“I love you, Helenia…” began Vartan, as his eyes closed and he began to drift into unconsciousness.
“I love you too, but you can tell me that again later! Vartan — Stay with me!” Helenia screamed, slapping his face.
“Look — what is this?” said Trisa’s voice. “It fell out of his backpack.”
Vartan felt his head being shaken until his world became dark and he could hear no more.
Chapter 20: Ashes to Ashes
“The darkness surrounds me like an endless suffocating blanket. Its threads run straight through my soul and hold me tightly within its vice-like grasp.
I can hear its voice — its sweet voice — calling to me, aching to pull me deeper into the abyss. All the while, I can still feel them clinging on to me, holding me back from the unknown. Why won’t they just let me go?
Were we victorious? Am I dead? I don’t even know what to think anymore. Wait, I can hear it again. It wants to talk with me… I am here, Talonsphere; I am waiting, and I am ready to be reborn.”
The air was pungent and reeked of rotting flesh and blood. The skies were filled with the thick smoke of the smouldering forest. Fallen corpses began their slow decomposition to join the elements, while the remaining wounded edged closer to death as each moment passed by.
Rumble…
The first icy drops of water fell from the dark sky and splashed heavily on Andrielle’s armour. The rhythmic beat of the rain on her moulded exoskeleton almost sent her to sleep and made her nearly oblivious to the horror surrounding her. The hail beat on her armour like a drum. Slowly, the enchantment wore off and her armour moulded back to its original form. Her entire body ached and was freezing cold, but she managed to prise herself up to a seating position and take in her surroundings. Her foggy breath escaped her helm and she blinked her eyes heavily to focus them.
Rumble…
The rain increased its intensity and pounded down as if the gods were beating the survivors in anger, large chunks of ice rattling against her armour. She heard screaming in the distance, a familiar voice escaping the almost deafening cries of the dying.
“We have to find cover and get out of this rain!” shouted Trisa, her voice strained and dry.
“And what of the thousands of wounded? We can’t just leave them all here to die!” said Helenia, grunting as she gently nursed her agonising shoulder.
Rumble…
Another flash of lightning revealed the devastation surrounding them.
By the gods, thought Andrielle, as the shock of an endless battlefield of dead and dying overwhelmed her senses.
Dryden spoke resolutely. “I will do what I can for them, but there is no way we can save them all. There are only a handful of us left alive, and the dragons have already retreated to Trahoterra. If only we could move the queen’s armour… but it’s too heavy. Only the gods know how she had the strength to fight with all that weight.'
Rumble…
Yet another flash of lightning revealed Andrielle standing and limping slowly towards them.
“Mother, you’re awake! Are you all right?” asked Helenia. She ran to her mother’s side, put her mother's arm over her shoulder and led her to the shelter of a tree.
“I am pretty far from all right, but I will live. Where is Vartan?” asked Andrielle, looking around in vain.
Dryden's face hardened. “Karven and the dragons took him to the only place where nobody would dare follow,” he said grimly. “They took him back with them to Trahoterra, along with their queen’s body.'
Rumble…
The queen's eyes widened and she swallowed hard before asking, “What happened? Is Kassina alive?”
“Trisa stabbed that walking horror through the heart. As far as I know, that usually means the end of any vampire, sorceress or not,” replied Dryden.
“Then we can only hope that she will never return,” said Andrielle, “and that this was all worth the cost. We have paid dearly for this victory.”
“I understand, my Queen. What do we do from here? Do you have any orders?” asked Dryden.
Andrielle pushed her helm open and looked him in the eyes. “There — that is much better. Orders? Help me tend to the wounded and we will do whatever we can for them. Helenia, I need you to go back into Veldrenn, and start rebuilding the city with whatever survivors can follow you. When we are ready, we will have to make the long journey out of the forest to Greenhaven; we can only hope it was left undefended.'
Dryden nodded, stretching his neck and looking skyward. He scrunched his eyebrows as he stared at the moon, and then turned back to his queen with a pale face.
“That’s strange, the moon looks different tonight,” he said, beginning his walk towards the dying. “I have never seen it like this.”
Andrielle paused, fighting her urge to look up with all of her strength until she could take it no more. She laid her saddened eyes on the moon, now covered by a shade of burgundy.
“Damn the gods! I can't believe this. The Blood Red Moon prophecy has already begun to be fulfilled, even after all of our efforts,” she screamed, tightening her fists and kicking the tree.
Nymira’s body lay lifelessly in a pool of cold water on the cavern floor. Karven lay beside her with his neck placed gently on hers. Sparkly streaks of tears had dried on his scaly face.
“Is Karven going to be all right?” asked Trisa, preparing the healing potion for Vartan’s shivering body.
“Don't worry about Karven. He has been through much worse than this, but he needs to grieve the loss of his love,” replied Finn. “You should be more concerned about Vartan. I do not sense his presence, but his body lives on. Can you really save him?”
Trisa sighed as she put the ingredients down and turned to face the dragon with watery eyes. She spoke softly. “I honestly don’t know. I have never experienced something like this before, but I will do everything I can for him. It’s really cold in here, and his body is shivering. I wish there was something we could do to warm him up.'
Finn nodded and made his way to a corner of the cavern, where he picked up a wooden crate with his teeth. He returned and placed the crate near them, torching it with his breath until it caught fire. The flames cast an almost pleasant light over them, warming the frail human bodies.
'Will that do it?' he asked, smiling.
“Thank you, Finn. You are a kind soul. I only wish I had known you in your human form,” she smiled.
Vartan stirred, mumbling under his breath in an incomprehensible language.
'You know… I never knew what it felt like for Vartan, that day in the woods where I was killed in my human form. I know now,' said Finn.
Trisa's eyes widened as she stared at the dragon in disbelief. 'I think you have some stories to tell me, young dragon… And we have nothing but plenty of time.'
She lay down beside Vartan and held his body close to keep him warm, stroking his head gently. “Shh, it’s okay, Vartan,” she whispered softly in his ear. “You are safe now. Come back to us.”
In a realm far from Marithia, Vartan heard her voice.
The underworld was filled with bloodcurdling screams as Shindar viciously tore through the bodies of his slaves, his fury fuelling an anger that was seemingly unquenchable. A trail of blood and destruction was left in his path as his slaves attempted to flee their bonds.
'She is gone!” he growled between blows. “Was this how the prophecy was to be fulfilled? Why do the gods continue to take away what is dear to me?'
Amidst the chaos, a group of dark monks ran up behind him. One of them screamed, 'My lord, please, stop
