Page 119 of Down from the Tower

The King bares his teeth. “Cut me to pieces if you must, but I’m not going through there without a fight.”

That’s what I fear, and Rapunzel jogs back with the timepiece hanging from her neck, the long silver chain leaving it to dangle against her stomach. She’s glaring at her father’s back, and when he refuses to move she steps around him to me.

She holds out her hand, and my brows pitch high on my head. “May I borrow that?”

She wants the scythe, a sacred weapon among the Reapers. It’s something living shouldn’t be able to touch, much less use. But Rapunzel will never be anything less than extraordinary in her capabilities.

I glare at Midas, handing the blade over. “Of course, Princess.”

It’s heavy and I can see the strain of her muscles as she holds the blade aloft. Rapunzel takes a breath, closing her eyes as she takes a breath. A gentle golden glow encompasses her again, and she closes her eyes before she speaks.

“Of the gift of Life, I grant you Death. Of the burden of age, I return the time. Of the curse of passing, I release your soul from here forever more.”

Midas’ eyes widen as she recites the rhyme he taught her, but with her own personal twist to it. She raises the blade high, her arms trembling from the effort, and sends it into a wide arch towards her father.

Golden light emanates from the blade, slamming into the King. It sends his soul falling backwards, the force of her magic hitting him even though he’s dead. And the blade calls his soul home, twisting the angle of her strike towards the tear I opened.

Midas’ soul screams, and he tumbles through the void. Eyes wide, Rapunzel’s grip slackens on the scythe, and I rush over to rip it from her grip, closing the tear before anything tries to crawl back through.

She’s breathing heavily and I kiss her, the adoration I have for this woman growing with every move she makes. “We have to get out of the kingdom.”

31 Rapunzel

Holding Zarev’s hand, we shadow hop through Tressa. I beg him to take us down to the village, just so I can see for myself that the people of Tressa are truly dead.

There isn’t a sound to be heard. The ships are sunk in the distance, and the kingdom is eerily quiet. When I spot the first few bodies lying in the street, blank eyes open forever, I turn and let him take us away from this place.

The kingdom is gone. Tressa fell with the wall, and I have no intentions of trying to raise it. Too many died for selfish reasons, and it’s time to let the dead rest.

We flash through the gardens, but the flower that we both arrived in is crushed from the trees and stones that toppled into the garden. Guards that I thought were alive a little bit ago lie dead, and my head swivels around as we zip through the land.

I can’t find Cheshie, which leaves my heart in pieces. My cat might be a man in disguise, but he’s still the only one I could call a friend through the long years in the tower. Try as I might, we can’t locate him as a feline or a person, and with the crushing weight of the dead surrounding us, Zarev makes us leave.

It’s a good thing we can’t talk in the shadows, or I would beg him to stay here longer. When I leave the kingdom, the last of a royal bloodline, Tressa will forever be in the past. There will be nothing left of the life I once led.

As we approach Sherwood, the spirits start to appear. Some look confused, others angry, and I had temporarily forgotten that the spirits can see us in the shadows. I curl into his chest, watching the betrayal flicker across their faces as we leave.

Zarev’s jumps between shadows get shorter and shorter as we go. He’s fast running out of energy, and it doesn't escape me that he chose to save me over reaping any of the dead,

It’s the selfish choice, but I can’t make myself care. I’ve given everything for Tressa, and now there’s nothing to show for the efforts.

Without having to climb over the wall we arrive quickly in Sherwood and Zarev continues to pull us along as darkness falls over the land. We’re in the thick of the woods before he finally stops, dropping us beneath a large tree before staggering to his knees.

I fall beside him, grasping his shoulders. “You've used too much energy.”

But he just shakes his head. “We needed distance between us so the souls don’t search for me. The pull to Tressa is strong right now because of what Midas did. They’re confused and lost, and will need to be reaped soon before they turn volatile.”

I bite my lip, running my hands over his chest. I still worry that my father’s influence will linger. “We could walk from here.”

He shakes his head, sitting more comfortably on the ground. “All the focus right now is on the fallen kingdom. We can rest here for a while until I get some energy back, then we can head back towards The Missing Shoe.”

The idea sounds so… mundane after the past few days. “Will they welcome us there? We could be targets now for the Queen,”

“We always have been,” he reminds me, the words ringing true. “We just didn’t realize how deep her obsessions go.”

I mull over his words as Zarev shifts away from me, dragging out the water skin and digs around in his tattered brown cloak. I’m more than a little surprised when he pulls out that vial of pixie dust, the yellow powder glowing gently in the light.

“Amazing that it didn’t break,” I grumble.

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