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It was still fresh in my mind...
All I could hear was the crack that came with the painful effort it took to plunge the knife through Mal's heart. A heart that was already bleeding before the impact of the blade...
It bled for me.
Saints I could still feel the weight of Mal's limp body as I held him in my arms, too heavy for him to hold up himself, the life draining from his eyes as his bloody hand left my face. I knew I had to do it and so did he. But nothing could ever truly prepare me for the unbearable loss. That's the thing about the inevitable, it's like falling out of the sky. You are painfully aware the distance between you and the ground are closing, you brace yourself for the fall, but the impact is nonetheless unforgiving, and this type of shattering, is unrepairable.
I...we destroyed the fold, but at what cost?
I wasn't able to kill the damn darkling!
A sudden bump of the carriage ripped me out of my reminiscence. I became aware of the intensity of my brows knitting in anger. My face felt stiff. I felt the stare of the two Oprichniki across the carriage as I sensed their attention snap towards me. I must have startled them when I had flinched out of my trance. I knew I was far too weak but the mere fact that they were still weary of me makes me slightly pleased.
Good, I thought, you should be scared of me.
The small flame of my own little personal triumph quickly snuffed away when I took notice that the shift in my expression caused flakes of dried blood falling off my face onto the black carpet, like dried pieces of rose pedals. Without my permission I felt myself melt into mournful gaze as the sudden realization washed over me that it was not my blood. Looking down at the ground, my chest heavy with sorrow, I felt myself slipping into a state of numbness
"Let's go."
I jolted my chin up to see another Oprichniki holding the door. I was pulled by my elbow out of the Darkling's carriage, not hard, but not a friendly touch either.
The light of day refracted off the golden domes.
The Grand Palace, I discerned.
Before I could become adjusted to the brightness I am ushered on both sides up the stone stairs. I didn't fight. I am so tired of fighting. I managed to look behind me where Os Alta stood, the brilliant sun beamed on the city. I could see only rooftops but in the distance I could hear cheers. I could almost make out the words...
"Sankta Alina!
Sankta Alina of the Fold!
Sankta Alina savior of Ravka!"
Everything was in slow motion. I managed a weak smile, my focus is cutting in and out. With the sun warming my face, I felt a hot tear stream down my cheek.
We did good Mal. You can rest. I'll meet you in the meadow, I reassured.
I couldn't tell if it was for me, or him. I turned my head back as the Grand Palace doors opened with a thundering click.
YOU ARE READING
Comfort Within Darkness
RomanceAlina managed to do it. Ridding the world of the threat of the Fold, but at what cost when she wasn't able to rid the world of the Darkling? Without her amplifiers she was merely powerless, left to the mercy of his hands. She has lost her best frien...
