Alternate last chapter for "Warrior, Wolf and Witch"
This is a brief snippet of what could have been for a story I've wanted to revise. I have yet to post it here on FF but at Deana's suggestion, I did start to re-write it several weeks ago. Sadly my hard drive crashed and silly me never uploaded the changes to a disk.
To give a brief synopsis, the O'Connell's and Ardeth find themselves in the highlands of Scotland in a spooky old castle searching for a diary that contains directions to find Hamunaptra. The deceased laird's son Conor has other plans for the diary as well as a stolen book of shadows taken from the witch Rhoswen. As the O'Connell's race against time to find the diary hidden somewhere in the castle library, Ardeth finds himself falling under the wild spell of the witch and the call of the wolf. Perhaps someday soon I'll get back to revising this story and posting it here..
~*~
Conor plunged the knife into Ardeth's stomach with a surprising amount of ease and met little resistance. It felt like he was cutting through warm butter. He buried it to the hilt and twisted even as Ardeth tried to grab onto his shoulders, most likely fighting to stay conscious despite the pain he must have felt. With malevolent glee, Conor watched as Ardeth's face paled and his body seemed to crumple onto its self. With a vicious jerk of his hand, he yanked the knife free and watched as the warrior slowly sank to the ground.
Clutching his bloody stomach, Ardeth felt his knees hit the ground hard and the jolt almost kept him from losing consciousness. However the demand on his rapidly weakening body was too great and with an odd sigh of acceptance, he lost the battle. Ardeth fell to his side, his eyes slowly fluttering shut as a sense of peace swept over him.
Conor's lips curled back in a parody of a triumphant smile as the Medjai succumbed to the fatal injury. He didn't hear anything over the rush of adrenaline roaring in his ears, nor could he could hear the agonized screams of the O'Connell's. All that mattered was that his enemy was dead and he was free to become a rich man.
"You son of a bitch!" Rick shouted angrily as he charged forward to reach his friend. A shot whistled over his shoulder and a second later, he saw the bullet lodged in Conor's forehead. A brief look of surprise flashed over Conor's face then Rick spun around to see Evy standing behind him, the still smoking gun in her hand. He turned back to Conor just in time to see him fall, dead before he hit the cold, hard ground.
"Oh God, oh God, oh God," Rick muttered a litany of grief, as he fell to Ardeth's side and searched for a way to help his friend, as a feeling of helplessness washed over him. He put his hands over the wound, tried to staunch the flow of bright red blood that flowed down Ardeth's robes like scarlet ribbons but it was useless. He looked up at Evy with the intention of asking her what they could do but grief made speech impossible.
Rhoswen stood off to the side, numb beyond words, never realizing her visions meant she would witness the warrior die. How could she have been so wrong, didn't the future hold a promise for him of a greater reward? She knelt down and buried her face in Graystar's shaggy chest, letting the tears stream down her face, the book of shadows temporarily forgotten.
Evy lowered her gun and slowly walked over to her distraught husband, who was now cradling the body of his friend and begging him not to die. Oddly she was without grief, choosing instead to focus on the belief that Ardeth was all right, that he was still alive.
"Ardeth?" She called out softly and sank to her knees in shock beside Rick. She reached out and tentatively touched his shoulder.
"Ardeth! Open your eyes, damnit. Look at me, open your eyes now!" Rick commanded in a near shout, his voice hoarse with grief.
"O'Connell?" Ardeth whispered, sucked in small erratic breaths and tried to ignore the coldness that seeped into his body. "Rick..."
"Tell me what to do, tell me how I can save you." Rick answered desperately. "I can save you."
"There is..nothing that can be done..my friend. Both you and.. I know this." Ardeth sighed and with one bloody hand weakly grabbed onto Rick's sleeve.
"I don't believe it, there has to be something. Tell me and I'll do it, I'll do anything," Rick replied then looked up at Evy helplessly.
"Let..me go. It is the will..of Allah." Ardeth rasped, as breathing became so much harder. He tried to ignore the white light that suddenly appeared over O'Connell's right shoulder but his eyes were drawn back to it and its compelling warmth. He knew what it was and the eternal rest it offered. "They are ..waiting for me."
"No," Rick gathered his friend closer, as if that accomplishment alone could hold off impending death. He closed his eyes when he heard a sudden gasp escape from Ardeth's lips then opened them again as he felt Evy's hand on his shoulder.
Ardeth felt himself drift away, wished he could have done something to ease the pain he saw on the faces of Rick and Evy but the light beyond that was too hard to ignore any more. With one last shuddering breath, Ardeth Bay died.
Evy shook her head in denial, this was not possible. Ardeth wasn't supposed to die, he was supposed to live. He was young and still had his whole life ahead of him; he was the protector of man, of Hamunaptra. He was supposed to have gotten married and had children, he was supposed to life a full life. She shook her head again and spotted Rhoswen. In her mind, somehow the witch was responsible for Ardeth dying and that made also made her responsible for fixing this horrible mistake.
"You!" Evy jumped up and ran over to the witch. "Do something for God's sake, use a spell in that precious book of yours and bring him back to life."
Rhoswen sadly shook her head. "It is not for me to intercede. No spell, no power that I hold can bring him back. Ardeth alone must choose."
"What in bloody hell are you talking about?" Evy grabbed her by the arm, ignoring the warning growl from the wolf and dragged her over to the fallen warrior. "You're telling me you can't magic something up to bring him back?"
Rhoswen jerked her arm free and stared at Evy, knowing grief fueled her actions. "When a wolf dies, it doesna fight death for it is neither friend nor enemy. It simply is. For yer friend, he has the choice to choose between the world where he is with loved ones, or the afterlife where those who love him wait for him. But he must decide for him what simply is, I canna and will not make that decision for him."
Stifling a sob, Evy slowly turned away from the witch and went back to her husband. She knelt down and reached out with one shaky hand to lovingly brush back the dark hair from Ardeth's face. He looked so peaceful, relaxed and free of any pain.
"Ardeth, come back to us, we need you. Please," she whispered.
Evy bent lower and whispered her plea again, watching and praying that somehow, he heard her. She heard Rick add his own entreaty and they held their breath, waiting to see what choice the warrior would make.
This is a brief snippet of what could have been for a story I've wanted to revise. I have yet to post it here on FF but at Deana's suggestion, I did start to re-write it several weeks ago. Sadly my hard drive crashed and silly me never uploaded the changes to a disk.
To give a brief synopsis, the O'Connell's and Ardeth find themselves in the highlands of Scotland in a spooky old castle searching for a diary that contains directions to find Hamunaptra. The deceased laird's son Conor has other plans for the diary as well as a stolen book of shadows taken from the witch Rhoswen. As the O'Connell's race against time to find the diary hidden somewhere in the castle library, Ardeth finds himself falling under the wild spell of the witch and the call of the wolf. Perhaps someday soon I'll get back to revising this story and posting it here..
~*~
Conor plunged the knife into Ardeth's stomach with a surprising amount of ease and met little resistance. It felt like he was cutting through warm butter. He buried it to the hilt and twisted even as Ardeth tried to grab onto his shoulders, most likely fighting to stay conscious despite the pain he must have felt. With malevolent glee, Conor watched as Ardeth's face paled and his body seemed to crumple onto its self. With a vicious jerk of his hand, he yanked the knife free and watched as the warrior slowly sank to the ground.
Clutching his bloody stomach, Ardeth felt his knees hit the ground hard and the jolt almost kept him from losing consciousness. However the demand on his rapidly weakening body was too great and with an odd sigh of acceptance, he lost the battle. Ardeth fell to his side, his eyes slowly fluttering shut as a sense of peace swept over him.
Conor's lips curled back in a parody of a triumphant smile as the Medjai succumbed to the fatal injury. He didn't hear anything over the rush of adrenaline roaring in his ears, nor could he could hear the agonized screams of the O'Connell's. All that mattered was that his enemy was dead and he was free to become a rich man.
"You son of a bitch!" Rick shouted angrily as he charged forward to reach his friend. A shot whistled over his shoulder and a second later, he saw the bullet lodged in Conor's forehead. A brief look of surprise flashed over Conor's face then Rick spun around to see Evy standing behind him, the still smoking gun in her hand. He turned back to Conor just in time to see him fall, dead before he hit the cold, hard ground.
"Oh God, oh God, oh God," Rick muttered a litany of grief, as he fell to Ardeth's side and searched for a way to help his friend, as a feeling of helplessness washed over him. He put his hands over the wound, tried to staunch the flow of bright red blood that flowed down Ardeth's robes like scarlet ribbons but it was useless. He looked up at Evy with the intention of asking her what they could do but grief made speech impossible.
Rhoswen stood off to the side, numb beyond words, never realizing her visions meant she would witness the warrior die. How could she have been so wrong, didn't the future hold a promise for him of a greater reward? She knelt down and buried her face in Graystar's shaggy chest, letting the tears stream down her face, the book of shadows temporarily forgotten.
Evy lowered her gun and slowly walked over to her distraught husband, who was now cradling the body of his friend and begging him not to die. Oddly she was without grief, choosing instead to focus on the belief that Ardeth was all right, that he was still alive.
"Ardeth?" She called out softly and sank to her knees in shock beside Rick. She reached out and tentatively touched his shoulder.
"Ardeth! Open your eyes, damnit. Look at me, open your eyes now!" Rick commanded in a near shout, his voice hoarse with grief.
"O'Connell?" Ardeth whispered, sucked in small erratic breaths and tried to ignore the coldness that seeped into his body. "Rick..."
"Tell me what to do, tell me how I can save you." Rick answered desperately. "I can save you."
"There is..nothing that can be done..my friend. Both you and.. I know this." Ardeth sighed and with one bloody hand weakly grabbed onto Rick's sleeve.
"I don't believe it, there has to be something. Tell me and I'll do it, I'll do anything," Rick replied then looked up at Evy helplessly.
"Let..me go. It is the will..of Allah." Ardeth rasped, as breathing became so much harder. He tried to ignore the white light that suddenly appeared over O'Connell's right shoulder but his eyes were drawn back to it and its compelling warmth. He knew what it was and the eternal rest it offered. "They are ..waiting for me."
"No," Rick gathered his friend closer, as if that accomplishment alone could hold off impending death. He closed his eyes when he heard a sudden gasp escape from Ardeth's lips then opened them again as he felt Evy's hand on his shoulder.
Ardeth felt himself drift away, wished he could have done something to ease the pain he saw on the faces of Rick and Evy but the light beyond that was too hard to ignore any more. With one last shuddering breath, Ardeth Bay died.
Evy shook her head in denial, this was not possible. Ardeth wasn't supposed to die, he was supposed to live. He was young and still had his whole life ahead of him; he was the protector of man, of Hamunaptra. He was supposed to have gotten married and had children, he was supposed to life a full life. She shook her head again and spotted Rhoswen. In her mind, somehow the witch was responsible for Ardeth dying and that made also made her responsible for fixing this horrible mistake.
"You!" Evy jumped up and ran over to the witch. "Do something for God's sake, use a spell in that precious book of yours and bring him back to life."
Rhoswen sadly shook her head. "It is not for me to intercede. No spell, no power that I hold can bring him back. Ardeth alone must choose."
"What in bloody hell are you talking about?" Evy grabbed her by the arm, ignoring the warning growl from the wolf and dragged her over to the fallen warrior. "You're telling me you can't magic something up to bring him back?"
Rhoswen jerked her arm free and stared at Evy, knowing grief fueled her actions. "When a wolf dies, it doesna fight death for it is neither friend nor enemy. It simply is. For yer friend, he has the choice to choose between the world where he is with loved ones, or the afterlife where those who love him wait for him. But he must decide for him what simply is, I canna and will not make that decision for him."
Stifling a sob, Evy slowly turned away from the witch and went back to her husband. She knelt down and reached out with one shaky hand to lovingly brush back the dark hair from Ardeth's face. He looked so peaceful, relaxed and free of any pain.
"Ardeth, come back to us, we need you. Please," she whispered.
Evy bent lower and whispered her plea again, watching and praying that somehow, he heard her. She heard Rick add his own entreaty and they held their breath, waiting to see what choice the warrior would make.