I couldn't wait to publish, I've been sitting on this and the next few chapters for a while now and one will be published by the weekend.

(Liliana Vess)

I swallow a lump in my throat. So far, I've been able to overcome the hordes of horrors, zombies, and aberrations that the Dimir have thrown at me. The green magic that so surprised me is working very much in my favor right now. I'm looking for any sign of Jace but so far I have come up empty. Worry pulls at my mind, and I'm not sure it it's the doing of the magic down here or if it's me just worrying. Whatever it may be, it's making me nervous and nauseous. The nausea has come back in full force since I've been down here.

I breathe in a sharp breath, a stitch in my side from running. Would it be better to just to ditch the boots now? I have no idea what's on this floor so it probably isn't a great idea to do that. I come to a fork, I take the left one and come to a dead end, but not just any dead end. There are three Dimir agents looking directly at me. I blast hard brambles at them and they are stuck to the walls of the maze.

"Where is Jace?"

"Somewhere in this maze, surely. I thought they told us you were intelligent."

I grab the agent by his face, digging my nails into his face. I push the swamp mana into his blood stream, causing his blood to rot his body as it flowed through his veins. I've had enough of their tricks. I turn to the second agent.

"Where is Jace?"

The man spits in my direction. I have no patience for this. I slap the agent across the face, grabbing the dagger from the man that is slowly dying in front of me. I drag the weapon from one ear to the other, hearing the skin and flesh tear as blood coated my hand. In that moment, I was a vampire. Bloodlust takes over my senses and mind. I turn over to the final agent, his eyes alight with fear.

"Miss Vess- at least be merciful, please. Last I saw him he was over in the right side of the maze near the bridge last I saw him. Make it quick."

I snap his neck, I at least can give him a quick death. He helped me in his last moment. I turn toward the right side of the maze, looking for any sign of him.

There is nothing. It is eerily quiet in here; I don't know if these walls are causing the quietness, but I do not like it. There is no noise, no sounds of fighting, nothing. I pause to catch my breath, but as I do, there is a sharp pain in my abdomen. It's not a cramp, it can't be. I sink to the floor, back against the wall. I cast a shield and will the corpses to get in front of me. I bite my lip; preparing myself mentally.

It begins. I guess I knew it would. Ever since I woke up here, there has been a dark cloud over me, and it finally has decided to engulf me.

I pull my knees to my chest as a wave of pain overtakes me. I feel my womb contract and then feel a slash of pain so bad that I literally cry out in agony. I hug my knees tighter to my chest as I feel the blood gush down my legs, soaking the loose cotton pants that they put me in. I bite back a wave of nausea, but it does no good. The contents of my stomach make their way out of my mouth, acidic and sour. As I vomit, I feel another wave of pain take over me, the baby tearing itself away from my body.

I look to the ceiling of the Duskmantle. I see an overwhelming sign of hope. Flying over the maze is a little blue manta ray.

"Titan!"

He hears me and turns around, flying behind the wall of corpses, wrapping himself protectively around me, cloaking me in illusionary armor. I breathe in. If Titan is here, then Jace, no matter how mangled, is still alive. I let out a shaky breath as my body begins to shake once more.

The only pain that is comparable to this was when Kothophed etched my runes on my body. The tearing sensation is all too familiar. Much like the runes, this will be etched on my body and my psyche forever.

My mind and body is crying out for Jace. What has this relationship done to me? I want to stop the pathetic whimpers of his name and the pathetic clutching at air, hoping futilely for his body, his warm weight, and the comfort of being home in his arms.

Will it ever truly be enough? Losing Josu, losing Jace, and now the baby. When will I learn? When will I stop making horrible decisions that so affect the people around me? When will I stop doing this to myself and to those I care about?

There is another tearing sensation, another pull. As the third wave of agony hits my body, Titan encircles me tighter, my breath is ragged and uneven. Another gush of blood and tissue makes itself known. The blood's rusty smell makes me nauseous. The blood and flesh continues to tear itself away from my womb and make its way to the disgusting floor of the Duskmantle. This place, this hellhole, is not worthy of the blood and flesh of my child, Jace's child. His face, clear as it was last night, pops its way into my mind.

I squeeze the fabric of my dress as the pain continues. Never would I have thought that I would be in this position, alone and crying over a child; I never thought that I'd be begging or the presence of a man as I lost something that he gave me.

Your father and I tried, little one. We weren't fast enough. We love you more than you know; you'll be safe in the arms of your uncles. How we wish we could have known you.

I feel my abdomen cramp and clench again, as the baby, our flesh and blood expels itself from my body. I put my head between my knees as the worst pain I've ever felt takes over my body. The tears flow freely, just like the blood of my child, of Jace's child.

I love you, please don't think I'm weak. I know that it was ours, and I'm sorry that it was taken from us. How I wish you were here, your face against mine; your strong arms around me. I'm so sorry, Jace.

When will I stop taking things from him?

The final slash of pain from my womb overpowers me as I sob brokenly, sob for the loss of my little bean, for the pain that my love is going through, and I sob as I see his face when I tell him that we didn't make it out fast enough, that we lost our little love. I should have told him that night, now instead of getting to watch his face light up with life and happiness, I have to watch his eyes as he realizes that our little one was taken, ripped from my body unfairly. I sit for a moment, knowing it's over. I push myself up from the floor, dizzy and weak from blood loss.

I need him here. If that makes me weak, so be it. Saying yes to his proposal was the best decision I've ever made. I think about the day in the bath when he washed my hair for the first time. 'You don't have to be alone anymore, Liliana. Just let me help you." I do need him, we need each other.

I take a long look at Titan, and that is when I realize that he is no longer all blue, but has places of red and black throughout his little body. This only means one thing. Jace has tapped into red and black magic while being down here.

He's probably going mad right about now.

I have to find him before one of us is killed.

I will be fast enough.

I will kill everything in my wake.

They will pay for taking what was mine, what was Jace's.

Titan stays wrapped around me as I traverse the maze, blasting every horror, Dimir agent, and creature away. They keep sending things my way and making my army larger and larger. You'd think Lazav would learn to stop sending killable things.

There is no sign of them anywhere, until I hear a great crashing on the other side of the wall that I am leaning against.

"JACE! STOP! IT'S ME, IT'S GIDEON."

"You're going to have to knock him out cold, Gideon. He's hallucinating and we have no idea what he's seeing. He could see us as someone trying to harm him or Liliana, as a Dimir assassin. He's going to keep attacking us if you don't."

I hear the sickening crunch of bone and then Jace's body hit the floor. I cover the wall in brambles and quickly scale it, jumping down on the floor next to Gideon. He whips around with the surel and I hear Ral's gauntlet charging.

"It's me!"

"How do we know you're not Lazav or some other Dimir trickster? Prove it!"

I raise my hands in surrender; I guess I can't blame them for not taking me at face value. Everything down here reeks of falsehoods and tricks.

"That's Jace Rahl Beleren. He lost a toe due to frost bite. He proposed to me in our doorway last night. I hold up my hand to show them the ring. I breathe in a deep sigh. If you look on the right side of Jace's cloak, my initials are right there. He said he did it so that he'd never forget who I was if he somehow wiped his memory of us. I'm Liliana Vess. My middle name is Calliope. Gideon, you like chocolate chip and almond cookies; you brought me lilies when I was sick. Ral, Jace always brings you the leftover pasta from dinner because I say you look too skinny. Chandra, I don't know how you got down here, but I'm awfully glad to see you're not hurt. "

She snorts.

" I wasn't going to let these two go it alone. I'm glad to see you too, necromancer."

Gideon is still in a defensive stand with the surel out and ready to attack me at any given moment. Ral looks relieved.

"It's her, Gideon. Stand down. There's no way she could have known all that if it wasn't her."

Gideon marches over to Jace, who is still out cold, and picks the right side of his cloak. In white thread, the initials LCV are stitched. Gideon retracts the surel, walks over to me and hugs me tightly. As he lets go, I walk over to Jace and start trying to wake him, softly stroking his hair. I wipe the blood off of his nose, and begin to softly sing.

"We thought you were dead. We heard your screams."

"Not dead."

"Liliana, why are you covered in blood? What did they do to you?"

"Gideon, I..I…" I bite my lower lip to stop it from quivering.

"No, Lili…"

I just nod. This is the first time that Gideon has ever called me Lili; normally only Jace calls me that. But because of everything that has happened, we're family.

Jace begins to stir. I move his head into my lap, hoping that he's in his right mind when he wakes. His eyes flutter open and the first thing he registers is my face above his. His arms fly around my waist, nearly choking the breath out of me.

"Liliana! Lili…"

"I'm right here, you're safe, I'm safe."

"I'm never letting you out of my arms again. I can't lose you. I'm tired of coming so close to losing you. Please don't leave. If we have to planeswalk somewhere where you and the baby can be safe, we will. We will be a proper family; I promise you this."

I swallow the lump in my throat as my tears drop onto the front side of Jace's cloak. My hands start to shake and I close my eyes as a silent sob wracks my body.

"Liliana, what's wrong?"

Ral, Chandra and Gideon all hang their heads, unable to watch. I can't speak, I can't even move. Jace wraps his arms around me, trying futilely to soothe my tears. This is what I so wanted earlier, and now it makes me physically sick that I'm going to have to tell him what has happened to us. Jace shakily stands and Gideon makes to help me up.

"Don't touch her!"

He jumps back as if he's been scalded, and as I try to stop the tears from coming, they multiply. I try to stammer something about how Jace shouldn't treat Gideon like this, but it only comes out as unintelligible babble. Jace picks me up as if I'm weightless, and it's only then that he sees the blood drenched pants.

"Where is her dress and WHY IS SHE COVERED IN BLOOD? What did they do to her?"

I continue to sob into his chest as I stammer at him.

"Jace..the baby.."