Tales Untold

Dead Wish

Kai was running down the hallways of Artemisia Palace as fast as he could. He had to get to Cinder. He had to find her before something happened to her.

Iko had told Kai she would be in the Throne room to try and defeat Levana, but she was all by herself. Their predicament wasn't all that good, what with Thorne being taken, Wolf a full on monster, and Winter losing her head completely. Cinder would probably be on her own.

The Throne room door loomed in front of Kai, and he slammed into then with a crash. The doors burst open, and Kai observed the scene before him, horrified. The bodies of six people spread across the room.

Thorne lay sprawled and broken next to the door, his eyes lifeless with the bullet in between them. There was a bloody knife next to him, and he was covered in blood. His right hand was mangled with two fingers missing. He stared at the ceiling with no light in his eyes. He was dead.

Tears stung Kai's eyes at the sight, but he moved on, needing to find Cinder. The next body was Cress, even smaller in death. She had her eyes closed, but she was not breathing, Blood covered her entire front, and she was pale as a ghost. She was dead.

It was like watching a slow motion car crash. Kai wanted to look away. He wanted to run, but he had to continue. The next two bodies were next to each other. Scarlet. Wolf. Scarlet had cuts all over her body, and a bullet in her chest. Her brown eyes were filled with anger, even in their emptiness, because she too, was dead.

Wolf had his arms wrapped protectively around Scarlet. He was also scratched up, but the knife that was sticking out of his throat was what had killed him. He looked oddly peaceful, with Scarlet, well, not safely, in his arms. His brilliant green eyes were closed, but he was most definitely dead.

Hot tears began to stream down Kai's face as he moved on to the next body. This one he felt no remorse for. Levana lay deformed and broken across the marble. She had a bullet in her temple, and she was dead.

The final body made Kai cry out. Her brown hair was matted with blood, and her brown synthetic eyes were closed. Her tan skin was pale as the moon, and covered with blood. She had stab and bullet wounds covering her body, and a knife jutting out of her chest. She was dead.

Kai knelt down besides Cinder and began to sob. He scooped her body up into his arms and began to rock back and forth. He screamed her name. He begged her to return back to him. He pleaded for their lives to be exchanged, but it was useless. She was dead, and she wasn't coming back.

Kai told Cinder he loved her, and that if he could have, he would have made her his Empress. He would have married her, grown old with her, died with her. He told her how he regretted throwing her into prison, and wished that he could have saved her. He told her how he had kept her foot, and that it was his most treasured possession.

He cried, and sobbed, and kissed her forehead, but his Cinder was gone. She had left her body, but Kai couldn't, even as it grew colder.

Eventually Iko, and Torin came running into the room. Torin cursed as he observed the area, and came to stand besides Kai, still clutching Cinder to him.

Iko on the other hand, collapsed, and let out the most horrible noise. Her screams seemed to echo through Kai, until she too, fell silent, leaving Kai to wonder if she had exploded.

A few minutes after Iko and Torin came, palace guards and doctors began to show up. Apparently the battle was over, and now people were looking for their new Queen, but they had none. Levana was dead, Cinder was dead, and Winter was crazy. They had no one.

The medical personels put each body in its own black bag, until there was only Cinder left. Kai was not going to let her go, even if they threatened his life over it. "But your Majesty," Said a woman growing more and more impatient, "we need to take the body. She's dead."

Many different people tried to take Cinder away from him, but it wasn't until Torin talked with him, that he did.

Kai sobbed as he watched three people lift Cinder into a sixth black bag, and carry her away. Torin told Kai that he should go to his room and rest, but Kai couldn't register his words. The only thing that was going through his mind was,

Thorne... dead.

Cress... dead.

Scarlet... dead.

Wolf... dead.

Cinder... dead.

Cinder, the love of his life, his best friend, his second half, dead. She was gone, and there was no way that Kai coul bring her back. He would be expected to move on with his life, forget the dead lost princess, and rule his country.

Kai stopped sobbing. He stopped feeling. He stopped thinking. He went numb. He went cold. He went away. No, he didn't get up and leave, he left his mind.

The screams that filled the Throne room made people come running. Many hands tried to comfort him. Many words tried to console him, but they were fruitless.

Someone eventually stuck a needle in the back of Kai's neck, making him fall into a dreamless sleep that Kai welcomed gladly.

Kai awoke with a splitting headache. His mind felt fuzzy as he gazed around the room of an infirmary. He was all alone, except for Torin, who sat in a chair next to him. He looked exhausted, his eyes bloodshot and his skin pale.

"They came back with a medical report," croaked Torin, "I'm going to read it to you, Your Majesty." Kai simply nodded his head, a feeling of dread creeping through him. "Thorne stabbed Cress in the stomach, and the Scarlet stabbed Wolf's throat. Thorne then shot Scarlet in the lungs, and she immediately shot Thorne in the head. Levana was of course controlling both Thorne and Scarlet. After that, Levana stabbed Cinder in the heart, and shot Levana in return. The order of death from first to last is Thorne, Scarlet, Wolf, Levana, Cinder, and Cress.

Kai's ears rang with Cinder's name. She had died after Levana. She had died alone. Kai wished he had been with her. Kai wished she was with him, but his wish was dead.

Kai sat in dumbfounded silence, before remembering he had more people to worry about, though he hardly cared anymore. "What about Winter? Jacin? Iko?" Kai asked, unsure if he wanted to hear the answers.

Torin frowned, "Princess Winter is inconsolable, and the doctors believe she will never be right in the head again. Jacin is upset about Winter, but relatively fine. Iko... Iko's systems shut down after, um, after everything, and her, well, she's gone." Torin finished, his voice husky.

Kai nodded, and look back down at his hands. He wished he could go back in time and stop Cinder from ever going into that Throne room. He wished he could have saved the rest of his friends, but they were now gone.

Life seemed to have lost its point once Cinder had left it. Kai didn't know how he was going to rule his country when half of his heart had died. He closed his eyes, and imagined for but a moment, that his friends were still there with him, laughing, and joking, and having fun, before he let them all go.

One by one he said his goodbyes to Thorne, who had always been a pain, but tried to do the right thing in the end. To Cress, who was the smartest and sweetest girl that Kai had ever met. Scarlet, rough on the outside, but more compassionate than the average person. Wolf who was frightening on the outside, but so gentle on the inside. Iko, who was sometimes crazy and overbearing, but the most caring android. And Cinder... Cinder, who had been a leader to everyone one around her. Who had started this entire rebellion. Cinder who he loved more than anyone. Who he would never actually be able to let go of, because she was part of him.

One by one, Kai let go of his friends, wishing he could bring back their days of life. But his wish was dead.