The sky burned, and she ran.

Ash fell like snow under a darkened sky. The sun was fully eclipsed, an angry red ring around it. The only light source was the wildfires that ravaged the pines far below, flames climbing hundreds of feet into the air amid the screams.

The rock beneath her feet split, fissures spreading like spiderwebs, ripping the mountain apart at the seams, leaving jagged plateaus of earth and rock behind. Soldiers screamed, swallowed by the cracks. A clap of thunder sounded and the surrounding mountains groaned as they were carved asunder.

Still, she ran. 

The fae fought bravely, their magic painting an ominous aurora of defiance across the realm. And yet, shadows fell like a weighted blanket, smothering flames, light, and life itself. A symphony of screams and clashing steel assaulted her from all sides as she tore through the carnage, desperate. From her vantage point here in the mountains, the distant forest buckled, the ancient pines shrieked amid another teeth-rattling quake of the earth. In her periphery, something dark and massive rose from the ocean, sending deadly waves crashing onto the rocky shore and pulling bodies out to sea. She looked away, swallowing bile, thinking of him.

It was over. They had failed. But maybe they could die together. 

She dragged in air through ragged gasps, her lungs straining against the smoke and smell of death as the wind howled its fury. She slipped on the uneven terrain, slick with the blood of the fallen. Her muscles burned with effort. She was so tired.

A sudden light drew her eyes back to the sea as a spear of silver flame shot from the sky, piercing the landmass in the distance with a deafening crack. Her eyes flared wide as she stared, staggering to a halt. Her heart forgot to beat as all the air left her lungs.

Her home realm was just visible in the distance, enveloped in the ocean mists. She watched now as it shattered, swallowed by the depths of the ocean. A few jagged pieces of land lay scattered across the surface of the sea, flash freezing before her eyes.

And then, the din of the battle seemed to muffle, fading gradually into silence. The smoke dissipated, the fires easing, and the earth stopped groaning as the seas fell still. 

She swayed in place, heartbeat hammering in her ears. She wrenched her eyes away from the coast to see that the mist had begun to dissipate. Cautious cheers began to rise around her, building in enthusiasm as the reality set in. She blinked in stunned confusion as the clang of steel rang through the air, the sound of blades being cast to the ground. 

And there he was. On all fours in the dirt on the edge of the mountain, his body wracked with sobs. 

A sound of relief escaped her lips and she was running again, skidding to his side, her knees scraping across the rock face. She tore off his helmet and grasped his battered face in her hands, pressing her forehead to his. 

“We’re okay,” she gasped, voice raw. “I think it’s over. Somehow…” 

She trailed off, her eyes searching his silver stare. His face bore an impossible weight, anguish and grief lining his features. Her blood ran cold. 

He looked at her pleadingly, desperation and love bleeding from him. The silence stretched thick and jagged between them, and she hissed at him…

“What have you done?”