesn’t move as her sister stalks towards her with a blade in her hand.
We are losing. I can hear the pounding of feet as the rest of Nevy’s army approaches the gates. Soon, even the soldiers below us are going to be overtaken.
It is then I remember Bartus’s words. “Truth is, Human, you are the only one that can stop this war. Take you out of the picture, no one has a reason to fight.”
I believed him. I truly believed that I am somehow a catalyst and the answer to this war. But how? How do I stop this war?
“There will come a time in this war, when the odds will be against us. All hope will seem to be lost. It will be then that you will need to make a decision. A decision that is life changing.”
Avalia’s words that night come back to me and I finally get it. I know what my purpose is. From the moment I got here, Avalia has been trying to tell me exactly what I was needed for.
All this time she knew what was going to happen.
I stand to my feet. The determination to end this giving me the strength to move. I climb up on to the side of the roof, the slippery stone making my attempts dangerous. I raise myself standing between the slots of the wall.
“Avalia!” I shout her name over the noise. My voice carries and it seems like it draws every ones attention. Ofilla stops, her hand held high over her head. The blade to her knife aimed at Avalia’s heart. Hyland is on the ground, Himrol is standing over his body fighting to protect. Just like Mogo is doing with Lydell. The last eyes I turn to are Assassin’s and Nevy’s, both watching me with confusion. I pray to the Goddess, please let this set them free.
***********
(Assassin)
The moment I hear her voice I forget about everything.
I am fucking exhausted. The Dark King is no real match for me, but the creature he calls Kotche is a godsdamn beast. I am barely making it. However, I am determined to survive this. I am determined to get my everlasting with Lilly. She is all I can think about. Finding her in that room dressed in that white wedding dress almost brought me to my knees. Gods she was so beautiful. I imagined her dressed in white walking down the aisle towards me. I never thought about marriage. It had no true meaning in the Locke. Only used by the royals and wealthy to establish power and to entertain. However, I wanted that with Lilly. I wanted all of it with her. If I had to fight one hundred of these creatures, I was going to marry Lilly.
The moment she calls Avalia’s name, my blood runs cold. This is Avalia’s vision. I watch as Lilly stands strong on the narrow edge of the roof. The wind blows her blood stained dress and her hair that has come loose. Rain turns the lace of her dress to near see-through. The lightening lights up the sky behind her. Despite the blood and dirt that coats her, she still looks like a being from the heavenly realm.
“I get it now, Avalia.” She says. “I’ve made my decision.”
Wait, what fucking decision? The Dark King must have had the same question because he turns to me with a frown then back to Lilly.
When her eyes turn to me, my stomach drops.
“Take care of them for me.”
And then she falls.
“LILLY!!!!”
I don’t know who screamed the loudest between me and the Dark King. Everyone rushes to the edge of the roof just in time to see her body hit the ground. The lightening shoots across the sky at the same moment, thunder roars so loud that it shakes the earth. And then it happens. Her body disappears. Whenever something dies outside of its realm, its body always goes back to their own.
My Lilly had finally made it home.
The creatures around us start to drop to the ground. Their bodies, once large and darkened by dark magic, melt down to non-magicals. The clouds clear from the sky taking the rain with it. She sacrificed her life for ours. She made the decision to save all of us, rather than survive to be with her boys.
“No! No! No!” The Dark King’s cries grabs my attention. He drops his sword backing away from the edge of the roof. “She can’t do this. She can’t leave me.”
I lift my sword back up from the ground where it had slipped from my hands as I watched the love of my life fall to her death.
The Dark King drops to his knees. He’s crying now.
“I ruined her. All she wanted was peace and I wouldn’t give it to her. This is all my fault.”
I didn’t doubt that.
Those fucked up eyes look up to me filled with tears.
“I loved her.” He pleads.
The pain in his eyes lead me to believe that he meant it. He truly did love Lilly.
I stand before the man with sympathy in my heart. He feels absolutely the same way I feel. My heart is a dead muscle in my chest. It no longer beats. I feel my humanity slipping slowly away from me. The coldness is seeping inside me, turning me into something else every time I think about….. No, don’t think about that.
I will see you soon, my little human. I vow it to the heavens.
“You win.” The fallen king says. “I denounce my throne.” His head falls forward. “The best thing that ever happened to me was when I...” My blade sings through the air as it slices through his neck severing his head.
Fuck his throne.
I didn’t give a shit about his change of fucking heart.
I wasn’t the forgiving one in the relationship, Lilly was.
I turn to the witch. Himrol has Ofilla in his hands. His face is red with anger as tears pour down his face. I look around and everyone seems to be affected by our loss. Mogo is inconsolable as he sobs for Lilly on Rykan’s shoulder. She was like a mother to him. Kalana is wiping her eyes as more tears fall, Lydell is on her knees with her head down sobbing. Hyland has the same face that Himrol has, anger and sadness. Avalia has her head held high, but I can tell she is barely keeping it together.
I look over to the witch and she squirms in Himrol’s grasp, but stops the moment she sees me. Something in my eyes must have told her of her end. Her body slumps in Himrol’s hands and all fight and resistance flees her.
“Assassin wait!” Avalia holds up her hand.
She walks over to her sister, standing in front of her.
“All of this,” Avalia says waving her hand across the bodies littered on the ground. “All of it, because you wanted my visions.” Avalia shakes her head at her sister. “I loved you, Ofilla. I would have done anything for you.”
“Then save me, sister.” The witch pleads. “Let us start anew. I beg.”
Avalia places a kiss on her sister’s forehead and then steps away. “Tell your dark spirits I said Hello!”
The moment the words leave her mouth I force my blade into the witch’s chest. She cries out for only a second, then stills. It is a quick death she didn’t deserve. I remove my blade and Himrol releases her to the ground.
Avalia picks up the Dark King’s fallen sword she holds it out towards my head tapping each shoulder with the blade.
“I pronounce you, Assassin, the new King of the Northern Kingdom.” She bows her head and everyone around me drops to their knees. I turn to the people below me and the same thing happens, everyone falls to their knees.
“I know what you want to do.” Avalia’s voice whispers in my head. Sh
e knows my thoughts are filled with ways to meet Lilly in the afterlife. “But it is not what she wanted. She needs you to be a leader. She needs you to guide our people into that promised time of peace, and to lead your sons to fill your place. She needs you to be strong.”
I know her words are true. The night I met Lilly in those woods, I would have never thought that I would be standing here today. For so long before that encounter I was dead inside. I cared about no one and nothing. I would have been content continuing down that path. Then I met her. And I question why fate would have us meet. Why would the gods give me the joy of her smile, the sparkle in her eyes, and the warmth of her touch and love just to take it from me. Why give her to me just to rip her away? Then a voice, soft yet firm, whispers inside my head, “Because you had to learn how to love, so you would know how to lead.”
The voice and the warmth it brought with it disappears. The orange glow of the horizon chases the darkness away, and I stand on the roof of the Northern castle, taking in my kingdom. You were right, little human, what a beautiful kingdom it is.
The End…..
Eight Years Later
“Did you see me, father? Did you see what I did?” Matthias says excitedly. His hazel eyes—exactly like his mother’s—stares back at me with joy.
“Yes, son! I saw it. You are quite the archer. Almost as good as your mother was.” I say, as I approach him.
We are in the training grounds outside my castle.
So much has changed since the night I became king. Everything that Avalia promised in her vision had come to past. The Locke is in peace. It is a peace felt amongst everyone. Never has the non-magicals and the magicals worked so closely together. Once the Kingdoms were filled with non-magicals and immortals, now they are so much more diverse. The division amongst the poor and the rich is no longer a wide gap. We work together to ensure that our kingdoms prosper. No one goes hungry. There is work and means for everyone. The farmers are harvesting more crops than ever. We are truly happy.
Of course our happiness did not come without huge lost. Fisgal did not make it home that night. He died in battle. His son now runs the Eastern Kingdom. They have become worthy warriors and have some of the finest soldiers I’ve ever seen. Most of them women. The eastern men still have their ferocious appetite for women, but at least now they allow their women to take more roles in the kingdom. Geronis even has Kalana as his head guard.
