Kas watched as the woman he was going to give his world to, fell from the tower of his own construction. A shout of anguish tearing from his lungs.

His heart tore apart in his chest as he willed everything, every drop of power left, yet received nothing. No trees springing from the ground, no vines shooting up to wrap themselves around her falling figure.

His mind told him there was nothing he could do, yet he plunged his hands into the bloodied earth, willing for something, anything. But still nothing.

His mother. His people. His love.

Another shout escaped his lips, drops of water hitting his cheeks not registering as all he could do was watch.

He had given her everything. All his energy, his power. He had felt the tug, realised where she was, who she was with and not hesitated. His power, his life- it was hers and he trusted her implicitly to use it, only saving the bare minimum he needed to stay awake, to stay alive.

He had felt the shockwave as their elements came together and were released in their purest forms upon the world and Darkness.

He had seen the Dark One's, eyes wide with shock, fear, betrayal and finally peace, fall dead to the floor. Their bodies hitting synchronised to the ground.

He had watched as the black haired, white gowned woman he loved was carried with the shockwave, falling backwards out of the open sides of the tower he built.

And he could do nothing.

The wet drops hitting his cheeks increased to a point Kas could no longer ignore.

Within the space a mere few seconds, the earth trembled and water shot from the ground beneath Eboni's falling figure. The column of water reached into the sky encasing her and slowing down her decent. As she hit the floor the water washed her over the moat to his side, before sitting still on the land for a moment as though held frozen in a snapshot of time. It began to move again, slowly trickling back towards the moat, disappearing as though nothing had happened.

But it had. The proof of which was now laid, drenched and unconscious in front of him.

"Eboni" he sighed in relief, clutching her to him.

She was alive. The faint but detectable beat of her heart proof of that. But he knew her being here with him, in his arms, would have its consequences. She had fallen, as was written in the prophecy. A part of him knew, however that it could not be so simple.

Looking around for the boy who had given him his love back he saw the dishevelled figure of his friend. He was stood still, looking over to them. His arms still outstretched by his side, palms facing the sky.

Raus met his gaze, a grin stretching his cheeks. His legs shook with the weight of keeping him upright and in the blink of an eye Kas watched as he collapsed to the floor.

Bony fingers wrapped around his own, snapping him from the silent and numb shock that had frozen him of his capacities. He met the eyes of Arianna, who silently peeled Eboni from his grip, checking for her heart beat and caressing her hair as silent tears fell from her own eyes. She nodded to the crumpled figure on the floor where Raus had just stood.

"Go. She is safe with me."

Kas stumbled upright, willing his legs to work. Forcing one foot in front of the other, pushing from his mind the identities of the bodies he was climbing over.

As he neared Raus, the young boys laboured breathing and vacant eyes brought him to his knees.

"Raus, Raus! Come on! Talk to me!" Kas shouted, grabbing his friends shoulder, shaking his as though he could shake the life back into him.

Raus's vacant eyes turned to him, focusing on him, his breathing becoming heavy and his pale skin becoming even whiter as all his energy went on this final interaction.

"You treat her right. You love her right." His voice came out in a hoarse whisper. "Tell my Pa, I wouldn't change a thing."

"Don't you dare Raus, don't you die on me! Find your energy, find the source dammit!" A sob racked through his body as he held onto his friend.

"High Priest Jon was right. I never found my source. I gave her my power. But there was some left. I knew, Kas- Not her. Not Eb's." His words were stagnated, pausing to suck in a deep breath between each fragmented sentence.

"You can find it now, we can do it together! Come on, come on!" He shouted, his voice breaking as he knew there was nothing left. Nothing he could do.

"Tell, tell my dad. I'm sorry. Tell Kimi, it's not her fault. I knew, I knew it was me. I knew."

His skin, battered and bruised- covered in mud and the blood of the people who had put him here- turned cold, his breathing, shallow and strained as his lungs tried to suck in the air they needed to keep him alive.

"No. No. Don't you dare, come on! Raus!"

A high pitched, agonising scream forced him to look away for a second. Iasa was running across the land, her eyes wild as they took in Raus. She screamed in anguish again as she fell to the floor, her legs giving up she neared. Crawling to them, her eyes shamelessly flooding with tears.

"Is he? Please, no!" She wrapped an arm around the red-haired boy's chest, bringing her head to his rocking back and forth as she pleaded over and over again for the sight in front of her eyes not to be true.

Kas reluctantly looked back down, knowing what he would see when he did.

His friend. Too young for death, for sacrifice. His wild red hair the only indication of his vibrant personality left, as his eyes stared unblinking and empty to the sky. His mouth, once the owner of a grin that could bring smiles to the faces of even the most miserable person, slack. His clothes drenched from the use of his element. His power, his soul, drained from his sacrifice.

Kas had been taught the limit of his power from a very early age. The wall not to cross. Exhaustion would- should have- taken him before he hit it, before he gave himself along with the element that had been gifted to him. But Raus, with his innocence and naivety. His lack of training and sheltered life. His wall had never had to be built.

"Where are the others?" Kas managed to croak out. The others welfare springing into his mind.

He looked down at lasa, both still unwilling to let him go. Her answer a simple shake of the head before she went back to pleading and praying. He didn't know if that meant she didn't know, or that they, too, were dead. Kas had no desire to ask for clarification. The unknown at least bringing him comfort in the idea that he could be out there somewhere, alive.

With shouts and the sound of running footsteps from behind Kas knew they would soon be joined by others. But he couldn't bring himself to look around again to see who it was. Who was alive? Who had survived?

"Kimi, no. Stop. You don't need to see him, please." A male voice shouted, the sound of a scuffle, the ring of skin hitting skin as Kimi fought with whoever was keeping her from getting closer.

Kimi won. Silently she staggered and dropped to the floor by Raus's feet. Her red hair dishevelled. Her eyes staring at the boy in front of her who she was supposed to protect.

"I broke my promise. I failed." She whispered, turning her head away and scrunching her eyes, no longer able to look at her friend who she had known forever.

"He, said to tell you that-." Kas started "That it's not your fault. That he knew what he was doing. He knew."

Iasa began to cry again, releasing Raus, pushing herself away as it dawned on them all that he was not going to wake up. That he was gone.

From the corner of his eye, Kas saw a small group of Brothers and Sisters from God's Land surround Eboni. She was still laid on the ground in the arms of Arianna, unconscious.

A firm and reassuring hand rested on his shoulder, giving him to courage to release his friend. Turning to see who it belonged to, he found the Commander looking between them, the wounds on his body hastily bandaged with what used to be his shirt.

"Go to her. I will look over him. We both will." He looked over to Kimi, before looking back to him.

Standing numbly Kas walked backwards, keeping his gaze fixed on Raus before turning and staggering back over to Eboni. Not stopping to talk to Arianna, or the group of survivors who were beginning to form, he picked her up into his arms and walked over the moat and into the tower, vaguely aware of the light patter of steps following him as Arianna refused to leave Eboni's side.

She shouldn't be laying on the ground like the dead, he couldn't see her like that.

He looked in on his brother as he passed his room. The Sisters nodding in reply to his silent question as to whether he was ok or not. Climbing higher to her room, with the bed and the lilies he had built just for her, he passed the bodies of Dark Ones.

She must have seen them enter the tower, they are the reason she did not follow him into the battle.

His mind spun with 'if only' as he placed her onto the bed, before it flew to the fact that Bren was still sealed above them in the stone room he had enclosed him in. That was if he had indeed managed to stay hidden from the Dark Ones that had been heading for him.

"You need to go to your men, Kas. You need to go to the survivors." Arianna dipped a cloth from the bath side, into a bowl of water that had been left out from the morning. Dabbing Eboni's brow tenderly, as she looked over to him. Observing him for any injuries. He had nothing but a few scratches.

"She is drained. You know how it is. She will be asleep for a while. Go, I will stay and tend to her." Arianna urged him out of the door. It did not take much persuasion as he knew he must release Bren, tell him what happened.

As he climbed the stairs he realised that without his power, he would have to think of another way to get through the stone and earth walls. Picking up a discarded sword from a fallen Dark One he hoped that it would do the job.

He was relieved to see that the blast from the release of their powers had shaken the wall of the room enough that with a little work it would easily fall.

But he paused as he lifted the blade for the first strike.

What would he find? Would Bren be there, waiting for his release? Or would he find another body? Bren, too, was new to the power. Just like Raus, he had not experienced the limit of his power before he hit the wall.

With the sword beginning to shake in his hand mid-air, he took the plunge and threw it forward with all his weight behind it, the wall shuddering with the blow, small cracks forming in the already battered stone.

With work, the wall gradually began to crumble, small holes appearing. A hand shot out from the darkness.

Relief flooded Kas and he began to hack away fervently. Bren was alive.

Discarding the sword, his hands joined Bren's as they both pulled apart the wall. When they had created a hole big enough, Bren clambered through. His eyes wide, searching and confused before they landed on Kas.

"Who?" Bren whispered. It was the only question that mattered. With Kas's puffy eyes, blood stained clothes and exhausted posture, it was not hard to guess something had happened. That they had been right about the end of the prophecy. That one of them was dead.

"Raus." Kas replied, the name of his friend hanging on his tongue as he shut his eyes, the grief consuming him again. Bren nodded stiffly in reply.

"Eboni?" Bren asked, his eyes roaming the ground below.

"In her bed. She is ok. Unconscious, but alive." He replied. "And Iasa and Kimi are ok as well." He said, knowing who would be the next person Bren would ask after.

"Thank you." Bren said, sighing in relief. Clapping him on the shoulder, they walked down the stairs together, Bren looking in on Eboni as they passed her room, wanting to check for himself that she was ok.

They walked together in silence back to the battlefield. The survivors laying out the dead into two rows in front of the tower. Dark Ones and Light Ones.

They stood on the bridge over the moat looking out in silent contemplation. King Gregor was sat on the ground nursing a bloodied arm and leg. An unharmed Darien was running back and forth between groups of Rolezal soldiers and his King.

Iasa was sat, silently staring forward, between two bodies. Raus and Orlan. They were laid straight, their arms by their sides, eyes closed to the world. Kimi was nursing the Commander, who was sat by the other wounded fighters. He too was giving out orders for his soldiers to help removed the bodies from the battlefield.

Bren left his side, heading straight for Iasa, who upon seeing him burst into another round of sobs.

It was over. Yet it hardly felt as though they had won anything. Surrounded by the dead, the only ones who had truly escaped the horror of war. The screams, blood, horror, death.

Slowly and begrudgingly Kas walked forward to a group of Sher Wood warriors who were beginning to group together nearby. He wanted to go back into the tower and sit by his brother, sit by Eboni until they both awakened. But he knew that it would do nothing to speed their recovery.

All he could do now, all everyone could do now, was stay busy and wait for Eboni to awaken. So they could learn what happened at the top of the tower. So they could know for certain that it was all over.