A Raven's Darkness (Book 1)

Chapter 57: The End

Cynthia's Point Of View:

After I departed from Raven, giving her Barchur's necklace to give to either Rater or Racon (to whomever takes the throne), I didn't plan on seeing her or anyone else ever again. I could feel my heart giving out, as my revived soul was fixing to figure out that I belonged with the dead. I wobbled out of the Outlander building to the nearby forests, still slightly nauseous from Juren's teleportation ability. It would be a tremendous amount of ground to cover to even make it in Craven territory, and my time was running out. With the little strength I had left, I pulled out my communicator and made an incredibly hard choice, to call Barchur. He picked up on about the third ring, giving me slight worry on if he was fine. "Cynthia? Where are you? You've been off the radar since the fight went down." I chuckled and then started to cough, which would have been fine, until I looked down on the ground and saw blood. My eyes widened at this, as I now realized how insanely close I was to being one with the dead. "Cynthia? Are you okay? Answer me!" My hands shook as I pulled them to my mouth to wipe off the blood from my face. My body was shaking a little, and I wanted to cry. I felt no presence of my master, or of Agrigial herself. I felt alone, as I would die alone. "I'm on my way." He then hung up, the communicator dropping from my hands as it rolled away from me. I then dropped to my knees, awaiting death alone, as it should be. I have done a tremendous amount of horrid things to the world because I was abandoned, because I felt alone. It seemed most fitting for it to end like this. My red eyes started to narrow as I started to feel more faint, my body feeling fatigued, and my heart so very tired. It was then that I heard Marik from inside me, the little teenager that had no place being inside of me, but actually in her own body living her own life. "Cynthia, you will not die alone. I am still here for you, and I will be here for you until the moment we both pass together." She reminded me that when I died, so would she. This gave me the strength to stand, although shaking, as I replied back, "No, this was not the plan. Marik, give me enough power to make it to my home." She sighed inside my mind. "Cynthia, I can read your thoughts have you forgotten? I was stuck inside this head of yours for years, there is no way to cure that."

I chuckled as blood sputtered from my lips. "Oh no child, there is one way." I then started to walk slowly. "Cynthia, I am a lost cause. Why won't you accept that my fate belongs with yours?" I shook my head as a tear managed to fall upon my cheek. "I'm the one who put you here in this eternal torment, and I will be the one to free you from it." Marik was quiet for a time until her small voice rang out, "Very well, I will protect you from much of the internal bleeding to get you to the Craven castle. But, you must hurry, I cannot hold it back for very long." As soon as I felt her blue healing powers around my ribs, I let out a deep breath and felt no pain as the blood stopped coming out of my mouth. With Marik's warning, I quickly bent down to retrieve my communicator, and then took off into a full sprint toward my castle. I looked down at my communicator's map occasionally, even though I knew it by heart. I continued to run throughout the forests, my feet producing flames in order to help me run as fast as the wind. Usually, these flames would catch the forests on fire. However, with Marik's protective powers around my body, the forests were immune from the fiery touch of my powers. It was time to protect, not destroy.

Raven's Point Of View:

As Rater and I entered the tent, we saw that Willow was gone. Oanin and Rater were sleeping side by side on a mat, and Unar was staring at them in silence. I heard Rater move from behind me. "Unar, where did Willow go?" He seemed to snap out of his daze as he met our eyes. "Ah, Willow? Oh, she said she needed to take care of something and just took off." I narrowed my eyes as Rater frowned in anger. "You're saying she just took off from the camp and you didn't do ANYTHING to stop her?" Unar frowned. "I thought you didn't even like her." Rater started to move toward him. "That doesn't mean you can just let her go off on her own to who knows where when everyone is trying to kill us!" I reached my hand to Rater's arm. "Rater, that is enough. Willow has free will to do what she wants, and I'm positive she can fend for herself." Rater's face relaxed a little as he quieted down. "Fine, I'm going to see my brother." He gave Unar a dark look before going to sit by Racon's sleeping body. I addressed the startled Unar, "Unar, did Willow say where she was headed when she left?" Unar sighed and shook his head. "She wasn't very detailed about it, but I think she went back to her clan to check on her people. After all, she was imprisoned in the Craven dungeon for years." I then looked over at Rater, hoping that would ease his mind. He looked up at me, nodded, and returned his attention back to Racon. I could tell Rater was on edge ever since Racon got injured, which showed how much he cared for his brother. I turned back to Unar and saw him fidgeting with his collar. I raised an eyebrow. "Did you get injured in the fighting, Unar? I could heal it for you." I started toward him and he suddenly stopped fidgeting as his voice shook. "No, no, it's okay. It's just a flesh wound, nothing to worry about." I was curious to what he was hiding, but I stopped to not frighten him anymore. "Alright. But if it bothers you again, let me know, okay?" Unar nodded vigorously. "Yes, of course, thank you." He paused to make eye contact with Rater. "I'll leave you two to look after your friend." He started to stand to exit the tent when Barchur suddenly barged in with frantic eyes. Unar stayed standing. However, he was so startled, he moved back a little. Rater jumped into standing mode, and I jumped back to give him space. "Father? What is it? What happened?" Rater made his way over and Barchur met his gaze and then looked at Unar and I. "It's Cynthia." He exited the tent with us following quickly behind.