Chapter one – A tortured heart

Tanith's eyes flickered as she woke from what seemed to be a life time of dreaming. Her limbs ached and her face was caked in blood. Slowly, she raised her head to see Ghastly kneeling beside her. He looked worried; scared almost.

"Tanith?"

Her mind was groggy and confused. Why was Ghastly scared? He needed comfort. Stretching her muscular arms she reached for his face but he flinched away.

"Ghastly? What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Is… is this a joke? Tanith are you… you?"

"Of course. Who else would I be?" Tanith grinned.

"No… it can't be… you were gone! I saw you were taken over by a… a…"

"Shhhh. It's okay Ghastly, I'm here. We're safe now."

Tanith held Ghastly in her arms and pulled him to her chest in a tight embrace as he wept quietly. His sobs were unbearable and Tanith cried along with him as his heart, which after so long had been tortured was only now being healed.

Once they had finished, Tanith finally looked at her surroundings. It was a bleak and disgusting site. The battle field was so soaked in blood it looked as if it was a red carpet. Scattered on the ground was thousands of corpses, many with torsos and limbs missing; all of them carried the same look of fright and horror on their faces. The few hundreds of people that had survived looked weary, some had just collapsed where they stood; the grief was too much to bear.

"So many…" she whispered.

"I know. Tanith, this is not even the final battle. With Valkyrie gone, Skulduggery has lost the plot and is sending us to battles we can barely win. Too many have died this time…" He sighed and lowered his head onto his chest. "I don't know if we can win this war."

"Of course we can! Ghastly listen to me. We have each other and that is all that matters now. I… I think I love you."

Ghastly raised his head and looked straight into her deep blue eyes. A single tear trickled down her face and he swept it away with his thumb.

"I love you to."

One of the sorcerers began to slowly move its foot, but Ghastly barely noticed.

He stood and held out a hand to her. "We will get through this. Together."

She grabbed his hand and was pulled to her feet. "Always" she whispered.

Suddenly, a black slice of shadow erupted from behind. The sorcerer had black veins covering its face and body and started to laugh cruelly. "If I can't have her, neither can you!" it screeched. Ghastly swiftly took his knife and leapt on to it. He slit its throat in a matter of seconds.

Ghastly looked up and to his dismay saw Tanith. She had a look of horror and pain on her face whilst her hands were held close to her stomach. The red liquid started to seep past her fingers and down her torso, dripping along her arms on to the blood soaked ground. He ran to catch her as her knees buckled and she fell once more.

"No… God no… I just got you back!" Ghastly screamed.

He held her and saw the deep gash across her stomach. Blood drenched his hands as he tried to put pressure on it.

"Ghastly stop…" Tanith whimpered.

"No! I'm not going to let you die! I am not going to lose you again!" He cried and rocked her in his arms.

"You never did take me for that steak…"

"Shhh… don't talk. I will take you tomorrow. As soon as you're better. It will be the best steak money can buy. I promise."

"Ghastly… I love you."

"I love you to"

"I'm… I'm not going to make it."

"Yes you are!"

"Ghastly, I want you to look after Val and make sure Skulduggery does not do anything insane"

"Shut up! Do not say goodbye!"

"Please… Goodbye… my Ghastly…"

Tanith went limp in his arms as her last breath left her body.

So yeah… bit of a sad one :D I nearly cried writing it! Tell me what you think and there will be another chapter (hopefully) Okay thanks for reading! *gives hugs and tissues* ;)