A/N: Hey all! For any of you who might be sensitive to certain topics, please check the tags! This story will like all of my stories lmao cover some heavy stuff like grief and trauma, as well as some of the stuff that Will went through in Skandia like drug addiction, starvation, etc. Please be careful if reading such material could hurt you.
I hope you all enjoy this story! I welcome and encourage feedback, especially constructive criticism. Please tell me what I'm doing well and what I'm doing poorly! I'm working on becoming a published author so any constructive criticism means a lot to me. If you want, hmu at my tumblr lost-and-longing!
"No!"
With every last ounce of his remaining strength, Will desperately reached towards Evanlyn. Blood oozed from a deep wound in his chest and his head spun, his consciousness black around the edges. Evanlyn crouched, terrified, on the ground, arms up as if to shield her from a blow. It was a useless endeavor. The gleaming axe that waited above her would not be stopped by her pleas, her arms, or her cries. There was no preventing the inevitable.
"Today, be you all my witnesses!" Ragnak cried to all those around him. He shouted to Will, dying on the freezing ground of Skandia; to Horace, lying dead and cold; to Halt, wheezing out his final breaths; to Erak, standing still and resigned; to all of his men who had fought with him against the Rangers. None of them had cared that Halt was the only reason they were still alive, that Halt's strategies had been the only thing that caused the Temujai to flee from the battle. No. As soon as the battle was over, Ragnak had found Evanlyn and declared that his Vallasvow must be fulfilled.
Halt, Horace, and Will, outnumbered hundreds and hundreds to one, had not stood a chance.
"With this," Ragnak declared, raising the axe's gleaming head above Evanlyn's fragile neck, "I fulfill my vow to the Vallas! May they accept my offering!"
The Skandians shouted as one: "May they accept your offering!"
Ragnak brought the axe down.
Will choked out an incoherent scream, gasping for breath. His blurry, horrified eyes could only watch as the body of one his closest friends hit the ground with an ugly, final thud. Her blood stained the icy ground scarlet. His eyes fixed on Evanlyn's open, vacant, lifeless ones and could not look away.
Nearby, he heard Halt's faint, pained whisper. "I am sorry...my King. I have...failed you."
"H-Halt," Will gasped out, turning his head to look at his mentor. The movement pulled on the gaping hole in his chest and his eyes watered so badly he could barely see. "Halt."
"Will." With monumental effort, Halt tried to crawl to Will. His strength failed him and he collapsed back down onto the ground. They were mere feet apart, yet they might as well have been miles. Neither of them had the strength to close the gap.
"Will," he whispered. "I...I am so sorry. This is...my fault."
"No," Will said, shaking his head despite the pain it caused him. "No, it's not your..."
The raucous screams and cheers of the Skandians roared around them, oblivious - or uncaring - of the apprentice and the Ranger. More tears burned in Will's eyes. How had this gone so wrong? He remembered, so clearly, Halt's reassurance. "These things have a way of sorting themselves out," he had said. Look how that had turned out.
Will laughed, bitter and broken. Droplets of blood oozed up from his lungs and dribbled down his chin. His strength was leaving him with every passing second. He knew he did not have many seconds left.
"Will," Halt's voice came again. Will met his gaze. It was desperate and pained. "I never told you...I never told you that I..."
"Halt, please," Will whispered. The pain in Halt's face was too much to bear. He could drown in the regret in Halt's eyes.
"You are...a son to me," Halt said. "I never told you. Thought I would have...the time. But now..."
Will reached out a hand, tears gleaming helplessly in his eyes. He could not even reach his mentor, his fingers ending in dead air, mere inches away from Halt. "Halt, I-"
"I love you, Will." Halt smiled softly. "My son."
Then he stopped breathing.
There was no scream in the universe that would have been loud enough. Will's mouth opened in silent agony, his hands clawing at thin air. How could this have happened? Why did this happen? Horace - Evanlyn - Halt...
"Give me...another chance," he croaked. He was not afraid of death; he knew quite well where he would go. No, he wanted to fix this. He wanted - he needed them back. He needed them back. "Let me fix this. Please."
Nothing happened.
Will closed his eyes. Of course. It wasn't like God was going to send him back in time.
Footsteps approached. Will wrenched his eyes open to see who was coming towards him. It was more difficult than he thought it would be. Everything was now - breathing, blinking. He was dizzy now, his vision looping and swirling in strange patterns. His heartbeat had turned erratic and strange.
Erak's figure loomed above Will. "I'm sorry, lad," he said quietly. "There was nothing I could do. I could hardly fight against my own people."
Will tried to breathe.
"Here. Take this." Erak handed him something. Will lifted one hand to take it, weak fingers barely able to find purchase. It was his bow, he realized, or a piece of it anyway. One of Ragnak's men had snapped it in half after he'd stabbed Will through.
"Thanks," Will managed.
"May we meet again in Valhalla," Erak said solemnly.
Will nodded. He could feel the last bit of his life ebbing away. "May we meet again," he choked out.
Erak's slow footsteps drew away. Will trained his gaze up at the sky. The cold, grey sky of Skandia would be the last thing he saw. He would never again see his home. Warm tears trickled down his cold cheeks.
As his consciousness faded, his bleary eyes watched the sun begin to set. Its dying rays flickered over his face, gentle. Lifting up his hand, he reached towards the sun. Please, he found himself thinking, in the last act of his life, please give me the chance to make this right.
His hand fell down to the earth and he went limp. Yet as he died, a voice responded.
It shall be done.