Chapter 19

"Ha!" one man shouted. Amalia woke and winced as the burns touched the material of her dress. She heard muffled voices and then footsteps.

"Well, little lady, it seems that we have a treat in store for you. A little later we are going to take you for a walk!" Amalia turned her face away as the man breathed over her.

"Get away from her Greg". The man turned away as Jarrod walked over, "what are you bugging her about". At that Greg's eyes lit up and he put his arm round Jarrod and they walked off.

Amalia was left to contemplate everything on her own. That just made her more depressed. Eventually Greg returned with another man and hauled her to her feet.

"Right", he said, "lets go".

They walked quite a way. First it was over a vast expanse of grassland and Amalia had been allowed to walk with her hands undone. They knew that she would not be able to make it away, they would've been able to see her. Amalia had spent that time rubbing her wrists for the rope had chafed them quite badly. However, as they neared some wood, at the top of a hill, the ropes were put back on.

"Now, you are going to behave, yes?" Amalia glared at him and nodded her consent. With that they continued through the woods. The trees towered over them and made Amalia feel smaller than she already did. The occasional bird flew out from the trees and made the three of them jump. Amalia preyed that one of the birds would be an arrow and kill both of her captors and then.

She didn't know.

Soon they were in a dense patch of woods and when they looked around the could not see outside of the woods.

"Nearly there", Greg muttered. Amalia was confused as to what they were doing. She imagined that they were going to kill her but then they would've done that at the camp. Greg snapped a twig as they walked between two trees and jumped. Amalia laughed.

Greg turned on her, pointing a blade at her stomach where the burn was.

"Think that's funny do you?" he asked threateningly. Amalia smiled but didn't say anything.

"Well, I'm sure that what you see in a minute will make you laugh". With that they continued and soon the smell of death came to Amalia's senses. It was strong but it was not the smell of decay so the death was recent.

Suddenly Amalia had a premonition and almost knew what was lying ahead. She stopped in her tracks and shook her head.

"Oh yes, I think you know what I have taken you to see", Greg laughed viciously.

"But I thought…"

"Ah well, that was a little lie. Well worth it to see your face when you see this." Greg pushed her ahead as they came to a yew tree.

The branches stooped low and were covered with lichen. It was a fairly eerie tree and when a breeze rustled the branches it seemed that the tree was alive. Amalia's gaze found the roots of the tree, that rose out of the ground like fingers. Near one root was a hand.

"No", she muttered trying to back away. Greg laughed even more and pushed her forward. Amalia already knew what she was going to see before she saw it, but when she did it was still a shock.

There was Kari. He looked so peaceful; one ray of light hit his face making him seem angelic. His eyes were closed and Amalia knew that she would never again see the green. His body lay limp by the base of the tree and a sword protruded from his stomach.

"No! You killed him earlier you bastards!" she went to hit Greg who was mocking her but she was stopped mid-air by the force of his arm as he hit her, sending her flying to the ground.

"Now, now you shouldn't do that, you see it wasn't us who killed your swine of a lover" he chuckled to himself before he could carry on his sentence "he took his own life" . Greg laughed maliciously.

"NO… he wouldn't" this last section she whispered to herself. Greg pushed her forwards as Amalia went to stand up. She crawled over to Kari and laid her hands on his face.

"Ha, he chose death than to save you. Would it not have been better to find you and say goodbye one more time than to die alone. He obviously didn't love you as much as you thought he did". Greg laughed on as Amalia wept harder. Greg went to grab her to go back but the other man stopped him.

"Give her some respect", the other man whispered, "come on". With that Greg and the man walked off a little way so that they would still know if she ran off, but far enough that she could mourn freely.

"Oh Kari", she whispered, "why did you leave me? You promised me you wouldn't. I love you", she muttered through the tears whilst kissing his head. "I can't do this. I have lost so many people and now you. Why?" Amalia was saying this as much to herself as Kari. With that she withdrew the sword protruding from his body. Greg heard the noise of the steel being withdrawn and went to run over. He was too late. With one quick move, Amalia pushed the sword through her chest and into her heart.

Amalia awoke to the sound of rushing water. A cool breeze caressed her body and she was not hungry or in pain. The sun warmed her skin as she opened her eyes. For a moment she could not see anything then, as her eyes adjusted to the warm light, she saw him smiling back at her. They were together again.
If you have read all of this then I thank you. It is the first story I have actually finished so I am pretty chuffed. I'm sorry that the ending is so depressing but it is based on a dream I had a while ago, believe it or not. Hope you liked it but if you would like the other ending then just say so. And big thankyou to all of you who reviewed a lot!!!

XxSophiexX