A Hero’s Sacrifice
The battlefield was quiet now, the dragon's twisted form lying lifeless in the scorched clearing. The corrupted beast, once a symbol of destruction and fury, was reduced to a grotesque husk of what it had once been. But the victory felt hollow. The price they had paid for this triumph was far too great.
Faelar lay crumpled on the ground, his body broken from the dragon’s final, vengeful strike. The group had gathered around him, their faces pale and streaked with dirt and blood, their expressions torn between disbelief and despair. Time seemed to slow, the weight of the moment pressing down on them like a heavy shroud.
Archer was the first to kneel beside Faelar, her heart pounding in her chest as she cradled his head in her lap. Her hands shook as she pressed them against his wounds, but she knew—deep down—that it was too late. The dragon’s tail had struck him with a force too great for any healer’s hands to mend. Faelar’s breaths came in shallow gasps, his chest rising and falling with an agonizing slowness.
“Faelar…” Archer’s voice broke, her tears falling freely onto his bloodstained face. “Hold on. Please. We’ll get you out of here. Just hold on.”
Selene knelt beside her, her fierce expression now gone, replaced by a hollow look of disbelief. “He’s going to be alright, right?” she asked, her voice trembling as she looked between Archer and Lysander. “Tell me he’s going to be alright.”
But Lysander stood back, his face ashen. His hands hung limp at his sides, fingers twitching as if trying to summon magic that wasn’t there. His powers were spent, and his mind, usually so sharp and filled with solutions, was blank. He shook his head, unable to speak the words that Selene needed to hear.
“I don’t have anything left,” Lysander finally whispered, his voice thick with regret. “I’m… I’m sorry.”
“No…” Selene’s voice was filled with a desperation she could no longer suppress. “No, there has to be something. You can’t—he can’t—”
Branwen, her face streaked with tears, knelt beside Faelar, her hands gently touching his chest, her connection to the natural world telling her what she didn’t want to accept. She could feel it—his spirit was slipping away, like a leaf drifting from the highest branch, carried off by the wind. “He’s fading,” she said softly, her voice barely audible. “There’s nothing we can do.”
Archer clenched Faelar’s hand tightly, her tears falling onto his silver hair. “No, don’t say that,” she whispered. “We can’t lose you. Not now. We need you. I need you.”
Faelar’s eyes fluttered open, the pale green irises, once so full of life and light, now dimmed by the pain and exhaustion of his injuries. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he looked up at Archer. His voice, weak and ragged, barely escaped his lips. “You… don’t need me anymore,” he whispered, his breath hitching as he struggled to speak. “You’ll be fine… without me.”
Archer shook her head, refusing to accept his words. “Don’t say that,” she pleaded, her voice cracking. “We need you, Faelar. I can’t do this without you.”
“You can,” Faelar said softly, his hand trembling as he reached up to brush a tear from Archer’s cheek. “You always could… Archer.”
Selene, her usual defiance crumbling in the face of her grief, knelt closer. Her hands shook as she gently touched Faelar’s shoulder. “Why did you do it?” she asked, her voice choked with emotion. “Why did you—”
“I had to,” Faelar interrupted, his voice barely a breath. “It’s… what had to be done. The land… needed me. It needed all of us.”
Lysander finally stepped forward, his heart heavy with guilt and grief. His mind raced with thoughts of what he could have done differently—how he should have found a way to save his friend. “I should have stopped this,” he said quietly, his voice thick with self-reproach. “I should have found another way. I’m so sorry, Faelar. I failed you.”
Faelar shook his head ever so slightly, though the effort clearly caused him pain. “No one… could have done more,” he whispered. “You all… fought with everything. That’s all… anyone can do.”
His gaze drifted back to Archer, and his smile, though faint, held warmth. “You have to… keep going,” he whispered, his voice growing weaker with every breath. “Finish this… for Valandor.”
Archer’s tears fell freely as she held Faelar close. Her heart ached with a sorrow so deep it threatened to consume her, but she couldn’t look away from his face. “We will,” she promised, her voice breaking. “We’ll finish it. For you. I swear.”
Branwen placed her hand over Faelar’s chest, feeling the last flickers of life within him. Her voice was soft, but steady. “We’ll honor you,” she said quietly. “You’ll be with the land, Faelar, just as you’ve always been. And we’ll make sure your sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”
Faelar’s breathing grew slower, his chest barely rising and falling now. He looked to each of his comrades, his eyes filled with peace and acceptance. “You’re all… stronger than you know,” he murmured, his voice fading to a whisper. “You’ll save Valandor. I believe in you.”
Selene’s tears fell as she gently squeezed his hand. “I’m going to miss you,” she said, her voice thick with grief. “But we’ll make them pay, Faelar. For you.”
With a final, shuddering breath, Faelar’s eyes closed, and his hand went limp in Archer’s grasp.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Archer held Faelar close, her body trembling with sobs as the reality of his death settled over her. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Selene turned away, wiping at her tears with the back of her hand, but the emotion was too overwhelming to hide. Her body shook with grief, and she muttered a string of curses under her breath, trying to contain the anguish that tore at her insides.
Lysander stood frozen, his mind reeling with guilt. He had failed. That was all he could think. He had failed his friend, and now Faelar was gone. His hands, usually so sure and steady, now trembled uncontrollably, and he could barely bring himself to look at Faelar’s still body.
Branwen’s heart ached with sorrow as she knelt beside Faelar, her hand resting gently over his heart. She whispered a soft prayer to the spirits of the forest, asking them to watch over him in the afterlife. The wind seemed to stir in response, as if the very land itself was mourning the loss of its protector.
For a long moment, the group remained in silence, their grief hanging over them like a heavy cloud. The battlefield, once filled with the sounds of battle and fury, was now eerily still. The dragon’s twisted corpse lay nearby, its corruption having been purged by Faelar’s sacrifice, but the victory felt hollow.
Archer gently laid Faelar’s head on the ground, her fingers brushing through his hair one last time. “We’ll finish this,” she whispered, her voice filled with sorrow and determination. “We’ll save Valandor. For you.”
The others nodded in silent agreement, each of them grappling with the weight of their loss. Faelar’s death had shaken them to their core, but it had also strengthened their resolve. They would carry his memory with them, and they would finish what he had started.
Branwen rose to her feet, her voice soft but steady. “We should… honor him. He would have wanted to be returned to the land.”
Archer nodded, though the motion felt mechanical, her mind still lost in grief. “He was always a part of the land,” she whispered. “Even in death, he belongs to it.”
The group worked in silence, gathering wildflowers from the edges of the battlefield and placing them gently around Faelar’s body. Each movement was slow and deliberate, a small act of reverence for the friend they had lost. Branwen knelt beside him, her hands trembling as she whispered one last prayer, asking the spirits to guide Faelar’s soul to the next life.
Lysander, still struggling with his guilt, stepped forward and knelt beside Faelar’s body. He placed a hand on his chest, his voice barely a whisper. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I’ll make sure we finish this. I promise.”
Selene, her tears still falling, stood beside Archer, her voice a quiet murmur. “He was a hero. He deserves more than this.”
Archer wiped at her face, her heart aching with the weight of their loss. “He was more than a hero,” she whispered. “He was our friend. And we’ll make sure his sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”
As the group stood together, united in their grief, the wind around them seemed to still, the earth itself mourning the loss of Faelar Moonshadow. The sky above
them was dark, the last vestiges of the battle’s fury hanging in the air like a storm that had yet to pass.
But Faelar’s memory would guide them. His spirit, forever tied to the land he had loved and fought for, would live on in their hearts as they pressed forward. And though the battle was far from over, they knew that they would carry his strength with them, no matter what lay ahead.
For Faelar. For Valandor.