To make up for my terrible updating, I bring you this story. I don't know. I was in an angsty mood.
It's based on the song "What Sarah Said" by the band "Death Cab for Cutie" and you may notice I took out a few parts in what I wrote on here. Please listen to the song on youtube when you get to that part- it's haunting and will make a big difference.
Thanks so much!
xoxo Isabelle xoxo
It was meant to be a standard sweep. Sure, the bandits outnumbered them, but they were the Third Company of the Kings Own, and they could take them. The bandits weren't meant to call for reinforcements, causing the entire company to fight for their lives. No, it was never supposed to happen like this.
Kel was up and ready. The king had promised her that she could do what she wanted for a tine, as the war with Scanra was finally over. For a while, she was forced to be a political noble, a role that she hated. But that was over and done with. She had been doing nothing for long enough, and was relieved to be finally riding out to do something to help the realm. Yes, it was time.
Neal, on the other hand, was very unhappy to be woken so early to go out on a mission. He would have been all too happy to stay with Yuki and their baby, but he had promised Kel that since he'd been so busy, he'd ride with her for a while. As a result, he was up and not so ready at the fifth bell of the morning as the third company prepared to move out. Yes, it was time.
And so the Third Company, with Raoul, Alanna, Kel, and Neal at its head, rode out of Corus to fight bandits and bring them to justice.
After weeks of tracking and 4 more bandit attacks, it was time to act. The trap they would use was simple. The bandits would be camped out, and the Third Company would pick off their sentries and sneak up in a ring around them. It wouldn't be hard, or uncommon. Of course, it wouldn't do to be cocky, either.
No, it wouldn't, for in the midst of the fighting, the bandits had called reinforcements. What had been organized fighting didn't take long to become a free-for-all where you fought for your life more than anything else. And in the midst of the fighting, Kel and Dom got separated from the pack of the Own. It was nothing huge, though. They placed themselves back to back, and as Dom felled man after man with his sword, Kel swept her Glaive around in neat, practiced motions too fast to be seen. The fight was almost over, and only a few men were left. Then it was just one, and one hundred eyes watched as the last man went running towards Dom. Kel stood at his back still, for you could never be too careful. As the man was almost within Dom's sword range, he instead whipped out a dagger and sent it whirling towards Dom. With no other choice, Dom dodged, but the man was so close that even with his shout, Kel had time only to spin around...
As the dagger embedded itself neatly in her belly. Her face was for once not a mask. No, it was the picture if pain as her legs gave way. Raoul roared his defiance as he sprinted to his ex-squire's side at a speed that none had ever seen the commander run. He and Dom scooped her up, and together they sped Kel towards the healer's tent that was manned by Neal and Alanna. As they arrived, screaming for Alanna and Neal, the two healers knew that something too awful for words must have happened, for Raoul to be roaring as he was. But even that thought wasn't enough to prepare them when they saw who was injured and how.
Thankfully, their horror did not slow them. Neal shooed Raoul and Dom out, and as he turned once more to Kel, who was laid out on a table, the gravity of the situation hit him like a galloping horse. Alanna was already pouring her magic into Kel, trying to knit up the wound. But the wound was too deep, too well placed. Neal, too, began helping by feeding Alanna energy and helping to fix the wound himself.
They both knew that it was a lost cause as they did it. They both knew that it wasn't worth it. They both knew that had it been almost anyone else, they would have just given up. They both knew that it would have been more merciful to just end her suffering.
But this was Kel. This was the second lady knight. This was the probationer, the lump. This was the person whose anger was so pointed it could stab. This was a diplomat. This was Third Company's girl. This was the glaive-wielder. This was Tobe's mother. This was real. This was the people's hero, a war hero. This was justice in human form. This was determination, bravery, stoicism, and courage all rolled into one. This was Alanna's successor. This was a country-changer. This was the Protector of the Small. This was Neal's best friend of all time, his first friend at the palace. This was Keladry of Mindelan, and she had to live.
Meanwhile, Dom and Raoul sat outside the healer's tent. Flynn had taken command of the men for the moment, as he knew that Raoul would be unable to for the time being. The men were almost done with the cleanup. Casualties were taken down; bodies lined up. No one dared to say that the healers should tend the others of Third Company who were wounded. No one wanted to, for after all she was Third Company's squire. Before too long, every able-bodied warrior was lined up in a half-circle behind Raoul and Dom; waiting.
Waiting for the healers. Waiting for a verdict. Waiting for an announcement. Waiting for a life. Waiting for a death. Waiting for a knight. Waiting for a hero. Waiting, waiting, waiting for a miracle.
And unbidden, the strains of an ancient, haunting melody handed down for generations floated through Qasim's mind. No one knew what it meant, but the meaning was clear enough, so he began to sing.
And it came to me then
That every plan
Is a tiny prayer to Father Time
As I stare at my shoes
In the ICU
That reeked of piss and 409
And I rationed my breaths
As I said to myself
That I'd already taken too much today
As each descending peak
On the LCD
Took you a little farther away from me
Away from me...
Amongst the vending machines
And year old magazines
In a place where we only say goodbye
It stung like a violent wind
That our memories depend
On a faulty camera in our minds
And I looked around
At all the eyes on the ground
As the TV entertained itself
Cause there's no comfort in the waiting room
Just nervous pacers pacing for bad news
Then the nurse comes round and everyone lifts their heads
But I'm thinking of what Sarah said
"Love is watching someone die"
Every head turned his way and tears streamed unashamedly down many cheeks. By the time the song finished with the last heart wrenching statement, tears were flowing freely.
As if by fate, Alanna came out of the tent precious minutes later. Her face was ashen and she only came out by a step, but everyone could tell that she had poured all of her magic into Kel. Tear tracks wound down her cheeks in web-like patterns. she looked at all of the men staring at her with tears on their faces and eyes full of hope and despair, and she felt more tears gather in her eyes. She didn't see her eyes become dead, purple beacons of agony and despair, as she proclaimed in a whisper that could be heard by all,
"It's too late. We can't save her. That battle... Was her final battle. Her final fight. She's gone."
For a second, time stood still. No one moved. No one breathed.
"Nooooooo! Kel! Keeeeeeel!" Raoul howled, as he sunk, sobbing, to his knees. "Please... Kel... Wake up! I'm supposed to go before you! Kel!" He whispered, his voice the sound of pure agony.
Third Company swayed. Some cried out, and some just cried. Alanna just stood there, torrents pouring from her eyes. Inside the tent, Neal sobbed, silently begging his best friend to return from the Black God's realm. He still held the hand that he had held as her soul slipped away, and he gripped it futilely as his grief overwhelmed him. He heard Raoul's lament outside, but didn't move from his best friend's side.
And Dom? He didn't scream or shout or wail. He just stared at the tent where her body rested, his mind clearer than ever before, and he realized that it was true, but too late.
Love was watching his soul mate die.