So this chapter's pretty short, at least compared to the last one, but hey otherwise you'd go the night thinking all hope was lost. So without further ado, chapter 36.

Enjoy!

Chapter 36:

Falling

(MK's POV)

Darkness.

Coldness.

Loneliness.

Drifting through an ocean of air, thick like water, but still able to choke in a breath here and there.

Is this what death feels like?

This felt strange. Worse than heaven, better than hell...

Maybe this is some sort of in-between prison? A punishment for not having been strong enough to save a kingdom of innocent people? Or for leading my boyfriend and the rest of the Leafmen into a suicide mission? Maybe it was for breaking Nod's heart in the first place, or maybe for breaking Tarren's...?

Maybe all the awful things I'd done had accumulated to this? A sentence to limbo for the rest of eternity?

I sighed, trying to drift back into unconsciousness. That would be better than feeling the choking depression of air here...

Suddenly, I saw a small fogging light above where I drifted. I tried moving towards it, but I felt like I was trying to swim through gelatin. Everything felt sluggish and horrible.

I didn't have to try for long though, because the light suddenly flew down, and enveloped me, shinning like a lamp right in my face. I cringed away, and suddenly felt my self ripped from the foggy air-water. This would've been a relief, if I hadn't then begun falling through the air, towards a dark black floor.

I wanted to scream, by my lips felt sealed together. To be honest, despite knowing what the pain would feel like upon impact, the rush of falling through air was almost calming.

Falling...

Falling...

Falling...

Then I hit the ground

I gasped from the expectant, though dreamt-up, shock of impact; breathing so heavily I was surprised my lungs hadn't burst. I began coughing, not being able to get the air in my lungs fast enough, as I began curling into myself, I realized that someone had been holding my wrist. Tearing my hand away, I rolled onto my hands and knees, and then scrambled away shakily.

"S-Stay... Stay away from m-me." I choked out, my voice sounding scratchy and quiet. It felt like someone had rubbed my throat with sandpaper, and all my muscles felt stiff, like I'd been frozen in the same place for years on end.

"Calm yourself, Milady. You've only just awoken, and are still very weak."

I began taking deep breaths in an effort to calm myself, and squinted to see the person who had spoken. The voice seemed familiar...

Taking a deep breath, I leaned forward slightly. "Your...Your Majesty?"

My vision was pretty poor and blurry, but I could here the relieved sigh of the queen who had been imprisoned for so many years. A smile spread over my face.

"H-how did you escape?"

Queen Rheina smiled, I think. My eyesight was still blurry. "My daughter and the maid, Isabelle released any prisoners who had been locked in the high dungeon. I could sense it when Oren had sapped your power, so I rushed to see if there was anything I could do."

"When Oren..." I mumbled, trying to process what she'd said, when I suddenly gasped, remembering Oren taking my power. "Wait... How am I s-still alive then? Sh-Shouldn't I have died?"

Rheina grimaced. "To be honest Milady...you came close. I had to drag you here to keep Oren from finishing you off. Mary Katherine, I believe that Oren hasn't retrieved all your energy yet. That's why you survived..."

I processed this information. So the mad man hadn't gotten the job completely done, and that was why I wasn't dead. But if I still had some of the power that he needed...

"But that means...He's going to come back after me." I concluded, and by the darkening of the queen's expression, I knew it was true.

"Yes," Rheina said. "Oren will be searching for you once more, and in your weakened state you won't stand a chance..."

I groaned as I sat up, and realized we were tucked in a crevice behind a large rock. Her majesty must have hidden me here to keep Oren or any of his goons from finding me. Question was however: where were they now, and how had that fight played out?

"W-Where are the others now? Did my friends make it out okay" I asked, my voice still shaky, but stronger than before. That must've been a good sign.

"I believe the Leafmen were able to escape with few casualties. They left to regroup and Oren didn't go after them, but he's searching fervently for you. We don't have much time. Come!" She said, pulling herself up and reaching for my hand. I smiled and took it, but nearly fell over again after standing. My legs felt like spaghetti and rising too quickly had caused my head to spin.

"Don't overexert yourself, Mary Katherine."

I did my best to smile. "I'm fine, I promise..."

"Well we're going to get you to the bunker soon, and Aaron will be able to help you. Come now, I'll show you where the pathway is. All of the survivors who could make it have already fled there."

We then began making our way across the back of the castle, stopping right at the corner. As Rheina checked for any of Oren's goons around the bend, a thought suddenly arose.

"Have Tarren or Jenni seen you yet? Do they know... that you're okay?"

The queen sighed. "I took off right from the dungeon to assist you and I didn't see my daughter except from the corner of my eye, so no, neither of them have seen me yet... I think it would be better to wait until we've defeated Oren before breaking the news to them."

I nodded in agreement. With all the stress that was probably already on the two members of the royal family, revealing that they dead mother wasn't actually dead, in the heat of war, might be more than they could take.

"Alright the coast is clear." The queen said, and we both began running across the grass in an effort to reach the cover of brush on the other side. On the other side, I saw Isabelle, seeing us both coming, and waving us over.

"Hurry!" She mouthed. We sped up slightly.

Suddenly, an arrow whizzed by the both of us, nearly hitting the queen and causing her to jump away. I staggered back, and stood like a deer in the headlights, starring at the enemy archer as he fired another arrow right at me. Feeling frozen in my tracks, and seeing the oncoming arrow, I tensed.

"AHG!" I suddenly heard the all too familiar cry, and watched in horror-stricken slow motion as Isabelle collapsed before my feet, the arrow jutting out of her torso.

"NO!" I screamed, falling to my knees and turned her to face up, much like I had with Queen Tara when she's shrunk me the first time so long ago. That life felt like a different universe compared to the nightmare I was trapped in now...

"Oh my god!" I cried, not sure what to do. Isabelle groaned, before wrapping her fingers around the arrow, and pulling in out with a harsh yank. Her scream echoed through the forest, and I bit my lip.

Isabelle gasped from the pain, and her breathing began growing shallower. I felt tears pour down my cheeks. "Isabelle. W-What do I do?" I sobbed, as the queen suddenly appeared beside me. She must've gone to take care of the soldier.

The head maid, who I'd once shown an extreme distaste for, who had just taken an arrow for the person who's powers were destroying her home, smiled up at me, like I deserved any kind of love.

"Go. There's a bird waiting on the other side of the brush. Fly it until you reach the outskirts of the meadow on the north side. That's where the others have camped. Take the queen and go."

She spoke to me like a mother trying to comfort and assist and frightened child, and in that moment I saw my own mother in her. The way she was smiling as she slipped away, was almost identical to the way my mom had... and it was too much for me to handle.

I shook my head violently. "Okay there is no way you are going to go all move-star, sacrificial hero on us okay?! You're coming too!" And I tried to help her up, but she cried out in protest, causing me to set her down.

Isabelle laughed weakly through the pain. "There's no time Milady. Willhollow needs you now. They need you to save this place."

I sobbed again, squeezing my eyes shut. "Isabelle I can't do anything anymore, okay? Oren has my powers! Without them... I'm useless..."

I felt Isabelle's frail hand on my cheek. "You know... I thought the same thing when I first met you."

I looked down at the dying woman, and I couldn't suppress the slight shock, no matter how much I deserved it. Isabelle continued though.

"I thought you were just a scared little girl hiding behind the rest of the world. Behind your Leafmen, and your powers, and everything... You're not though Mary Katherine. You're much stronger than anyone, even you, give yourself credit for. It's strength that comes from the heart, and that's something no one can overcome

Suddenly Isabelle turned, and glared past me. "Not even him..."

I looked in the direction the maid was glaring, and saw the man

I suddenly felt Isabelle's head roll to the side, and looked back down to see that her dark grey eyes, that were still wide open, had fogged over, and her entire body had suddenly lost all tension.

She was gone...

I lowered my head, gritting my teeth together, trying to fight back the tears. I refused to cry any longer...

"Milady you must go!" Rheina cried, grabbing my arm.

"What about you?!"

"I'll stay and distract them. It'll give you more time to flee."

"No, I'm not leaving-" I protested, but she cut me off.

"There's no time!" She shouted. "One of us has to make it back to warn Willhollow, and if you don't find Aaron soon, you're going to get even weaker..."

I didn't know what to do, and with the guards growing closer, I didn't have much time to decide

Rheina smiled "Go child. I'll be fine."

Sighing, I softly laid Isabelle's body onto the ground, rose, and began running once more with the queen, towards the brush. An arrow or two whizzed by, but missed me luckily.

Just as Isabelle had said, there was a bird tied to a branch there. I untied her and climbed on. As the bird rose into the air, and we were about to take off, I looked back for a second, and saw Oren kneeling next to Isabelle's body for a moment, an expression of pain and sorrow gracing his features for a split second.

Then, he rose, and rolled her body over with his foot, as if it were a dead piece of road kill. He turned and struck the queen flat across the face, shouting something else to her and his men.

I clenched my fists around the reigns of the bird, so much wanting to go back and show this creature just what a monstrosity he had become, but there was nothing I could do. I was just a weak little girl now...

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I whipped the bird's reins, and he began flying out of Willhollow, and towards the outskirts of Willhollow's meadow, where the others were. I tried to suppress the growing sick feeling in my stomach. How could I have just deserted the queen, and all of Willhollow?!

I sighed, wiping the thought from my mind. I wasn't deserting this place, or the queen. We were going to come back and defeat the man who had hurt so many people...

Somehow, we were going to stop him...

Sooooooooo... At least MK's not dead...?

"-_- I'm despicable I know. And you'd be more disgusted with me if you knew like the dark thought process i went through during this chapter. I was like"Hmm who can I kill that won't cripple the story but will still affect the audience?" Like they weren't even people, just things I could kill. IDK it was a weird place in my mind to be...

So yeah. Next chapter will be up tomorrow, and I'm just warning, it's not exactly going to get happier until the end. IT WILL GET HAPPIER, just...not now. So hold on until the end!

Until then!

~Macy