Rachel Andric and Final Death

Chapter 37: The Cost of War

Ewan felt horribly useless when he saw his sister at the mercy of Carson. With his arm around Mordred's neck, he couldn't do anything to stop Carson from killing her. Vaguely, he could hear Merlin and Alan yelling in the background, but nothing else mattered. Not when his sister was dying in front of him.

The sword started its downward plunge, and Ewan saw Rachel squeeze her eyes shut. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Was this how she had felt when he'd been killed by Carson? A lump formed in his throat, and he felt a single tear escape and slide down his cheek as the sword came closer to the back of his sister's neck. It was as if everything were happening in slow motion.

Someone yelled from far away. It sounded like ... a prayer. Something whistled past Ewan, hitting Carson directly in the chest. Ewan's eyes widened as he saw the arrow lodged in Carson's chest. The man's sword slipped from his fingers, slicing over Rachel's arm and drawing blood.

Watching in disbelief, Ewan couldn't take his eyes away as Carson sank down to the ground. He rasped out, trying to spit one last curse at Rachel, but he was too late. His eyes dimmed, and he slumped back, dead. Mordred wheezed as Ewan's grip tightened in surprise, and he shoved the unconscious knight aside as he knelt beside Rachel. "Rach! Rachel, are you okay?"

Rachel raised her eyes to his face, very obviously not looking at her arm. "Ewan," she said. "Ewan, is he dead?"

He put his arms around his sister, ignoring the blood seeping through her sleeve onto his. "He's dead, sis."

"But who ...?" She pulled away, confusion masking her features.

"Rachel!" Will came running up. His quiver of arrows was empty, but his bow was clutched in his hand. Grime and ash from the burning city flecked his pale and sweaty face. "Oh, thank God! I thought I was going to be too late to save you ..."

"You?" Rachel said, turning to him. Her expression was unreadable. "You killed Carson?"

Will nodded. "I had to. I'm sorry. I couldn't let you die. I know you wanted to fight the battle on your own, but I couldn't let you die! I'm sorry. Really, I am!"

Then she surprised them both. She stepped forward and flung her arms around him. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much."

"This is all very lovely," Merlin yelled from behind them, "but can you give a fellow a hand? Please?"

They all turned, and Ewan blinked. Alan was astride the Jabberwocky, desperately clinging to the flailing beast's neck in an effort to keep from getting dislodged. In one of the Jabberwocky's clawed hands, it held Merlin in a vice grip, too distracted by the bard to tear the sorcerer apart yet.

Rachel pursed her lips. "Will, see what you can do for them. I'll help in a minute. Ewan, I know you're going to hate this, but can you help Guy? Please?"

Carson's army was disappearing, but the beasts and a few magic users remained. Reluctantly, Ewan went to help Guy while Will hurried to Alan and Merlin.

After they had gone, Rachel knelt beside Carson's body, pushing him onto his back. It seemed strange that the source of all her problems was now dead. Without him, she would never have come into The Story. So many bad things wouldn't have happened, yet so many good things would have been taken away as well. And oddly enough, although she had been striving desperately to end him and avenge her brother's death, she felt no satisfaction from Will's killing him.

"Pathetic." The voice behind Rachel caused her to get to her feet and whirl around, sword out. The raven-haired woman smirked at her. "I never liked Carson. Too bent on revenge. If you have revenge and a desire for power at the same time, revenge will win out in the end, and you will lose power. The same goes for anything that clashes with a lust for power."