Alright, final part of the finale. This is the end of Into the Woods. I hope you like it, with the last cliffhanger. (Sorry!)
Richard watched Adalene knock out the last Dueglesteiner when he heard Luke scream, an unnatural cry that was pained and heart-wrenching.
He looked over at the cliff, where Luke was laying over the top, reaching for something that wasn’t there.
Richard ran over to him, having to literally pry Luke’s body from the cliff face.
“What happened?” he asked as Luke thrashed his body around, trying to get out of Richard’s grip. “Luke, what happened? Tell me what happened!”
Luke eventually got out of his grip, throwing as many rocks as he could into the forest, over the cliff, and just screaming in pain. Tears streamed down his face, before he finally fell to his knees, shaking with sobs.
“Where’s Skylar?” Richard heard Helen ask as Luke punched the ground with a clenched fist.
“She’s gone!” Luke shouted, his eyes a crazed look, “She’s gone and I couldn’t save her!” Then he ran his hands through his hair, tugging at the ends in anger.
Helen rushed to Luke’s side, hugging him and whispering comforting words, all the while gently asking if he could explain more.
“Guys!” Peter called, “Her…her bo staff’s here,” he picked up Skylar’s fallen bo staff.
Only Adalene looked over at the cliff, a crumbled area that had not been there before. “Children, look at zis.” Adalene pointed to what looked like a landslide had happened, a piece of the cliff chewed away.
“What happened?” Alice pondered as she walked over to it.
“Stay back!” Adalene warned, “Ze landslide may happen again.”
Alice backed away from the cliff, and walked over to Luke.
“Luke, where did Skylar go? What do you mean you couldn’t save her?”
Luke wouldn’t answer though, sobbing.
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…
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It was nightfall before Luke would calm down enough to explain what had happened.
“She-she was fighting Boromir, and she…pushed him off the cliff.”
“Well that’s a relief,” Peter muttered, and Richard agreed in his mind, glad to hear that Boromir was finally gone.
“But then, part of the cliff fell away, and she-she fell off. I tried to help her but she was too far away…I-I couldn’t save her,” Luke lowered his head in shame, crying once again.
The rest of them looked at each other, finally understanding what had happened. Alice and Helen began to cry, mourning for their friend. Peter looked at Richard, then turned away, comforting Alice. Richard looked at Adalene, who was staring into the fire. After a little while of mourning, Richard finally asked the obvious. “Well…what do we do now? With Skylar gone, we’re short one person.”
“What can we do?” Peter countered, “We still have to go to Dueglestein and claim this prize, whatever it is.”
“But it’s called the quest of the six, not the quest of the five. Without Skylar we wouldn’t be fulfilling it,” Alice sighed, looking around at them.
“But look at us,” Richard argued, “There actually is six of us. Adalene is the sixth person.”
“Are you saying we replace Skylar?” Luke’s eyes were filled with rage as he looked at Richard. “She’s not just a part of this quest, she’s a person, too.”
Richard didn’t know why Luke would be so offended by this, so he continued on. “I’m not saying we replace her, just…substitute her.”
“But we barely even know Adalene!” Luke shouted at Richard.
“None of us knew each other when this quest started!”
Helen now stood, keeping Luke from hurling himself at Richard. “Guys, stop. Luke, would Skylar want us to be fighting among ourselves? No. She wouldn’t. So let’s calm down, and act like civilized people, alright?”
Luke reluctantly backed off, and Helen sat down again.
“What do you suggest we do then, Richard?” Alice now asked, and all eyes turned to him.
Ignoring Alice, Richard looked over at Adalene. “Adalene, how old are you?”
Adalene, who had been quiet during their conversation, now looked up, staring at each of them in turn. “Twelve.”
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To be continued…
That's all, folks! But I'm feeling nice today, so I'll add in a sneak peak to Across the Sea, along with a sprinkle of acknowledgements.
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