Chapter 19:

Hope Fades
into the world of night
through the shadows falling
out of memory and time
don't say, "We have come now to the end."
White shores are calling
you and I will meet again. ~~ Annie Lennox "Into the West"


My mind is reeling. It is Morrighan but she looks different. She no longer has her flowing dress on, but instead dark leather pants, a dark shirt with a leather vest over it. Her outfit was considerably warrior-esque. She was not here for talking, she was here for a fight.

"What do you think you are doing, human," the head elder angerly says as she stands.

Morrighan walks up beside me, her blaster still raised, and says, "If you haven't already figured it out, this is a rescue mission. Come on, use your heads! I'm here to take Trance Gemini and Seamus Harper away from here and back to where they should be."

As she says Harper's name, I close my eyes and look down. The head elder sadistically laughs, "Oh, is that so, well, from the looks of things you are too late." The head elder points and Morrighan's eyes follow. They stop on Harper's dead form.

"Oh god," she says. She looks at me and finishes, "I'm so sorry. I tried to come sooner, but at least I can get you out of here." She places a hand on my arm.

The head elder looks at her, smiles and says, "Do you seriously believe that you can get her out of here, you are but one mere human."

Morrighan looks the elder straight in the eyes and says, "Sorry, but I will get her out of here. I may have been too late for Harper, but Trance I will get out. Oh, and mama always said travel in packs." As she finishes, she snaps her fingers and hundreds more file in, blasters raised. Morrighan steadies her blaster, aim directly on the head elder.

"Now, I'm sure that if I shot you, you wouldn't die, but it sure would hurt like hell. So, I'm taking Trance out of here, no more casualties."

"You do realize that you will not get away with this."

"Yes I will because, if you come after us, if you come after Trance ever again, I will give the coordinates of this planet to every single contact that my people have. I'm sure that a few of the planets that your people have devastated would love some retribution."

This time the head elder remains silent. "That's what I thought."

She grabs my arm and start to pull me, but I won't budge. "No. I'm not leaving him," I sternly say.

She leans in beside my face and says, "I'm sorry, Trance, but he's gone. Just because he's gone doesn't mean you have to die along with him."

I look back at Harper and say, "No, this is my fault! I will not leave him. If I can't be with him in life, I will in death."

I look back at Morrighan and she nods and says, "I understand, Trance. I just wish there could be another way," as she finishes, she lets go of my arm.

I turn back towards Harper. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do this." Suddenly there is a wave of pain running through my head and the next thing I feel is the darkness of unconsciousness.

*****

Morrighan looks down at Trance's crumpled form. She grips the handle of her blaster again. She didn't want to knock Trance out, but she also couldn't leave her behind. She had tried so hard to get here in time, to save them both, but she had partly failed, Harper had died. She looked at his still form and mentally apologized. She then picks Trance up and walks out of the room, her soldiers filing out behind her.

The elders storm out of the room, leaving Harper's body alone...or so they thought. The moment the final elder exits, Azealia steps out from the shadows. She walks over to Harper's still form, kneeling down beside him. "This is not what I expected. Humans only care for themsleves, yet you sacrificed yourself for Trance. Why? I gave you that dream in hopes you'd stop her excecution but this is not what I expected. I thought after that dream, after I made you watch her die, that you would leave and take her with you. That you would stall until Morrighan came, that is why I left her the coordinates, but you didn't, you let everything play out, and then sacrificed yourself. You wouldn't leave her."

Azealia gently strokes his cheek and continues, "You really do love her. I knew she loved you, I saw that the moment she agreed to take the punishment for the both of you, even if it meant her death. I thought that because you are human, you'd let her past keep you away, but you didn't. You are definitely different, human....you don't deserve this fate....you don't deserve to die...Harper."

Azealia looks around making sure that she is alone. When she realizes that she is, she places a hand on Harper's chest. A light blue mist starts to swirl around them. "Harper, I will fix this," Azealia says as she and Harper completely disappear.

TBC

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