Ben faced Mal in the dark forest, a shadowed figure standing in the darkness of the trees. The only light came from the strip of moon in the pitch black sky, and while it barely illuminated his surroundings, it also seemed as if all of it was concentrated on Mal's horror-struck face. Ben stared back in equal terror as the shadowed figure shouted in a growling voice.

"Do it!"

Mal's features suddenly hardened and she leapt at Ben with crazy, feral motions trying to strike him with the knife she held. Ben blocked her attacks with his shield, keeping the sword in his scabbard where it was. Mal continued to attack her husband, while Ben only used his shield to defend himself. Mal shouted in pain and frustration with every attempted strike but despite almost no light, Ben could see anguished tears spilling out of her wild eyes.

Ben cried out in pain when Mal's knife caught his shoulder. Mal's frenzy was cut short as pure horror etched across her face. She stumbled back, and dark liquid covered the knife in her hand. Ben's shield dropped to the ground, and he clutched his shoulder, feeling the warm, sticky substance that was his blood cover his hand.

"Finish him!" the shadowed figure ordered Mal. "If you want to see your child alive, you will kill him!"

Ben felt his insides turn to ice at the reminder of the stakes. He wiped his hand on his pants, and shakily took his sword out of the sheathe. Mal attempted another attack, which Ben blocked with his sword and then jumped out of Mal's range. Mal glared at him through her tears.

"Fight back!" She screamed at him.

Ben's mouth went dry. How could he hurt the love of his life? His choice made he dropped his sword. "I won't." His voice was hardly more than a whisper, but Mal had heard it as a clap of thunder. She yelled in frustration and thrust her knife under Ben's throat. She looked up at him. The desperation and conflict on her perfect face made his heart shrivel in his chest.

He gazed into her eyes, that appeared gray in the darkness. "Do it," he said bravely, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Her pain was too much to look at so he closed his eyes, anticipating the feeling of Mal's blade to sink into his skin. A moment passed, and nothing. Then, a soft sadistic chuckle and a pained gasp. Ben snapped his eyes open to the most horrifying thing he had ever seen. A long red streak spread across Mal's neck, and the knife slipped from her hand. She immediately collapsed, and Ben rushed to catch her. He lowered her to the ground, cradling her gently. Blood spilled all over his clothes as it drained from Mal's neck. She tensed suddenly, and let out a gurgling cough, blood spilling out of her mouth.

Her eyes met his, so full of love and warmth, Ben felt himself break inside. Tears streamed down his face, as he watched his world slipped between his fingers. Mal's eyes closed and she sagged against him, letting herself be held by him one last time. They stayed like that for a minute or so, for he could still feel the slowing thud of Mal's heart against his chest. He held her close, grasping the last few moments of life that still lingered. As the heart he had cared for until the end grew fainter, and eventually stopped, he silently promised Mal one last thing: her sacrifice would not be in vain.

A/N: In light of a guest review, I felt I should explain some of the things that happened here. For starters this was based on a prompt, probably one of the biggest reasons why it's kind of vague. I tried to fill in details as best I could. I have no idea who the shadowed figure is. Just some dude that wants Mal, Ben, or their child dead. In regards to the guest's question, their child does survive, since the shadowed figure gets what he wants and Ben's promise.

If anyone cares, the prompt was basically to imagine your OTP being forced to kill each other, but one of them refuses to hurt the other, and they wait for whatever their fate is. When I was reading it (and imagining Mal and Ben with it) I couldn't picture Mal killing Ben, so I thought of Mal killing herself instead, and I was like 'yeah, I'm writing this now'. The child wasn't part of the prompt, but I needed a motive for Mal and Ben to (sort of) agree to fight each other. Originally I had the fate of Auradon or their friends' lives, but I thought a child would be so much more personal and worked better. The villain also wasn't part of the prompt... but I already explained him, I just tried to make him seem creepy, lol. Anyways hope you enjoyed this and my rambling. I'd love to know what you thought, good or bad! :3