The Dark Forest, Part 3

and this is the conclusion of the story i started three weeks ago...cheers and i hope you've liked it. :)
-enna

A Father’s Love
I bind my arm tightly with a clean cloth. Then I slip back into the house. Within five minutes, I am racing down the path to the west, one I have ne’er taken before. I had very good reason to avoid this path – this trail leads to the Dark Elf’s castle. I know exactly where he will take her. The legend says that he must take her to the highest point in the kingdom.

His castle is a forbidding one. We live on the slopes of a mountain, and the Dark Elf dwells at its very top. A single tower rises above the rest, one with a flat top and no roof. It is here that he will attempt to sacrifice her.

I heft the rope higher on my shoulder, and double-check the grappling hook in my belt. I can feel my strength trickling out of me along with my blood. The wound is deep, but the well of my love for Amarie is deeper. I will save her before his wound kills me.

I know the words of the song Amarie often sings, and I sing it now, to give me strength and courage to continue.

“Lux terrae in nocte amulavisti
“Ocula mea aperuisti, me videas
“Forma ut te adorare viscum illud fecerit
“Spes vitae tecum acta

“Rex dierum omnium, O sublatus summiter
“Glorificus in caelo superno
“Summisse ad terram creatam te vidisti
“Omnis pro amoris causa pauperis fieristi”*

As I finish the song, I find myself at the foot of the castle wall. I take a deep breath and begin the long, laborious climb upward.


On the Tower
I stand over the girl, my triumph complete. Her flame-like hair fans out around her head, and her icy blue eyes stare into mine. Her dark bonds now bind her hands and feet to the altar, and she remains gagged. I slowly take the silver dagger into my hand. It is heavy, but its weight is a solid presence that reminds me what I am about to do.

I suddenly hear something from behind me, and I whirl around, my knife leaping to accompany the dagger in my hand. That blasted man, Kristof, is standing there. A grappling hook and a rope attest to how he climbed here. Before I have time to take in more, he throws himself upon me and wrests the dagger from my hand. I dive after him, but he throws the dagger over the edge of the tower. I rush to the verge just in time to see the dagger shatter into pieces on the rocks below. Shaking in fury, I turn back towards this meddling father.

He is standing next to his daughter and cries to the skies, “Lux terrae, libere filiam meam!”** A blinding light slashes through the bonds that hold the girl to the altar.

“NO!” I scream, and jump towards her, my knife slashing down to kill the girl. I must have this power!

Kristof jumps in my way. He takes the blow without a grunt and knocks the knife from my hand. We wrestle on the top of the tower, unaware of our surroundings. Suddenly, there is nothing beneath my back. I look down to see myself falling. Kristof is holding me tight so that I cannot cast a spell. I struggle with the energy of a wild animal. I cannot die! I must become invincible! I must...


Epilogue
Sacrifice Out of Love
We finally found that which is stronger than the evil of the Dark Elf – the love of a father for his daughter. My father gave his life on that tower so that I could live unafraid of the darkness. I stumble down the stairs of the tower and out to my father’s broken body. I murmur a prayer for his soul, then dig a grave for him with a shovel-like piece of wood. After I bury my father, I return to the clearing to try to rebuild a life for myself.

Two months later, I am the only one in the area besides the birds and the animals. I decide to leave this forest. Despite the Dark Elf’s death, it remains dark. It will take a long time for the forest to recover from the years of dark magic he wreaked upon it. While it recuperates, I will go to inhabited lands and tell them the story of the Dark Elf and hope that their land will be able to recognize evil. I do not wish for every land to become like the Dark Forest.

*Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore you
Hope of a life spent with you
King of all days, O so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly you came to the earth you created
All for love’s sake became poor
**Light of the world, free my daughter!