Dusk of the Realm

3

But seeing her had distracted him, and one of the soldiers plunged his sword into his back, and Serena screamed as the point of it protruded from his chest, as Tarin sunk to the ground with a look of horror frozen on his face, as if he had not been the greatest warrior the Realm had ever known, as if his life had had no point to it whatsoever.

Then the army turned on Serena, and she simply spread her arms to her sides, waiting to embrace the tide.

Embrace the tide she did. She sank. She allowed herself to keep sinking, because anything was better than the world she just saw. She would rather die than learn that it was anything but a vision, an imagining from the harshest corners of her mind.

You want to stop these things from happening? a voice asked her from all around. She wondered briefly if it was the water speaking to her, as the current slowed before she answered. There was something familiar about the voice, but distantly, as if she had heard it in another dream before.

"Of course I do," she murmured, her eyes closed. She felt strange; horrified by what she had just seen, but also at peace. She had no idea what had sparked such a feeling.

Then you must surrender yourself to these waters, the voice stated, ringing in Serena's ears and mind until she could think of nothing but the words, until she accepted them as absolute truths. You must strip your identity from you like a cloak. You must give up who and what you are. Only then will the ones you love be safe from harm. Only then will Azure endure. Only then will you find this feeling of peace once more.

Serena drifted. Her mother covered in blood, her home aflame, the sword sticking Tarin through. She could not let those things come to pass. No matter what it meant for her. And was it really so much for this voice to be asking from her, if she would gain so much in return? She was so young... All she wanted was to save her kingdom. She did not really know, did not really spare much thought to what she would be giving up, especially as that vision of Tarin bleeding on the ground emerged in her mind again.

It's the only way to save him, the voice whispered.

"I will do it," she proclaimed. She could have sworn the voice laughed.

Then release your essence, little princess, it urged, a mocking edge to its tone. You will find so much more peace without the pesky gifts of your heritage, without the knowledge of the royal blood in your veins. You will be safe, and those visions of yours will not come to pass. Is that not what they would want? Is that not what you want?

"I want it..." Serena murmured, but by this point, she was convinced that this was all a dream. It had finally become relaxing, and she was so relieved that the nightmare was over that she did not attempt to argue with the voice in her mind as it whispered what to do in her ears.

But when she felt a wrenching sense of loss, something deep in her core shattering like glass, her eyes flew open, and the waters around her riled once more, dragging her this way and that, pushing her under with the crest and crash of each wave.

Serena fought back for a minute – a long minute, where she knew that everything she had, everything she was and wanted and loved and knew, was at stake.

She fought back for a minute, and lost.

The waters spit her back out, and then there was nothing.

Nothing.

-------------------------

The woman smiled as she felt the power flow into her. The plan had been much easier than she had expected. Who would have thought that the princess would be left with only one guard? Granted, that guard had been Tarin Wulf, and he had single-handedly decimated a good third of the large host she had sent before he went down. However, her men had still succeeded in snatching the princess, and now the woman had not a worry in the world besides building her army back up – though she had planned to continue that anyway. It was what the Mistress wanted of her.