Ruin and Rising (Alternative Ending)

"Alina."

I spun. Mal's voice in the dark. Let it be a trick of sound, I thought. But I knew the Squaller's blanket had long since be lifted. How had he found me? Stupid question. Mal would always find me.

I gaasped as he grabbed my wounded arm. Despite the pain and the risk, I summonded a weak wash of light, saw his beatiful face streaked with dirt and blood. And the knife in his hand. I recognized the blade. It was Tamar's, Grisha made. Had she offered it to him for this moment? Had he sought her out to ask for it?

"Mal, don't. This isn't over yet-"

"It is, Alina."

I tried to pull away, but he wrapped his hand hard around my wrist, fingers pinched together, the sharp jolt of power moving through both of us, calling me, demanding that I step through that door.

"No, Mal there has to be another way" tears rolling down my face.

"Alina" he said in that calm manner that always eluded me.

"No, we said 'Last resort'", I said gather my strength pushing away from him, "I'm far from done. There is another way." I handed him the riffle of a fallen oprinchnik next to us. "Cover me."

"Alina. I'm not done with you." boomed the Darkling from the other side of the skiff. Mal shot him in the foot missing his leg. The Darkling knocked him back with a meer flick of his wrist.

"Alina, we're running out of options here. Last resort is getting pretty fast!" Mal said annoyed. He stood up.

"Giving up so soon, Alina." The Darkling cooed.

"No!'' I yelled.

"Last resort? Thinking of joining me on the throne, Alina?" He asked. Mal tensed beside me.

"Thinking of turning into, I don't know, one else?" I countered. I hearn Ruby scream in agony. I grabbed Mal's hand, I leaned in and whipered "I love you." I took the knife from his hand and I saw a wave of relief wash over his face. That scared me more than anything I've ever seen in my life. "No." Threw the knife on the ground. "I want a fair fight." I looked at the nichevo'yaaring apart the Soldat Sol.

"What? Nothing about any of this is fair!" Mal tilted his head and sighed, "What do you want me to do?"

"Just hug me from behind you idiot." He did as i instructed. I felt the jolt of possible power as he touched me. "Mal, your not grisha but try as if you were summoning."

"I don't know how." He whinned. I took a deep breath remembering Baghra and the horrible lessons I indurred with that cane-wacking witch.

" Mal!" I shouted my arms out, his at my waist," Listen to me. You may not be Grisha but you have a gift. I see when you track your connection to everything, your connection to me. So track down my power I know you can feel it. Mal, it's not a creature that choses to come or not when you call it." Nothing happened. "Mal, it took me months to finally get it. I love you. I believe in you. "

Mal having never summomed before let out a laugh when he finally opened the door. The door to my power. Just as the Darkling had, as I had retalliated. Like cousin, like cousin, I thought, Like calls to like. I joined Mal in calling the light and thined it into a small blade and lashed out with the Cut on the Darkling, choping of his legs, he fell on the floor. The nichevo'ya stopped and vanished. Mal and I ran over to the Darkling.

"How?" He rasped.

"Sorry cous," Mal said casually, " Only one of us was gonna leave alive."

"Cous?" asked the Darkling.

"Oh, yeah did I not mention. You know the story. Baghra, your mother, had a sister..." he paused drawing in a deep breath. "My mother." he breathed.

"How had she survived? I dont understand?' the Darkling's eye brows furrowed.

"Ilya Morozova healed her I guess." Said Mal. "Oh yeah one more thing ..." Mal plunged Tamar's daggar into the Darkling's chest and his eyes rolled back into his head. The Darkling was dead. Genya's scars disapeared. I kissed Mal and together we used my power and torn down the fold. The lost people of the land the Fold had claimed transformed from the horrible volcra they we're back to the humans they once were 1,00's of years ago.

"This is the end of the fold and the Darkling's rein of terror..." I said to Mal.

"And our beginning." he finished for me. Mal got down on one knee "Alina Starko---"

"Yes." I yelled jumping in his arms.

"Yes what?"

"Yes I'll marry you."

"How do you know that was what I was gonna ask?"

" Because that's what you told Ana Kuya you would do," I said. "Plus I saw you playing around with this earlier today." I said pulling a metal band out of his pocket. "Grisha steel, nice" I said smiling. He gestured his thumb to David.

"Today can't get any better: The Darkling and the Fold are gone, we're getting maried, Genya's healed and Prince Perfect gets his throne." I said happily.

"Um not quite. " said David. Oh no. I hadn't stopped to think about Nikolai.

"Where is he?" I asked nervously.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" Screamed a falling blr from one of the treee tops. "Ow."

"Nikolai!!!" Said David, Genya, Mal, Tamar, Tolya and I.

"I'm okay."he said Tolya lifting him up.

" You still want that throne?" I asked Nikolai.

"Always. You?" I held out my ringed finger.

"What no emerald? Man, Orestev you gotta losen the purse strings a little." We all laughed exept Mal.

"Hey!"

"Otkatzat'sya thing? Offened easily?"

"No." I hadn't thought about that in a few days. I'm going to out live Mal by a lot run.

"I've been meaning to tell you somthing..." said Mal. "I'm not otkatzat'sya." I looked at him with wild eyes. "I have merzost in my blood as well as the blood of the most powerful Grisha to ever live. I am not otkatzat'sya, I am not Grisha either. There was a book about it in the house we stayed in, Alina, I don't know what I am. I will live longer than the average Grisha, but I'm not magical..." his voice trailed off

"Your a saint.'' I said smiling. He shook his head. "Your a Grisha/Morozova amplifier."

"Yeah. I kinda like the sound of that."

"Hey, maybe you are Grisha and you just haven't shone your power yet." said David ,"I could test you back at the little palace."

"Okay. Maybe soon." said Mal not wanting to be David's lab rat

"Feast at the Little Palace with the Sun Saint anyone?" asked Nikolai

"You can chop a man's legs off but still be labled as a saint." I said shaking my head as we walked of to the Pelican that one of the Soldat Sol brought. I looked back and saw it a fresh beginning, a New Ravka. The Darkling had once told me that the age of Grisha rule was coming to an end but he was wrong; The age of merzost rule and Darkness was coming to an end And now it was history.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1 done So what did you guys think? So the titles kind of a lie because this story is also an extension of Ruin and rising but I'm also changing a bit

DARKNESS NEVER DIES