Dakota and Argento snuck up on the group of Brutes. They were laughing and kicking something, and for a moment he believed they were playing a game of some kind. That was until he saw his mother.
“Stop!” she screamed through tears. “Anastasia!”
Dakota’s heart fell, and he searched the center of the clearing only to see a crumpled body being kicked around as if it were a ball.
“Fuck!” he yelled, and plunged into the clearing with Argento and his men on his heels.
“Dakota!” Elizabeth yelled, and he saw her struggling to get free. Anger burst through him as he took in the scene before him, and he saw red.
His sword sliced through the Brutes, and he fought his way to Anastasia. He couldn’t tell if she was breathing, and he felt his heart stop. If she died tonight, he would die with her. He saw Argento free Elizabeth and he felt relief knowing she was safe. When he got to the Brute that was dangling Anastasia by her arm, he brought his sword up and watched with sick satisfaction as its arm fell to the ground and it howled with pain.
“You like games?” he asked, and brought his sword down on the other. “I do too.” He finished by plunging his sword into its chest.
He fell to his knees at Anastasia’s side and prayed that she was still alive. Her pulse was weak, and her face was barely recognizable.
“We need to get her back to Terrenia,” Dakota said as he lifted her into his arms. “Now.”
Argento nodded and pulled out the vial Carmen had given him.
“Wait!” Elizabeth yelled, and ran for Sarah. “We have to bring her back and bury her. I will explain it all later.”
Dakota nodded, and Argento bent to retrieve her body. “We shall bring her, then,” he said, and threw the vial to the ground. The portal opened before them and they stepped through, straight into the medical cottage.
“What happened?” Carmen cried out when she saw Anastasia’s beaten body.
“I will fill you all in,” Elizabeth repeated, “but we have to get her stable. Where’s Tilly?” Elizabeth asked as she looked around the room.
“I will get her,” Argento grumbled, and jogged out of the cottage.
“Internal bleeding,” Elizabeth noted as she cut open the front of Anastasia’s torn shirt.
Dakota felt hopeless as he looked at her beaten body. Bruises and contusions were everywhere on her abdomen and chest, and he could see that her arm was broken, as was her nose and probably multiple ribs.
“Oh my God,” Tilly choked out when she entered the cottage.
“Get me a knife. We have to stop the internal bleeding.” Elizabeth grabbed the sanitized blade Tilly handed to her and made an incision along Anastasia’s ribcage.
Dakota watched as his mother worked relentlessly to save Anastasia’s life. She died twice, and both times his mother had done CPR to bring her back. Everything seemed like it was happening in slow motion, as if he weren’t really there witnessing it.
When Elizabeth finally stopped the bleeding and set her wrist, she adjusted Anastasia’s nose and then turned to Carmen.
“Is there anything you can do to help her heal? With your magic?”
“She is a healer, hers should help her heal faster than normal. I’m afraid that if I try and interact with her healing magic, I may cause more damage,” Carmen said, her face white with fear.
“She doesn’t have any. Vincent took it,” Elizabeth said softly.
Dakota’s brain snapped back to the present. “What do you mean, he took it?”
Carmen’s body began to vibrate with anger. “That is why I believed her to be dead. I couldn’t sense her magic. That son of a bitch stole it!”
“How did he steal it?” Dakota asked, irritated that he was being ignored.
“When Anastasia killed Sarah, she made herself vulnerable.”
“Why did Anastasia kill Sarah?” Tilly wondered.
“Because Sarah was going to kill me. Vincent had manipulated her into believing it was Anastasia’s fault that Brady died. She was going to use my death to teach Anastasia a lesson. Now, is there anything you can do?” she asked Carmen. “Because I’ve done all I can and I really need to sit for a moment, but I can’t do that unless I know she is going to live.”
“Yes, I can help. But I need you all to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Dakota said, crossing his arms.
“Fine, you can stay, but everyone else get out.”
Elizabeth stepped out and into the crisp night air. She looked at her shaking hands and tried to wipe Anastasia’s blood from them. She would never be able to forget what she had seen and the feeling of helplessness as she watched the girl she thought of as her daughter be beaten in front of her. She closed her eyes on the tears, and when she opened them again she saw Tony walking towards the cottage, a grim look on his face.
When he saw her he stopped in his tracks, and a smile spread across his face.
“Lizzie?” he said, almost disbelievingly.
Elizabeth cried out and ran down the steps towards him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately when she reached him.
“Oh, Lizzie. I thought I would never see you again. Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“What is it? Whose blood is this, then?” he asked, grabbing her hands.
Tears burned her throat, and she couldn’t get the words out.
“Lizzie, whose blood?”
“Anastasia’s,” she whispered.
Elizabeth watched as the color drained from Tony’s face. “She is alive,” she added quickly, and relaxed slightly when he let out the breath he had been holding in.
“She almost died, Tony. I almost watched her die. She might die still.” Elizabeth knew she was in shock, knew that she hadn’t fully comprehended what happened.
Tony cupped her face gently with his hands. “What happened, Lizzie?” he asked softly.
“Sarah grabbed me. She drugged me with something,” she started. “When I came to, we were waiting in the Brute world for Anastasia. Somehow she knew that she would look for us there.” Elizabeth blinked tears away. “It was terrible, Tony.”
Tony lifted her chin and saw the fresh cut on her throat the blade had left. He pressed a light kiss to it and then looked into her eyes.
“Sarah had a knife at my throat when Anastasia arrived, and she kept telling her she was going to kill me to punish Anastasia for Brady’s death. She was so convinced that it had been Anastasia’s fault.”
He pulled Elizabeth into his arms and thanked God for her life.
“Anastasia had no choice. She had to kill Sarah to save me. Vincent showed up and stole her magic.”
“What do you mean, he stole her magic?” Tony asked in the same tone Dakota had.
“When she killed Sarah, Anastasia left herself unprotected and somehow Vincent was able to steal her magic.”
“Is that what almost killed her?”
Elizabeth shook her head and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
“That’s the worst part, Tony. He left us defenseless in the center of a large group of Brutes. They were playing with her. As if she were a toy.” Elizabeth’s cheeks reddened with anger and she clenched her fists. “They were kicking her and throwing her around while they laughed. If Dakota and Argento hadn’t shown up when they did, we would be dead.”
Tony released Elizabeth, afraid he would hurt her, and took a deep breath. His chest felt heavy and his skin flushed with anger.
“Let’s go and get you something to drink.” He turned back to her and steered her into his cottage.
Elizabeth nodded and followed him.
Once they were inside, Tony moved Elizabeth over to the table and then stepped to the fireplace to heat up some water. Emotions and thoughts were running through him. He had been so afraid when she had gone missing. Had felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest. It had been, he realized, because the woman sitting before him held it.
“Marry me,” he said, turning to face her.
“W-What?” she stammered, her eyes widening.
“Marry me, Lizzie.” He knelt before her. “When I woke up and you weren’t there, I felt this huge hole in my chest. After my family died, I hadn’t believed I would ever be able to love again. My heart stopped beating that night. Until I met you. You fixed me, Lizzie, put my heart back where it needed to be and jump-started it. I need you, and I love you with every single part of me.” He took her hand and placed it over his chest. She could feel the strength in the beat of his heart, and knew it was for her.
“Please say you will marry me.”
A slow smile spread across her face. In the depths of the darkness that had been rained down on her ever since George’s death, she was finally seeing a sliver of light before her.
“Yes.”
“Yes?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes, Tony. I will marry you.”
He cupped her face and pressed his lips to hers.
Dakota watched as Carmen held her hands over Anastasia, her eyes closed. He could feel the magical charge in the room, and could see that it was draining Carmen. He wasn’t sure what help he could be, but he gripped her wrinkled hand lightly and closed his eyes, willing Anastasia to heal.
He put everything he had into it. He could see them as kids, running and playing in the woods at his parents’ cabin. He remembered brushing the hair out of her face wishing he had the courage to kiss her.
The way her face had looked when he had seen her last, when he had yelled at her, stuck in his head. It was his fault she had gone alone. Had he not overreacted then they could have been together when they found her.
Dakota felt Carmen lightly squeeze his hand, and he opened his eyes to stare into her tear-filled hazel eyes.
“I don’t know what else to do,” she whispered, wiping tears from her cheeks.
“What do you mean?” he asked, fear getting a fresh grip on his heart.
“Dakota, she is dying.”