Note: Wow, here it is...the last Chapter. Now, I do have an epilogue so don't worry. There's still a little more story left to tell. This chapter came out just exactly the way I wanted it to, the way I had it planned from the beginning. I'm curious to see how people feel about the end, so please let me know. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the others and I will work on having that epilogue up soon. .

Chapter 10

Everything Above and Below

Alice didn't know how long she was unconscious but it felt like only moments had passed until she was being jostled again. The dog soldier shook her roughly, until her eyes opened and she looked up at him. He placed her on her feet and she cried out in pain. His arm slid around her waist and kept her from falling. She looked forward and saw that they were heading up a stony embankment. Her eyes traveled farther and she realized they were at the base of a cliff. The dog soldier began walking forward, practically dragging her damaged feet on the stones. She forced her feet to move a little, trying to walk along with him. It felt like they climbed forever, up and up into the blue sky. Alice felt cold and dead inside, it felt as though she had lost everything. Her sister, at that moment, was probably being killed and she was to be wife to the monster that killed her father. Her eyes rose to his look at the back of his head where he walked a few feet in front of her. He would have to kill her before she would let him touch her. Let him try to take her, she could guarantee he would come away with one less limb. If she had her way it would be the important one.

She looked out over the cliffs as they meandered their way over the slick rocks. The world looked so big and bright from those rocks. It stretched on for miles, an ocean of green against the cornflower sky.

A noise up ahead caught her attention. There was a cracking sound, like branches breaking, then a gunshots. Screams rang out somewhere ahead. Magua's head shot up and he drew a tomahawk from his belt. More pained cried were heard and Alice strained to see what was going on. A flash of black hair, a green shirt. Her eyes widened and she gasped.

Uncas was fighting his way through the dog soldiers, taking them down left and right as if they were nothing. For a moment she thought she was dreaming, that she was still unconscious.

"Uncas," She said quietly, not quite believing it could be him. He was almost to Magua, who had pulled another knife from his belt.

"Uncas," She yelled, reaching out a hand as if he could grab it. The dog solider held her firm as she fought him. She moved like a wildcat, trying to get out of his grasp.

Uncas brought his tomahawk down toward Magua, who blocked it with his own. Using the knife he cut deeply into Uncas side, then he spun around and caught the other side. He hopped backwards with his knives raised, waiting for Uncas to come at him.

The Mohican looked down at the blood that was running from the wounds, startled. Then slowly his head came up. From across the rocks, his eyes met with Alice's. She stopped fighting the dog soldier, she stared into those endless brown eyes. Without a word, he said goodbye. In his eyes there was a knowledge that he might not be able to win this fight. His eyes told her that only one of them might be leaving the cliffs alive and if he had his way, it would be her.

Alice watched in horror as he rushed Magua, pushing him farther back on the rock ledge. They collided in a flash of blades and fell to the stone floor. Alice slid out of the soldiers arms like butter, he let her go. She fell to her knees as Magua stabbed at the man she loved, cutting into his flesh like an animal. Her hands came down to grip her skirts, her nails digging into the fabric as Uncas screamed. Her fingers closed around something long and smooth in the pocket. She snaked a hand into that front pocket and felt the object. It was smooth and cold to the touch, a knitting needle. In everything that had happened over the last few days she had forgotten about the scarf. The one she had been making for Cora, the one she would never wear. She had shoved the needle into the pocket when they were leaving camp, and here it was, still in her pocket.

Something in Alice seemed to change then. some clarity and light came into her eyes. She pushed the object up into her sleeve to hide it as she got to her feet. If she felt pain, she didn't show it. If she felt fear, it was buried. She stood on her damaged feet and took a step forward. The dog soldier's hand shot out to grab her arm, she didn't fight him. Instead she looked into his face with those haunted blue eyes. Something in her face gave him pause. Something shining in her clear blue eyes affected him. There was no threat in her face, no promise of danger, she only stared at him. His hand fell away from her arm, he looked afraid of her. Alice turned away from him, her eyes were for Magua.

He was standing over Uncas, who was trying to struggle into a sitting position. The Mohican's arm hung limply at his side, useless and bloody. Alice walked silently across the stones, her damaged feet leaving smears of blood here and there. No one stopped her, after all what could she do? This small blonde girl with the hurt feet, what threat was she?

Alice walked up behind Magua and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned with his knife raised, ready to strike, then he saw her face. Like the dog soldier he paused, transfixed. Her eyes were like two deep pools of water as she laid her palm against his cheek. He looked at the hand, then back at her, confused. Everything was silent, no one spoke or moved. With a motion as calm and quiet as her eyes, Alice leaned forward. She pressed her lips gently against Maguas, her hand lingering lightly on his cheek. He did not kiss her back but he didn't pull away either. His knife arm lowered while her other arm came up.

Maybe he thought she was going to embrace him or that she was going to touch him in some small way. There were any number of things Magua could have imagined at that moment. He never saw the knitting needle slide into her palm, never saw it coming toward him. It wasn't until the sharpness of the tip bit into his throat that he realized what she was doing. By then it was too late, the knitting needle was thrust through his throat. It slammed through soft tissue and arteries, it destroyed his voice box.

Alice pulled back from him and he looked at her in astonishment. She was blocking the dog soldier view of him. None of them saw the blood rushing down his front, the blood that was staining her dress. None of them saw his mouth working to speak.

Magua took a step back from her, his hands going to the front of his throat where the needle protruded. His feet were dangerously close to the precipice, one more step would take him over. He backed away from the look in Alice's eyes, away from her. He fled from the calmness of one who no longer had anything to loose. Then he fell away into the blue, tumbling away from her and everything above.

Alice stood facing where he had been and felt nothing. There was no regret in her this time. She had killed him and she had felt nothing. She had felt his blood flow over her hands and felt nothing. She had made a choice between him and Uncas. A choice as to who would live and who would die. She had chosen Uncas, it was as simple as that.

Whatever willpower had leant strength to he legs ebbed away. She sank slowly to her knees on the rocks, her eyes still fixed on where Magua had fallen. Uncas edged his way toward her, pulling himself with his good arm. When he reached her his face was filled with pain, not all of it physical.

"Why Alice," He asked, grabbing at her arm with his good one. "Why?"

She turned those clear blue eyes on him, seeing him and yet not seeing him.

"I can't live in a world were you're gone," She replied quietly. Then her eyes saw him, really saw him and everything seemed so clear.

"It was him or us," She said more to herself than to him. "I chose us"

"Alice," He tried to say something but collapsed with a pained grunt. She scooted forward and pulled his head into her lap.

The dog soldiers had stood as if paralyzed through the whole thing, but now Alice's hypnotic hold seemed to be breaking. A few drew knives and Tomahawks and advanced on the two huddled figures. Alice saw this and pulled Uncas Knife from his belt.

"No," She ordered, holding it out before her. Her arm was steady, as if she knew just how to use the knife. In reality, Alice had never touched any such weapon but if they rushed her she would learn quickly. Her eyes dared them to try.

A few looked wary, having seen what she did to Magua. Others looked amused that this tiny blonde thing thought she could take them on. One gave a bark of derisive laughter. They started forward again.

Then the world exploded in a series of gunfire. The dog soldiers fell here and there, forgetting Alice and Uncas as they turned on new attackers. Suddenly Nathaniel and Chingachgook were there, fighting off the Indians. Cora was struggling her way up the rock path behind them. Her sister was alive, having escaped the promise of death in Huron fire.

When it was over Alice was still sitting there with the knife held out before her, her eye fixed ahead. It was only when Nathaniel pushed down on the arm that she dropped it. It clattered onto the stone ledge. She looked down into Uncas brown eyes where they blinked up at her and began to cry. She hugged his head in her lap and sobbed. For the first time in days, they were safe. Now there was only the sky above and the earth below, and everything in between.