//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11: In light and darkness 
// Story: Unearthed: Curse Of The Undying 
// by Talion The DARKandBRIGHT 
//------------------------------//

Details
*Thoughts*
~Mental speaking~ 
"Normal speaking"
~"Mental and normal speaking"~
Songs
... (Radio static)...



"Where are you going?"

"To seek the company of the only other person with a sense of reason around here." I answered.

"And who is that?"

"Myself of course!" I shouted.

"Anya, you can't keep doing this. I promised mother and father that I would look after you."

"Since when have you started to care about my well being, Velirin!?" I asked in anger.

"I have always cared and looked after you Anya! But you're constantly searching for a way of life that doesn't exist anymore!" Velirin told me."

"Is it so wrong of me to hope and wish for change? To pursue a better life for our people?" I asked my brother.

"Of course not. But we will not gain anything by going to war with our neighbors." Velirin told me.

"Do you really think all I want is war!?" I shouted at him.
"I'm not asking that we declare war. All that I am asking is that we would stand up for ourselves and stop giving up what is rightfully ours! But if war is necessary to regain dragon freedom, then so be it!"

Velirin looked both shocked and angry at me.
"What you are suggesting is madness, Anya! Have the lessons of our parents eluded you? Our ancestors have fought, died and failed in every war against Equestria. We cannot nor will we ever be able to stand against them again!"

"So what are we supposed to do, Velirin? Just let our enemy's slowly take more land from us until we are forced into the sea!? What, Velirin!?" I asked him.

"Father has assured us, that will never happen. As long as we do not cause any trouble with the other kingdom's, then eventually they will leave us alone." He tried to assure me.

I scoffed at him.
"You know that's not true, Velirin. They will never leave us alone, so long as we are here in these lands they will never forgive us for the sins of our ancestors... Even then during their time, they tried to drive us away and they are doing so again. Nothing has changed."

Velirin let out a sigh and walked up to my side before speaking to me in a softer voice.
"Anya, there is nothing you, I or anyone can do about the past. But we can learn from it. Going to war is never the answer. It has many times almost wiped us out. We are no longer like the great dragons of old. Our kind has grown tired and weary of the constant never ending conflict with others... Those times are over. Now we must seek peace."

I lowered my head and sighed.
"You know, a few years ago you used to be on my side of this. Now you're starting to sound more like father."

"Things change, Anya. But I have never left your side." Velirin said.

"Then why are you against me, Velirin? Why have you given up on our dream to rebuild and reclaim our long lost glory?" I asked him.

"I'm not against you Anya. But what I know now is, that dream was just a dream. The age of glory is gone and there is no going back. It is over Anya." He told me.

I closed my eyes and turned away from Velirin.
"No Velirin. Glory is never far from our reach. It is always there, calling to us. We have just forgotten where and how to find it." I said before turning back to him with a look of determination.
"I am sorry Velirin. But this kind of peace is not a life I'm willing to submit to. Not when this so called peace will turn us into slaves or drives us from our own lands. If I must stand alone, then I will stand on my own."

"Anya, you can't change the way things are! This is just how it has to be." Velirin told me.

"No! You are wrong, Velirin! This is not how it has to be! We have just chosen to let all of these things happen!" I shouted while walking towards him.
"You used to know that once... Now you have chosen to accept and believe in a lie of false peace and promises. But I will not give up nor give in to them. I am done. So let me tell you dear brother, we have all lived in constant oppression and abuse from others for far too long. I am done following a rule that does nothing but give in to our enemies demands. I am done hiding behind walls that do not exist!" I turned away from Velirin again as I continued.
"Never again will I watch and do nothing while our race suffers. So if you, father and mother will continue to do nothing, then I will stand with you all no more."

Just as I finished, I leaped up into the air and started flying away from Velirinand my home.

"Anya! Anya, wait! Come back! Anya!" I ignored Velirin as I tried to fight back my own tears.
The sound of my brothers voice slowly faded until the only thing that I heard was the sound of wind and radio static.

..."Do you read?"
"Remember why you fight, Talion."

..."I say again: Do you read?"

"Always."

..."How copy over?"

"All I want is a day without death."

..."Are you clear?"

"Anything iz possible, Mr. Drust."

..."I say again: Are you clear?"

"We'll get through this together, right boys!?"

..."Talion, the bombs on its way."

"Why did I fight?"

..."Are you clear?"

"What did I fight for?"

"A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning,  stands on the horizon, at the edge of the sea and the setting sun.
And her name; mother of exiles.
She lifts up her light beside the golden doors and says,
"Give me your tired. Your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breath free.
The wretched refuge of your teeming shores.
Send these. Your lost, homeless, tempest tossed, to me."

"We're clear."





"NOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed as I awoke from memories that were not my own.
I held my eyes shut for a moment longer before opening them to allow my tears to fall freely.

"Talion?" I called in a shaky voice as I started to search my surroundings for him.

I found myself on top of what looked like a giant sled made out of pine tree logs inside of the cave Talion and I had been sharing for the past week.
Looking over towards the entrance of the cave I noticed a trail in the snow that was most likely caused by the sled.

"Talion?" I called again but still received no reply.

Slowly, I stood up and started looking over myself to examine my wounds, but was suprised to find none.

*How-* My eyes widened as yesterday's memories suddenly came back to me.
I quickly turned towards the entrance and rushed out of the cave.



I quickly started looking around for any trace of Talion, desperately trying to find him, when I noticed a large clear path leading down towards the lake.
Many uprooted trees, stones and shrubs lined up the side of the trail, which looked to have been made from the giant sled I had woke up on.
As my gaze followed the trail, I realized just how far it went.

*He carried me all the way up here.* I thought to myself in shock.

"Where do you think your going?"
"To win a war..."

I shook my head and looked back to the cave before I started walking down the path, following the footprints left in the snow.

The forest around me was empty and quite. There was no sign nor sound of animals, on the ground or in the air. Not even the slightest sound of a small breeze graced my ears. White Pine valley was completely still. It was almost as if the whole forest had been frozen in time.

After briefly examining the forest around me, I returned my attention to the path ahead. It lead me back to the lake where Talion and I fought the frost worm.

"Animals are not monsters. Monsters are people. And that is what's truly scary about them."

When I stepped out of the tree cover, I instantly saw the massive pile of ice that had once been the frost worm. Chunks of it's body were spread out across the clearing.
It was almost hard to tell that the ice had once been the terrible subterranean monster Talion and I had defeated. And even though the worm was now dead, it still scared me.

"I have seen and experienced many things that are far more terrible and frightening..."

Turning away from my dead foe, I continued my search until the path came to an end.
I started looking around the surrounding area for Talion but found no sign of him.
I was beginning to worry that I was alone, but still continued my search for Talion.

"Titles are earned. Not given, Anya. Who you are and what you are, is of little consequence." 

I walked up along the lake shore until I found the last place Talion and I had been.
I looked down to the lake and listened to the gentle breeze of late autumn winds. Looking up, I could see the sun's rays climbing over the mountains in the east.

I was alone.

"Anya, watch and listen..."

I lowered my head and closed my eyes as tears fell from my face.
~Please don't leave me, Talion... Not alone... Not again.~

I remained still for a few moments when I felt the wind change direction.

~I never left you Anya... And you are never alone.~

I gasped and opened my eyes when I heard Talion's voice in my mind.
I turned my head towards the lake again and saw Talion standing near the cliff facing the lake.




++


I slowly turned my head to look at Anya and she stared back.
She looked uncertain, almost scared even. Much like how she looked when we both had first met face to face.

She hesitated for a second before slowly walking towards me.
I continued to stare at Anya until she reached my side before I turned my gaze back to the lake.
"It never changes... No matter how many times you experience it, nothing ever changes." I said.

Anya sat down next to me and continued to watch me.
"What never changes?" She asked me in a low voice.

I let out a long sigh before answering.
"Death... It's always the same. The same dark cold embrace. No matter how I die or how many times, it never changes... But I never get used to it."







Anya closed her eyes for a moment as images of death briefly flashed through her mind.
When she looked back to me, she noticed the rose I was holding.

"How-... How many times have you died?" She asked me.

"More than I could live." I answered.

Anya slowly lowered herself and moved her head in front of me to look me in the eyes.
"Are you dead?" She asked me.

I closed my eyes and lowered my head.
"Yes... And no." I answered.

Anya looked sorrowful as she spoke in a low voice.
"What more than that? What are you Talion?"

I let out another sigh.
"A dead man walking." I answered and looked back up at Anya.
"And now I have shared my death and pain with another innocent, once again." I said as I placed a hand on the side of Anya's face.

She closed her eyes again while leaning into my hand as tears fell from her eyes.
"I-I... I thought I'd lost you... That you had left me alone. I-..." She opened her tear filled eyes.
"Why did you hide from me Talion?" She asked.

"I am sorry Anya. I just... Wanted protect you." I said.

"From what?" She asked me.

"Myself." I answered.

Anya tilted her head slightly.
"You would never hurt me."

"Of course I wouldn't hurt you. Never intentionally. But I-... I already have hurt you Anya... You've seen." I said.

Anya was silent for a moment before speaking again.
"What happened to you, Talion? Who has done this to you?" She asked.

"No one has done this to me, Anya. I am cursed of my own making. I willingly gave my life because I believed that I could save others from death. But I was only delaying the inevitable... Everyone dies." I told her.

"In a life time. But endlessly dying over and over again?" Anya asked.

"Everything has a price, Anya. But mine cannot be paid or counted for in lives lost. I knew what I was giving up."

"But why? Why did you give up your whole life for others?" She asked me.

I let out another sigh before I explained.
"When I was young my father and many other men like him went to fight in a war to end all wars. Over forty million men women and children lost their lives because of it... My father was one of them.
The war ended nothing. But it changed the world forever...
My father's death tore my family apart, as well as countless others."I leaned against Anya a little as I continued.
"Eventually war came upon us again and I knew it would be worse than the last. I knew many more lives would suffer for a war no one wanted. But I couldn't allow that. Never again...
War destroyed my life, Anya. So I gave it to save others." I finshed.

Anya was looking at me in disbelief by what I explained to her.
"So many deaths... So many lives lost and yet... You died for them. All of them." She said.

I nodded.
"I tried to stop. I tried to leave everything behind... But war and death always had a way of finding me again. Even now I can hear their calls." I paused.
That is why I'm running, Anya. I must not let anyone get close to me, else they suffer and share in my pain." I told her and looked down.
"I only wanted to save lives... That's all I wanted."

"A day without death." Anya said as tears filled her eyes again.
"Talion..."

"I never meant to hurt you Anya. But I-..." My words trailed off.

Anya lowered her head and nuzzled against my chest.
"Show me... Please." She said.

I raised my head and looked at Anya for a moment before I looked down at the white rose I was holding and lifted it to my nose. I closed my eyes and inhaled the scent of the flower for a moment before I let out long exhale.

Anya gasped as the rose decayed in my hand and my body changed into shadows.
I reopened my eyes and looked back to Anya, who was now staring at me in complete shock and fear.

"Death looked for me once and I looked away. Now I look for him, but he never looks back.
I cannot die, Anya... But I kill myself a little every day." I said.

Anya started to cry as her shock and fear became sorrow.
I placed my hand on her cheek again which caused her to shiver at my touch.
"Do not morn for me, Anya. I made my choice many years ago. What's done is done and I cannot change it. All I can do is continue to fight for peace and try to save lives."

"But why? Why do you continue to fight?" Anya asked me.

I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out my brother's dog tags. I looked down at them for a moment before I showed them to Anya.
"Because I made a promise, Anya. I promised to always fight for peace and freedom. To always protect the innocent and the weak... As long as I walk this Earth, I will not stop. In life and death." I told her and changed myself back into physical form.

Anya looked a little less tense when I returned back to normal.
"Talion, the fight is over and the war is done. You don't need to run anymore." Anya said.

"The war is never over, Anya... Not for me. Death follows wherever I go and is never far from me. So I must keep moving. If I don't, then those around me will suffer... Like you have." I told her.

"Wha-... What did you do to me, Talion?" Anya asked.

This was always a difficult questions to answer.
"I-... I couldn't let you die, Anya. I wouldn't. I had to save you, so I... gave a part of myself to you while taking a part of you in return." I paused.
"I sent my power through you and used it to amplifi your own powers so we could defeat the frost worm. At the same time I used the energy to heal you of your injuries. But... In return for merging our souls for a short time, we lived a small portion of each others lives." I finshed.

"You saved my life... with your death?" Anya asked in shock.

I closed my eyes and nodded.
"What did you see?"

She looked down as she spoke.
"Not what. Who.
I saw fire and death at an unimaginable scale and you were in the center of it all. I saw you fight on as others around you fell in battle and then-... I saw you... I saw fire... I-..."
Anya looked back to me with tear filled eyes.
"I saw your death."

I lowered my head as tears filled my eyes.
"I never wanted this for you... I never wanted any of this for you... I'm sorry, Anya... I'm so sorry."

Anya wrapped herself around me and leaned her head against mine as she looked into my eyes.
"I wasn't the first. You've done this before."

"I knew eventually this might happen... But I had hoped that by some chance things might be different... That I wouldn't have to run and hide anymore. Even though it never changes, I still let myself get close to others and they suffer for it." I told her.

"Then let me help you, Talion." She said.

I looked at her a little taken back.
"What?"

"Let me help you. Let me ease your pain so you don't have to suffer alone anymore." She told me.

I was a little taken aback from this.
"You can't help me Anya. No one can."

Any raised her head a little and spoke with determination.
"Yes I can, Talion. You have been fighting your pain and sorrow alone for so long, but you don't have to anymore. You don't have to run anymore. I am here for you now. Please, let me in."

I was shocked by what Anya was saying. My mouth hung slightly opened as I stared at Anya.
Instead of wanting to leave me, she wanted to help me.

I closed my mouth and eyes before letting out a sigh.
"No."

"What?" Anya asked taken aback from my answer.

"No." I opened my eyes.
"I can't let you in, Anya. I can't let anyone in. I won't."

"Why? You don't need to do this alone, Talion. I want to help you." She told me.

"Help me? You can't even help yourself. So how could you ever help me?" I asked her.

Anya frowned at me.
"You don't know me, Talion."

"I know enough. I know why you're here. Why you left your home and family. You're running away too." I told her, raising my voice a little.

Anya growled at me a little.
"My family has nothing to do with this, Talion. I left them because they choose to do nothing as others take advantage over our people."

"So you left chasing a dream. A dream that will only serve to bring further pain and suffering to your people." I said.

Anya stood up and looked down at me.
"I would rather die on my claws, than live on my knees! If my family will not stand with me, then I will stand alone."

"If you choose to pursue a path of war, you will only bring death to everyone and loose those you hold dear! There is nothing to gain from war but death! And the war never ends! It only follows you home, takes what it wants and destroys what it cannot have. Because in the end, no one ever truly wins a war."

"My kind will lose everything if we all continue to submit to our oppressors! No one, not even my family sees this!" She shouted at me.

"At least you have a family!" I shouted back at her.

She stared at me in silence for a bit before speaking again.
"That's not fair, Talion."

"Fair!?" I shouted in anger.
"No you're right. I'm sorry for bringing them up. I'm sorry I had to remind you of your close, caring family."

"Stop it." Anya growled as I continued.

"And I'm so sorry that you have a father, a mother and a brother who love you and only want to protect their family and friends."

"STOP IT!" Anya snapped at me.

"Your family loves you princess Anya! Do they mean nothing to you!?" I shouted in anger.

Anya was in raged.
"They mean everything to me! That's why I left! I want nothing more than to help them! To free them! But right now I want to help you because I care about you, Talion. Do I mean nothing to you!?"

"Your life means everything to me! That is why I can't let you see and experience the things I have! It is why we can't get any closer, no matter how much I care and feel about you!" I shouted in anger before mine and Anya's expressions went blank.

I turned away from Anya.
"Anya, you can't help me... I do care about you. That is why I can't let you."

"Yes I can, Talion. I have seen. I understand." She said.

I turned to face her again.
"No you don't! No one understands me! What you saw isn't even a glimpse of the mountains of death and suffering I have gone through! So no! You don't know what it's like living a life of endless death. Always fighting alone, never settling down in peace, not belonging anywhere!"

Anya remained silent for a long moment before looking down as well.
"I'm sorry."

I shook my head and looked back up to her.
"No, it's true... I don't belong anywhere." I told her and looked towards the lake.

We both stood in silence for a few moments before Anya slowly lowered herself in front of me and spoke in a soft voice.
"You are right, Talion. I don't truly understand your pain and I don't know how you feel or what you're constantly going through. But I understand enough. I have seen enough to know who you truly are, Talion." She lowered her head and smiled.
"A protector. A soldier. A defender of the weak and a herald of justice. But most of all, a man. A man who gave and still gives every part of his being to save others. You are much more than what you believe, Talion and you have shown me these things. That is why you are wrong, Talion... You belong with me."

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking back to her.

"I-I..." She started blushing.
"I've... chosen you."

"Wha-" I was about to ask when I realized what Anya meant.
I was caught off guard by what she told me.
"Anya, you-... I-"

"Have you not also seen?" She asked me, still blushing.

"I have." I said.

"Then... You know how I feel, Talion... H-How I feel about you." She said as about she curled around me again and pressed her head against mine.
*I want you.*

I closed my eyes as I spoke.
"Anya... What you want from me is dream. A life I cannot give you."

Anya stared to blush even more as she spoke.
"Dragons are magical beings in nature, Talion... My kind has the ability to couple w-with a few different species." 

I really wasn't expecting this from Anya.
"Anya I-. You don't understand. I-" I started stuttering again before I breathed in and calmed myself.
"I am deeply fond of you Anya, but I have nothing to give you. Only pain and death... I cannot return your feelings, Anya. My life is over, but you still have yours. Please, don't give it up for me."

"Talion-" Anya started but I cut her off.
"No, Anya. Life and death cannot co-exist together. You can't have me. You can't have me because you still have life. You still have friends and family who care for you and love you Anya. If you choose me... then they lose you."
Anya stayed silent as she stared at me.
"I'm sorry, Anya."

"I do not care what you are, Talion. Human or not. Living or dead." Anya said as she leaned close to me.
"You may have made your choice, Talion. But I have also made mine. You will never walk alone again because I am with you and I will follow you. Even through death, you may fight alone, but you will not die alone. Not anymore."

I was struggling to comprehend what Anya was telling me. I never really had much experience with women in the past, so I was startled to learn of Anya's feelings towards me. How deeply she cares and wants to be with me.

"Anya, why? We haven't spent more than two weeks together and yet you are already showing me affection." I said.

"We dragons don't just ever choose any mate. We will wait until we find the perfect one. I have searched for many years, Talion. I have saught out the one who will end my loneliness. Who will care and protect me... You have done these things, Talion." Anya explained.

"I'm not even a dragon, Anya. I-" Anya cut me off.
"Time and species mean very little to dragons, Talion. Dragons can spend years together before they learn that they are meant for each other. Sometimes only days. For us, it is the value of ones soul that truly matters. Weather we have known each other for a lifetime or even a single moment." She started to rub her head against mine.
"I know how suddenly I have expressed my feelings for you, Talion. But this is just how I feel about you. I cannot help but feel the need to get closer to you. To comfort and protect you as you have done so for me."

I gently rubbed her neck as I spoke.
"Anya... I don't know what to say... I am flattered that you feel so deeply for me, but...You also know how I feel. You know why I must fight alone."

Anya moved closer again.
"I know that you have no peace in your life, Talion. I know that you believe you must fight alone to protect others from yourself. That if you let someone in, then it would destroy them. But..." Anya nuzzled her head against mine.
"You don't have to anymore... You are free now Talion. There is no more war and no more death. You don't need to fight alone now... I am here with you."

"Anya..." I said.

"Please, Talion. You have been fighting and running your whole life. Stop now. Rest and let me help you find peace." Anya said.

I inhaled and sighed as I leaned against Anya. I then placed my hands on the sides of her head and looked her in the eyes.
"Anya... I cannot express how touched I am by your words... But I'm not ready for peace. Not when evil still runs rampant. Not when there are still innocents who need me... I can't stop now... Not yet."

Anya gave me a small smile.
"Then I will wait and stay by your side until you are ready. No matter how long it takes... I will wait for you." She said and hugged me.

I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around Anya's neck to return her hug.
Anya started humming as she nuzzled against me.
"Will you stay with me, Talion?"

"Yes... I will stay" I answered.
"Thank you... Anya." I said as tears fell from my eyes.

Anya closed her eyes as well.
"Thank you... My mate."

We stayed together like this for a while until Anya pulled away.
"Come, Talion... let's go home." She said and moved away from the cliff.

I turned to look at the rising sun one last time and smiled.
"Home." I whispered before turning around and following Anya down the hill.