"When someone you love says goodbye you can stare long and hard at the door they closed and forget to see all the doors God has open in front of you."
-Shannon L. Alder
When All Is Forgotten
Prologue: Beautiful Bird
The air shook with the screams of the dying. The world was a battlefield on this night; as it had been for the last seven days and six nights. The good fought valiantly, slicing demons and healing the wounded, but it was all for not.
You see, a demon has more stamina than the average man. They are stronger, smarter, they have special abilities. So how is it, that a bunch of humans have lasted even this long against a million demons?
Especially the young girl who stood battle ready at the front of it all.
A bow was planted in her hand, a stern grimace on her face. Despite her obvious exhaustion, she stood tall and proud; shouting orders to platoons of men and shooting arrows when a demon came too close for her liking. Her usually pristine white shirt and green skirt were smeared with blood and the many holes proved that not all of it belonged to her enemies.
One hole in particular, spoke volumes of her self-control. A large gash, pooled by dark blood, lay across her stomach. Though its depth was uncertain, the dark spots in her vision and the way her blue eyes were dazed told that it was deeper than she made it appear.
An explosion rang through the air and despite knowing that many of her men died instantly because of it, the girl yelled orders to run through. "Escape while the smoke is thick," she yelled and nearly fell to her knees as another explosion wasted the earth. "we can regroup another day. We can't keep fighting if we're dead!"
The men did as their General ordered and ran through the fire, despite the pain and the way it caught to their clothes. Once on the other side, they would have burns, they could even die in the fire; but they would not disobey her earnest request.
Kagome watched them go, wiping blood and sweat from her eyes and turning back to the front. Now that her men were safe, she took an assured step forward; only to freeze cold in her step when screams came from the fire.
It was not the scream of a man being ravaged by flames, but the scream of a man being cut apart by a sword. Swallowing thickly, she turned around and her eyes widened; there he was.
"How long have you been there?" She asked quietly and her voice shook with silent rage.
"Not long."
The emotion that rose within her caused her throat to swell and she forced down her tears, "You put me in command of this army, why didn't you help them."
She didn't receive so much as a frown from the silver haired man, he just continued to look at her with pitiless golden eyes, "They are your responsibility, not mine priestess." He turned his nose to the east and sniffed delicately, unnoticeably, "Come."
He held his arm out to her and Kagome stared at it for a moment, the claws and the maroon markings on his wrists. Over the last few years, she had nearly forgotten that he was capable of being cruel. He had shone her humanity.
He spoke such sweet words; he married her and made her his mate.
So, as she numbly took his hand and felt him lift her into his arms, she wondered why he was acting so cold toward her. Her vision blurred and she leaned against him heavily with her hand on her stomach; feeling the blood, she looked down suddenly worried.
Could this be the reason? Could it be because she was pregnant and had gone to battle anyway? "Sesshomaru is he okay?" she asked quietly, trying to catch his eye as he ran, but he would not look at her.
Seconds passed and the wounded cried for help, a healer, but there were none left. Surrounded by such death and terror, Kagome hid her face in her husband's shoulder, finding that she had to force back her tears again. She couldn't get emotional; it could get her baby killed.
"No." Sesshomaru finally spoke, "The pup is dying."
Her heart stopped beating with those words and she had to try even harder to hold her tears back, "Is there anything I can do?"
Sesshomaru was quiet, "Your abilities could heal you and the child." He paused and added, "This is our last chance to kill Naraku and it will take every ounce of your strength to do it. No one else can."
Her mind joined her heart in freezing, before going into overdrive. What kind of sick world did she live in? To choose between sacrificing her child or saving millions of people?
And did it make her even more sick to want to save her baby rather than those people? Images flashed of her daughter, Hitomi and her son, Daichi. If she chose to go back to them; no one would be safe, they would die. The baby would probably only live a few months before it was murdered.
There was only one choice. "We go to battle then."
Sesshomaru had known her answer before she said it and ran faster in response to her confirmation.
"WIND SCAR!" Inuyasha screamed from up ahead and Kagome saw a flash of light leaving carnage in its path until it seemed to meet something head on and dispersed. As the dust settled, a purple barrier flickered beyond and a male laughed darkly from inside it, "Ku ku ku! Give it up~!"
Sesshomaru quickly put his mate on her feet, ready to join the battle, but she grabbed his hand and when she spoke her voice shook, "I love you, to the moon, to all the stars, and back again."
He looked back at her and his stare wasn't cold, it was warm and kind, she'd never seen him look so vulnerable, "Miko," kissing her forehead, he pulled his hand away gently "be safe."
And he was gone. Lightning rippled and rain began to fall as green poison spewed toward Naraku.
Her legs were shaking and she didn't feel nearly as confident as she tried to outwardly portray. Reaching back into her quiver, she realized she only had one arrow left and almost in amusement, she considered how ironic it was.
It was almost like one of those corny action movies she always hated. There was fighting and death all around her, yet none seemed to take notice of the only one who could stop it. Her fingers tingled as she put the arrow in place and pulled back the string. A quick moment to aim and she was squeezing her eyes shut, silently cursing her shaking hands and the tears that blurred her vision. Blinking passed them; she took a deep breath and attempted to steady her hand.
When she released this string, she would kill her baby.
"Hit the mark." She whispered, letting go. The arrow glowed blue and flew true, straight toward Naraku. Inuyasha, seeing the arrow, quickly got his own attack ready, yelling, "BACKLASH WAVE!"
And for a moment, for one moment, she dared to hope. Maybe using up her power was worth it, her friends would survive, her family would be okay.
Then, Naraku moved. He had seen her arrow as Inuyasha had and in the time that Inuyasha readied his attack, Naraku moved away and his shield was missed by no more than an inch.
When the Backlash Wave hit; it couldn't make it passed the shield.
Only a moment later, a sudden pain to her back had her on her knees with her bow slipping from her fingers. In another, the numbness gave way to an explosion of pain and her vision fell away to dark splotches and too bright colors.
Thump
How had anything snuck up on her? She was supposed to be the Shikon Miko. She was supposed to be stronger than this. She was supposed to kill Naraku and save the day.
Thump
She squeezed her eyes shut and then blinked them open again in an attempt to clear her vision. Even this proved to be too hard a task and they fell shut again.
Thump
Something pushed her forward and her face hit the dirt, the excited laugh that followed was barely loud enough to be registered over the sound of her own heartbeat, but even the small warning couldn't prepare her for what followed. Something slammed into the source of her pain and twisted around.
She heard a terrible scream rip through the air and tears fell freely from her eyes.
What had she done to deserve this?
She had failed.
Naraku would set the world on fire, because of her.
She had been prepared to die, to watch her troops die, but never to fail.
Because failure meant not just that she wouldn't be around to watch her kids grow up, but that they wouldn't grow up.
They would never tease each other or prank each other. They would never brag about their height or crush on the castle gardener. They would never fall in love as she had been able to or grow old like her grandpa. They would just be there one second and the next, where would they be? Somewhere peaceful and far away.
Thump
'The world is so cruel; maybe it's better this way… maybe…'
No.
No.
She forced her hands open, reaching toward her back, toward the source of the smashing and twisting. Her hand collided with a foot and she grabbed at it feebly, her efforts only earning an evil laugh from the demon that had stabbed her.
This demon could be the demon to kill her children.
This was the demon that had killed her baby.
That was killing her.
She channeled her energy further than she ever had before, using the very energy that pumped her blood and made her heart beat.
Thump
She screamed again as the energy ripped away from her body and into the demon's, purifying him on contact. Her hands dropped down against her back, suddenly, they were too heavy to lift.
"I-I wasn't… s-s-strong e-eno-enough." She whispered through unwilling lips, unaware of whom she could hear walking toward her, but meaning it for her husband's ears. She clung to the pain as a way to ground her, but then it began to fade.
"You were." She heard and it was her best friend's voice, though she could no longer recall who that was, "You killed Naraku, and everything's going to be fine over here. S-So you can go, if you have to." The someone took her hand and she wondered how it was done so effortlessly.
How could the lie could come so easily to this person? She didn't know much, but she knew that she had failed.
She listened for more, but the words sounded muffled; like she was underwater and someone on the surface was shouting.
The noise of the battle fell away, the world fell away, and one last tear fell from her eye.
Thump
Thump
thump
'I wish I was stronger. I wish someone could have helped, so that if I fell, they could succeed.'
And with only this thought in mind, Kagome Higurashi… died.
Eragon felt… there were not words to describe exactly how he felt.
Small, helpless, trapped.
Mostly, the feeling could be described as useless. He had trained long and hard, he had so many allies… and yet Galbatorix had caught him within his own mind.
His vision became blurry from the pain and he could hear his own heartbeat ringing through his ears. He tried to choke out pleas to his friends but it was useless, the heart wrenching, horrible fear was too much for him.
He was shied into the smallest corner of his mind and lashed with biting words and unbearable pain –courtesy of Galbatorix.
But the worst of it was not his own pain, but the suffering of his friends.
Murtagh lay on the ground unconscious. He'd put everything on the line for this one chance at escape, but now there was nothing he could do.
Arya looked up from her own battle with the fleeting hope that he was faring better, but her face crumbled into an expression of horror when she witnessed the helpless boy being held up by the king; as he would have been on his knees if not for him.
His vision went black as Galbatorix twisted the blade in Eragon's mind even further.
It felt to Eragon as if a nest of briars were ripping him apart from the inside. A scream racked his throat, and he went completely limp in the grip of Galbatorix's spell.
"Submit," said the king. He grabbed Eragon's chin with fingers of steel. "Submit." The blade twisted yet again and Eragon screamed until his voice gave out.
The king's probing thoughts closed in around Eragon's consciousness, restricting him to an ever-smaller part of his mind, until all that was left of him was a small, bright nub overshadowed by the looming weight of Galbatorix's presence.
"Submit," the king whispered, almost lovingly. "You have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide… This life is at an end for you, Eragon Shadeslayer, but a new one waits. Submit, and all shall be forgiven.
Tears distorted Eragon's vision as he stared into the featureless abyss of Galbatorix's eyes.
They had lost… hehad lost.
The knowledge was more painful than any of his injuries, more painful than Galbatorix's probing mind.
'I wish this had never happened! I wish… I wish I could have been stronger!' But there was more to his heart's desire than to have been stronger.
He wished that he alone had not been given the burden of being a Dragon Rider. That another could have shared the pain and glory with him.
Eragon found himself walking alone in a forest of white, undeniably lost, yet unaware of where he had been heading in the first place. And as thoughts of where he was heading came to mind, he wondered why he was heading there, who he was heading there with.
Why did he get the feeling he was not alone here?
"Hello?" He called softly, despite feeling an irrefutable urge to remain quiet.
He walked forward a few paces and stepped around a tree, only to catch sight of a dark blotch. Looking back, he saw that it was a girl.
She was chained to a tree that looked familiar to him and a second later he thought of its name. The Menoa Tree. Her head hung low and he couldn't get a make of her face, but her long, wavy black hair hung passed her waist and seemed to blend with her strange dark dress.
Even without seeing her face, he knew that she couldn't have been more than seventeen and he had to fight the urge to go to her and unchain her. Her body looked too delicate to be forced into chains and molded to a tree.
Staring at her, he got the feeling that she wasn't human, but wasn't an elf, which led to the question what was she? As if to answer, her head snapped up and her eyes opened.
Dark blue, electrifying eyes slithered into his soul and he was lost to their intensity.
"You make a wish, a wish for change383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpazYLwWSEJ
We shall grant your wish and make a debt paid383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMmzcaATOq
And so it is, the clock will turn back383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SNtHcKAZ3
With an audible tic and inaudible toc383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEOnsDAJLt
We give you another, whom has made such a wish383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmuKyOQX5V
And bid you the best of luck by twilight's kiss"
Her voice was that of five individuals, both men and women, and sounded timeless, like it carried magic. "Eragon Shadeslayer," she drawled, "you have made a wish."
He stared back at her, fear in his heart and wondered if she was like Eva; if she was a human child twisted by the effects of a spell gone wrong.
Or maybe she was an illusion.
He swallowed tightly, unsure of what to believe at that moment, "Galbatorix, why have you sent me here?" he yelled, "What game are you playing now?!" His eyes shifted between the trees as if he expected an answer.
A dark chuckle redirected his attention to the girl and he briefly noticed that her features were elven; despite that he was sure she was something different, "The tyrant king is not here young Rider. It is only us and we have words to share."
Eragon observed them cautiously, still not sure if this was a trick, "What kind?"
"You made a wish." She repeated, "And we are inclined to… grant it."
"Grant it? Why?"
"Our guardian has made a similar wish." Was the simple reply, "I wish that this would have never happened. I wish someone could have been there to share this burden and together, we would have been strong enough to win." A smile appeared on the girl's face, and for some reason, it was creepy despite her beauty. "By granting yours, we can also grant hers."
He considered her words. There was no for sure way to know if she was lying or truthful, however, if he did not accept her proposal he would die anyway. "What now then?"
The twisted version of a grin that greeted him did nothing to ease his worries.
"The Shade is Slain, the Rider dead383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGNuLWBgQk
A brother's feud, an angel's touch383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxucwyJrBB
Springs a trap, a trap of death383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUsIcpbUrJ
To bring forth an unfortunate test383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRs1mk3ViMo
A dragon hatches years before383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mTwSeHSw9
The young replacing old once more383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEtYdUr4WVB
He swore to kill, she swore to save383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnMLWDP8T4
Now we watch the madman rave383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OEjtWw5UT
When you cannot handle your soul anymore383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9knj3un2Ht
Look under the Menoa Tree once more."
With this last word, Eragon's mind was blurred and he fell into a deep sleep.
383Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvliuMNMbEk
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