Have you ever reached a point of no return? A place where it seemed time stood still and all you could do was watch as a door you never wanted to be opened, you never wanted to know where it led, was violently opened in front of your very eyes? I've been there, I am there now.
Cordelia opens her eyes to find herself in an astral plane, in a void that created light instead of devouring it, pure, radiant, and warm.
This place again....
Cordelia looks ahead to see a stygian door carved with irregular shapes and patterns in a clash of purple, gold and red colouring. Large, heavy-looking steel chains erupted from the depths of the abyss and encased the door from its ridges. There was no handle, and it stood jarringly out of place in the dream-like space. Cordelia had her eyes fixed to the door, her dark hair grown much longer than she liked, and her gown was just as glaringly bright as this space made of light itself. Cordelia took slow, measured steps forward with nothing to support her, but it seemed as if gravity was unaware of its presence as her every step bent this plane of nothingness to her will, carrying her forward and closer to this obtrusive door.
Every night I close my eyes, I come back here. I see this door, so obviously out of place. I don't know where this is or why I'm here yet... I have this strong urge that I must move forward, to that door. It's where I belong. It's where...It's...
Soon Cordelia stood before the door, which was much taller than she had expected; she estimated it to be eight feet in length and six in width. Her eyes traced every visible inch of the door. There was an undeniable pull towards it, and she took another step forward and slowly raised her hand with her fingers outstretched. Just as her fingers touched the rough metallic surface, the door shattered violently, ripping against her skin and staining her white gown with the red of her blood. An intense burning sensation filled her lungs, and her vision blurred.
No! Wait!
She reached for a shattered piece of the door only to grasp at nothing, and then it all faded as she regained consciousness.
"Haaaah.... agh...."
A searing headache made the world around blur of shapes and colours, hearing grunts and huffs, Cordelia's eyes focused forward to see Ishaan. His breathing was heavy and ragged, and his movements sporadic. His dark hair overgrown along his shoulder, his eyes were wild but desperately focused on her. The exhaustion in his face was much more apparent, but this was a war after all. His every step was accompanied by unceasing blood that spilled from the large gash wound from a sword in his side. His hands trembled, whether with fear, anger, resentment, exhaustion, or unforgiveness... Cordelia couldn't tell. It looked all the same in the end, when man is pushed beyond the limits, every line is a blur.
"Huff...Huff...Cordelia."
Ishaan's voice was rough as he painfully limped to Cordelia. he was clearly in no position to try and move, but he has always been stubborn. He released his sword from his left hand and it fell with a rough thud onto the dry cracked earth, the sound of the metal was stifled by the dry dirt. His knees buckled and he faceplanted to the ground, he grunted and his fists clenched, dragging up the dry soil. He pushes himself up into a crawling position, coughing and gasping as the dust burned his lungs.
"I always hated... your stubbornness, Ishaan."
Cordelia says, but she coughs violently, blood spluttering on her armour and against the silver blade of the sword pierced through her chest. The hardness of the half-broken-down wall that supports her body pushed back against the bloodied tip of the sword so it didn't show the sword had fully pierced through before. Her fingertips were cold and numb, her lungs filled with dust and smoke and the overpowering stench of blood.
It hurts... it does. Her vision began fading, her breathing became rough.
"Cordelia...why...why must you--coughs"
Ishaan coughs blood, and it steeps into the starving ground that once flourished, now devoid of life, and he fell flat again. He struggles to fill his lungs with air and is on the verge of unconsciousness. With pained grunts and groans he pushes forward, his fingers clawing at the ground, bruising them even more than they were before.
"Don't... die on... me... please."
Cordelia's eyes go wide at the sadness in Ishaan's voice. A single tear traversed his left cheek, wetting his brown and dusted skin. His fists tighten and his jaw clenches. "Not you too... Please... Don't leave me.." His voice cracks as he barely manages to speak. With a pained groan, he pushes himself to his knees. "Damn it! Get up! F**k! Damn legs! Move god damn it!" He pushes himself to stand, though he is unsteady, yet he pushes himself forward. Cordelia watched with wide eyes, blood seeped from the right corner of her lips. Her eyes drifted up to see what she least wanted to.
"N... No... Get...Down-"
Cordelia was cut off by the whistles of arrows and the sudden tearing of flesh. In a matter of seconds, Ishaan fell to his knees again, his eyes softer this time. Thud... His body crashed to the floor, blood pooling around him, and the ten arrows lodged in his back stood proudly. Cordelia watches as the life slowly leaves his body, his once bright brown eyes now cold and lifeless. "Ish... an?"
Footsteps from behind her filled her ears, but her gaze was only on one place, blood took the place of a tear and stained her cheek. Soon emerges a male elf, noble in presence, but the gaze of his green eyes was belittling.
"...You were on the wrong side of the war, Princess, this is your punishment."
Without another word, he raised his sword and slashed. Cordelia's body slumps forward, lifeless. The blood that trickled down her cheek seeped into her armour and onto her skin, providing the last bit of warmth to her dying flesh. "Sigh..." The elf looked to the sky, painted in red, and whispered. "When will this end? ...My lord."