Intentions of a Dark Mage - ENDING SCENE

pain, hurt no comfort. The ultimate redemption.

“Do you think it would hurt?” I blurted out.

Golden leaves twirled to the ground serenely as I nestled myself deeper into Echo’s embrace. I caught one in my fingertips and twirled it absentmindedly. It crumbled apart as I gripped it tightly.

Our world was shattering. 

We were losing more than millions of miles by the second as it fractured apart to drift further and further into the void.

The guilt that I buried deep within me reared its ugly head once more.

I was the one who started it all.

Me.

And now, I was here to make a decision that would be my repentance.

Echo’s hand slipped into mine as his brows lifted in concern.

“You don’t have to do this, Ember. One soul might be enough.”

I sighed, “It won’t be. This whole area was made up of two worlds put together. One wouldn’t be able to sustain it for long.”

“You could grow into your prime that way. Another thousand years and you would be a powerful mage.”

His warmth seeped deep into my skin and I revelled in it with my eyes shut.

I could imagine the future he wanted for me so strongly - I had dreamed it myself for twenty years of my life, after all.

But a future without Echo?

“Echo, you made me into who I am today, who moulded me into a being with potential. You loved and cared for  me in a way that my own mother could never match. I spent three years with you in my mind and now, I’d rather die than not being able to hear your laugh one more time. I am not abandoning you. I thought I already made this clear.” I tilted my face up and raised my brow at him with an attitude.

He barked out the short little laugh I loved before his face fell in a pain so tender.

“Ember, you are a brilliant flame, but all the world ever did was try to put you out. With this, if you blame everything on me, you could have a life of peace. Do you not want that?” He pushed.

Knots formed in my stomach at the thought.

To hurt and betray him like Emilia had done, just to live on?

“Never,” I swallowed the lump in my throat, “Don’t ever ask me that again. I sacrificed the world so you could have the peace you deserved. Don’t try and force me to try and take that away from you. You deserve it just as much as I do.”

The trepidation in his eyes became palpable.

His arms wrapped themselves around me and the scenery became obscured by the view of the soft jacket on his chest. His large hand cupped the back of my hair and all I could smell was the scent of ash that I had grown to love.

“You love so fiercely. How could only a few in this world recognise that?” His voice trembled.

“So many beings in this world told us that we were the destruction of the world, that we were undeserving of love. Maybe this was meant to be our fate?” I voiced my musings aloud.

“Fate is cruel,” He spat, “We can do nothing but live it, not knowing all of the consequences that follow.”

“Not knowing the consequences is what should make us choose our paths that much more carefully,” I realised, “But there’s no point in running through what-if’s now. There’s only one choice left to make, and we’re making that choice together, Echo. I won’t have it any other way,” My arms slipped around his torso and I buried my head deeper into his chest.

I spent as long as I could burning the feeling of his safety into my mind.

My eyes watered as his lips parted a kiss to my hair.

I will not cry from the longing and terror that ran through my blood.

No amount of sweet-nothings and assurance would prepare us for what we were about to do.

The ancient texts spoke of unimaginable power that the tree could grant.

With the power of a soul, its roots could run deep through the earth and connect the parting lands from disappearing into the ether.

Two could help form a barrier to protect these worlds from harm outside of our universe.

And two willing souls were right  here.

The winds howled as cracks formed in the skies, giving way to nothingness that our eyes couldn’t comprehend.

Annihilation was coming.

I clenched my teeth tight to stop them from chattering.

Would our sacrifice only be temporary?

We were nothing but a pair of humans weak to fear and selfish desires.

We were far from protectors of the world.

But who else would rise to the challenge, knowing it would lead to their deaths?

How else would I be able to keep my promise to Noah -for Anya to grow up safely? How would Bobby look down at me from Heaven, knowing I didn’t put things right?

Chunks of land faded further and the energies of the world drained faster than before.

Our magic began to seep away from our very bones.

It was now or never.

Echo and I left each other’s embrace and gripped each other’s hands once more.

Our final act of unity.

We faced the tree solemnly and placed our hands on its golden bark.

“We are ready to offer our souls to you!” I proclaimed.

“We wish to become the protection of our world and fulfil our promises to our loved ones.”

Its roots began to glow, as did the souls in our body.

We were both a brilliant white gold, like the colour of the sun.

I turned to face Echo and smiled as brightly as I could despite the resignation and grief that ran through me.

Our love.

Our union.

Our hopes and dreams of having a place to belong.

They would soon cease to exist, unfulfilled.

Echo’s face crumpled under a watery mess as he wiped my tears.

Only then did I hear the sobs tearing free from my throat.

“We never got our first date, or our first home or our chance at happiness.” I cried. 

It wasn’t meant to be like this!

“I don’t want to let you go, Ember, I can’t. We were meant to go to the theme park and watch you scream on the rollercoasters. I was meant to embrace you under the moonlight with the stars as our witness. I was meant to feel the warmth of your heart and skin on the cold winter days. God! Please allow us our little peace for the last time.”

His prayers crumbled away my last of my composure.

“I wanted us to get into silly little fights over what to eat or whose turn it is to do the dishes. I wanted to see a mini-Echo run around, squealing as you chased them around, I wanted to grow old and wrinkly with you and watch our family find their way in life. God! Is there no other way? Is taking our final breaths together all we have left?”

My trembling fingers reached for his face to wipe his tears one final time, but they faded to dust as they made contact.

My breath hitched.

We barrelled into each other as we wailed our everything to God, to the skies and to each other.

Our arms disintegrated into ash, closely followed by our legs.

Gravity gave out and we both began to float above the ground, along with the millions of dried, dying leaves that were once on the ground, crashing into us, the tree and disappearing out into the abyss.

Sound was silenced as our ears disappeared.

I looked at him in fear as I tried to scream I loved him.

His lips moved to do the same.

The last to go was my eyes.

My last sight of Echo was one of agony as he rushed to word his final message and realising I wouldn’t see it until the end.

Our souls were magnetic, reaching out for each other in desperation to stay together but the intangible roots of the tree grabbed us both, and we were torn apart viciously to be absorbed cleanly.

I was left all alone in nothingness.

Author's Note

lol this is also because I got bored and also because I was in the mood to write this as well.