Nevermore

Never after (Pt 1)

Sophie

I'm anything but an idiot and Evil has skillfully laid a trap for Good. We have spies in the inside - we know Good had planned to ambush us, little did they know we would be prepared and secure the upper ground. 

I'm atop a horse named Bree, black as night fur with dark eyes and a silky mane, cool and collected unlike my horse from the Safe Haven, who to say blatantly, despised me. I glance to my right to see Rafal beside me on a snow white horse, the colour of his hair. He sends me his signature smile, the smile that makes my heart flutter and nerves sing. I nod back, unable to hide a grin and can't hold back the warm feeling that envelopes me. Love. That's what it is, despite how many people would disagree. No amount of valiant knights, stupid wizards and helpless princesses would stand in the way - because Love conquers all , like the storybooks said. For evil, not for good. 

I couldn't help but respect Hester for not caving in at all the threats I had sent. If it were Rafal instead of Anadil, I quite possibly would have bent to the orders myself. Weakness, my mind whispers.

A third of the army is travelling to Camelot through the way of the woods. It's a beautiful place with trees all shades of green - grass, hazel, sage, leaf, emerald, jade, olive, pea. Nature seems to flourish around and I can see clusters of small red mushrooms, rabbits and foxes waiting to strike. The rest of the world seemed so oblivious to what is about to go down, it's almost funny. 

The second third of my army are the new students at the school who have barely been trained but thanks to Bianca and my own efforts they are as well prepared as they can be. They have set off to Camelot half a day after we had, ready to sandwich Good in between us all. Of course, the final third was already at Camelot and captured the city easily, first taking down the castle cleanly and smoothly and capturing or killing the occupants, setting up the city to our advantage. It's a perfect plan. I'm aware Good had their own spies in Evil but no soldier knew all of the plan except the ones leading it.  Only small chunks, not enough for the whole setup to be discovered. It's surprisingly simple and easy, really. 

Camelot is not far off now, perhaps only a few miles. We have been travelling for nearly two days after all. 

"We're stopping!" A voice calls out upfront, echoing down the line of soldiers. I glance towards Rafal and he nodded in agreement. "Break! A final overview." He calls as I dismount Bree.

I wander over to a log and sit down with a sigh, stretching my arms and legs from the ache that has developed after spending so long in one position. I still haven't told him about the dreams, the nightmares and the visions. I know I have to - a sickness is forming in my gut and whatever is happening to me, is grasping a corner of her mind, able to make me feel like suddenly  throwing up or woozy or more susceptible to being pulled into whatever world it has created. It tries even now, pulling at the corners of my mind, looking for a way in, to pull me in. He needs to know. There's no fighting an enemy in the mind rather than the battlefield. 

"I need to tell you something."I say nervously, lacing my fingers together. 

Rafal's eyes grow concerned at my seriousness and he squeezes my shoulder. "You know you can tell me anything. I love you."

"I love you too." I reply. "It's been happening for a while now...dreams, nightmares, visions, sucked out of this world and into another. Into the Doom Room but it's not...it's not our Doom Room. It's a copy of it, a replacement. Agatha's there and Tedros...other people I killed. They talk to me. Agatha, mostly in clothes she wore when she was alive, sometimes bloody sometimes not." I suck in a deep breath. "They tell me to set them to free, to be good again. Something like that, at least. I don't know. I don't know what's going on, Rafal."

I finally look up at his face from staring at the floor. His face is grim and he takes my hand in his. "It's a strong soul to hang onto life at it's corners, an even stronger one to drag others who are falling into the jaws of death up to the last hope for living, however small. We call them spectres. They can jump between minds but usually settle in one as it's less draining. Spectres sink their claws into the mind, convincing the host to bring them back. Some have and lived. Some have and died. It doesn't matter who you are, it depends how messy the process is."

I nod in understanding, relief flooding through her but also fear and a slight hint of hope. "It's Agatha and Tedros then? And all the other people, I've killed."

"It's them." He replies. "Their minds, they just need a body. They'll come back to Life. They can control their little dreamscapes, turning it into the best environment for their needs. They chose the Doom Room for multiple reasons. It was smart, I'd say."

It's where I killed the first times. The place that haunted me in my nightmares. People lined up in a room of pain, forcing me to see. Look what you did. Look what you did. It's nothing less of what I'd expect from Agatha.

"How do I get rid of it?" I ask. 

"Fight." Rafal says, eyes burning into mine. "It's the only way. The longer they stay as spectres, refusing to pass on, their souls drain and drain and with no progress they are forced to finally die.  Nothing they can do. How long that'll be, I don't know. Days, months or even years."

"How do you know this?"

Rafal smirks. "It's what my own brother did to me, failing of course. I kicked him back into the dust of death as soon as I knew what it was. I wish you had told me it sooner, you know."

"Me too." I sigh. "I was...scared that's all."

I kiss him softly and icy cold spreads through me and  there's not anything in the world that feels more good.  

I hear footsteps behind me, a whisper of breath and I spin, but no one's there. Ghosts seem to haunt me. 

We're almost at Camelot a few hours later, the evening sky winking with stars, a show of blue and purple lights shooting across the sky. The aurora, a rare sight in the sky. Convenient, it appears when one of the most important battles for the future of the Endless Woods is about to be fought. 

A rustle in the trees. A flash of steel armour. The wind howls and I have the feeling in my gut they're here. My suspicions are confirmed when I see a knight crouched behind a bush that is definitely not Evil's. I make eye contact with Rafal and gesture my head toward the bushes. He nods and sends a billowing explosion of fire into the sky, letting Evil know that Good is here and it's time to fight. We waste no time getting off our horses. We've caught them by surprise and I slice a soldier's throat with the burning sensation of my fingerglow, hot and scalding like fire, like lava. 

All around me, I hear the frenzy of the fight - the clang of metal, the shouts and screams of both sides. 

The battle between Good and Evil has begun.