The Black Morass

by Gerald Lambert

  Var vaguely realized that Brom was visible—though he should have registered that fact when he saw his wife sacrifice herself to save him—which meant he was weakening. Brom

  clutched the belt of Beloth the Wise with a whiteknuckled grip. He must have nearly depleted the diamonds' incomprehensible store of energy in his mental duel with Tenga.

  Before Var's leaden legs could carry him forward, he instinctively blocked a sword swinging his way with his shield and retaliated by beheading its bearer. He slung the shield from

  his arm into another attacker and felt a morbid sense of satisfaction that it killed the creature—he couldn't tell if it was male or female—by breaking its neck.

  Then his legs moved and Var rushed as swiftly as he could toward Zadí, hurdling prone carcasses and cutting down anyone who stood in his path. He skirted the fighting between

  them and reached her while she was still kneeling upright, gazing down at the knife jutting out of her body. How was that possible? So many comparatively insignificant details had

  forced themselves upon his awareness in the mere seconds that had passed. And though he was trying to move quickly, it felt as if he was squelching through thick, greedy mud.

  The man whose long knife had stabbed Zadí was still staring in shock at the drastic turn of events, but he had no time to further consider before his head was also rolling. Var

  shoved the decapitated body out of the way as his sword clattered to the ground from senseless fingers. Then he dropped to his knees in front of Zadí and caught her in his arms as

  she began to topple sideways.

  "Zadí!" Var cried in disbelief at what was happening. She was never supposed to be anywhere near the fighting! "Zadí! Oh, dear god, please no. Zadí." He looked at her beautiful

  face, but it was twisted in agony and her eyes were squeezed shut. She was taking in short, panting breaths. Each one forced a trickle of blood out of her mouth.

  "The baby!" she gasped in anguish. "It's dying!"

  Var's gaze inexorably, unwillingly moved to that part of her body. Zadí's free hand grasped the knife pinning her other hand to her swelling womb. A new wave of torment washed

  over him as he saw the small but insistent convulsions under her clothing indicating their baby's painful death.

  He anxiously hovered one hand over the hilt of the knife buried in her body. The words of healing in the ancient language tauntingly flitted through his mind, but they were useless.

  He couldn't use magic anymore. And he would have to remove the blade before there was any chance of healing the wound, which would only hurt Zadí even more.

  "Hanna!" Var shouted across the room. But Hanna was still next to the far wall, now sprawled out on the floor beside Nefin, her silver hair surrounding her head in a shimmering

  halo. Var guessed that Hanna was barely clinging to consciousness while Keeta struggled to keep the last few mutants milling about in front of them from harming the elves.

  Var knew Hanna was still concentrating on maintaining all of the many wards protecting him and the others from magical attack. She was saving all of their lives, but not Zadí's.

  "Var," Zadí whimpered. "Var, it hurts. And the baby! Ah! It hurts. I'm sorry, Var. So sorry."

  "Shh, sweetie," Var soothed, wishing so dearly that he could do anything to help her. "Shh. I'm right here, Zadí. I'll try to help." He glanced between Zadí's face and her belly and

  was tortured by his utter helplessness.

  Zadí opened her eyes as tears began to leak out and slide toward her temples. They were wild with pain and panic. "Oh Zadí, I don't know what to do. Please, god," Var begged,

  also starting to weep. "Please take away their suffering."

  The thrashing within her womb abruptly ceased, and as Var returned his gaze to Zadí's face, he was relieved to see that it suddenly looked peaceful.

  "Thank you, sweetheart," Zadí whispered, the blood forming a bubble between her lips. "Now there are more angels here with you, answering your prayer and taking away our

  pain. But you were always the first, Var. My angel. My guardian angel."

  "Zadí," he sobbed, "I'm too late this time. Too late. I can't help you, sweetie. I didn't hear you the first time you called. I might have been able to help, to save you!"

  "Var, you were always just in time. You haven't failed me. You kept me safe so I could give my final gift. This wasn't your fault. It was my choice. If I hadn't made it, that man

  would have killed Brom. I was the only one who noticed because everyone else was focused on their tasks. Turns out I had an important part to play as well. If Brom had died, I

  still would have died, but so would you and everyone else." Zadí sucked in a shuddering breath, and more blood dribbled down her chin.

  As he reached a hand to her cheek to wipe away the red trail, Var was distantly aware of continued fighting around them, but the sounds were decreasing. Only about a dozen magicians were still alive when Zadí's mind had touched his, divided between Keeta, Brin, and the three men in the middle of the hall.

  Right above Var, Brin frantically screamed, "Kill Tenga! Brom has removed all of his wards, but he can't maintain control much longer. If Brom falters, it's over for all of us." Her

  words supported Zadí's argument but offered Var no comfort.

  Var hugged Zadí to his chest and wept desperately, but he found he couldn't resist watching almost blindly through his tears as Lena made her way through the obstacle course of

  dead bodies littering the ground toward the wizened magician in the center of the room, a bloody knife clasped in her hand and fierce loathing etched in her features. Swiftpaw

  stalked along beside her, and they stopped right in front of Tenga.

  Tenga's eyes snapped open, and he pathetically blubbered, "Lena! Have mercy! Wasn't I good to you? I took good care of you!" Then his eyes widened in shock as they fell upon the

  werecat. "You!" he raged. "You are the reason my prisoners survived! You mangy old cat! No more lives left for you!"

  Tenga reached into his robe, presumably for some type of weapon since Brom was no doubt still blocking his magical efforts, but the werecat blurred through the air and landed on

  his face, clawing at his eyes as Lena raised the knife.

  "Goodbye, you horrible, horrible old man," Lena spat and plunged the blade straight into his heart with furious force.

  Tenga swatted futilely at the hissing cat as he staggered back, trying to remove the knife protruding from his chest. Perhaps he thought he could heal the wound and keep fighting.

  But Swiftpaw kept Tenga's hands away from the blade, and he quickly flopped down, convulsing in a sickening manner. Var wrenched his gaze away when it reminded him of his

  baby dying.

  With several decisive strokes of her staff, Brin subdued the last of the painresistant magicians standing against her. Though he was already covered in it, more blood showered

  down on Var. He hunched around Zadí as best he could to shelter her from the grisly downpour, feeling how wrong it was for his gentle, innocent wife to be caught in such a horrific

  nightmare.

  Brin dropped to the floor and hung her head, gasping for air as she applied firm pressure to the wound in her thigh. Var guessed she had fought and killed twice as many as any of

  the rest of them save Nefin, since so many of the mad wizards had flocked to her after Tenga's command to kill the boy.

  Two more magicians still stood in the main part of the room. Will beheaded one of them with reluctant weariness while Keeta slew their final adversary with a perfectly aimed

  throw of her axe, which lodged itself in the woman's neck. Her deranged shriek cut off in a gurgling croak as she tumbled to the floor.

  Keeta collapsed in exhaustion against the heap of bodies in front of Nefin and Hanna, where she had been standing guard since he had succumbed to the poisoned darts. Ajh leaned

  heavily on his sword, holding one hand t
o the wound on his temple. Will dropped to his knees as Lena rushed over to him, fretting about the grievous gash on his leg.

  When Tenga's death throes ceased and he was finally dead, Brom was released from his intense internal duel. He slumped toward the ground, rendered unconscious by the long magic, but Brin caught him where she was kneeling beside him.

  "We did it," Brin mumbled. "But Zadí . . ." she trailed off and looked at Var, who cradled Zadí in his arms. "I'm sorry, Var. I didn't see him. There were so many and it was all I

  could do to keep them from Brom, but I missed one. I'm so sorry, Var. So sorry."

  "It's not your fault, Brin," Var muttered. "She tried to get my attention. I should have protected her. That was my job."

  "Var," Zadí weakly panted. "You can't feel responsible. It was my choice, my gift, my last way of showing you all how much I love you. I knew what it would mean when I did it, but

  it was the only way. I'm not as useless as I always thought."

  "No, Zadí," Var pleadingly insisted. "You've never been useless. Never. Please stay with me, sweetie. I can't lose you. Or our baby."

  "She's gone . . ." Zadí breathed, ". . . waiting for me. I'm so grateful we had six months together . . . that we didn't wait. I'll always remember that happiness and anticipate the

  time when we'll be reunited."

  "She?" Var numbly repeated.

  "Our baby. A daughter. Let me go, Var. It's my time."

  "No, sweetie," Var sobbed. "It should be me. Please, god. Take me instead. Please let her live."

  Zadí reached for Brin's hand. "Share this with Brom when he awakens," she rasped, and Brin silently nodded. Zadí stared into her eyes for a moment. Brin's tears signaled the

  communication of some mental message.

  Then Zadí glanced at her brother's face. "Goodbye, Brom. I love you, big brother." With great effort, she returned her gaze to Var. "Var, I love you, sweetheart. But you need to let me go. I won't be alone. Keep the locket to remember me by."

  "I'll never forget you," Var choked as hopeless sobs threatened to overwhelm him. "But I can't let go. I'm not ready to lose you, Izzie."

  The faintest smile turned up the corners of her lips as he used her nowbeloved nickname. "Please let him see," Zadí whispered to the area above Var's head.

  Var quickly looked up, inhaling sharply as the room filled with brilliant light. Above him stood many people, all of whom seemed familiar, though he hadn't met any of them. The

  beautiful little girl with goldflecked green eyes and thick black hair captured his attention.

  "Dada," she said to Var. "Mama and I will be together. We'll be happy and safe while we wait for you. But she needs to move on now. Her body is weak."

  Var was speechless. Here was his daughter as she would have appeared at perhaps five years of age. He regarded the other people. The two elves, one a male with silver hair and

  the other a female with black hair, must have been Zadí's grandparents, Evandar and Islanzadí. Then he saw a human man and woman who could only have been his grandmother

  and grandfather, Monrow and William. Another human man and woman might have been Zadí's other grandparents, Brom and Selena.

  The human woman who so closely resembled Var's mother smiled kindly at him. Suddenly he heard his mother's voice in his head, as if from a great distance.

  Say goodbye to dada, Willow gently invited. He'll rest now in the ground. Pretend he's sleeping.

  And then Will's tiny voice. No! No say byebye!

  Followed by another small voice. Var's. Byebye, dada.

  Var didn't know how that memory from when he was only one surfaced in his mind, but he immediately identified it as the moment before his father's life was miraculously

  restored. Yet Var knew he hadn't recollected this instance because the same miracle would now be performed with Zadí, but to remind him that he had been prepared to say

  goodbye. But how could he say goodbye to his sweetheart, his Zadí?

  Var once again studied her peaceful countenance. Zadí really might have been sleeping if not for the blood staining her fair skin. Another bubble of it covered her lips as a weak

  breath left her mouth. Her body was broken, but in his desperation to keep her, Var was preventing her from passing on. He tenderly stroked her cheek, lowering his face to kiss

  her for the last time.

  "I love you, sweetie," Var whispered with his forehead pressed to hers. "I'll miss you so much. But I'll try to find comfort in knowing you'll be with many others who love you and

  that you'll be safe while you wait for me. I'll join you as soon as I can." He drew in a trembling, heartbroken breath. "Goodbye, Zadí."

  She opened her eyes and smiled at him one final time—her breathtaking, gorgeous smile. "I love you, Var. And I'll be waiting." Then Zadí's life ended, and her stare became glassy

  and unseeing.

  Var looked up at the vision of the world of light. Before it faded, he saw Zadí's spirit make her way to the side of their little daughter. Together they turned to wave at Var with

  smiles on their precious faces, then they walked away surrounded by many beloved family members.

  Var hung his head in despair, sobbing wretchedly. His tears rained down to Zadí's still form. Now that she was gone and wouldn't feel it, he carefully removed the knife from her

  body and set it on the floor next to Brom. He rested his quaking hand over the ugly wound marring her palm and the perfect swelling of her womb.

  "Zadí," he moaned. "I'm so sorry. Zadí. Zadí."

  His friends let him mourn for an indefinite time, and those who could mourned with him. Nefin, Hanna, Keeta, and Brom remained unconscious. Ajh tottered over to the small group

  gathered on the floor and fell down beside them. Will and Lena also slowly made their way over. Brin was already there. They shed countless tears as they tried to grasp that Zadí

  was dead.

  Will finally broke the grieffilled stupor. "Var, we need to leave as soon as possible. Most of us will bleed to death if we can't treat our injuries. We need to revive Hanna so she can

  tend to us. Brin's about to collapse. I'm in bad shape. So are Keeta and Ajh. Nefin might be dead."

  Var lifted his head and vacantly stared in Will's direction. "Shouldn't we bury her?" he dully asked. "But I don't want her body to be so far away on a remote island that I'll never

  visit."

  "We don't have much choice, Var," Will gently said. "We can't bring her with us. Her body will begin to decompose."

  "Can we bury her at sea?" Var requested. "Then every time I'm near the ocean I can imagine she's also near. Somehow."

  "If that's what you want. I'm sorry, Var. So sorry."

  Var nodded curtly and carefully made his way to his feet with Zadí in his arms. "I can carry someone else if needed."

  "Who here needs to be carried?" Will questioned. "Lena?"

  "No, love," Lena whispered. "As long as I can walk by you."

  "Ajh?" Will continued.

  "No," Ajh answered. "If I can drink some of her faelnirv, I'll carry Hanna. But I'd better use one of her bandages to dress this wound until she wakes up. Otherwise I won't make it

  anywhere. You and Brin also have some heavily bleeding cuts."

  Ajh wearily arose and began the long trek across the huge hall to where Hanna, Nefin, and Keeta lay. When he reached her side, he rummaged around in Hanna's pouch until her

  found the bottle of faelnirv and several bandages. He hastily wound one around his head to stem the blood flowing from his temple then gulped down some faelnirv. Var saw him

  grimace and shudder as he laid the items on Hanna's abdomen so his hands were free to scoop her up. Then he slowly struggled to his feet with her unmoving form in his arms and

  began to head back toward the others.

  Lena met him partway and grabbed the other bandages and the bottle resting in Hanna's lap. Then she hurried back to Will and immediately wra
pped one around the gash on his

  leg. She handed him the faelnirv and repeated her ministrations with Brin.

  "Brin, what about Brom?" Will then asked, returning the energizing potion to Lena so she could take it around to everyone who was conscious.

  "I might be able to carry him over my shoulder," Brin said, wiping her mouth after swallowing a draught of faelnirv. "But if you can carry Keeta and Nefin together, she would

  appreciate it. If he dies—or she does—she'd want her last minutes to be with him."

  Will nodded, limping the long distance over to Nefin and Keeta.

  "Is Hanna still breathing?" Lena wondered of Ajh.

  "Yes," Ajh confirmed as he solemnly stared down at Hanna's pale face. The elf was obviously completely drained, and Ajh's concern was just as apparent.

  "What about Nefin?" Lena asked Will when he was on his way back. Will had arranged Nefin and Keeta so she was curled on top of him. "Is he still alive?"

  "He is. Miraculously. That was some potent poison to affect an elf so quickly. But Hanna must have reached him in time."

  Brin then raised herself to squat beside Brom. "I might not be able to get him up on my own," she confessed. "Even with the faelnirv, my muscles are shaky. Maybe from blood

  loss. Can someone help pull him up as I stand?"

  Will and Ajh already had their arms full. So did Var, but he was in the best physical condition of any of his friends except for Lena. He shifted Zadí until he somehow supported her

  slight weight mostly in one arm and used his free hand to help Brin hoist Brom up over her shoulder.

  "I feel bad carrying him like a sack of potatoes," Brin muttered.

  "Better than leaving him here," Will reasoned. "No one else can carry him right now."

  "I could," Var flatly said. "But I'm not setting Zadí down or letting Brin carry her."

  "No," Will quickly agreed. "No one expects that. But maybe we should close her eyes."

  "No," Var sharply said. Then he broke down again. "No," he forlornly repeated. "Then I'll never see them again. Her beautiful green eyes. Zadí. My poor, sweet wife."

  Will compassionately regarded him. "Very well. I won't last long. We need to go. The smell and feel of death in this room is overpowering. I can't believe we killed over a hundred