I Am: Silver

Chapter 18

I stood, debating. He had me in a chokehold. If I refused, Tomas was a dead man. If I agreed, Pegasus would die along with me and rid the Freedom Fighters of their last chance at winning the coming war. Slowly, I nodded, an incredulous plan forming in my head. Pegasus hammered against the mental barrier, but I was undeterred.

"Tell Locus to step away from him first." I ordered. As soon as I distracted Nadu, Tomas had the chance to escape. Looking up at the sky, I saw the Sun begin its descent. Night would be here soon, as would Knox. I needed to work fast. Nadu nodded at Locus, and he reluctantly let go of Tomas, who fell to his knees, his mortal legs buckling.

"S-Silver, don't d-do thi-s." Tomas stuttered, but I ignored him.

I then looked to Nadu expectantly, and saw he had drawn a long straight sword, his eyes eager. Fighting against my Hunter instincts, I held my ground as he approached. Nadu lifted the sword above his head, ready to behead me. I readied myself, and closed my eyes as if in preparation. I heard the swinging of the sword as it cut through the air like a knife through butter, when a force barreled into me, knocking me to the ground.

My eyes flew open and I could only gape as I watched Nadu plunge his sword into Tomas' stomach. Tomas cried out in pain as Nadu retrieved the sword from him, leaving open a wound as big as my fist, blood gushing out.

"No," I whispered, before crying it out louder as Tomas fell backwards. "No!"

In anger I glared up at Nadu, who took a step back, having realized his mistake. Before I could do anything he vanished, the sword dropping onto the ground. Locus, taking this as a sign to ignore his previous orders, took the chance of my distraction, barreling into me and sending me to the ground. He held me down, throwing punches at my face which I sorely attempted to dodge. I bucked and writhed underneath him, before finally pulling my knees up to my chest and delivering a kick to Locus' stomach. He flew up and back, hitting a tree with a groan. Believe me, it wasn't Locus groaning.

Painfully aware of Tomas suffering as his chained hands tried to stem the blood flow, I crawled over to the rock where I had hidden Knox's dagger, and turned around in time to intercept the sword Locus had taken up. The sound of metal against metal, the two weapons clanged together as we parried and attacked. Eventually I managed to get the sword out of Locus' hands, and it flew away to God knows where. Locus snarled at me.

"Do it." He dared me. So I did. I leapt forward and plunged the dagger into his chest, twisting to get it deeper, burying the dagger up to the hilt. Locus' eyes bulged as he staggered back, before they rolled into the back of his head and he fell dead on the ground. Breathing hard, I made sure he was dead, leaving the dagger where it was. The Sun was halfway down; night would be here soon.

Tomas' groan alerted me and in seconds I was at his side. I easily broke the chains, releasing his purple swollen wrists. His bloody hands immediately went to the gaping wound.

"I didn't think you'd come." He whispered, trying to joke.

"Now what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't?" I replied as I took off my jacket and ripped the hem of my shirt into strips to bind his wound. I tried to work the magic Mum wanted me to learn.

"Come on!" I yelled in frustration when nothing happened, rubbing my palms together again and pressing them over the wound. I looked deep within me, trying to find some way to transfer the life force from me to him. Tomas shook his head as I pressed the fabric to the cut, putting one of his hands over mine.

"I'm not going to survive this, Silver." He told me. "We both know it. It's alright." I paused in my wrapping, to look at his blindfold. Tears welled in my eyes at his acceptance of what was going to happen, and I gently removed the rag. Two cloudy blue eyes stared up at me, one highlighting his trademark scar that crossed it. "What does it look like?" He asked, looking up into the sky. I looked around us.

"We're in Ranwick Forest." I whispered. "The Sun is just beginning to set, and the sky is simply beautiful. It is as blue as Sapphire's scales, with streaks of pink and orange. You can see Boregost Mountain from here, just as big as ever." Tomas smiled, and I wiped away one of my tears that fell onto his cheek.

"Tell them...I said goodbye." He whispered. That was the only way we both felt we could talk right now, like talking too loud would disrupt the peace we had created. I knew who Tomas was talking about.

"I don't wanna say goodbye." I replied, choking on my sobs. Tomas' bloody hand wrapped tightly around the one that had lingered on his cheek and he leaned into my touch.

"Then what about see you later alligator?" He asked. My eyebrows creased in confusion.

"See you later, alligator?" I repeated.

"Not for a while crocodile." Tomas replied with a weak grin. I couldn't smile. I felt Tomas' hold weakening on my hand, and knew he was slipping away.

"Past the borders of Amphilias, there is a horde of dragons. They will aid you in the coming war." Tomas whispered, his voice so quiet I barely heard the words. His eyes had closed, his breaths coming slow and far between. He was slipping away. I felt so helpless as he lay there in pain. The tears were coming fast now, slipping down my cheeks like waterfalls. He couldn't leave now, I had to tell him.

"Tomas?" I asked, my voice cracking. I was only greeted by shallow breathing, but he tightened his grip for a second, letting me know he heard. "I love you." I whispered. Tomas' lips turned upwards into a weak smile.

"Ditto."

And then he was gone.

I felt it when he let go. Tomas was dead. His grip loosened until I was loosely holding his hand in my own. The sobs began to wrack my body as I let the tears flow freely and I leant my head on his chest as it lay still, his heartbeat silenced forever. The pain was unbearable, and my heart contracted and squeezed as though it were in a vice that would keep tightening until it burst.

Something caught my teary eye, making me look up. The last rays of the Sun had disappeared, and from above, I saw something magical. Something I can only liken to golden fairy dust began to fall from the sky, swirling around as it descended from the sky. It landed on Tomas' bare feet, and I gasped as it began to dissolve his body from the feet up.

It moved slowly and leisurely, but I knew in a few seconds Tomas would be gone. I did not fear the dust; it soothed me. As it crawled up his chest, I leant down, letting my lips caress his own, tingles running down my body as I came into contact with the dust. I stood up and backed away, watching the golden dust as it rose back up into the sky, taking Tomas with it.

Now that he was gone, all of the pain and sadness disappeared, as though someone had wiped my feelings clean and replaced them with a new slate.

Now, all I felt was anger. Anger at Nadu. Anger at myself. Anger at King Zelrox.

I rolled my shoulders back and turned, walking through the trees that I knew would lead me out of Ranwick Forest. Not once did I look back. Of many things I was unsure, but of one thing I was absolutely certain: they would rue the day they crossed paths with the Saviour.