The Child

Angelina removed the regalia, laying it out on the ground as if some invisible being were lying while wearing it. Tears still streamed out of her eyes as she silently cried over Ambrose. This armor brought her nothing but pain and she only wished she had the power to destroy it. But, since she couldn't her only choice was to return them to Queen Mauve. She wondered if Armon, Zita, and Deadrick were there now, or if they'd be out searching for her.

Sitting with her back against a tree, Angelina fell asleep. Tonight her dreams would not be wrought with shadows whispering to her, but the same vision over and over again. The vision of Ambrose being torn in three. The vision of her love leaving the world. The vision of her worst mistake.

Her eyes shot open, too dry to cry anymore. Her stomach felt heavy and she began to gag. She hardly had the strength, but she crawled over to a nearby bush and vomited. Her arms gave out from under her and she landed on her stomach and chest. A sharp pain shot through her and she jumped up and yelped. Sitting on her knees, she looked down, startled.

There was a time that she was fairly certain the she contained Ambrose's legacy. That time was yesterday. That time was a few days ago. That time was not few months ago and yet, her stomach had grown considerably from when she fell asleep. She was perhaps three months pregnant, no less.

"How could this have happened...?" she whispered quietly to herself.

But, now was not the time for questions. The regalia had to be returned. She stood up and the world swam around her. She stumbled over again, leaning against a tree, vomiting once more. She began to question whether she'd be able to travel back to the kingdom. None the less, she collected the armor, but didn't replace it once more. She refused to don this abomination ever again.

Angelina stumbled through the forest, in the direction she hoped would be Queen Mauve's throne. Before long, with the moon high in the sky, she began to feel dizzy again. She tripped, the armor flying in all directions. She began to cry again, wishing the Gwideon had never returned her heart and left the shadow-stuff instead. Her stomach began to rumble. She could feel it growing larger and larger. If she didn't make it to the kingdom soon, she feared the worst would happen. Worst of all, she feared that this was not Ambrose's child at all.

She rolled over onto he back. To her left she spied the one piece of the regalia that may just save her - the dagger. She reached for it, feeling the weight of the child more and more every second. Clawing at the dirt, he fingers were only centimeters away from the tip of the dagger's sheath. She felt another sharp pain, worse than ever, and screamed in pain. Her stomach felt like it was being ripped from the inside out. He body began to grow numb, save for the tearing feeling in her stomach. She continued to scream, her stomach growing to impossible proportions.

Angelina began to hear voices. She thought the shadows had returned, just before she realized that it was Zita's voice. She could hear her, faintly, calling for Armon and Deadrick. But, the pain continued. Suddenly, a bright light shone from her body. It was with a sick realization that she learned that is was coming out of her stomach. She felt the warmth of her blood as it ran down her sides.

The child had literally ripped her open. With her dying breaths she could see it. It was like a wolf, like Ambrose, but terribly wrong. Its face was disfigured, eyes uneven horribly. Its body was black and misshapen, yet, somehow still managed to move fluently. Angelina heard Zita scream Armon's name, a horrible crunching sound. She heard weapons and fighting. And then she heard nothing.

She knew. Somehow, she knew. Zita, Armon, Deadrick, they were gone, just like Ambrose. Soon, just like her. She knew that the world was in peril. She knew this creature was not ignorant. At one point, she knew, it was the child of Angelina and Ambrose, but Gwideon changed that. This creature would return the armor, would release Gwideon, and would put the world in peril.

Somehow, she knew the world was doomed...