Abigail “I hate sand!” I yelled angrily, dumping out my boot for the tenth time that day. We had only been on the Sea a week and I had already had enough. “It’s in my shoes, it’s in my hair, it’s in my food! I hate it!” Grayson came over and gently brushed the sand out of my hair. “Good thing we will never live in Eswen,” he joked. “Eswen Keep is right next to the Southern Sea.” “Yes, well, I’m sure they kept it out of places it didn’t belong,” I looked around. “And that there were other things to see. This place is awful. Who would want to live here?” Grayson shook his head, “Are you okay, Wildflower?” “I’m just a little irritable, my magic man,” I said softly. I rested my forehead against his. “You calm me.” “Come here, dusukunni,” he said, pulling me into a hug. I felt myself relax. How did I spend four years without him? *** We only knew we were going west because of the sun. There were no landmarks other than water and sand. There was no life to be seen other than the occa

Abigail He was gone. She killed him. He was gone. She killed him. He was gone. He is gone. My husband, my love, my best friend, my soulmate, he is gone. He disappeared in front of my eyes, and I heard the most terrible, pain filled scream I’ve ever heard. It took a moment to realize it was coming from me, and I was unable to stop. I have no idea how the battle ended. I’m sorry, I can’t tell you. I remember Grayson mouthing “I love you” before he disappeared. I remember running at the old woman who had just shattered my world, wanting to kill her with my bare hands. I remember Thomas grabbing me and depositing me on top of a wall out of the way. I remember collapsing on top of the wall, still making that awful, animalistic noise. I remember wanting to die. I couldn’t live without him. I didn’t want to live without him. We had just promised to love each other forever – he can’t leave me after only a few weeks. I would join him in death if I couldn’t be with him in life. I h

Grayson I woke up in what could only be described as a hellscape. It looked almost exactly like the Black Keep, except the surrounding area was on fire, and everything smelled like smoke and sulfur. The others were nowhere to be seen. In fact, I couldn’t see anyone. “Abby? Aryk? Is anyone there?” I called out. No answer. I got up and decided to try to leave the now empty courtyard. All of the statues that were in the courtyard previously were gone, and the silence was unnerving. Just as I was about to step through the gate, I heard a voice. “Gray?” “Abby?” I saw my wife laying on the ground facing away from me. I walked over to her, wondering how she got here. “You weren’t supposed to leave me. You promised.” She whispered. “Oh Abby…” I reached out to her. “I didn’t want to leave you, my love.” “You failed her,” said the last voice I wanted to hear. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised. “Father,” I said, turning to face him. “What are you doing here?” “You failed her,” he said aga

Abigail I sat by the fire, just staring and holding my stomach. I couldn’t even think, I could only cry. I had found some of Grayson’s shirts and his notebook amongst our things and I clung to them as if they could save me or bring him back. The shirts still smelled like him, so they were of some comfort. They’ll be good to have when I grow too large for my own shirts. The notebook had been more of a diary for him, and it made me both happy and sad to read what he had written about his love for me, and his plans for our future. Gods, I missed him so much. I don’t know why I stopped speaking, it wasn’t a conscious decision. Nothing I said would bring Grayson back. Nothing would change the fact that the whole lifetime we had planned together was ruined in one second. One act of magic, and everything was gone. All our plans, our hopes for a family, our happiness. All gone. I didn’t want to tell the others about the baby until I had to. I wanted to be certain, because the last thin

Grayson The landscape looked familiar, at least, even if it was on fire. I figured if I headed back to Alderei in this realm, I would find a way back to Abigail. I didn’t know what else to do. All I knew was I wasn’t dead. Abigail was alive. I kept seeing traces of her everywhere, images of her almost guiding my way. One morning I saw her sitting by a fire, just staring. Another day, when the cliff where we married came into view, I saw her sitting cross-legged on the ground, wearing one of my shirts and crying. She always looked so sad. So alone. I wanted to comfort her and tell her she didn’t need to grieve me – I’m alive. I never approached her after she disappeared the first time I tried. I knew it wasn’t really her anyway – she may be gorgeous, but she didn’t actually glow in reality. These images did, not to mention I could see right through her. It was almost as if she were a beacon, lighting my way back. Every time I saw her image, I felt the light inside me grow. I worr