2.1 | Alice ✔

Epilogue

Claudia had managed to drag Erik's body to an odd windmill house at the back of Veloren, where there was a dining room table on the front lawn lined with all sorts of chairs and floating tableware.

She was surprised the forest fire hadn't reached this place, and she couldn't say she wasn't relieved to have found it. She didn't want to stop here, but she literally couldn't drag them any further. She was too banged up, and Erik's weight was overwhelming. He'd lost so much blood, he was probably already dead.

She managed to get them to the steps of the house and she collapsed on the bottom one, dragging Erik by her feet. He'd been shrinking the whole way here, so it hadn't been impossible to bring him along. She wished she had something, anything to help him. His face was the most peaceful she'd ever seen it, but she could see he was still breathing, and he was probably in excruciating pain.

Not for much longer, probably.

She stroked her hand silently over his fur as she hummed to him, tears beginning to cloud her vision.

"My greed did this to you," she whispered, her tears anointing his head. "I knew Michael was dead. I knew there was no way home. But still, I pushed you to this. I pushed you to doing all of this for me because I didn't care about you like you did me. I had lost everything . . . in my heart, I felt there was nothing left to lose."

Her tears fell more abundantly now, her strokes becoming firmer.

"Now I'm going to lose you, and I'll really have nothing."

She leaned over, hugging him as she began to sob violently.

"Erik!" she cried. "Erik, I love you! Please don't leave me!" She continued to cry over him until she cried herself completely dry. She was exhausted, and Erik had stopped breathing. The forest was dark and quiet.

"I don't want to be alone," she whispered. Hugging Erik's corpse close to her, she couldn't fight the clutches of a heavy sleep.

She woke with a start, finding that she was on her back, atop something oddly comfortable. She was met with bright light and the warmth of an enclosed space. She didn't know where she was, but as she sat up and looked around, she found Erik in a bed on the other side of the room. He had reverted back to his human form, and he was all bandaged up and sleeping. Did she have a terrible dream? No, there were bandages down the left side of her body . . . where were they?

"Looks like I showed up just in time," a voice suddenly said, and a tall, cloaked figure suddenly entered the room, carrying two bowls.

"I-is he dead?" she croaked, too worried about Erik to acknowledge how scary she found this.

"He was," they replied. Their voice was deep and soothing; she assumed it was a man. "Your life forces are mysteriously tied, so you were close behind him."

"Did you save us?" she asked, realizing how stupid that sounded. "Thank you so much . . . but how?"

"Some very powerful monks trained me," he said, coming over and giving her one of the bowls. "They saved me from death's door step centuries ago, and taught me their craft. You're an outsider, aren't you?"

She took a sip from the bowl, finding it to be a deliciously rejuvenating broth. "Yes. How did you know?"

"I didn't. You just remind me of someone." He turned away and walked to the other side of the room, propping Erik up to feed him his portion. "Where are you heading, so far out in the wilderness? Were you attacked by whatever tore through here?"

"I'm the one who summoned it," she replied bitterly. "But I'm not going anywhere now. I have no purpose anymore. I can never go home. I can never seen my brother again."

She jumped when the man suddenly dropped the empty bowl noisily on the floor, his posture rigid for a moment.

"You have a brother?" the man asked. Claudia's skin prickled uneasily.

"I HAD a brother. His name was . . ." she paused, not wanting to tell this stranger about herself anymore. He turned around, as if to encourage her to continue. She didn't, glaring angrily at the hood that covered his features.

"His name was . . . ?" he repeated, coming closer to her. Her jaw set, and her hands balled into fists as he stopped a foot away from her bed. "His name was Michael?"

Claudia's face suddenly went blank, her limbs going weak as the man removed his hood, revealing kind, mature brown eyes and a head of wild blue hair that was shaven at the bottom.

"What is this?" she croaked, her skin pale and her throat drowning in bile. "I'm dreaming? Hallucinating . . . what sick joke is this?"

"I'm really here, Claudia," he said, slowly sinking onto the bed and beginning to remove his cloak. Once that dropped to the floor, he yanked the shirt underneath over his head and took her hand, placing it on the scar slashed across his chest. "I've been looking FOREVER for you . . ."

"Oh my God!" she screamed, throwing her arms around him, wailing more violently than she'd ever had in her entire life. Michael embraced her tightly, rubbing her back comfortingly. "I'm sorry, Michael! I'm so sorry I left!"

"Shhhh, Claudia . . . it's okay," he laughed emotionally. "I forgive you. I'm just happy you're here."

"What the hell . . . is this?" Erik's groggy voice came as he lumbered up beside them, and when Michael looked up and batted his pretty brown eyes, he was taken aback, the haze that fogged his mind clearing up. "C-Claudia?!"

Claudia pulled back from Michael, fixing Erik with those same pretty brown eyes, and be gawked at them both in astonishment. "CLAUDIASSSS?!?!"

Claudia laughed wildly through her tears, and Michael looked at her and burst into laughter, too. If she was having some wacky, Wonderland induced fever dream, she never wanted to wake up.

THE END