Thirteen

You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die, or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now. – Joan Baez

I drew away from Rhyse. “What do we do now?”

He held a hand out to me. “Don’t think about that now. I’ll take care of everything.”

“What if Cahal finds us?” I asked. “And what about Darkness?”

“Don’t think about anything.” he repeated, pulling me back towards him. “I’m here. That’s all that matters…”

“Yes…” I murmured, my eyes meeting his. I stiffened. Unless the shadows were playing tricks on me, his eyes were all black.

Without warning, Rhyse plunged the guard’s dagger into my stomach. I gasped in pain and he withdrew it, marvelling at the blood on the blade. I fell to the ground, holding the wound. I had never felt such an unbelievable pain, and I felt my blood running hot over my skin.

I cried out, whimpering in pain and staring up at Rhyse, managing, “Why...?”

“So you haven’t figured it out yet.” Rhyse replied, his voice accompanied by something more sinister. “You must be more stupid than I thought...”

I groaned in pain, holding my midsection and trying to get to my hands and knees. I wanted to get away from Rhyse and whatever had decided to use him as a body.

Wisps of shadow began to show on the outside of Rhyse’s skin and he kicked me viciously in the gut, sending me sprawling into the corner and screaming out in pain. I closed my watering eyes and then opened them again to find Rhyse standing next to Darkness.

“Tara...” Rhyse breathed, falling at my side. I reached out to him and took his hand, looking away from Darkness. “No...”

“And you claimed to love her.” Darkness sneered. “You certainly have an odd way of showing your affection, Rhyse. I’ve never seen anyone stabbed in the name of love before.”

“I didn’t mean...” Rhyse murmured, running a hand over my face. “I’m so sorry, love. I never...”

“I know...” I murmured, relieved to have my Rhyse back. The pain in my abdomen burned throughout my whole body and my vision blurred. I was dying, but I wasn’t afraid.

Satisfied, Darkness turned and disappeared, leaving Rhyse to watch me die. He held me close, tears breaking from his eyes. “I would never have done this.” He breathed, grasping my hand tightly.

“I know...” I whispered.

I heard footsteps seconds later, though I couldn’t quite be sure how much time had passed. The pain made every moment linger, and seconds seemed very similar to hours at that point. My vision was dimming constantly, but the gasp told me that Edra had found me.

“Tara!” She shrieked, falling at my side. “Oh my god, what happened?”

“Darkness.” I murmured, unable to spare my breath on the details. “It hurts.”

Troy knelt beside Edra, his eyes sad. Edra began to cry and he put his arm around her. Maybe back home I could have been saved, but I knew that a wound like this spelt death in a matter of minutes, if that, to the people around me. Considering the pain I was in, I was almost happy to be going.

I concentrated on Rhyse’s face, trying to focus. “You have to destroy that thing, Rhyse. Darkness is just going to turn Cahal into another terrible king. It’s starting small now, but it will get worse.”

“No. Im not going to leave you.” Rhyse murmured.

“Please,” I murmured. I coughed and felt a trickle of blood run down my chin. “I dont want Cahal or anyone else to suffer what you have. Please, Rhyse... kill the shadow.”

“... Troy and I will watch over her.” Edra murmured.

“Not now!” Rhyse cried. “Not while youre...”

“Im going to die whether or not you do it.” I sighed. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, and I felt my bleeding as it began to slow. “But it needs to be done, and soon. Hes going to kill you, Rhyse, and soon, because he knows you will be at your weakest right now. You need to be strong and...” Tiredly, I trailed off.

“Tara...” He murmured.

“Please.” I whispered. “Dont make anyone else go through what we did. Stop this. Stop it now.”

Rhyse left Tara with her head resting on Edras lap, promising to come back. He had to fight the tears that threatened to blur his view, knowing that he had to finish this, for Tara, before he lost her forever.

Cahal, flashier than Rhyse had ever been, had ornamental swords hanging off the walls, set in a crest that looked as though it had been designed by a child. After some difficulty, Rhyse managed to pull the weapon out, his hands closing over the jewelled handle as he walked towards the throne room.

A few servants past right by him without looking, but the ones that remained from the time he ruled stared at him, too afraid to make any attempt to stop him. If there had been guards Rhyse might have been killed before ever reaching the throne room, but Cahals guards looked much better outside, guarding the castle in their flashy armour.

There were guards in the throne room, however, and they rushed to stop Rhyse as he entered. Cahal, sitting stiffly on the throne, smiled tightly.

“Ah, Rhyse. So nice of you to join us. Let him go, gentlemen.” Cahal murmured. He took a sword from a jewelled scabbard carved right into the throne, a new addition he thought of himself.

Rhyse shrugged off the grip of the guards, his jaw set in tight determination as he walked towards Cahal. A cold gust appeared behind him and he knew without looking that Darkness had made an appearance.

“You seem a little sad, Rhyse.” Darkness muttered. “Might I ask why?”

“Fuck you.” Rhyse hissed.

“Well thats not nice at all...” Darkness replied brightly.

“I heard that Tara isnt going to make it to the guillotine.” Cahal remarked. “Thats a shame. I wanted to watch her head go rolling.”

“I dont want to hurt you, Cahal.” Rhyse muttered. “I want you to know that. But I need to destroy the shadow. You need to fight it. Tara is dying because of that thing, and she wont be the last.”

Cahal smiled viciously, but said nothing.

“And how exactly do you plan to destroy me?” The shadow asked. “Im not quite as feeble as your little lover, am I?”

“Ill die trying, then.” Rhyse muttered.

I fell into a trance with Edra smoothing back my hair. I closed my eyes and found that my spirit, or something to that effect, could escape the pain of my body and follow Rhyse to the throne room. I was insubstantial and could do nothing, but I was there, and that was the important thing.

I watched as Rhyse raised his sword to lunge at Cahal, but Cahal was faster and uncorrupted by grief. He struck first and Rhyse met his sword a second before it would have taken off his head.

Please, I whispered, though I had no voice and I knew he couldn‘t hear me, please, be careful. I love you.

Darkness, on the other hand, could hear the thought quite perfectly and turned. “Tara, you sneaky little whore...” the shadow muttered as the two men battled behind it.

Go away. The voice whispered.

“What, and miss Rhyse getting his head lopped off? Not a chance.” The shadow replied. “I live for this sort of thing. It is really quite entertaining.”

If Darkness concentrated very hard, it could see the general shape of Tara’s soul. Which meant, if the shadow concentrated equally as hard, it could destroy it. Darkness lashed out, reaching for the spirit’s silken tendrils. Startled, it slipped out of the shadow’s murky grasp.

Leave me alone! I’m not here to bother you. I’ll be dead soon as it is...

“And I await the moment with baited breath.” Darkness growled. “However, I’m in no mood to risk your further interference in the matter of who I do or do not control. Honestly, Tara. You need to learn to but-“

Tara’s weak spirit reached out and took hold of the shadow’s arm. It held, and Darkness looked into the eyes of Tara’s spirit in surprise. It gained a little substance and turned its head to glance at Rhyse, as light as the darkness was dark.

“... How did you do that?” Darkness asked. In the background, Rhyse was loosing quickly. “I’m all powerful. I’m the Darkness!”

Without light, there can be no Darkness. Tara’s spirit remarked sadly. And now we’re both going to die.

The light embraced the dark, becoming visible to the humans in the room. The guards stood with their mouths open, staring as the white seemed to swallow up the blackness of the Darkness. Darkness screamed indignantly and Rhyse looked up.

“... Tara?” He murmured. Cahal took advantage of his surprise and pushed the sword through Rhyse’s chest, just shy of the heart. Choking on his own blood in surprise, Rhyse fell to the ground. At that moment, the light swallowed the dark and the shadow was no more.

The pain returned the moment I knew darkness was gone. I felt my spirit struggle to return to my body but I resisted for a moment, moving towards Rhyse. He was dying, and he had less time than I did.

Cahal came back to himself, his eyes wide in horror. He knew now what he had done. “Rhyse...” He murmured. “I am so...”

Gasping as blood entered his punctured lung, Rhyse held up a bloodied hand. “No,” he breathed, “This is the way... it was supposed to be. The way... father wanted it...”

His eyes fell on me and I knew he could see me, at least for a moment. He didn’t speak but held his arms open. I let myself fall into his embrace and I felt him die. I followed a moment later, glad to find my eternity with the man I loved.

Tara’s last breath rattled out and Edra threw herself over her friends body, screaming in pain. Troy found his eyes watering as well, wishing that the poor girl had had something better before death.

Cahal watched the white shadow disappear and knelt beside his brother, feeling for a pulse. There was none.

“... oh god.” Cahal whispered. “What have I done?” He turned to the guards. “Tara. Where is she?”

“... the dungeon.” One replied shakily.

Without another word, Cahal ran in the direction of the dungeon.

When Troy saw Cahal enter the dungeon, he knew something was wrong. People under Darkness’s influence felt no regret, and that was all that he could see on the man’s face.

“Is she... dead?” he murmured.

Edra looked up, her face smeared with tears. “Yes.”

“Rhyse and Darkness are both dead.” Cahal murmured. “Tara killed Darkness... but I killed Rhyse before she could.”

“... Darkness killed them both.” Edra murmured. “But now they’re together.” She smoothed Tara’s hair again. “And you can be a good king, and keep things the way they should have been. For them.”

“I will.” Cahal murmured, and all three found that they had tears in their eyes.

When Tara died, her existence was removed from Earth. It was as if she had never been, and Laura was an only child. But sometimes, when she was lonely or scared, her mother and father noticed that she would talk to an imaginary friend named Tara. Tara, she would explain to them, was her big sister, and she loved her because she told her fairytales and helped her win at Solitaire.

At first Laura made her parents nervous with talk on her favourite imaginary friend, but as she got older she forgot about Tara and moved onto other things, like boys. But Laura stilled dreamed about her imaginary friend from time to time, and she took comfort in the fact that she had someone who cared about her and told her stories, even if that person wasn’t real.

AN: The end. Thank you for reading.