(Jack's POV)
Before I even had time to blink, I had crossed the wide gap between myself and the bastard and had both of my daggers rammed into his chest. He locked eyes with me, and suddenly as if being awoken for the first time, he snapped into sharp focus. I heard metal fall to the ground, and he gripped the sides of my arms fiercely.
He grunted, blood started to slide from the corner of his mouth. He coughed once and his tainted blood coated my face. I fought back the urge to vomit. He released one of my arms to wipe his mouth, then quickly began speaking.
"Stop him!" He coughed into the air then flinched. His flesh began to ripple and even out. The lumps in his flesh dissipated and his skin moved like water to his arms. I glanced down in fear to see his arms shake me violently before I felt intense heat under his fingers. I tried to throw him off but some unseen force held us pressed together. I remembered the daggers I had pressed into his chest and tried to force those in further but couldn't move. The burning in my hands spread out over my arms and into my entire being. The moment it touched my heart the heat stopped, replaced by a feeling of power fighting to release itself.
"Save her… End me." He pleaded and finally able to move, I jerked the daggers up. Blood squirted over my arms, and his face contorted in pain. Then relief. His form sagged in my arms then fell to the ground, peace finally with him.
I turned to face Alice and felt hopelessness grip me. She was lying on her back with a large wound piercing her heart. Blood pooled out from her back and joined the ocean of demise crafted so slowly throughout the course of the battle. Her skin was already pale, and she made no move. No shudder or feeble attempt. She was dead...but she couldn't be. No no no, she can't be dead. No! I would've felt it, I would've been able to stop it.
I did feel it...No! I threw myself over her limp corpse and placed my hands directly over her wound. There was no way to get her heart started using mundane means, but maybe magic could save her. Magic will save her, it has to.
A hand fell to rest on my shoulder. "She's dead son, let her be." A male voice said, stricken with grief. I shook his grip and returned to my work. It was going to work.
I called upon fire and a thin string extended from each of my fingers into my palm. I did not release it. I called upon earth and mud fell from my fingers onto her body, but I held a large clump of it suspended. The two started to twist and dance, spinning around each other somehow already aware of what I hoped would happen. I did the same with water, and it joined the sacred dance. The three elements started to swell and contract, a white mist forming where they touch. Lastly I allowed a shock of electricity to join the three. It had only just touched when a bright flash of light blinded everyone nearby momentarily. I blinked violently, she had no time to lose.
It worked, in my hand was the same white matter that I had seen in Alice's dream. Pure magic. I cupped my hands and it slid into them like a liquid, but still wished to remain free-form. Magic need not conform itself to the rules of our world. I held the power over Alice's heart and begged to every god that would listen for her to survive. I threw my hands to the side and let the magic fall. It hung suspended in the air for a moment, but then decided to start its descent. It was excruciatingly slow, I held my hands in fists until blood started to slide from my palm and I had to relinquish my grip.
The magic finally touched her, and it was sucked in. Her wound glowed with a blinding light, and I was forced to avert my eyes. When I looked back, the wound was healed. A large bloodstain still remained, and the pool of blood around her was still a terrifying size, but the wound was gone.
"It's up to her now. If she wants to live that is." The same voice from earlier said.
I turned to him, it was some soldier that I had never seen before. He looked far too old to be in any army, but judging from the kid I passed, the rebels had no age restrictions. "What the hell do you mean, if she wants to live? Of course she wants to live why the hell wouldn't she?"
"I saw her in battle, at first I just thought that she couldn't handle the killing or the proximity to death, but she was handling herself better than any veteran I have ever seen. She kept throwing herself in front of blades and cutting down the owners, at first I thought that she was trying to save her fellow soldiers, but as time wore on, it was obvious that she had another goal in mind."
"You'd better learn to bite your tongue before I rip it out. You don't have the right to speak her name let alone talk about her like that." I got up and moved closer, my finger only inches away from his battle-weary eyes. "She is your queen and you will show her all the respect she deserves."
I stopped myself before I said anything further. It was obvious, she thought that as queen it was her duty to sacrifice herself before she hurt her people any further. She did try to kill herself, and she succeeded. No she did not succeed, I will yank her from the void if I have to.
I fell to her side and gripped her shoulder. "Alice do you hear me? You fight this now, or gods-help-me I will kill myself just so I can kick your ass in the void."
Alice I know you can hear me, pull through. Your people need you. I need you. Come back. I thought as hard as I can, but to no avail. Alice was dead.
Author's note- Very short chapter I know but my writing software is acting up on me. The grand conclusion to all of this mess will be in the next chapter, when hopefully I'll be able to write a paragraph without getting yelled at to fix my formatting.