A/N: Well guys. Here's the big chapter. The climax. I hope you enjoy! Thank you all so much for reading and keeping my spirits lifted. There will be another chapter or two finishing this off. o_o;; And it was really stressful to write this chapter, lol. I kept freaking out. Thank you again, and please comment if you don't mind. ^_^

Skin Deep Chapter 30: Selfish Love

“What… on earth…” Sivi whispered, her hands covering her mouth in horror. No one else dared pierce the silence that pervaded the scene before them. A shaking hand rose from the folds of golden fabric surrounding the body of the Queen of Amedyn. It stretched, barely able to reach the handle of the sword pinning her body. With extreme effort, the Queen’s torso lifted itself, making the cut of the sword even deeper. A mildly entertained giggle exited the parted lips of the pale body.

“How helpful,” came a rushed whisper. “It is always so difficult to cause enough pain on my own…”

Senti took a step backwards in disgust, his knees shaking with effort. He seemed to be barely withstanding whatever was affecting Baltheon and Onyk. “I thought… the heart… surely…” he groaned.

“Onyk,” Baltheon grabbed the high mage’s shoulder. “The fire…”

Absorbing magic from the Amedian prince, the mage poured their coupled green magic into a blazing flame that shot across the room from her weakened body. Something instantly intercepted the blaze, shifting it safely away from the Queen and snuffing it out. Onyk’s body crumpled forward, her efforts drained.

Coredan watched this quick exchange before his eyes fixed onto the blood pouring from the Queen. The crimson flow turned golden as it dripped into the recesses of the marks on the floor. Slowly, it was filling in the magic circle surrounding the remnant statue, the queen, and Resten. The edges of the marks turned green…

“Get off the marks!” Coredan shouted, everything suddenly clicking in his mind. “Get back to the edge!”

Senti, the most able of the three stranded, turned and practically pushed the other two over the end of the marks mere seconds before the mallable golden blood filled the final edges of the great circle. A sickeningly dull sound of grating metal on flesh filled the room as the Queen lifted the sword from her chest slowly. Once free, she stood, surveying the mass of onlookers she now had. The cavity in her chest slowly healed itself as her blood mended the wound.

“My dear Coredan,” she cooed happily. “What a surprise to find you here. And with so many friends.”

“Why are you doing this?” he replied.

“Coredan…” Londel gripped his shoulder. “What…”

“She’s behind everything!” Coredan explained. “Her physical magic mixed with Resten’s ethereal makes the green presence that’s been in everything!”

Peryn suddenly shrieked, and ran back into the former room. Coredan barely registered her absence, his mind trying desperatly to predict what could possibly happen next.

“I thought that Baltheon and Onyk were raising a coup…” Sivi looked from the Queen to the prince to Coredan.

“We were,” Senti replied with a grunt. “But only because she’s been manipulating everyone. She’s going to…” he was cut off as a whip of golden fire rose from the floor and left a grazing burn on the side of his face.

“My nephew likes to take other peoples spotlight,” she smiled. “Please forgive him.”

“Let me guess,” Sivi replied sarcastically. “You’re trying to gain control over the entire realm, after getting rid of all the nobility?”

“Get rid of?” the Queen’s eyes rose in surprise. “Control? Why would I want to control something as desolate as this realm?”

Coredan took a step forward in front of Londel, wanting to take him and run as far as possible from this room.

“I will do nothing but raise myself,” the Queen raised her arms as if to emphasize what she was trying to explain. “I will become a god.”

“Why?” Londel asked, obviously not understanding any more than anyone else in the room.

“Senti the Last did it,” she glanced at the remnant statue. “Why can I not? I deserve such stature. I deserve penance from the insult of mortality.”

No one said anything. It seemed obvious the Queen’s train of thought was on a separate level of intelligence from everyone elses’.

“Were you aware I am half commoner? Half slave? The bastard daughter of a nobleman and his slave mistress?” she stepped forward, dipping the sword in the golden rivers etched in the floor. “Being cast out to die, I returned to find my father married properly to a fellow noble, with a beautiful daughter. It was easy to kill them, and take the daughters place. My half-sister… she served me well as my slave, in turn. Under my presence, as was right. I even allowed her to keep her son,” her gaze moved over Senti again. “I even allowed her to keep her daughter,” her gaze moved upward.

Coredan looked up and saw Medina tied to the top of one of the columns near the crystal balcony. He could hear Senti cursing.

“No one deserves stature. No one deserves glory. Once I am higher, like our ancestor Senti, I can make everything equal. I can return life to its basis. However, due to humanity’s… egoism, offering such equality will not be so easy. Even with my higher existance, I will not have the power I need to enforce my ideals. That is why I need power. That is why I need midnight.”

“Midnight?” Sivi echoed.

“This is stupid,” Minet grumbled from behind Mat-Kanl. “She’s clearly not sane…”

“Am I?” the Queen smiled bemusedly. Her voice never wavered from the calm amusement it seemed to hold. “One who already has what they wish to be fulfilled speaks ignorantly. However… I feel that one who cannot obtain what they desire, due to inequality, could understand. Living with something tantalizingly close, but a far-enough away step that you will never obtain it. It is painful. Is it not, dear Coredan?”

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Coredan knew he should say something to contradict her. He should say something to agree with the sane people in the room… Something about how life wasn’t meant to be fair. Sometimes you have to deal with things that are painful. He, however, felt the unwanted truth in her words. Living next to Londel knowing they would be forced apart was painful.

Queen Adelia smiled as if a battle had been easily won. “No matter,” she said, almost consolingly. “It is because I understand humanity that I can easily manipulate it. Humanity holds its own ideals, and stands by them. It will never admit it longs for something outside of its reach. This is why my power cannot be broken. My acension is assured with midnight.”

She stared triumphantly into the air above their heads as the resounding tones echoed from the belltower. Slowly she raised the golden bloody sword over her head, gripping it tightly with both hands. In time with the next tone, she brought the sword down into the nearest river. A single ripple flew through the golden lines as the final echos died away.

“And so our games of death and power … begin,” she grinned.

Fear ran through Coredan like a sharp knife as screaming errupted from behind him. He turned to find Londel fallen on his knees, gripping his head in agony. “Londel!” he moved closer, aiming to help, but stared in horror when Londel pushed him away with enough force to knock him back. He barely registered Sivi’s gasp of surprise behind him.

“N-No…” Londel groaned. Each tone of the belltower brought about more shudders from his writhing body as change began to overtake him. His skin became ragged and sharp, the very contours of his body changing to fit the new host. “Coredan…” he whispered, looking up at the boy with both eyes for the first time, his normally shut eye a piercing rage of red. “Get… away…”

The twelfth and final tone rang out, followed shortly by Londel’s last scream as his body took its final changes. Then, he vanished.

“Londel!” Coredan crawled to where his prince had been only moments before. “No! What did you do with him?!” He spun to stare at the Queen of Amedyn, who looked as if she found the scene before her only mildly amusing.

“Oh,” she smiled at him as if they were the oldest friends in the world. “There is nothing you can do now.”

Coredan barely felt Sivi holding onto his arm, keeping him from treading over the treacherous golden rivers mere inches from his feet. He wanted nothing more than to rid the world of this crazed excuse of a Queen. Losing Londel to the succession of the throne was one thing, losing him to the curse some insane woman put on him was another.

All effort was lost as Coredan’s eyes landed behind the Queen. Just as quickly as he had vanished from his own side, Londel now stood next to Queen Adelia. A low, animal-like growl purred from his monstrous chest as he breathed. There was no sign that this creature could ever have once looked human.

Queen Adelia’s arm rose slowly, almost lazily, as she caressed the emotionally-dead face of the creature next to her. “Beautiful isn’t he?” When she received no response, she blinked over the many people before her. “Why the surprise? It is only natural he should follow his true master once the full effect of my seed took place. It took me many trials to get this possession spell just right… Many, many trials…”

Bricks moved in the background as another passage opened on the opposite side of the room. More monsters, more wild and vicious looking than Londel, emerged from the doorway.

“Prince Londel is quite the special case. The seed of the curse is bound directly to me with my own blood. Only blind strength and power is left of him, to follow me. There is nothing left of the dear prince. He is quite the special pet, isn’t he?” she began to pet the top of the creatures head.

“No,” was the only reply Coredan could manage to spit at her through his anger and desperation. Sivi still clutched to him, keeping him safely away from the marks.

“Oh, yes,” she replied with a grin, as if correcting a child. “I made sure that my presence completely devoured his soul. He is now completely… mine. The only way for him to return to what you call ‘Prince Londel’ would be… death,” she smiled peacefully. “However, even pets need to be presentable when seen with their masters.” The moment she seemed to think this, the monstrous appearance died. The body of Londel stood next to her, whole albeit almost lifeless. “Hmm… good boy,” she mused.

“You and your pets, Adelia,” came a slightly disgusted and yet amused voice. From behind the row of mindless monsters came none other than Doriten and Marta. Doriten snorted at the sight of his elder brother standing obediently next to Amedyn’s Queen. “Well. With that one out of the way, I’ll go take care of the other.”

The bricks next to him shimmered almost like a mirror, and he stepped through. Coredan thought briefly of the wall hidden behind the great hall back in Candeth… Surely he didn’t mean the King…

A familiar yip brought Coredan’s shocked mind back into focus. Following the white puffball of a dog was Markel and a majority of the guard that had most likely been caught by whatever forces were holding everyone else in the castle. Markel’s face went from confusion, to worry, to confusion again before he looked at Coredan.

“The wall,” Coredan muttered. He looked back at the floor, and then up to the balcony. “Of course…” he looked at Londel desperately before turning to Sivi and theothers. “This room holds the remnant of Senti the Last so it also holds all the magics that he forbade or tried to destroy! The shimmering walls lead to other countries, the other items in the alcoves… they’re all there being tied down. Which means…”

Sudden movement broke his sentence as a tight force wrapped itself around his throat. He choked, trying to cough but unable to breathe in any air. “Coredan!” Sivi screamed, now being held up by San-Kuat.

Daring to open an eye, he looked down into the lifeless face of his prince. Londel’s hand clenched over his throat, easily holding him dangling above the floor. He wrapped his own hands around Londel’s wrist, surprised to find the skin tearing into thick pieces. He suddenly felt himself drop.

Coughing, he tried to watch as Markel dodged the onslaught of Londel’s physical attacks. The taller bald man was only narrowly avoiding the worst of the damage, finally falling to a knee once the Queen raised a hand to summon her pet back to her.

“Tsk tsk…” she smiled down at Coredan. “All that scholarly work of yours seems to have paid you very poorly, has it not Coredan? How sad, that the one person I have to even worry slightly about revealing my plan too soon is just a young boy with naught a bit of magic.”

“You’re going to open the gate under the statue,” he spat. For the first time, the Queen frowned.

“You… are a nuisance,” she stated simply. “Kill him for me,” she glanced at Londel, who moved quicker than anyone could follow.

Coredan barely moved enough to avoid being skewered by Londel’s now monstrous arm. He was shocked to find Senti next to him, pulling him away. With a sudden attack of his own, Senti surrounded Londel in his own magic fog, freezing him momentarily.

“Markel!” Coredan ran to the heavily breathing man. “Doriten went through the portal wall at the back to Candeth. I think he’s going after the King, because he was the only royalty not to come to the meeting. You have to go through the wall and warn them!”

“But… how to get over there…” he mused, staring at the expanse of golden rivers and monsters edging closer to their side of the room.

“We’ll get you there,” spat Onyk spitefully, glaring at the Queen, who was now turned regarding the great remnant statue.

“If she’s trying to unlock the gate beneath the statue,” Coredan continued in a rushed whisper before the Queen resumed her attention to them, “that means she’s going to attempt to absorb the magical essense from the statue. Except… well… everyone knows it tore the Singer’s body to shreds so it will do the same to any other human…”

“Then…” Sivi looked nervously around the room. “Then… what is he…”

“Resten!” Coredan ran over to Sivi. “She’s going to use him as a conduit. Because he can absorb foreign magic easier than she can because her body is magic. She’s going to make him take the brunt of the force and let it kill him… But why does she have Medina…”

“She will not hurt Medina. She wants the child. And if she succeeds?” asked Senti.

“I have no idea… I’m no actual mage. I just… read a lot,” Coredan muttered.

“Well she’s doing something so now is the time to act!” yelled Onyk, green fire bursting anew from her outstretched hands as she ran towards the nearest monster with a yell. Markel ran after her, following her trail of fire to scrape to the back portal to warn the current King of Candeth of his traitorous son.

Onyk’s quick actions soon brought the attention of not only Queen Adelia but all the rogue creatures that had emerged into the room. Baltheon and Senti ran after her, only to find a high pitched cackle come from the other way. Marta emerged swinging a sickle attached to a chain in a lazy circle.

Coredan turned to face her only to feel himself being slammed into the wall, the familiar hand clenched around his throat. Londel was free. Sivi, obviously wanting to help Coredan, ducked and dodged the wildly careening blade. San-Kuat and his guards rushed to help from around the column.

Coredan glared through his clenched eyes at his prince. “L-Lon…” he managed to choke. The grip on his airway tightened. Gripping the prince’s wrist, he found he had not been mistaken earlier. The hand touching him was changing unwillingly.

Something thudded into Londel’s shoulder, loosening the grip on Coredan’s windpipe. Breathing deeply, he twisted the arm away from him and pushed himself forward, laying a hand on Londel’s slightly surprised face. The skin beneath his hand twisted and cut him with scales.

“Londel!” he yelled, as if being louder would allow the real Londel to hear him. “I know you’re there! You still change!”

Something close to fury, or maybe disgust, passed over the calm face before Coredan flew backwards from the force of the punch that connected with his abdomen. Rolling onto his stomach, he felt himself heaving with shock. He looked up only in time to cover his face from the kick that sent him into the nearby column. Trying to breathe through his cracked ribs and broken nose, Coredan stared up at his prince. This was not human strength.

He managed to turn his head enough to avoid the fist that collided and fractured the stone behind him. “Londel,” he grasped the hand before it moved away, keeping it near him so it could not hit him again. “Londel! I know… you can hear me. I can feel you… you only change because you love me…” he gripped at the scales cutting him further. “You are not some monster because of it. I know it’s the real you…”

Something seemed to war behind the dead eyes of the prince, neither body moving. Suddenly, the hand Coredan held so tightly twitched as if afraid and knocked the boy over once again.

Coredan grit his teeth in frustration as he tried to push himself up. He knew Londel was not gone. And he knew that he was getting to him somehow… he just had to keep trying…

Confusion washed over Coredan when he could not move. Seconds ticked by before the sickeningly familiar lukewarm goo made itself apparent. He had fallen into the golden lines of the magic gate… He moved furiously, attempting to free himself despite the knowledge in the back of his mind yelling at him it was too late. He had already allowed it too firm a hold over his body by lying here…

He looked up to see the Queen watching him with some bored amusement. Twisting his head all the little he could, he found the silhouette of Londel staring down at him in silence. “Lon…del… Please…” he managed to croak before the gold stretched itself around his head and clamped over his mouth. Unable to see or speak with his head being forced into the floor, Coredan listened to the Queen’s annoying giggle. The sounds of battle still pervaded and echoed through the room.

His breathing was beginning to be come shallow as the gold covered his nose finally. He cursed his weakness and inability to do anything magical…

A screech echoed through the room, piercing all other sounds. The gold loosened its hold over his body with such sudden laxity that he gasped for oxygen as if coming up from a lake. His vision was filled with shinning lights as he tried to stand and get away from the goo.

Once safe against a column, clutching his chest and breathing as evenly as he could he looked around for anyone and everyone. Everyone stood on the edges of the lines, staring to the center. There, the queen stared furiously as deep gashes in her cheeks began to heal themselves. Londel’s body knelt, unaffected by the gold, some ways away from her. His hands were clenched over his head again.

“You cannot defy me. I am your master,” she said, trying to sound her usual calm.

An inhuman hiss shot from the now monster Londel’s mouth, its movements now awkward as if it were unsure of its purpose.

“Subdue him!” the Queen ordered the monsters that now surrounded her, obviously beckoned at the sudden threat of a renegade pet.

Two of the creatures broke off, one heading for Senti, Baltheon, and Onyk while the other took the opposite side of the room for San-Kuat, Mat-Kanl, and Minet. Sivi was now in the back, deftly holding off Marta’s attacks with her newly acquired sword. The rest of the small army dived towards Londel’s figure, attacking him.

The Queen watched, as if satisfied that things were now the way she wanted them. She glanced, crazed, back at Coredan. “You see!” she called. “You see… everything is ready! The final pieces… they are prepared…”

She picked up the sword from the gold and held it over the remnant statue. “And now… it all… connects…” she whispered, ecstacy errupting from her throat. She struck as hard as she could manage, the gold drenched sword connecting the final piece of the gate.

A deep rumbling pierced the room. The floor itself shook with such fervor that even the creatures stumbled in their attacks. Silence settled only momentarily before cracks appeared throughout the lines of the gate. A deafening explosion errupted as the floor crumbled into dust, pieces of it protuding from the chasm of magic like stones in an ocean. All of the creatures that had been standing on the circle had fallen into the pit of swirling essences. The moment they touched the molten surface below they ceased to exist in any form, physical or ethereal.

In the center of the circle stood the island containing the remnant statue and Queen Adelia, and over them hung the still body of Resten. A circling column of seemingly pure magical essence began to waft from the pit until it connected with the ropes holding the young boy’s body.

Coredan looked across the room, where Londel lay crumbled by the wall. The explosion had sent him straight into the hard surface, and after being pummeled by so many other vicious monsters he seemed to be out cold.

Coredan’s attention was brought back to the island as Resten awoke with a scream of pain. The essence flowing into him was bleeding in various magical colors from his eyes and mouth. His skin cracked, as if dry, to reveal glowing lines of what had been blood vessels beneath. A shinning contraption moved about the ropes, collecting the excess liquid magic coming from the boy. A cup was quickly filled.

The queen grasped the first full cup and drank greedily, not even stopping to gloat to her audience. Coredan knew every gulp she took absorbed the magical force of what she had collected into her own physical presence, but without the consequences as seen by Resten.

Coredan jumped when a voice appeared next to him. “We have to break the connection.”

He turned and stared and Baltheon and Senti. Onyk still stood further away, apparently having taken one of the final two monsters on her own. Baltheon continued to speak, “Now that she’s absorbing the effects of the gate she’s more or less connected to it. It could feed her directly. We have to break the connection.”

“How are we going to do that?” Senti asked, disgust covering his face as he tried not to look at the poor boy in ropes.

“I was hoping Mr. Reads-a lot could help,” Baltheon grumbled. “He seems to have all the ideas.”

“We have to get Resten down…” Coredan started.

“I think… it may already be too late for him, Coredan,” Senti said remorsefully.

“We have to try!” Coredan argued, gasping when something grabbed his arm.

“Why do you have this?!” Baltheon tugged at the Inhibitor bracelet on Coredan’s arm.

“Because you and Onyk sealed it on there without asking me even after I proved I wasn’t a mage!” Coredan spat back.

Being careful not to cut in the wrong area, Baltheon quickly removed the bracelet. “We can use this. It probably can’t hold her power as it is now but it can mess it up at least enough for us to do something… I hope…”

“Ahh…” he was interupted by the gleeful voice of the Queen. “My dears. How I see you all… I can sense your very magical essences! Oh, who shall be the next to fall to my gateway? Who shall be the next to power my ascension? A High Mage perhaps? A prince of our noble country, Amedyn?”

A rain of thin slivers of burning magic began to shoot from the island towards them. Ducking behind what was left of the columns and excess rubble, the left over people hid as best as possible.

Coredan grabbed the bracelet from Baltheon’s hands. When the Amedian prince went to argue, Coredan merely said, “Distract her. I’m not magical.”

Coredan heard the effects of the full-out attack by Senti and Baltheon on the Queen. A few yips and some more yells told him that apparently Peryn and Onyk had joined in the assault as well. Working his way around the room, he found the shadowed steps that led to the balcony above. If he really was as unmagical as everyone claimed him to be, then she should not be able to sense him. Arriving at the top of the room, he peered over the edge. It was much further down than he expected.

The Queen continued to rain her magical attacks upon the fighting mages below. He was going to have to time this as well as possible. Queen Adelia moved her arms graciously to match her rain of attacks. Taking a deep breath, Coredan backed as far as possible before steadying himself. Thinking of Londel, he launched into a sprint from the wall, vaulting himself over the edge.

His stomach threatened to move up into his throat as he felt the effects of gravity taking their toll. His speed began to increase as he plummeted toward the little island. It was only now that it seemed as if his take off had not been powerful enough to carry him all the way across. If he could just stretch a little further…

Something caught him around his middle, slowing his speed and lengthening his stride across. Fear gripped him as he wondered if this was Adelia’s doing and she had indeed sensed him. It was only when he found himself passing the bound Resten that he realized the boy was still capable of using what was destroying him as well. Coredan nodded to him siltenly, the boy’s only reply being a final blink before his eyes closed.

With the help of Resten’s magical push, Coredan found himself falling at the perfect angle… only a few more inches… if she would merely turn… Snap.

The bracelet wrapped around the thin wrist of the woman, sealing itself instantly at the presence of power. She gaped confusedly for only a moment, as the bracelet was indeed not enough to seal or inhibit her newfound exapanse of power.

The metal began to melt, burning into her skin as the jewels flickered and sputered fireworks of colors. The Queen screamed now, clutching her burning wrist. A deep rumbling came from beneath them at the interruption of the power transfer. Parts of the gate were slowing while others were speeding up. Coredan tried desperately to ignore the fleeting question of how he was going to get off of the island…

Realizing the Queen was in too much pain to still understand what exactly had happened, he ducked behind the remnant statue. He almost thought he could hear a voice trying to speak to him as he gripped the handle of the sword pinning the statue, and pulled. It released easily, but the handle burnt fiercly at the unknown user. Gritting his teeth, he raised the sword to cut the rope on the right of Resten so that the boy’s body swung down to the side of the room where Baltheon caught him and quickly cut the remainder of the ropes.

Coredan had dropped the sword as quickly has it had cut the rope, and it clanged against the metal of the floor. Holding his burnt hands so that they avoided touching anything, Coredan looked around, searching for escape. It was then that his eyes met the infuriated ones of the Queen of Amedyn.

Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath. “You… are proving most… interfering… Coredan… Perhaps you will make a kind contribution to my gate?” she picked up the fallen sword at her feet.

“You won’t get anything out of me,” he argued, ducking behind the remnant statue. “I’ve no magic…”

“Oh… You do not have to be magical,” she said amiably. “My gate strips everything excess to your being. We can see what your human essence looks like,” she lunged around the statue.

Coredan ducked away, trying not to panic. He knew this was not a simple gate, but how had she managed to create something so powerful and complicated? It would have taken years…

Pain coursed through his arm, making him trip. He turned to see Queen Adelia hovering near enough to attack. Strips of hardened gold blood swung from her fingers. The cut through his arm was not bleeding, as if it had been synged by burning metal. She lifted her hand, as if to strike himwith her blood again, but the strings suddenly crumbled into dust. The small particles floated lazily downward into the gate.

“You!” she yelled at Coredan when they both realized what was happening. Somehow the inhibitor bracelet had reversed the flow of essence, and the Queen was now being drained of everything she had accumulated. She moved so quickly he was unable to move in time to avoid the sword striking his arm again.

Something jumped into the remaining space on the small island, throwing the Queen off balance enough that her attention was diverted. The monster that had overcome Londel stood there silently, breathing deeply from it’s treck from the safety of the edges.

“Ah yes… I do not need power to control my pet. I am all that exists within him anymore, after all,” she grinned triumphantly at Coredan. “I was going to save him for my plans later… but perhaps another jolt of power is just what the gate needs to straigten, hm?”

Coredan cradled his throbbing arm as he stood. Adelia lazily raised the sword’s tip towards Londel. “Oh. Would you prefer to go with him? You cannot possibly save him. I already told you… My power is absolute in the face of humanity’s idealistic ego.”

“He doesn’t… belong to you,” Coredan challeneged. “He’s… mine…”

“Oh?” she grinned as she swung the sword. Coredan stepped forward so that the sharp end pierced his shoulder instead of pushing Londel off the edge he was precariously close to.

Adelia laughed. “Aw. So sweet. You’re going to sacrifice yourself…”

“Truthfully,” Coredan growled as he gripped the sword and pulled away. It stayed lodged in his shoulder, but she let it go easily, obviously amused. “Truthfully… I never wanted any of this. I never wanted… I don’t want Londel to succeed. I don’t want him to be a prince. I want him to stay with me and look only at me…” He gritted his teeth as the truth poured from him. If this really was the end, then he had to let the real Londel understand how he felt.

“I’m jealous of everything else that takes him away from me. I’ve only ever told him it’s ok. It’s ok that he has to be King. I’ll stay by him. It’s ok that he’s cursed and can’t even be near me without one of us getting hurt. I’ll stay by him. It’s ok that… he’ll always be too far out of my reach. It’s ok that he’ll have to leave me one day no matter what. I hate it. I… am not really ok with any of that.”

Adelia’s face held an odd look, something of a mixture between confusion, repulsion, and understanding. “But your humanistic duty is to sacrifice what you want for the one you love, is it not?”

“I suck at that,” Coredan sighed, the pain coursing through his chest from the sword taking its toll. “I say all those comforting things when really all it is… All it is, is that I love Londel and want to be with him. I suppose… I’m the worst…” He looked at the monster, trying to hold on to his consciousness. “I’m sorry.”

The Queen laughed shortly, “I think it only fitting the one you claim to love, yet always lie to, take what is obviously the small bit of your life.”

The monster gripped the handle of the protruding sword and ripped it from Coredan’s shoulder. Grunting with pain, Coredan collapsed to his knees, frustrated at the tears that cleared the muck from his face. Fear, desperation, and pain mingled through his body, leaving him feeling helpless. He looked up at the monster, determined to see Londel through the end. Adelia’s presence at his side was like a cold wave of hate.

The movement of the creature was swift. Coredan had not even realized it had swung the blade until a deep thud echoed around them. When no striking pain occurred, he wondered if death really was so swift. Looking down, he found himself whole.

He looked above him at the sound of a gurgling noise. Blood dripped from the sword protruding from Queen Adelia’s torso, changing back and forth from crimson to gold. The Londel creature had forced the sword all the way through her body to the sword’s hilt. She attempted to take a step back in surprise, only to find there was no more floor to step upon. Leaning over the cavernous opening of the gate, she attached her bloodied hands on the arm of Londel, her blood strengthening and gripping his arm.

“I… will not… go alone…” she whispered harshly, laughing as if something that was not truly funny was happening before her.

Coredan forced himself up, barely reaching Londel’s free hand before the two bodies fell over the side. Coredan’s body, up to his shoulders, was safe on the edge of the floor. He gripped Londel’s forearm as tight as he could, staring down into the churning pit. The Queen was still attached to Londel’s other arm.

Londel’s skin was changing violently again, the scales morphing into actual small needle-like spikes through Coredan’s hands. The grip of the monstrous hand weakened, where Coredan’s grip was the only thing keeping them together.

Tears, sweat, and blood dripped into Coredan’s eyes as he absolutely refused to let go. He thought desperately for any way to detach the Queen from the other end so he could pull up Londel. That was when he looked directly into the creature’s face.

“Let… go…” came a barely audible whisper of a voice. Londel’s monstrous hand purposefully let go of Coredan’s wrist.

“NO,” Coredan screamed, his voice breaking from pain and exhaustion. “No. No. No. Either we both survive… or we both die! There is no other way! None!”

The creature’s face stared at him momentarily before it’s hand regained the grip on Coredan’s arm. He looked down at Adelia. Her face was blank, and she was staring at Coredan.

“So…” she said softly, her calm demeanor having returned. “So… someone could break it. I see. Somehow I feel… ”

She removed her hands, hanging them by her side. The golden restraints slowly dripped away, and her body dragged off of the piercing sword. Coredan watched her fall, her face bland as she stared at him. Her long, silky hair trailed behind her as her golden robes framed her body. She made no recognition of pain when she hit the gateway. She merely stared up at them as her body dissolved, dripping into multicolored beads.

The colors of the gate flashed violently, a large grating noise echoed through the room as the floor began to shake. Londel had managed to reach his other hand to pull himself up when the first explosion rang throughout the castle.

Coredan almost lost his grip at the deafening sound, but held on desperately. He looked down to see the beads of the Queen’s body being absorbed into the gateway. If she had really become connected to it, then her falling into the gate was the same as it collapsing on itself…

There was a ringing silence moments before blinding white light spread over everything. Darkness followed, and Coredan had the feeling of being weightless… Then, there was nothing.

After what seemed like hours, but had most likely been seconds or minutes, he felt his consciousness coming back to him through a haze in sheer desire to survive and find Londel. The pain from before had increased tenfold it seemed, and he was vaguely aware that he was unable to move anything but his arms. Forcing an eye open, he found nothing but blurs.

After a few moments he realized he was surrounded by rubble. His body was pinned beneath something, most likely a fallen column. He twisted his neck, and froze. Directly in front of him, perhaps only a few feet, lie Londel. He was purely human, with his natural pale skin and dark hair. There was no sign he could have ever been anything more than human. The small area of his face seen through his hair was smooth with no monstrous lines. He was face down in a pool of crimson.

“Londel…” he tried to croak, but was unsure if his voice had actually worked. He tried to push away the fear welling in his chest.

With what seemed like an unnecessary amount of force, he pushed his hand slowly and shakily through the gravel. He felt his chest beginning to shudder in its failure to intake enough oxygen as his fingers moved through the lukewarm blood of his lover. A cold, blank feeling was trying to settle in the back of his head, telling him to just give up and rest. Stretching with the last bit of effort, the tips of his fingers collided with the tip of Londel’s still hand.

Nothing happened.

Coredan stared ahead, everything about him exhausted. He could vaguely hear someone screaming his name in the background. He could vaguely tell that the destruction had not ended as other large objects fell around them. He left his fingers next to his prince’s as he shut his eye’s on Londel’s calm face. He was finally wrapped in a dark quietness.