Promises are Made to be Broken

by Midnight Lupus

" In the end… it was treachery and love that claimed Rythian's life…" Endermen begin to attack the desert base camp, and finally Rythian decides to surrender. Zoey follows him, but learns something she wishes she never would have known.

Promises are made to be broken…

In the end… it was treachery and love that claimed Rythian's life…

A week and a day earlier the endermen had begun to arrive; endless numbers, hordes of monsters attacking and breaking against the hastily shored up walls of their desert fortress like waves upon stone. Cabertown had been overrun by the seventh day, houses burning and crumbling as their foundations were carried away by the tall dark monsters. The villagers had been inexperienced in the art of war, and though they had tried, the damage had been too much for them. Children had gone missing from their beds, and adults were slaughtered in the streets like cattle. Ravs had finally had abandoned hope that his city would survive, and led what was left of his people as they fled across the desert to seek shelter with Rythian and Zoey; they carried what they could, but most of their belongings were left abandoned. The villagers were too terrified to retrieve what was left, even in the light of day, and the memories that resided there among the ruins were too painful to face.

Rythian had told Tee to guard the villagers as they wearily trekked across the sand, their cloaks spattered with blood and other nameless substances. The dinosaur had sighed tiredly but had done as ordered, bow fully drawn the entire time, and an arrow nocked and ready to shoot. For the first few nights the sharpshooter had used his rifle, but the ammo ran out swiftly and there was little time to make more. Zoey's eyes had stung with tears as she learned that the very Doctor who had saved her life had been killed in the horrible attacks. She had scrubbed at her eyes and sniffed before helping the refugees to settle into the desert camp. Having taken a vow not to kill, it was the best thing for her to do as she couldn't join in the battle. Rythian had watched her with sadness darkening his purple eyes as she bound a bleeding wound on a shock stricken villager. Two children died hours after arrival, and Ravs had wept bitterly along with the rest of his people when they were buried in hastily dug graves. There was little time for services; the attacks would begin again come nightfall.

The normally beautiful sunset was lost upon the worn residents of the desert encampment as they readied themselves for battle. Ravs unsheathed his claymore and sadly ran his hand down the blade; he had never been much for fighting. The few villagers still able to fight grabbed anything that came to hand: swords, hoes, arrows, and had taken places along the walls with trepidation. Rythian looked at them with pity in his eyes, he was used to the strains of battle, but obviously these innocents were new to the horrors of war. Guilt pricked at his heart; this was all his fault. The queen was after him.

Zoey looked on as Rythian prowled the battlements; he was stopping here and there, talking to the villagers and trying to give them courage. The girl frowned to herself; Rythian had been acting differently that day, more distant. She was worried that he was exhausting himself, and feared for his safety in the coming battle that night. As she ruminated, Tee passed her with a fully stocked quiver of arrows, turning to face her as she held up a hand to stop him.

"Tee… will you do something for me?"

Her friend tilted his head in question.

"Promise me you'll keep him safe." She pleaded. "I can't be up there—I'd just get in the way." She rubbed her mechanical arm, a nervous habit. "I trust you to look after him."

The dinosaur nodded, holding up his right hand in an oath before turning to mount the ramparts. He had looked saddened somehow by her request.

Night came, and so did the endermen, screaming and hissing hate as they tried to break through the spells Rythian had cast on the walls. They kept the endermen from teleporting inside the camp, but the holding of such powerful magic taxed Rythian greatly, and the strain was beginning to tell. Each time an enderman threw itself against the barrier was like a physical blow to him, which was a dangerous distraction as he was also using Enderbane to fend off the ones that got too close. Though he fought as hard as he could to keep the endermen at a safe distance, his strikes were losing their speed, and dark circles sat under his eyes. Tee's shots were marginally losing their accuracy as the night continued, though he defended his home with all the vehemence he had shown during the first hour. Everyone was looking tired; their sleep schedule had been reversed as the only safe time to rest was in the day. Zoey was kept running all night as defenders sustained injuries and needed tending to; she had one man die in her arms as the infection from a wound left by an enderman's clawed hands overtook him. Her fingers itched to turn the dial on her elbow past the setting that only pushed enemies away to the setting that would do fatal damage so that she could join in the defense of her home, but she had sworn not to kill.

At last the first fingers of dawn crept across the horizon, and the endermen turned away from the walls to disappear back into the End. Those that had been touched by Enderbane screamed as the sunlight burnt their skin and melted their flesh; and black bodies littered the sand, slowly dissolving in the morning light. The weary fighters stumbled down off of the walls and to their tents, too exhausted to talk, eat, or drink. Rythian felt his gut twist as he saw the bodies of two village men slumped over in the sand; the wail of one man's wife as she saw his still form twisted the guilt all the more tightly. The enderborn watched as Zoey went to comfort the woman, holding her as she cried; unable to watch anymore, he turned away. As he turned he met the eyes of Tee. The dinosaur was watching him with an unreadable expression, yet Rythian felt that he was being judged, and being found guilty.

Slowly the man wandered down the steps and into the camp, met at every turn by the eyes of villagers. Finally Rythian retreated to the tent that he and Zoey shared, unable to bear their gazes any longer. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he put his head in his hands; footsteps approaching the tent caused him to look up. Zoey entered, and sat beside him in silence for a moment before breaking down into tears. He held her; rocking back and forth as she sobbed for the lives lost, and for the horrible things she'd seen. In that moment his decision was made; he was going to put an end to this slaughter.

First he had to calm Zoey down. Pulling the blankets around them, Rythian lay down and held Zoey close as she cried herself out in his arms. Finally the flood of tears slowed down to a trickle and she sniffed before looking up at him with exhausted, red rimmed eyes.

"Are you ok?"

He couldn't help a snort of fond amusement. "You're asking ime/i that?" Gently he brushed hair out of her face. "Are iyou/i ok?"

"I'm really tired." She murmured. "But you must be too, I mean you've been fighting and killing and holding up spells and you look really tired." Zoey couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with him; was he hurt? What was going on? There was a strange look in his eyes that made her uneasy.

"I'm fine." He sighed, internally wincing at the lie as he stared at the tent entrance to avoid her searching gaze.

Zoey gripped the front of his shirt with her good hand. "Rythian…"

"What?"

"I know things are getting rough around here and we're all really tired and stuff but…" She broke off for a moment before taking a breath and continuing. "Please don't do anything stupid."

iThat/i surprised him. He looked down sharply at her. "Pardon?" Surely she didn't know about what he was planning to do… did she?

The girl yawned. "We'll make it, Rythian. We'll make it through this…somehow." She yawned again. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid… please?"

He hesitated, he didn't want to lie to her; at his hesitation Zoey felt her stomach lurch and she shook him slightly. "Rythian?"

"I promise." He said slowly. What he was about to do wasn't stupid, he told himself, it was necessary.

Apparently satisfied, Zoey began to drift off. Rythian thought of all the distress he had caused and was about to cause her and muttered to himself. "It'll all be over soon."

Her eyebrows furrowed even as her eyes tried to close on her. "Wha?" she slurred.

"Nothing." He stroked her fiery hair comfortingly. "Get some sleep."

"Mmmmkay." It was only a soft sigh.

Rythian watched over her as she fell asleep, taking in every detail of her sleeping face and attempting to memorize it as best he could. He wanted to remember her, she was most of the reason for what he was about to do. As if sensing his thoughts, she shifted uneasily in her sleep and mumbled quietly.

"Ryth…"

His purple eyes stung as he squeezed her gently. "Oh Zoey…" Carefully he disentangled himself, pausing a moment. "I'm so sorry." The enderborn lowered his facemask and hesitantly pressed a kiss to Zoey's forehead. She smiled in her sleep and snuggled down further under the blankets. Taking a deep breath Rythian strode from the tent and through the base camp.

It looked like a ghost town to him, everyone was hidden within their tents, and even Ringo was silent in his pen. As Rythian walked by Ravs' tent he could hear snoring from inside, and he allowed himself a tired smirk. The man had proven himself to be a loyal mayor in these attacks, and his people loved him for it; he had been planning to open another pub before all of this had started.

Rythian reached the exit and was about to pass through it when Tee slid down the ladder from his tower and ran to meet him, gesturing questioningly all the while. His bow and quiver were strapped to his back as always.

He sighed, "Hello Tee." Trying to think quickly, the enderborn rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Um… I was just going out for a walk. I couldn't sleep, you know?"

The dinosaur nodded cheerfully and bounced lightly on his clawed feet. He wanted to come along.

"Uh, wouldn't you rather get some rest, Tee?" Rythian asked hopefully.

Head shake: iNo./i

"Well, I sort of wanted some time to myself." The man tried to edge out the door, "Time to think."

Tee narrowed his eyes, suspicious of Rythian's odd behavior. The dinosaur pointed one claw at the enderborn accusingly before gesturing at the rest of the camp.

Rythian held up his hands. "No! No I'm not abandoning the camp! I would never do that!"

A raised eyebrow ridge: iThen where/i are iyou going?/i

Sighing, the man relented. He supposed it was good that at least someone would be able to tell the others where he had gone and why. "Tee… all of this is my fault."

Another raised eyebrow ridge.

"The Enderqueen is attacked the village because of me. She knew that it would hurt me to see innocents harmed. Now she's attacking the camp, and I can't hold the spells much longer. How long until they break through? And then what? There's no way we could get everyone to safety in the span of one day; the endermen would be able to get us out in the open come nightfall. They would kill everyone, you, the villagers, Ravs… Zoey…" His violet eyes grew determined. "I can't let that happen."

Tee frowned: iWhat are you going to do?/i

Rythian took a deep breath. "I'm going to surrender."

His friend's expression was one of shock. Frantically the dinosaur waved his arms, attempting to dissuade him, but Rythian was resolute. Finally Tee bowed his head in submission, but then looked back up and placed a hand on Rythian's shoulder: He wanted to come.

"Tee, no. You have to take care of Zoey, tell everyone what happened."

The sharpshooter gestured for a few moments before Rythian understood him. "You just want to accompany me there and then you'll come back after… after it's over?" The dinosaur nodded.

"I'm not sure the queen will let you leave."

Tee narrowed his eyes threateningly and gestured to the camp.

"You're saying that if I don't let you come you'll tell everyone so they'll stop me?"

Nod.

"Well, I suppose I can request that you be allowed to leave in safety." Rythian sighed. "There have been worse last requests." He looked to the camp one last time. "Just make sure you tell Zoey that I'm sorry when you get back."

The dinosaur nodded emphatically before following the mage out across the sands.

Zoey woke with a start and sat up in bed groggily. Sunlight was streaming through an opening in the tent flaps, and the camp around her was silent as the grave. So what had woken her? Then she realized that the tent was empty; Rythian was gone.

Icy dread swamped the girl and she felt her heartbeat accelerate wildly. Something was wrong; she could feel it in her very bones. Throwing off the blankets Zoey raced from the tent and scanned the camp frantically. There was no sign of Rythian anywhere; she began to walk through the base quickly, her eyes searching for a familiar cape of purple. Nothing.

As she reached the main entrance some disturbances in the sand caught her eye; on closer inspection they proved to be two sets of tracks leading out into the desert. One set were made by boots, the other by claws: Rythian and Tee. Fighting back panic Zoey rushed to their supply chests and yanked out a greater potion of swiftness, after a moment of deliberation she also took out a lesser potion of invisibility. Drinking the first and pocketing the second, she waited for a few seconds as the effects took hold. The world began to slow down around her, and Zoey could clearly pick out everything in her surroundings as if they had been thrown into sharp relief.

She took off at a dead sprint, following the tracks from camp as they wound over the dunes and around cacti. This was a direction that she had never gone before, and the territory was unfamiliar to her as she sped across the sand. Zoey didn't miss a beat as the tracks suddenly dipped down to the mouth of a cave, and she easily avoided the stalactites and stalagmites with her enhanced vision. Deeper and deeper she went until she saw her destination; that sent her screeching to a halt.

An End portal, right there in front of her; she had never actually seen one before. The twelve Eyes of Ender seemed to glare at her from around the swirling vortex. Why on Minecraftia had Rythian come here? Why would he need to—

Realization dawned on her, and Zoey could practically feel the blood drain from her face. "No." she shook her head in denial. "Rythian, no." Surely he wasn't going to… but it all fit: his strange behavior, his hesitation to promise her that he wouldn't do anything stupid. She had to stop him! Hurriedly she downed her potion of invisibility and jumped through the portal.

A swirl of darkness and a sickening lurch found her on the white, porous stone of the End. Around her the wasteland was empty but for the obsidian towers with their strange lights on top. Rythian had told her once that they held regeneration spells that would activate whenever the queen came into range. Where were all the endermen though? Zoey looked around and spotted a large, strange shape in the distance. It was all she had to go on as no tracks were left on the End Stone, so she ran towards it hoping her potion of swiftness would last until she got there.

The strange shape got clearer and clearer as she neared it, and Zoey gasped when she realized that it was a palace. Massive in scale, the castle was made of what appeared to be a patchwork of materials from Minecraftia. Walls made of cobble, smooth stone, brick, and wood rose to tower above her, and endermen patrolled their buttressed tops; a keep of End Stone rose from the center of the castle like a giant among children. It went up so far that Zoey couldn't even see the top of it.

Zoey ran around the walls, looking for a way into the castle, thanking Notch that she'd thought to bring along that potion of invisibility. Finally on the far wall she came to a formidable looking portcullis crafted out of iron railings and fences, to her surprise it was raised. Entering cautiously the girl was surprised to see a courtyard accented by grass and water and multiple forms of vegetation. Was this why the endermen took things, to make a palace for their queen?

Shaking away the thoughts Zoey concentrated on the massive door that led into the keep. A pair of endermen paced back and forth in front of it, making it difficult for her to sneak through. Thinking quickly Zoey took one of the empty glass bottles left behind from the potions and threw it as far as she could; at the sound of shattering glass the endermen teleported away to investigate, and Zoey was left free to slip through into the inner keep.

Endermen were everywhere; they stood on the floor and on the staircases that ran spiral like along the inside of the keep's walls. Zoey carefully wove her way through them, staying close to the wall and praying none of them would suddenly move and bump into her; however, all of their purple eyes seemed to be trained on the far wall. At last Zoey made it to the front of the crowd and was able to see what was going on.

A large dais sat against the far wall, and on it were three figures. Zoey's heart leapt when she recognized Rythian and Tee, but she was utterly frozen by the third: the Enderqueen sat imposingly before the two Minecraftians, dwarfing them with her majestic stature. The dragon's scales were jet black, and gleamed dully in the light which emanated softly from the End Stone around her. She was sitting regally on her haunches, and her long tail was curled sinuously around the clawed feet; two great, black, bat-like wings were folded neatly over the beast's back, the gray wing bones separating the membranes from one another. A long and graceful neck led to a wedge shaped head accentuated by silvery horns which tapered into deadly points; a trail of gray spines started at the base of the skull and led all the way down the spine to the tail tip. The purple eyes, trained on the man and dinosaur before her, were cold and calculating.

As Zoey stood petrified, the great dragon opened her mouth to reveal razor sharp fangs and spoke in a sibilant voice. i"Sssssso, what bringssss a traitor and a sssssscaled one to my realm?"/i

"You know perfectly well what brings us here." Rythian snapped.

i"Careful."/i She hissed, i"Or I will be lesssss inclined to grant you a lassssst requessssssst."/i

The enderborn gritted his teeth but bowed his head in submission. A sick feeling surged in Zoey's stomach seeing him so humiliated.

i"Thatsssss better."/i Her tone was smug. i"Now what issss it that you want to assssk me before I end your traitorussssss life?"/i

"I ask that you spare my friends, the villagers and their mayor. I ask that you let my friend Tee go from your realm in safety when this is over." Rythian met her eyes. "In return I will give you my life. That is what you are after, isn't it?"

The Enderqueen rose to her feet, and Tee drew his bow and aimed it at her. To what sane end Zoey couldn't guess, it probably wouldn't even pierce the dragon's hide.

i"I want you dead, yesssss; but I wanted you to ssssufer firsssst."/i

"Well you have succeeded." Rythian spat bitterly. "Innocent people are dead because of me."

A tear slid down Zoey's cheek, she didn't bother to wipe it away. She knew that her potion was going to wear off shortly, but nothing was to be done about it.

i"No. That issss not ssssuffering."/i The great dragon thrashed her tail. i"You are a traitor. I trusssssted you and you betrayed that trussssst. That is true ssssuffering. Now you sssshall know my pain before you die!"/i

Zoey watched in disbelief as Tee swung around, turning until his bow was aimed directly at Rythian. The man's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Tee? What are you doing?"

The dinosaur sneered, and Rythian's expression turned to one of utter disbelief. "Tee…no. Surely not. Not you!" he shook his head. "This must be some sort of trick."

i"Thisss isss no jesssst."/i

"Tee iwhy?/i" Rythian "No, no this can't be right."

The Enderqueen gave vent to a screeching laugh. i"Ssssurprisssed? The ssssscaled one wasssss never yoursssss."/i she hissed. i"He hassssss alwaysssss been mine. From the very beginning."/i

Zoey couldn't believe her ears. Tee? A traitor?

"I… I don't understand." Rythian murmured, "He was just wandering around and stumbled onto us."

i"Who do you think led him there?"/i The queen asked, i" I ssssent him to ssssspy on you. To become one of your trussssssted companionssssss."/i

"But he protected us—"

She cut him off. i"The girl. He protected the girl. "/i The dragon's expression was one of annoyance now. i"I had not planned on him growing attached to her, but no matter. In the end it only hassssstened your undoing."/i

Zoey was as confused as Rythian seemed to be.

i" You never did endear yourssssself to him."/i The long tail gestured to the dinosaur. i"Orderssss, so many orderssss. Never asssking, alwayssss telling. That wassss bad enough, but no matter how many timessss the ssscaled one ssssaved the girl sssshe would only ever look at you."/i

The enderborn turned to Tee again. "You're in love with Zoey?" he was incredulous.

Zoey had to stifle a gasp as the sharpshooter nodded. She could feel the potion beginning to wear off as well, her outline was becoming more and more visible as the dragon continued speaking.

i"When you fail to reappear at your home, the sssscaled one will go back to the camp and tell everyone how you left them, how he tried to sssstop you. My endermen will attack, and the sssscaled one will be the hero, sssssseemingly turning them away at the lassssst second. The attacksssss will ceassssse after that, and the girl'ssssss faith in you will be ssssshattered."/i

"No!"

Tee whirled around, his bow dropping along with his jaw as Zoey seemed to shimmer into existence before him. Even the Enderqueen looked surprised as the girl ran onto the dais to stand beside Rythian.

"Zoey?!" The mage's violet eyes were wide, "How on Minecraftia…? What are you doing here?!"

She ignored the question, staring at Tee. "I never would have believed you." She spat at him. "I could never have believed that Rythian abandoned us!"

Tee bared his teeth at Rythian in fury as the man placed a hand on her shoulder. "Zoey, you shouldn't have followed."

"What else could I do? I woke up and you were gone and I was terrified because you weren't anywhere in camp!" as the Enderqueen opened her mouth Zoey spun on her, "And you can just wait your turn to talk!"

Rythian looked horrified, but the dragon just laughed. i "I sssseee why you found her worthy."/i she said to Tee, i"Ssssshe hassss much fire."/i

"Fire I may have, but you don't get any of it." Zoey hissed at Tee. Seeing his distraught expression she softened her voice a bit. "Tee, I'm sorry… you were one of my best friends… but I don't love you, even if your plan would have succeeded… I wouldn't ever have been able to…"

The dinosaur's expression was one of pain as his world and plans fell apart around him, but it quickly changed to one of fury. Sensing danger, Rythian grabbed Zoey and spun around just as Tee wildly raised and fired his bow. The dragon sat back to watch, her purple eyes relishing the drama taking place before her.

"Rythian!"

With a scream Zoey lunged to catch him as his knees buckled and he sagged to the floor; his weight took her to a kneeling position, and she cradled him as best she could to absorb the shock. The girl was aware of wetness against one of her hands, and when she pulled it away it was covered in red.

"No, oh no." She scrambled to stem the bleeding with Rythian's cloak, but when she touched the shaft of the arrow that was sticking out of his back he cried out in agony. She jerked her hand away as if she'd been burned, tears streaming down her face. "Rythian? Rythian talk to me!"

"Zoey." His voice was a hoarse whisper, his breath coming in weak little gasps.

Red was spreading onto the ground now, forming a slick puddle of scarlet that contrasted starkly with the white of the End Stone. There was so much of it, Zoey thought dizzily, how could anyone even have that much blood to lose?

"Don't cry… please." She looked down into Rythian's purple eyes, which were clouded with pain as he gasped out the words.

"What on Minecraftia were you thinking?" her voice shook, "You promised me that you wouldn't do anything stupid!"

"Promises… are made to be broken." He suddenly jerked in her arms, giving voice to a cry of agony. Zoey held him tightly as he thrashed, and felt her gut drop in panic when he went limp afterward, his eyes sliding shut.

"Nonononono—Rythian, stay with me! Please!" She couldn't help but shake him lightly, tears tracing tracks down her cheeks.

His violet eyes fluttered open halfway. "Zoey….m'sorry." he slurred, lifting a shaking hand to try and wipe the tears away.

She took hold of the hand and brought it to her face, leaning into it. "Don't be sorry; just—just stay with me please. Use your magic!"

"Can't." he managed to lift one corner of his mouth. "Was coming here to—" He took in a shuddering, gasping breath. "—to die anyway."

She couldn't hold back a sob. "You can't do this, Rythian. You can't just go and leave me here."

"Zoey." he gasped as a wave of agony shot through him. His eyes began to slide shut.

"Don't go!" Zoey begged, "Please…"

He rallied his last strength to speak. "Zoey… love you..."

Her heart leapt even as it cracked. "I love you too." She dropped his hand so that she could pull down his facemask. Leaning over she gently pressed her mouth to his in a kiss, trying to pour all of her feelings: her joy, her sorrow, her love into it. She could feel his lips curve up into a smile under hers just before he gave a shudder and lay still. His head lolled against her as the spark of life, of passion, of fire that was Rythian blew out like a candle. Zoey felt her heart break as it guttered out.

The girl could hear the dragon's laughter as she pulled Rythian's body against her and screamed, her grief pouring out of her in a wail of pure anguish that echoed off of the smooth white walls. After the reverberations died off Zoey looked up at the two watching reptiles. Her red rimmed blue eyes fixed on Tee.

"How could you?" Her voice broke. "You swore, you promised to protect him!"

Tee held up his right hand and then made a slashing motion—his yellow eyes glinting. Zoey could translate easily enough. iPromises are made to be broken./i

It was an echo of the words Rythian had just spoken to her, and Zoey felt an icy feeling begin to creep up her spine. She took a moment to recognize it: pure murderous rage. Zoey looked down at the boy she had cradled in her arms, her mind racing. At last she reached down and replaced Rythian's facemask carefully before leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. Then she laid him gently down on the floor, pausing to brush her hand through the lighter colored tuft of hair that stuck up from his head.

"You'll pay for this." Her voice was barely audible as she stood, wrapping her arms around herself like she was trying to keep from breaking apart.

i"What wassss that?"/i

"I said you'll pay for this!" Zoey snapped. Tee looked at her in surprise.

i"You?"/i The dragon hissed in amusement. i"You who hassss ssssworn to never kill? To take a life?"/i

As her arms were crossed, Zoey's good hand was naturally resting on the elbow joint of her prosthetic arm. Neither Tee nor the Enderqueen saw her turn the small dial that was set there. Zoey had never turned the dial to that setting before, honestly she didn't know what had possessed her to leave that setting on, but now she was glad that she had.

Zoey took one last glance at the only boy she would ever love, and raised her false arm to point the palm of her robotic hand at the bemused dragon. Her words were like ice.

"Promises are made to be broken."

She fired.