Episode Seven, Part 7:
You Mean the World to Me

It's not a cry you can hear at night. 
It's not somebody who's seen the light. 
It's a cold and its a broken hallelujah. 

Sol was walking at the back of the group, keeping an eye out to make sure no one approached to attack. Ares was carrying Elara, surrounded by Kodiak, Quill and Foster, making it so that no one could get to her if they tried; and the others were scattered close by, with the exception of two boys. 

Bas was walking alone, not even able to share his suffering with Wynnlow, as it only served as a reminder of what they had lost. Wynn was drifting a little far ahead of the Sovereign, his vision focused on the ground, like he was trapped in his own world. 

Slowly, either he slowed down, or Sol picked her pace up - and they fell in line with each other, a couple of feet apart at their sides. 

Neither of them said a word - not knowing how to start, or what to say to make it better, if there was even anything at all that could have mended his heart that night. The only thing Sol could offer him was her company; the knowledge that he didn't have to walk alone in this world, and it was just enough to keep him holding on. 

Ringing out in their silence, the radio in Sol's pocket began to hum to life. The noise was grainy and inaudible, taking a few adjustments of the dialler for Sol to bring it into tune. 

"-know if you can hear me, but I'm going back to find Riders." 

They cut into the channel midway through the message, but they knew without a doubt who it was. Sol stopped in her tracks, as did Wynn who turned to face her, waiting for them to figure out what was happening. 

"Noah? Noah? Where are you?" 

"River?" The boy responded to her voice, suddenly alive with hope. 

"What are you talking about? Noah, we've got Elara and Kodiak! We're heading back to Basilisk. You- You should come with us." 

There was a pause before the boy replied, as if he wanted to agree with her, but knew he couldn't. 

"I have to go find Riders. I-I thought the fire would stop the march, but they're all gone. I went back to camp, and no one was there: they're all on their way." 

"Okay, so if it's already too late, why don't you find us!?" Sol pleaded, perhaps able to look at his situation with a clearer head. 

"Because, I have to kill him. I could do it and then regain control of my people!" He explained. "And they might never have to know that my dad banished me." 

"But how does that help in the long run? You said it yourself, you're not one of them." Sol reminded him, murmuring down the line, fear beating heavily in her heart. 

"I could stop the war, River.." He was desperate for her to see, blind himself to the consequences that could follow. 

"Yes, or you could die, and tell me how that helps any of us! Jonas is waiting for you to come back." She was angry now, unleashing her rage onto the radio, the raise in her voice drawing the attention of some of the others up ahead. 

Kodiak noticed that her and Wynnlow had stopped walking, and that they were falling behind from the others. He hesitated to leave Elara's side, but knew that something had to be wrong for them both to have stopped. 

"Riv? Wynn?" Kodiak questioned, jogging over to them. 

Sol glanced up at him, acknowledging his presence, but too focused to trying to persuade Noah to give her friend an update. 

"What's going on?" Kodiak asked Wynn. 

"Noah wants to find his dad so that he can..." Wynn looked over at Sol, not sure what to say exactly. 

"So he can what?" Kodiak persisted. 

"So he can kill him, I think.." Wynn answered delicately, not understanding the full rivalry between Noah and his father. "And take control of his people again." 

"Again? What are you talking about?" 

Sol sighed. It became clear to her that so much had happened in so little time, and Kodiak was lost, struggling to catch up to the world he returned to. 

"Rogue banished him for his alliance with me, and he started the fire to stop Riders from marching, but it didn't work. He thinks the only way to stop it is to kill Rogue so that he can order his people to stop their attack, but.." 

"But what?" 

"But they're already marching, and the fire is catching. Who's to say that Basilisk won't be in flames soon? ...He's not answering anymore." Sol shrugged, gesturing to the radio in her hands. "I... I have to go find him." 

"Like hell you are." The words blurted out of Wynn, a sudden resentment in his voice. 

Sol turned to face him, glaring at him with a look that said 'who are you to tell me what to do?' 

"We got Elara out, didn't we?" She asked him, a slight tone of annoyance lingering. "Go back to Basilisk. This isn't your burden." 

She moved to turn away swiftly, but Wynn reached out of instinct, latching his hand onto her wrist. Sol looked up, not expecting him to go this far in his defiance, suspecting that there was more to his opposition than he was letting on. 

He wanted to tell her that her burdens felt like his. That she had made Elara her responsibility, and he felt it in him to share all of her messes, but he didn't know how to tell her. 

"I've already lost someone I loved out here, tonight." His own despair crept up on him, revealing things he hadn't yet comprehended, revealing a vulnerability he hadn't exposed to them before. 

Sol softened at his words, looking up at him completely enchanted, searching for what was left unsaid. 

"I can't lose you too." Wynn confessed, too wary to meet her eyes. 

Sol swallowed nervously, looking to Kodiak who nodded reluctantly, knowing what she was going to say next. 

"Then you're just gonna have to come with me." 

///

"Dreea, you need to hear this!" Joren hurried into the Quarters, closing the door behind Bianca, the three of them crowding around each other. 

Dreea waited for him to speak, unable to guess if he had good or bad news to deliver. 

"Okay. We're all here now." Joren spoke into his radio, holding it up for both girls to hear. 

"Hey, it's Kodiak." The Sovereign breathed down the line, a fleeting echo of comfort in his voice. 

Immediately, Dreea snatched the radio from Joren's hands, dominated by an overwhelming need to talk to her friend. 

"Are you okay? Where are you?" 

"I'm alright." Kodiak was quick to shut down her questions, easing her worries and stilling her heart. "We're out. Headed back to Basilisk as we speak. I'm fine, but... Elara isn't." 

Dreea's usual impassiveness was shaken, challenged by the heartache in her friend's voice. 

"How far away are you?" She asked. "I'll send Aeryn out in the jeep-" 

"No." Kodiak interrupted. "It's too dangerous." 

"Too dangerous?" Bianca leaned in, struggling to understand his response. 

"You guys can't see it?" Kodiak asked. 

"See what?" Dreea uttered, her voice low in unease. 

"The fire.. Blood Riders is on fire." He answered, confused at how they hadn't noticed by now. 

As the words processed, Dreea bounded towards the door, jogging down the hallway outside with the other two behind her. She moved away from the building, turning around to face the direction of Blood Rider's camp, looking up at the night sky and finally noticing the ever-growing cloud of smoke drifting their way. 

Dreea exhaled, looking over at the other two, watching the fear settle on their faces. 

"Yeah... We can see it." She mumbled into the radio, worried about what it meant for their people, and if Basilisk would be safe from the flames. 

"Okay. Well, we're on our way. Hopefully we'll get to you before Riders do-" 

"They're still marching?" She exclaimed. 

"Yeah." Kodiak sighed. "It's a bit of a long story. Noah's attempting to get them all to turn back, and Riv and Wynn have just left to find him." 

Dreea closed her eyes, trying to piece together everything and understand what was left for her to do. She had so many questions about why Sol had decided to head towards Blood Riders when they were marching to kill her people, and why Kodiak hadn't stopped her, but she knew they would have to wait. 

"I'll get everyone in their positions. I'll have them ready for when they get here, and I'll make sure Aeryn stays behind for Elara. It's good to hear your voice, Kodiak." 

"Thank you. And the same goes for you. I'm looking forward to being home." Kodiak murmured into the radio, letting her go. 

Dreea handed it back to Joren, turning to see all their people scattered around camp, still believing they had a few hours left yet before they potentially sacrificed their lives. 

"What are we waiting for?" She groaned, asking rhetorically. "Let's go tell them that the war is here." 

/// 

Noah heaved, pulling himself over the stumps of fallen trees, his eyes burning from all the smoke that drifted into his eyes. 

It was hard to navigate his way through the forest; every landmark that once served as a representation of where they were, was now lost to the fire, and the only thing he could rely on was the distant sound of chanting that he knew would lead him to his people. 

He crouched down behind a dead bush, watching on at the people who passed - no more than a hundred metres away, trying to see if he could recognise them amid the flames, and he could: quickly realising that his guards were at the front of the march, searching for the safest way through the forest to lead the army behind them. 

He waited there for a few minutes, watching them all pass. There were almost 600 of them in total, and the group had to narrow itself in order to squeeze through sections of the fire. 

Finally, Noah saw who he had been looking for, and as Rogue passed by - closer to the end of the mob - Noah jumped up, running towards his people. 

He tried to avoid being seen by his father at first, sneaking up to the people at the back of the group and trying to turn them away. 

"There's a change of plans. We're not marching tonight. You have to turn back." He announced, pulling several people that were in range, and encouraging them to move. They hesitated at first, only seeming to listen once he pushed more people their way. 

"Hey!" He kept his voice low, reaching the next lot of people. "Come on, we're turning back." 

As they listened, following orders of who they still believe to be their king, Rogue turned around having sensed some commotion behind him, his eyes narrowing in a hungry rage at the sight of his son. 

"Noah!" He called out, voice booming above the chants. He lunged his way over, drawing the attention of nearly 50 people, most of whom had already began to turn back around. 

They stopped in their tracks, neither walking to Basilisk or away from it - instead, waiting to see what unfolded between the two kings. 

Noah gulped, looking around at his people, knowing he couldn't avoid it now. He turned to face his father.

"I've gotta admit, I didn't expect you to show your face again tonight." Rogue smirked. 

"We have to turn back!" Noah yelled, directing his words to everyone of Riders, not just his father. By now, even the people up ahead seemed to have noticed that they had stopped, and were all slowly encircling around the two. 

"If we don't get out of the forest now, we'll be trapped inside, and it'll burn everyone of us to ashes! Our only option is to turn back to where we came from! If we work together, we can break the dam, and divert the water this way, stopping the-" 

"Who started the fire, Noah?" Rogue interrupted. It no longer seemed like a game to him anymore. Deep in his heart, Rogue knew his son was to blame, but there was a part of him that didn't want to believe it was true; he didn't want to believe the son he raised could turn around and set fire to his people's home. 

"I-" Noah stuttered, unable to confess what he did, knowing that everyone he was supposed to have protected were standing there in the flames, praying that they were wrong about what they knew was coming. 

Rouge spun around, making sure all of his people were around to hear him. 

"I banished Noah before the march," Rogue announced, "because he had formed an alliance with Basilisk, and was working closely with their Nobel to free their Sovereign from our labs." 

All eyes fell on Noah; a mixture of anger, disbelief, betrayal, and worst of all: shame. There was nothing he could say, because his dad was right, and perhaps even more pressing, he didn't regret what he had done. 

"Then, after I had told him the decision for him to be exiled, Noah set fire to our camp. He is not your king anymore. He is not your people. He does not belong to anyone." 

There was a silence that followed, room for the truth to be acknowledged, for Noah to say something, but he didn't. 

Rogue stepped forward to his son, close enough to rest one hand on his shoulder. 

"Any last words for Riders?" 

Noah looked around, wondering if his words would hold any meaning at all, if they would even be heard, or make a difference to the people he was leaving behind. 

"We don't have to live this way. We don't have to have to be soldiers or killers! I'm telling you, peace is out there. It's not too late to turn back.." 

It took a moment for anyone to respond; perhaps they were waiting for someone else's agreement, or for them to move to stand behind Noah, before they acted. But what followed wasn't what he had been hoping for at all. 

"We want a march!" 

"Rogue is the king!" 

"I say kill him!" 

The chants grew louder and more terrifying, Noah's gaze slowly drifting back to his father, and then... 

"The people have spoken." Rogue muttered, for his ears only. A smile plastered over his face, like he had been waiting Noah's entire life for this moment. 

With his hand still on the boy's shoulder, Rogue pulled Noah forward into his fate, his other hand pulling out a knife and plunging it into Noah's stomach. 

"I told you what would happen if I ever saw you again." Rogue whispered against his ear. "And I'm a man of my word. Maybe things will end differently with Jonas." 

Noah pulled away, the knife halfway out of his body, the taste of blood on his lips. 

"I'll do one last thing for you." Rogue said. "When I see the Nobel, I'll make her a deal: I'll stop the march if she hands over Jonas." At the younger boy's name, Rogue heaved the weapon out of Noah, yanking it backwards and watching his son stumble. 

"You will never," Noah coughed, spitting blood onto Rogue's face, "lay your hands on him...again." 

His father tilted his head, pursing his lips together in a frown, mocking an expression of sympathy. "It's too bad that you won't be alive to find that out." 

Rogue backed away, his eyes lingering on Noah, even as he began walking further away from him. 

"Come on." He called to his people. "And so we march!" 

Noah kept his hands pressed against his stomach, hearing all the cheers and mutterings of Blood Riders as they passed by. He didn't waste any time in hurrying away, retreating in the opposite direction they were headed, trying to make it out of the fire before he bled to death. 

Stumbling, Noah pulled his radio out of his pocket, desperate to call Sol for help, but it slipped out of his hands, tumbling down the ground into the fire. 

Noah's heart sunk in his chest, knowing that his last hope of reaching them was in flames, and his fight to survive had been extinguished, barely enough motivation to carry himself out of the forest. 

Nothing made sense to him anymore; Noah was completely disorientated, his mind escaping him along with his blood, struggling to piece together what was going on. He couldn't remember what had happened to him, or where he was going: he just knew that there was a terrible agony resounding throughout his whole body, and that he needed to get away from the heat before he lost consciousness... 

/// 

Sol was running alongside the forest, Wynn always right on her tail, wondering if they were even looking in the right place. 

She had been calling his radio almost non-stop since they parted from the group, but he had never once replied, and she knew that it wasn't like him to not respond. Whilst Sol's worries were fixated on Noah, Wynn was being swarmed by his own fears: if the fire would trap them, if they ran into Riders, if Elara had made it home by now. 

Trying to distract himself from his thoughts, Wynn looked up - just in time to see Sol hovering in front of the burning trees, bouncing around on the spot, trying to look for an opening into the forest. 

"Sol!" He called, racing over to her. "What do you think you're doing?" 

"He could be in there!" She exclaimed, her eyes red in fear. 

"That doesn't mean you're going after him." 

"Wynn, I thought I made it clear, I'm not leaving anyone behind-" 

"Yeah, and I thought I made it pretty clear that I'm not losing you.." Wynn argued back, his voice holding just as much desperation as Sol's; just as much of his heart on the line as she had. 

"I can't let him die..." Sol whimpered, looking up at her friend with pleading eyes. 

"I know." Wynn took hold of her hand, squeezing it tightly between them both; their debts connected in that moment, reminding each how of how they were bound together, and how they weren't about to leave the other when everything was falling apart. 

"I know, but there's gotta be another way. A way that doesn't get us all killed." 

Sol shook her head, exhaling in exhaustion, and pulling away from Wynn. 

"No! No, there's nothing I can do! I-I don't know where he is, where Riders are-" As Sol was speaking, pacing around nervously, her eyes caught sight of something on the ground: blood had been spilt, trailing from the forest, and on - past where they stood. 

Inexplicably drawn to it, Sol began to follow the trail, having a hard time keeping sight of it all in the dark. 

"Sol..." Wynnlow murmured, not wanting her to get her hopes up over a few drops of blood, or follow the same path as Quill had done earlier that night - only leading them deeper into their troubles. 

"What if it's his?" She spoke, not demanding an answer from him when she had many already running around in her head. 

"It's not from any of us; Elara wasn't bleeding, neither was Kodiak. And no one else has come this way: there would be more signs of Riders being here if it was from them." She explained. 

Wynn couldn't argue with her case: she brought up some valid reasons, but he still doubted the probability of it being him. Nevertheless, he ran ahead of Sol, seeming to figure out where it was leading to before she did. 

Wynn stood before Blood Caves, the dark shadow casting above him threatening to swallow him whole. Sol came up beside him, looking in nervously. She didn't linger as long as him, bringing out her torch and shinning it through the cave where the sight of blood only became more apparent. 

Wynn followed after her, a few places behind, only finding the answer once Sol called out a name. 

"Noah!" She shrieked, throwing herself down to the ground, falling at the king's side. 

Wynn lost his breath, sorry at the sight he saw in front of him, debating if there was anything he could do to help, or if he should let Sol see Noah in that state. 

"R-River?" Noah choked out, his voice raspy and delicate as he pulled his eyes open to see who had found him. 

"Yeah, it's me. What the hell happened to you?" Sol exhaled, frantically ripping the bag off her back. She began to dig through it, holding the torch in her mouth, searching for anything she could use to help. 

Wanting to do something, Wynn retreated out of the cave, reaching for the first fallen branch in sight, dipping the end into the flames of a nearby fire, and hurrying back to Sol and Noah. He brought enough light in that the full extent of Noah's wound was visible, and the amount of blood that was spilling out of him was finally known. 

"I-I couldn't stop the march. I'm s-sorry." Noah apologised, faintly looking down at his stomach where Sol was holding her hands, in denial that the blood wouldn't stop. 

"Who did this to you?" She asked. 

Noah chuckled briefly, having to cut himself short as it brought unimaginable pain to him. "Who do you think?" 

Wynn bent down beside the Sovereign, placing his hands on top of her's. Sol's breath hitched, as if suddenly reminded that the weight of what was happening wasn't all on her, and she looked over at Wynn fleetingly, before turning back to face Noah. 

"I couldn't kill him. I d-didn't even t-try. Say you'll do it for me." Noah begged.

"I've been calling you non-stop." She ignored his question, a resentment in her voice because he hadn't replied to her when she was calling him. 

"I lost your radio. I'm sorry." Noah shifted, wincing in pain as he moved. Wynn tried to get a closer look at his wound, his stomach twisting - but he ignored it; he didn't know what he was seeing exactly, but he knew that Noah was giving everything to stay conscious for Sol, and that there was a tremendous pain he was trying to hide from his face. 

"I'm glad you're here, Riv. I didn't want to die alone." He whispered, fighting for peace as squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep himself together for another moment. He reached up, resting his hand softly on the side of her face, but Sol swatted it away. 

"You're not dying, Noah." She said matter-of-factly, like he was deluded for even bringing up the idea. "But I do need to go get help." She announced, pulling away from him, and her hands freeing from under Wynn's. 

"No, Riv..." Noah fussed. "I just...need y-you to stay." He couldn't tell her that he was afraid. That the reality of leaving Jonas behind was pushing down on his chest, and he could feel himself running out of time. 

He glanced over at Wynn, thinking that he would be able to make her come to terms with what was happening. 

"Sol, he's right..." Wynn told her carefully. "You should stay." 

"I have to get help!" She took a step back, holding her hands up in frustration, yelling at the both of them. 

"...I'll go." Wynn said. 

Sol looked over at him, waiting to figure out what he was saying. 

"I'll go and get help. If you give me your radio, I can catch up with the others, maybe even get to Fenn before he gets back to Basilisk." 

Sol hesitated. "But it's not safe out there..." Her voice was a murmur, looking over at Wynn, then at Noah trying to decide what she should do. If they stayed with Noah, there was no chance of him surviving, but if she let Wynn go, then she put his line on the risk as well. 

She hated herself for her answer, unable to look at him as she spoke. 

"Okay." She answered. She pulled the radio from her waistband, regretfully passing it over to her friend. 

Wynn took it out her hand, his fingers accidentally grazing over her skin softly, feeling a crushing empathy for her. 

With a sorry and fearful heart, Wynn backed out of the cave, using every bit of the strength he had left to turn away from her. 

He immediately began running in the direction he believed was Basilisk. He was grateful that the path to the caves was separate from the forest - nearly a hundred yards to its side - but the heat still found a way to burn his skin, and he still heaved every now and then for a decent breath of air. 

Wynn glanced down at the radio, checking to see if the signal had picked up again so he could call his friends, but it hadn't; he would just have to keep running. 

He was unable to hear the sound of footsteps running after him, drowned out by the rage of the fire and the forest collapsing, and his heart seized momentarily in his chest. 

"Sol!?" Wynn came to an abrupt stop, catching onto her arm as she flew past. "What the hell?" 

Seeing as he had stopped her, Sol took back possession of the radio, checking for herself to see if it was working. 

"I couldn't... I couldn't let you... It's not safe-" She couldn't finish a sentence, out of breath, and racked with terror. 

"Hey, it's okay." Wynn kept his voice calm, trying to ease her to look at him. Once she met his eyes, she seemed to relax a little, as if reminded that nothing had happened to him; reminded that she still had Wynn. 

"You should go back to Noah-" 

Sol shook her head, frantically holding in her tears. She bit down on her lip, just hard enough to get a taste of her blood dripping onto her tongue. 

"If I go back to him, I know he won't try and fight. And it'd mean I accept it: him dying. But I don't. I can't." 

Wynn understood what she was saying; he wanted her to go back, if not for Noah's peace of mind, then for her's - so if he didn't make it, she wouldn't tear herself apart. He wanted it so badly for her, but he knew it wasn't going to happen. 

Wynn nodded, tenderly nodding back to the path, moving once she did. He climbed over the body of a collapsed tree, the bark splintering at his fingers, and he reached down to pull the Sovereign up. Once they were over, Sol tried the radio - noticing that the red light was flickering on and off, notifying them that there was a signal. A wavering one, but a signal none the less. 

"If-if you c-can hear me, it's... It's S-Sovereign R-Riverly. We need.. We need help." Her voice was jagged and unclear, and with the unsteadiness of the channel already, Wynn worried if anyone would be able to make out what she was saying. 

Without so much a second thought, Wynn peeled the radio from her hands, taking over for her. 

"Can anyone hear us? It's Sol and Wynn. We need medical help at Blood Caves." He declared, speaking in between breaths. 

He tried again, prepared to call non-stop until someone answered. "It's Wynn. If you can hear me, Sol needs a medic sent to Blood Ca-" 

"Wynn?" A voice radioed back. 

"Yeah!? Who is this!?" 

"It's Fenn. What's happened? Is Riverly alright?" 

Wynn glanced over, still running. He didn't want to tell the complete truth, afraid that the urgency wouldn't be the same if they found out that the help was needed for Noah. 

"Uh.. We need someone from medic right now. Can you or Aeryn get here?" 

There was a pause before he replied. "Aeryn has to stay at Basilisk for Elara." He informed them. "But I can get to you." 

"Yes! Yes, that's great." Wynn looked at Sol, both of them going to a stop now that they had an answer. 

"Foster's heard you. Him and Nova are going to get the jeep and they'll meet us there once they have more supplies. What's happened? Is it a bullet? Burn? Fall?" 

Wynn's heart throbbed at the latter, caught off guard - the reminder taking him unsuspectingly. 

"Um... Blood." He choked out, unable to get his thoughts straight at first. "A stab wound. There's a lot of blood, which I think is the main concern at the moment." 

Fenn sighed into the radio. "You're right. It's important that you keep pressure on the wound, to avoid as much blood loss as possible. That can kill someone quicker than any damage done inside." 

Wynn nodded, gently nudging Sol, encouraging her to get back to Noah. She understood his intentions, hurrying her way back to the caves, Wynn following shortly behind her. 

"Noah.." The Sovereign called out his name, an alert to him that they had returned. "My people are coming. Fenn is-" She stopped talking suddenly, freezing in place, Wynn almost crashing into her. 

Noah was lying on the ground, a hand weakly resting on his stomach, and his eyes were closed. 

"No... No..." Sol muttered. For a moment, she couldn't bring herself to move, but she forced herself for her place, collapsing onto her knees at Noah's side. 

She took hold of his head, trying to get him to wake up and look at her. 

"Noah, I'm here now. Wake up." She was calm for a minute, still expecting him to listen and do as she had said; still a hope that she would see those brown eyes again. 

Sol heaved in a breath, like she had forgotten to for a while, turning over her shoulder slightly to yell at Wynn. 

"-Need to put pressure on him!!" She exclaimed, some of her words lost. 

"Sol," Wynn was full of regret, able to accept that the boy wasn't responding. 

"Don't!" Sol roared. "Don't you dare tell me it's over. His- his chest is still moving. Look!" 

Wynn waited, nodding to Sol that he was looking, catching what seemed like a hollowed breath after a few moments. She was right: he was breathing, but not at a rate to keep him alive for much longer. 

"You're right. He is." Wynn confirmed. "But if there's anything you need to say..." 

"I am not saying goodbye to him." She was defiant, and more than that - enraged at Wynn for suggesting she did so. 

"Okay." Wynn whispered. "You don't have to say goodbye to someone if you don't want to. But you should say something-" 

"Fine!" Sol snapped, turning to Noah bitterly. "Stay alive!" She yelled at him, not an ounce of tenderness in her voice. 

"Is that enough? Stay alive for me, Noah. Stay alive for Jonas! Don't you...dare...give up." Her anger had faded, and she lost herself to her emotions, giving up as soon as she told him not to. 

It finally hit her: there was nothing she could do to save him. 

"Sol?" 

The Sovereign sobbed, then, sucked in a torturous breath, exhaling out everything as she looked down at Noah. It took a minute, but she managed to release her hands from Noah's wound, and placed them more comfortably on him: one on his far side cheek, the other brushing through his ashy, brown curls. 

She knew was she needed to do. 

"It is by valiancy that you have made it this far, and v-valiancy you shall continue to bear. Into our house of courage, we accept you." She begun, praying that he could hear her, somehow. 

"Into our fight, we accept you, still. Though the waters may rise and fires will burn-" there was a haunting taste of irony on her tongue. Wynn felt it too, hovering somewhere behind, listening to the passage Sol recited. 

 "We'll remain through the seasons as one. One nation. One clan. One people." The Sovereign promised. 

"And you will now be known as Noah of Basilisk from this moment," She declared, then, as he sighed underneath her hands, Sol whispered: "until your last." 

As if he had heard her, as if he knew that he wasn't alone, and that he was finally somebody - finally a Basilisk, Noah slipped away, passing with only the thoughts of the two people he had ever loved: his brother, and the star-crossed Sovereign. 

Sol felt as if he if had stolen her breath away - like he had been breathing from her during his last moments, and now that he had gone, she had forgotten how to do it by herself. Overcame with a terrible fear, and a grief she hadn't felt before, Sol fell away from Noah. 

There was a part of her screaming to hold onto him for as long as she could, to pretend - for a moment too long - that she was just lying with him, and he was just lying with her; but she couldn't touch him and feel the boy she loved dead under her hands. 

Sol moved back, about to hit the ground behind her, but Wynn caught her. He was on the ground, pulling Sol towards him as she wailed, suffocating under his own losses. 

On his mind was Lyra - the first girl he had ever loved, and now she was a permanent vision whenever he closed his eyes, seeing her falling and falling with no end - always just a little too out of reach for him to save. But there was another affliction he couldn't ignore, and that was knowing that Sol was just as damaged as he was, and there was nothing he could do to make anything okay. 

He was unsure how long they were sat there on the ground together, but eventually Fenn appeared, stumbling at the sight in front of him, inexplicably moved at the gravity of pain he could feel himself walking into, his own feelings towards Noah pushed aside. 

Someone else ran up behind him, someone more familiar to Wynn: Ares. 

He wanted to approach his brother, pull him out of the cave, but instinct told him to wait as long as he needed until he came around, believing that if Sol and Wynn were ever to find a sense of healing, it would be in each other. 

/// 

Wynn sat on the edge of the jeep, his legs dangling over the edge, and his gaze fixed on the ground below, waiting to see it start to pass beneath him once the vehicle hummed to life. The space was filled beside him by the Sovereign, her eyes also frozen to the ground, counting how many sparks of fire she saw flash across her view. 

Ares and Fenn bent down together, regretfully reaching for the tightly-wrapped black tarp that clothed Noah's body. Once they had a firm hold on him, Ares nodded forwards toward Foster who started up the jeep, slowly leading everyone home. 

Sol wished she could return to Basilisk without an ounce of responsibility waiting for her, and without ever facing another loss again, but she knew that was delusional. The fire was still burning and Riders were still out there, and until morning came, they wouldn't know what they had left to fight. But for now... For the journey home at least, there was nothing in the world left for her to do, except collapse. 

Slowly, Sol moved her hand against the metal base of the car's trunk, and she had just enough awareness to take hold of Wynnlow's. He couldn't bring himself to look to over, but he squeezed onto hers, letting her know that he could feel her; as if trying to say: 'I know you are there. I know you know I am here. I think this is all we can be right now.' 

And he would have been right. 

Seven // Part Seven
End of book 3. 
20/02/2020 12:31AM

I can't believe book 3 is finished??? This season has been a long time coming, and I'm so glad that it turned out like I see it in my head. I am so proud of these characters. Who cares if they're fictional - they're real to me.

 I would also like to take this time to say farewell to Lyra Blackwood and Noah Rule. It has always been their destiny to leave this way, but I found myself wanting to hold onto them for a little while longer.

They made their mistakes, and they allowed themselves to be the wrong people for a time, but in the end, they died fighting for the people their heart's belonged to: Basilisk.

Season 4 will be out soon!