Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter Thirteen

Celfina’s room shook, causing the bowl to fall from her fingers. She and Elisabeth shared looks of terror as screaming continued outside. They ran to a window only to see a swarm of men coming over the hills, yelling and with swords held high. A large weapon stood at one of the towers and, as they watched, it shot out a large ball that was going straight for them.

“Move!” Elisabeth screamed and they ran to the bedroom door, throwing it open.

Before they could get to the stairs, though, it crashed through the bedroom window. The shock of the explosion threw the two women against the wall and they tumbled down the stairs. Splintered wood and shattered glass rained down around them and Celfina forgot where she was for a moment. There was a strange ringing in her ears as Elisabeth pulled her to her feet, shouting something and pointing to the back door.

They ran for it but it was blocked by men in heavy armor. The rest of the building was caved in and Celfina heard yelling from the study. She suddenly realized that’s where Nicolæ was and tried to run to him but a man grabbed her by her hair, pulling her back. She screamed in pain and scratched at his hand, trying to free herself. The man only laughed and started dragging her. Her heels dug into the floor but with a might tug, the man pulled her off her feet. Just as they reached the back, the study door flew open.

Bodies spilled out into the hallway. One was Liam, dead with a sword through his chest. Another was a man she didn’t recognize. He was covered in blood and wielded a sword. His eyes were blinded by the blood flowing from his head, though, and he struck only the walls. Stumbling over the body, Erick, Lucian, and Nicolæ broke into the hallway. Lucian had a scratch on his face but Nicolæ had a gash in his arm that was rapidly bleeding.

“Let me GO!” Celfina screamed, fighting to get to Nicolæ. The man dragging her only laughed again and she started to see red. “LET. ME. GO!”

She gripped his wrist with one hand and balled her other hand into a fist. Closing her eyes, she threw all her weight into the fist which collided with the man’s groin. He yelled and fell, his hand still grasping her hair. With a scream, she yanked and felt several strands of hair separate from her scalp. Not bothering to look behind her, she ran to Nicolæ.

She found a discarded sword on the ground and snatched it up. She had no idea what to do with it; all she could think about was doing whatever possible to save her husband. No one had noticed her yet. Lifting her nightgown over her bloody legs, she ran and threw her weight into the sword, thrusting it through the stranger’s side.

He fell with a shocked look on his face and Erick yelled in anger, advancing towards her. With his back turned, Lucian and Nicolæ both drove their swords through his chest.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” Nicolæ shouted over the noise of the battle.

Celfina tore a strip of cloth off of her dress and wrapped it tightly around Nicolæ’s wound.

“Where’s my wife!?” Lucian yelled, his eyes wide and fearful.

The three of them stumbled to the only exit left as the ground quaked again. They found Elisabeth with a sword fighting one of the soldiers. Lucian yelled in anger, sword raised, and ran at the man. His sword went straight through the man’s throat and he fell to the ground. Lucian embraced his wife and Celfina looked around her.

All the buildings were demolished by that weapon. Men and women ran in panic, some fighting, some too horrified to defend themselves. Dead bodies piled up on the ground, causing some people to fall over as they tripped. Blood ran through cracks in the earth and Celfina went light headed for a moment.

Nicolæ grabbed her hand and they fled around to the front of the cabin. She tried to keep up, her other hand on her stomach. They skid to a halt, though, as their way was blocked by more soldiers. They tried the left then the right but it was blocked.

“Nicolæ!” a voice thundered from behind them.

“Oh my God!” Celfina screamed as Nicolæ hid her behind him.

Erick was emerging from the rubble, a twisted grin on his face as he stumbled toward them.

“I’m not easy to kill,” he panted, glaring down at the two of them. “Nicolæ,” he said again, “kill Celfina.”

Nicolæ’s eyes widened as he looked at Celfina. She gasped, taking a few steps back. With a great effort, Nicolæ looked back at Erick.

“No!”

Erick only continued to grin as Nicolæ’s hair began to go white. Nicolæ fell to the ground, yelling out in pain, gripping his hair.

“Nicolæ!” Celfina cried and knelt on the ground beside him.

The noise of the battle seemed to fade as she gripped Nicolæ’s wrists, causing him to look at her. His eyes were streaming and he screamed again as more of his hair turned white. He started to shake and cough.

“Please don’t die,” she begged as his knees gave out and he fell to the ground completely. “No, no, no,” she moaned, putting his head in her lap. “No, you can’t die,” she cried, her tears mixing with his. “You can’t.”

He raised a shaking hand to her face. “I love you,” he breathed.

“You can’t die,” she whispered and put his hand on her stomach. “We need you.”

“You’re pregnant?” he whispered, his eyes closing and he smiled. “I was going to be a father.”

“You are going to be a father!” she yelled, shaking his shoulders. “Don’t give up! You’re stronger than this!”

He gave a last shuddering breath and his eyes closed.

Terror, grief, and anger tore at her heart and she screamed until her throat was raw. From the top of the stairs, Erick was laughing insanely.

She seemed to be looking at everything through a haze. Her body moved on its own and she picked up a strange weapon on the ground beside her. She stumbled up and pointed it at Erick’s head. He stopped laughing as she pulled the metal trigger back. The force threw her off her feet as the projectile shot straight through Erick’s forehead, between his eyes. He fell, the look of shock still on his face. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Panting, Celfina ran back to Nicolæ. Refusing to believe he was dead, she began hitting his chest, tears cascading onto his face. Dimly aware of the battle ending from the fall of their leader, she continued doing all she could to get him to open his eyes again. Grief tore her soul apart as Lucian and Elisabeth both fell to the ground beside her, sobbing.

Celfina collapsed onto Nicolæ’s chest, her tears soaking through his shirt.

“I love you,” she cried and kissed him.

Without warning, there was a flash of gold and Celfina, Lucian, and Elisabeth were thrown onto their backs.

-Fifteen Years Later-

“The end,” Celfina said, pulling the blankets up to her son’s chin.

His blue eyes were wide under his pure white hair. “That’s scary.”

Celfina smiled gently. “That all is behind us now,” she assured him. “We live in peace now.”

“So Dad died?”

Celfina nodded. “But death isn’t necessarily the end.” He smiled a little and she blew the candle out. “Now get some rest. I don’t want you being late to class again.”

He turned on his side and settled more into the blankets. She left, closing the door quietly behind her. She ran her hand through her hair and went down the hall to her bedroom. She walked in and smiled at the portrait over the fireplace just as arms wrapped around her from behind.

Laughing, she turned around and kissed Nicolæ.

“You were in there for a while,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “I was starting to worry.”

“He wanted to know why he has to take those history lessons,” she explained, going to the closet for a nightgown.

“What did you tell him?”

Celfina smiled down at her large, pregnant belly. “Our story,” she answered, pulling the nightgown over her head.

“I bet that was a great bedtime story,” Nicolæ laughed, tossing his white hair out of his face.

Celfina let out a sigh and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered and he smiled, tucking some hair behind her ear and kissing her.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he breathed on her lips, one hand resting on their unborn baby.

She smiled into his kiss and he put the remaining candles out with his fingers.