The Promise of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book 3 (Complete - Editing)

Chapter Twenty - Madeline

When I reappeared in Aleria, the battle was still ongoing, but most of the participants were either dead or rolling on the ground with their hands over their ears. The last remaining army of Joseph had fallen, and now only a small force remained to fight on. The Ivy tree whipped at those that remained and tied them up in his vines. The willow made her victims collapse in grief, screaming from a mental hell they had no escape from. To my surprise, the Holly was there, but he was only walking about, not taking a side. I didn't care what he was up to. For me, or against me, it didn't matter.

I could see the tiniest thread of a link to me to Luis now that I was here on Aleria. It was the breadth of a hair, and it must have been why I could still move forward. It must have been why I hadn't collapsed completely on the Earth.

My eyes shifted back and forth with dread, looking for Luis. A tight knot of Banshees was surrounding a small figure, and one of them clutched a charred piece of wood in her trembling hands. Their low keening and sobbing set all my hairs on end. With a growl, I took my earrings off and said the word to make it a sword. I charged forward with my sword drawn, but they disappeared in a flash of light. The sound of something hitting the ground echoed through my head, sending chills down my spine. It was the charred piece of wood.

That's when I noticed the body lying in front of me.

It was him.

He was unconscious and in the form of a bedraggled, small, black rabbit.   There was no blood, no injuries, but he was still, like a dead thing.  I didn't want it to be him, but I knew that rabbit form like I knew the way my heart beat. My heart refused to beat as I bent down closer and put my fingers near his snout. I could feel a faint whisper of breath. 

Knowing that he was breathing, I sobbed, and my heart stuttered and beat again. He was still alive. I knew that he was hanging on, just by a tiny claw, but the frail puff of air against my finger helped to both relieve and terrify me. What had happened?

I picked up the piece of wood and part of the charred area crumbled away. I stared down at it, wondering at its significance. 

I couldn't ask the banshees as they'd disappeared.

 But wait! Who was that hiding near a tent? Yes! It was a banshee!

It was the one I saw in my vision!

"You!" I cried out as I pointed in her direction. "Come here!"

She came out from her hiding place and came over to me. She was a frail, gossamer whisp of a being, a far cry from the terrifying reputation of a banshee.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Agony," she said. "We were trying to save him, but he's going to die. His heartwood has been burned." She pointed her chin at the charred piece of wood in my hand.

I looked down at the piece of wood, then it slipped from my grasp. Agony was quick and caught it. She hugged it to her chest like a precious treasure. I glanced at her but the shock of what she'd said dulled me from realizing what I'd done. 

"No, no, not this again." I put my hands next to my head as I tugged at my hair. I shook my head over and over until I felt dizzy and sick.  "I can't lose someone again!" I bent down and shook one of his small paws. "I know you're there, Luis!"

His paw twitched at the sound of his name but did nothing else. Tears spilled down my face. I looked up at her, pleading with my eyes.

Her expression softened. "You need to finish. Put the stones in the crown and finish the trial."

"Why? What will happen if I leave? We're both doomed either way!" How could I finish? I had left Aleria. Zovria could claim victory with no trouble. No one could stop her.