by Martha Woods
With this, he let out a whistle, leapt up, and transformed into the form of a huge black dragon, the largest of all the Dark Ones present. He took off, vanishing through the haze, and the surviving Dark Ones soared off after him, vanishing moments later, and leaving behind the wreckage of the street in their wake.
And all at once, as easily as that, there was silence again.
I stood there, staring. My emotions running far too high to express them. The end of the world itself, of all dragonkind, seeming imminently at hand.
Suddenly, I felt Melina's arms reaching for me, wrapping around my neck. She wedged her face into my shoulder and wept down my back, and I held her close to me, as close as I possibly could.
Certain, as I did so, that it would be one of the very last times I ever got to hold her again...
Epilogue
Melina
There were no words. None whatsoever.
What could we say?
We both knew what was happening. We both knew why it had to happen. We both knew that there was absolutely nothing we could do that might let us stand even a chance of fixing things.
But it felt like we should be saying something. It felt as though, even though each of us knew perfectly the other's thoughts, there ought to be words for this. There ought to be a phrase, something comforting, that could encapsulate the depths of our emotions. That could help us come to terms with this, and maybe even rekindle the hope that somehow, things might still turn around. Things might, in spite of the odds, still turn out to be alright.
But there was nothing. There were no words. There was nothing to be said.
Well... That wasn't true. There was one thing I needed desperately to tell him, and I should have already done so by now. But this thing, in particular– the words to describe it just seemed so hard to find.
I stared out the window of the cheap little motel he'd found for me to hide out in, following the destruction of my apartment. He was worried, after what had happened, that Ryl might come looking for me again, and he said he owed it to me to make sure that I was safe, until all of this was over.
I studied the lights on the hotel sign, and slowly brought a hand to my belly, hoping this might give me the strength to say what I needed to say to him. My mouth was halfway open, however, when Alza spoke before I had the chance to do so myself.
“I'm going to face him. Tonight,” he said. “I have to. It's been three days since the attack. I can't wait any longer.”
“I– I understand,” I said.
“I wish that there was another way he said. “I wish– I wish I hadn't dragged you into all of this. I wish I had listened to myself, in the beginning. I should have just left you alone. Not tried to force reality into the shape I wanted it to be, knowing that it would always be like this in the end. I'm sorry, Melina.”
I was silent for a moment, considering his words. And then I said, with conviction, “No.”
He looked up at me, clearly taken aback. “No?” he repeated.
“No,” I affirmed. “I don't accept your apology. Because you don't have anything to apologize for. I knew that this might end badly. I knew there would be risks. Hell, I knew it the night I first saw you taking on those Dark Ones over the highway. None of this is your fault. Or if it is, it's as much my fault as it is yours. We were in this together, every step of the way. And it's like you said, at the very beginning. No matter how things turn out in the end, there hasn't been a moment along the way that I haven't been grateful for the decision I made. And I would make it again, if I had the choice. You don't have anything to apologize for. Because our time together has meant the world to me. And I wouldn't take it back for a second, even if I could.”
He smiled at me, so tenderly. He kissed my forehead, and I couldn't help but sob as he did so.
“Thank you for saying that. I love you from the bottom of my heart, Melina. You showed me a hope that I'd nearly lost sight of. You made me feel things that I haven't felt since Andra. I would marry you tomorrow, if I had my say in the matter. And you and I could live together forever. Peacefully. Happily. But... But I'm afraid that just can't be right now. My people need me. I made a promise to them. And to my boys. Our entire world, as well as your own, depends on my standing up to Ryl and his Dark Ones. I can't skirt around the issue anymore. I need to take him on. I need to finish this, once and for all.”
“I understand,” I said, looking away from him, my heart seeming to pump inexplicably loudly in my ears.
“But I'll come back for you,” he added quickly. “I promise you. When this is all over, when I've defeated Ryl, I'll come back to you. We can be together again. Things can be the way we want them to, and there can be peace among our people forever. I promise you, Melina. I want that more than anything in the world.”
“I want that too,” I said. “And I'll be waiting for you, Alza. I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said, pulling me into him one last time, and the two of us sharing one last, gentle, eternal kiss.
I don't know how long it was before the two of us separated. I noticed suddenly that it was beginning to grow light out, that a new day was beginning. Though it had almost certainly been getting light out already, and I simply hadn't been paying enough attention up until now.
The two of us exchanged one last, solemn look. Then Alza nodded, and turned slowly, sadly away from me. “I'll see you again as soon as I can. In a day or two, hopefully. And then we'll have the rest of our lives to share together.”
I choked on a sob, but nodded in agreement. “Goodbye,” I said, and he made his way out the door, and down the rickety motel stairs.
I watched the love of my life as he stepped so slowly out of the picture. Certain, from a feeling inside that I couldn't totally explain, as he rounded the corner of the motel and disappeared from view, that I would never see him again.
Certain that he would never get to know about the child he would never have the chance to meet. The child that was growing right now, inside me.
If only I had found the words...
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