A/N: Wow, haven't submitted anything in AGES. But, um, DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ELF QUEEN OF SHANNARA YET, BECAUSE THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS. YES, SPOILERS. SO, UH, YEAH.
Otherwise, continue. Heh.
Anyway, you know how in Elf Queen, Wren and them go into the Harrow looking for Eowen and stuff, and then when they come back, they find Dal dead and Gavilan gone? I wanted to write the scene in which Dal dies (from Dal's point of view), since obviously TB doesn't do it, and… uh, I did, as is apparent. Heh. So continue. And review. Yay.
---
Prince's Betrayal
The Elven Hunter and the Elven prince were perfectly still, unmoving. They had been that way since Triss and the others had left to seek out Wren, and nothing had happened since.
Dal glanced at Gavilan uncertainly. He knew what the other was thinking about; it reflected in his haunted eyes. The Rukh Staff. Gavilan seemed obsessed with the idea of possessing it, of using its magic to turn things back the way they were. It almost scared Dal, how feral and greedy it made him seem.
And then the prince spoke. "Dal."
The Elven Hunter glanced at him. "My Lord," he murmured, deferring to the Elessedil, casting aside all thoughts of Gavilan's need for the Staff for the moment.
"Dal," the other repeated. "I need you to do something for me."
Dal continued to regard him silently, saying nothing.
Gavilan hunched down within the folds of his cloak, shivering. "Surely they're all dead now. Eowen's probably been converted into a Drakul, and Lady Wren along with her. And knowing the Scat, he's probably lost himself and the others within the Harrow, and eventually they'll become monsters too."
"The Scat has an extraordinary sense of smell, you saw that the other day." Dal's voice sounded cracked and unused.
"I don't trust it. In any case… don't you see? We're the only ones that are left! If we don't leave now, the Drakuls will find us and the Elves will be doomed! There's no chance!"
Dal spoke softly. "There is always a chance."
The Elven prince looked away, fire in his eyes. "I thought you of all people would understand."
"I understand," the words were bile in his mouth, "that so long as we have no evidence that anyone is dead, we will stay here and wait."
"Dal!" His name was a controlled scream. "How long have we known each other? How long have you served the Home Guard while I was the prince? How—"
"I am held by my Captain's orders!" Dal almost shouted, angered now as well. What was Gavilan trying to do?
"Triss?" He sneered. "Triss is dead now! Surely the Drakuls have reached him! Following a dead man's orders is fool's play!"
Dal almost hit him. The fact that Gavilan was the Elven prince and Dal only an Elven Hunter was the only thing that kept him from doing so. "Dead man or not, I still obey."
Gavilan jabbed the Rukh Staff at Dal's nose. "I am Prince," he said in an even tone. "Anything I say overrides that of the Captain of the Home Guard. And I say for us to leave, with the Rukh Staff, and get off this cursed island."
"No." Dal shook his head. "Not while there's a chance that they're still alive."
"This isn't a game anymore," Gavilan whispered furiously. "There are lives at stake. Our lives. And if you would like to forfeit yours, so be it." He wheeled away.
Dal heard Gavilan rummage around in his packs, too incensed himself to move to face the prince. Leaving was fool's play, not staying. He couldn't abandon four people. Gavilan was being stupid.
Then, suddenly, he crumpled to the ground, an immense pain ratcheting through his head as Gavilan's weapon tore into his skull and split both skin and bone alike apart. He could feel the skin ripping into two. He could feel the blood begin to soak through his hair to land in scarlet puddles on the barren earth. He could feel, as if it were a palpable thing, the specter called Death come to pick him up.
Blood was leaking from his nose and mouth too by now. How could Gavilan have done such a thing…?
He heard the Elven prince's desperate voice. "I'm not going to die here. The magic is mine now, and I'm going to use it the way it's supposed to be used."
And then everything disappeared in a black haze, and Dal was gone.