Gifted Ones

Epilogue

I never thought of myself as a heroine. I never thought of myself as a villain, either. If I were ever in a book, I thought I would be a sidekick of sorts. Important to the plot, with a clear purpose, probably saving the main character's life or something, but not really the ring leader in general. That's just not really who I am.

I would've never, ever thought that I would be the damsel in distress: hopeless, helpless, worthless.

It's pitch black outside, too dark for me too see much else except this bright light far in the distance, probably from someone's porch. I can hear crickets chirping in the grass all around, their constant sound lulling me into a kind of dazed stupor.

When I fell through the hole back in the maze I closed my eyes as tight as possible, and when I opened them, I was here, finally without a threat hanging over my head. But now that I'm free, I don't feel a sense of accomplishment. I am a coward. I asked, nay, begged Haven to give Gabriel the Amulet. I would've sacrificed the human race just so I could save my own life. Haven lost everything, and in the end she was willing to die for her cause. But I told her not to. I told her to give it all up when it mattered the most. I am a coward I know it. I should've died in Haven's place.

The quiet night is interrupted by an explosion of sound and blue light which would've knocked me to the ground if I wasn't already lying on it. Somehow I was sure that something bad was going to happen next, this couldn't simply be the end. And so I lay there, unmoving, waiting for Gabriel to come and take me away again.

But he doesn't. After the explosion stops everything is still again. After a few minutes, even the crickets start to chirp again. He isn't here.

With a long sigh I peel myself off the ground, getting to my feet carefully as my skin screams in pain. Nothing seems any different than it did from the ground, but I know that the explosion happened a little off to the left. I head in that direction, half of me hoping I find something, and the other half dreading it.

I stumble around for about fifteen minutes, not really seeing anything of note. The sky slowly starts to get lighter as time goes on. I'm just about to give up when my foot comes down to take a step and the ground is gone. Suddenly I'm tumbling down a steep slope, my face pressed into the dirt and my limbs bent at awkward angles. I flail about, trying to stop myself, until my back hits something solid.

Thank goodness. I think, sitting up. As soon as I turn around I find myself staring into the expressionless, unmoving face of someone's corpse.

Immediately I let out a piercing scream and leap away, scrambling back. It's then that I realize I'm standing in a giant crater, about the size of a large house, and the whole thing is dotted with dead bodies. I see another one about every six feet, all over the place. There's no blood, no missing limbs. It's almost as if they could all be sleeping: if it weren't for the empty, unblinking eyes. Haven must've actually done it then. I slowly start to walk around the crater, examining their faces. I guess they were carried through the portal during the blast. I would've thought that the energy wave would've completely incinerated them, but it is magical energy, a life force. Perhaps it had something to do with Gabriel and his defensive spells Margot told me about. Whatever the reason, they're all dead now anyway.

I see Gabriel just a few feet away, face down, and don't spare his body another glance, but the sky is the gray-blue tone of dawn by the time I find Haven.

She's in the exact center, right beside the Mage that saved my life. Her eyes are closed, and her mouth is pulled up at the corners into an almost-smile. She looks peaceful in death, her face relaxed and brow uncreased. There's something serene about it, even though she's not really there anymore anyway. Maybe it was because she knew she'd see everyone there, everyone who'd been taken away.

But even though she died happy, and I knew she was dead before, I can't help but throw myself down to the ground beside her, clutching her body and sobbing. I scream at the sky, lonely and broken by the idea that she, my best friend, is gone. I wouldn't be the person I am now without her. I would've gone crazy long ago if she hadn't decided I was worth it. And from now on I'll have to cope, to deal with all of this alone.

At some point, the sky opens up and it starts to rain, pouring rivers down onto all of the dead and turning the ground into mud. I let the water fall onto my face, pulling Haven into my lap and tilting my head up to meet it.

"You know Haven, I'm going to have to live without you," I say out loud. "But I promise you, way up wherever you went, I won't let myself be a coward. I'm going to be the hero, okay? Like you. You were a hero. Thank you for being alive, and thank you for being my friend."

I grasp one of her hands in mine tightly, and I feel something metal in it. Looking down, I realize that it's the silver chain the Amulet used to hang on. I resolve right then and there, as I fasten it around my neck, to keep it with me, always.

My promise to Haven is the only thing that makes me let her go and get to my feet, the thing that lets me pass through the crater with my head held high, the thing that drives me to crawl up the slope and back into the hilly terrain I first landed in. I make a new promise to her as well, as I walk towards the light on that porch so far away. I promise her that I won't forget. I won't forget anything, even though I want to. I will remember her, and I will remember the Clan members who came along on this mission, and I will remember their story. It's over now, all of it. We're safe now, because Gabriel's organization was all at the Carmine Isle. Every one of them. They're all gone, because of her and the brave Gifted Ones who fought beside her, defeated the Trials, and obtained the Amulet in the end. They were all heroes, and I want to be exactly like them.

So I promise to remember. And I keep these promises close to my heart as the rain falls down upon my face, soaking through my hair and clothes, and I put one foot in front of the other, towards home.

The End

And it is the end, for me, at least. I have spent nearly a year on this book, and struggled immensely with how I was going to end it. I honestly hope that I managed to accomplish something here, that you, my wonderful readers, were somehow moved or affected at all by my words. Thank you so much for everything. You are the reason I had the push to get through the rough spots and continue when I thought I wanted to quit, and I just want to thank you all so much for just being there to read. Thank you.

-iambibliophilic