“Why would you do that? What do you even want me to do?” I asked as I looked her over. She rolled her eyes as she sighed.
“Look I got my plans mixed up and I’m giving you a chance to fix them. Your friends were part of my plans then they got killed by the one guy I didn’t plan on,” she fumed.
“Lander?” I asked.
“Who? What? No! That’s not even his name! Geez, you mortals are idiots! That’s beside the point, though. Now I’ll bring back your three friends if you send off the others,” she explained as she held her hand out once more.
“What’s the catch?” I replied. She groaned and dropped her hand again.
“You have to send them off! That’s it! Okay, granted I want you to hug them as it is custom when it comes to your kind but I want you to send them off nonetheless. Deal!?” she stuck her hand out one last time. I finally took it and shook her hand.
“Deal.” She jumped with a yip of glee as she spread her arms out.
“Great! Now let’s bring them back! Goodbye!” she tapped my forehead and I blacked out once more.
~~~/~~~/~~~
I shot up, breathing heavy once more. I looked around to see the ground littered with bodies of the guards as well as the bodies of my friends. I slowly stood up and saw the body of Lander with a single arrow through his heart and red marks around his wrists. What happened? I heard someone coughing and turned towards the noise. Leo slowly sat up, holding his throat. He looked around before catching my eye and walking over to me, stopping just before reaching his brother. He stared at Lander, a tear could be seen on his face before he quickly wiped it away and nodded at me once. I heard a popping sound as well as a loud whirring. I turned to see Mona slowly get up and look at the hole in her chest before she placed a hand on her somehow working heart. She looked around before her red eyes landed on Ethan. Mona quickly ran to him and rested his head on her lap. I heard hacking behind me as I turned to find Eris. She...she sat up holding her chest until she felt Gabriel’s head hit her lap. The look of realization and pain stained her face as she began to cry. She held him tightly to her chest while the rest of us watched. I saw Gabriel walked over to Eris and put a hand on her shoulder, which made her cry harder. She could feel him, she knew he was there, but since she wasn’t part of the Deces, she couldn’t see him. Two hands gently touched my shoulder and I turned to see Jakey standing there. I watched as Calamine walked through Jakey to Leo. They were dead. I couldn’t bring them back. Thorn led Gabriel over to me and stood before Jakey. She removed her tiara and bowed.
“I don’t know braver men who would have risked his life to work with me. Rest assured, there shall be a memorial made for the both of you for the bravery you have shown today,” she said with a seriousness that I didn’t think was possible for her. She nodded at me before stepping away. I turned to the boys, held out my arms and hugged them both at the same time. I could feel them slowly dissolve into two glowing orbs, one green, the other violet. They swirled around me, causing a bright light to form around us. I could still feel the weight of them in my arms as they disappeared in a blinding flash of light. I felt squirming in my arms just as I heard Eris call out.
“What the fu-” she started.
“Please not too loud. You’re scaring her,” Thorn said as I looked down at the small baby in my arms. The others slowly drew closer, curious about the small girl in my arms.
“What are you going to name her?” Mona said as she held her hand against her chest. I looked down at the baby with her small tuft of ash brown hair and watched as she opened her eyes. She had very unusual eyes, even for someone living in Valabin. They were a light brown with green highlights. Her pupils were white-not black, just white.
I smiled as she grabbed my finger.
“Alles, Alles Kwijt.”
Epilogue
“And that is how you came to be,” Ceries said as she tucked her daughter, Alles Kwijt, into bed for the fifth time that night. Seven years had passed since Cerise had been crowned princess and her mother, Witch, with Alles next in line to be crowned once she comes of age to be crowned princess or Witch depending on the circumstances. Mona Lisa and Ethan were given the task of finding those who were special in the Vie and save them. Eris was tasked with helping those who lost loved ones in Tainia. Calamine was teaching kids with special abilities how to control them, with the help of Leo. Just as Thorn had promised, a memorial was put up for Jakey and Gabriel.
Alles yawned as Mona took Alles’s round, golden glasses off of her and set them to the side on her bright green nightstand.
“Did that really happen, Aunt Mona?” Alles asked, sleepily. Mona chuckled and looked up at Ceries before answering.
“Well considering that we do live in a world such as ours, I would have to say yes,” she answered with a smile.
“Not to mention that you were there,” Eris said before leaning over and kissing Alles’s head.
“Oh. Right,” Mona chuckled.
“Well it’s time for one little girl to go to sleep,” Cerise said as she tried to smooth down the short, bedhead mess that is her daughter’s hair.
“Do I have to?” Alles whined. Cerise chuckled and shook her head as she looked down at her.
“It’s almost midnight, Alles,” Cerise replied, “goodnight.” She kissed the top of her head and walked out of the room. Alles waited until she knew her mother was a good distance away before sitting up and turning to Mona.
“Aunt Mona, do you know what happened to mum when she blacked out?” she whispered. Mona thought for a minute before kneeling next to the bed.
“When I was made, a system was implanted into my temple so that if all other systems failed it would kick on and record what was going on around me,” she replied as she projected a scene onto the wall across the room.
The scene showed Thorn being held by her throat by Lander while Cerise stood by the treeline. Everything was still until Mona allowed it to play through.
“Why are you doing this?” Thorn gasped out as she held onto his hand. Lander laughed as he squeezed harder.
“I failed once, Spina, I’m not doing it again,” he coldly replied. At this point, anger seemed to radiate from Cerise as she watched Lander choke Thorn. Boney, demonic wings that looked as though they were dripping blood sprouted from her back as a dark red ran down from her scalp to the tips of her hair, changing the white to red. She extended her right hand out to one side causing multiple vines made of the blood from the dead to seep from the ground, towards her hand. She watched and waited before swinging her hand out towards Lander. The vines shot towards him, causing him to drop Thorn in the midst of trying to defend himself. The vines wrapped around his wrists and ankles as he struggled against them.
While he was distracted, Cerise took her bow and pulled back on it as she aimed at his heart before letting a single arrow fly. Inches from his chest he was able to rip one of his arms free and catch the arrow. He looked down at Cerise and smirked. It did not last long though as Thorn ran up, and with the help of the wind pushing her up, she was able to push the arrow into his chest with a jump kick to his hand. Thorn landed on the ground softly as Cerise let Lander fall to the earth with a sickening thud. Thorn walked over to him and made sure he was dead. As she was about to tell that to Cerise, Thorn watched as Cerise passed out.
“Does mum know she can do that?” Alles asked when it was over.
“After seven years do ya really think she wouldn’t have figured it out by now?” Eris replied.
“I guess yer right. Sorry Auntie Eris,” Alles said as she laid back down and curled up under her thick blankets.
“Get some sleep, please, Alles,” Mona insisted as she stood up and walked to the door.
“Yes, Aunt Mona,” Alles replied quietly.
“Night, kid,” Eris said as she followed Mona. Eris turned off the lights before leaving and closing the door. Alles looked around before peeking under her bed.
“You can come out now, they’re gone,�
�� Alles whispered before sitting back on her bed.
“Oh thank Goddess! I thought they would never leave!” Gabriel said as he floated through her bed.
“Oh hush, Lassi, you know you enjoyed listening to Eris’s voice again,” Jakey said as he followed Gabriel.
“That is beside the point,” Gabriel replied.
“If you say so,” Jakey said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gabriel asked as he floated close to the ceiling.
“I’m not surprised you don’t understand with your small brain,” Jakey muttered.
“Hey, at least I didn’t leave my family behind,” Gabriel shot back. Alles sighed as the two began to argue for the third time that day.
~~~/~~~/~~~
Cerise walked to the large office she shared with her mother. Thorn was sitting at her dark mahogany desk. She was busy signing papers when Cerise walked in.
Alright, Cerise. You can do this. Just bring it up nice and easy. Cerise thought to herself.
“Thorn?” Cerise caught her attention. Thorn didn’t look up from her work, she was wearing the pirate’s hat she alway wore when she was not around the prim and proper crowd.
“Yes, Love?” she answered.
“Why did Lander try to kill you?” Cerise blurted out.
So much for nice and easy, she thought. Thorn put down her pen and finally looked up at her.
“Well, Love, he said that he had tried before, didn’t he? If that is the case then he must have been one of the servants that worked for the castle because there was only one time someone tried to kill me,” Thorn explained. Cerise looked at her confused.
“Who?” she asked.
“Sava Harden. When I heard that Lander was a Harden I thought that perhaps he was his son. That was not the case, though,” Thorn replied. Cerise thought for a moment, nodding her head and walking to her own white, oak desk.
“May I ask...how?” Cerise muttered. Thorn laughed.
“Samuel and I were resting near the sea, at the time I was in my fourth year of being eighteen, you didn’t get to experience it since you already have your child. Anyways, Samuel heard a noise and went to investigate. Before I knew what was happening, Samuel was stabbed through the chest and I was dangling over the cliff while Sava held me by my throat,” she explained, “I saw the determination in his eyes and I knew, in that moment, my life wouldn’t be the same. I decided to go limp, so he would think I was dead and he dropped me into the sea below. Since I’m able to use the elements, I was able to use the water and take myself to safety. The rest of the story is pretty sappy, so I will spare you the details of that.” Cerise shuffled through her papers as she listened. She stood up once she found the paper she was looking for and headed for the door.
“Goodnight, Thorn,” Cerise said on her way out.
“Goodnight, Love,” Thorn called after her.
Table of Contents
At Death’s Door
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
At Death's Door Page 8
