Disclaimer: The characters belong to Tamora Pierce. Not me. TP.
I'm writing 7 stories at the moment, so this will be a short Oneshot about death.
Keladry of Minderlan lay dying on the hard, cold ground, a pool of blood surrounding her body. Blood. Keladry shuddered. She didn't want to die. Not yet. She'd seen too little. Not done enough. She wanted to love, to see, to be with her friends. But she knew that no one would ever find her out here. At least, not soon enough. She would die alone, like her friends and comrades. She could hear death's presences. She could hear the singing. The eternal pain. She didn't want to die!
In her heart, she hoped someone would come and find her before she died. But in her mind, she knew she would die. The battle was over. Every one was retreated. Not only had Tortall won, but she was dieing. Somewhere in her mind, she asked herself if she would have rather lived and had Tortall lost.
But her last thought was a question. What happened to Dom and my friends? Did they live? Then everything went black, and she felt a gentle touch on her cheek. Time to go, it was saying, they aren't there. So come. It said. She followed Death to its Realms.
A few hours later, Riders came into camp, bearing a body on a stretcher. "Dead!" Called out the leading one. Her let another take his place and went to report.
"Last one. No more than an hour dead when new got there." He told the Own's Knight Commander, Raoul, and Dom, Sergeant in the Third Company.
"Who was it?" they coursed, not looking up from they're papers.
"Well, um. You're not going to kill me, either of you?" the Rider replied. Both men looked up to see if he was joking. "No. We swear we won't kill you." Raoul said while Dom returned to his papers.
" Keladry of Minderlan is dead." The Rider said before literally running away. Both men stood and ran to the stretcher witch was placed beside the others. Dom knelt beside it, crying unashamed. "Kel…." He said softly, while Raoul just stood and stared. Soon, Neal, Merric and a few other joined them. All ended up crying over their fallen friend.
A wind fluttered as Kel stepped from the trees and made way to her body. She was a spirit. Here to say good-bye to her lover and friends. As she made her way over to her body, tears made there way down her ghost cheeks and landed on the ground. She put her hand on Dom's shoulder, leaning down.
Dom felt her. Kel was here in spirit. "I love you." Came the wind in his ear. Then lips on his, phantom lips. Then it was gone, and all the other boys looked at him as he smiled through his tears. The Neal felt her. She kneeled in front of him and smiled. "Be good, Meathead." Can her whispery wind. The same happened to each boy around her until Raoul. She gave him a hug. "You were like a father. A second father." She told him, though, after he would have sworn it was the wind. As all the other boys but Dom thought. They stayed there till sundown. They lit the body afire, as they did with every war hero who died in battle. And in the flames, by the head of Kel's body, the saw her. Her spirit. "I love you all." Came the wind as it wiped leaves and debris around the fire and phantom. Then, all was gone. Kel, Kel's Phantom. But Kel's memory did live on. She became known as Protector of the Small, her of Tortall. Lady Knight, Protector of the Small.