The Legacy of Graelynn de Ravin

[Christianna]

"How do I go on without you?"

She spoke the words softly, posing the question to the stillness of the night. She received no answer in reply.

It had been a few days since the battle, since that horrible loss of life... since she lost Jo.

They had gone hoping that Jakell and Flynn would be handed over to the Wolves peacefully to be held for a trial, but ended up engaged in battle. The group had not sought violence, but that was the route that was chosen for them.

"You have 10 seconds to get out of here." The threat was issued after a long argument about whether Jakell and Flynn would be released, and a final ultimatum that we would have to wait 24 hours or nothing at all.

"Regroup to the south" Lucien had commanded them and they had all began to walk away. First Torian and de Ravin alike.

"THREE."

And that was all she had heard before the cries of the guards rang out. There was no count down. Only a release of about twenty five heavily armed guards, attacking those who were leaving the battlefield. There was only the clash of metal and screams of pain that followed.

Graelynn shook her head, trying to rid herself of the images from that night.

Her gaze lowered to the floor, grateful for the muffled sounds of movement beneath her feet. They were safe... everyone else from Highfield. Robyn, Franklin, Carmina, Cade, and Furio. They were all safe. And she was glad to have Furio and Cade so nearby.

Even still... her heart ached. She felt in some moments like she couldn't breathe. Like her heart would burst from her chest. The pain was too much to bear, and yet somehow she still lived.

It was cruel, she thought, to be left behind like this.

The screams surrounded her and she thought she might faint on the field. Everything was chaos. The guards were outfitted in suits of plate metal from top to bottom and were trained for combat. There were too many, she thought... but somehow, one by one, they fell. It took whole groups to fight each one, but somehow they managed to stay on their feet.

In the end, the guards were defeated. In the end Tyr was taken down... and so was Renatus. In the end... the wounds Jo had sustained in the fight proved to be too much.

In the end... she lost her sister.

She could feel the tears begin to sting at her eyes as she recalled that night, and the funeral that followed.

"How can I go on without you?"

Jo had been there through everything. Through her entanglement with Lucian and the Order. Through her separation from the Parish and her joining Highfield. She had stood by Graelynn through her decision to leave Highfield and rejoin the Parish. Jo had been there for all of Graelynn's ups and downs.

How could she go on? How was it fair to still be there, breathing when Jo was gone?

"This is what war is." Jo had murmured softly to her little sister while they watched as the bodies were piled up. "I've seen it many times." Graelynn had done her best to give last rites to all of the fallen. To Tyr and Renatus... to all of the fallen soldiers. She stood over them and spoke words, asking Decus to take them into his Light.

What an awful thing, she had thought. No one wins in this.

She buried her face in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks once more.

The sorrow of loss is like an ocean. The tides of grief and pain coming and going like a horrible rhythm. She felt another wave crash over her as her tears fell to the wooden floor, making tiny watermarks.

Everyone had spoken so kindly of Jo at the funeral. They spoke of how brave she was, how fierce, how dedicated.... but no one knew better than Graelynn just how much of all of those things she was.

Jo had always been there to defend Grae. For as long as she could remember. Jo would allow her little sister privileges that their mother would not. Tiny bits of freedom that helped shape who she was now. She was a steadfast pillar in the family... and now she was gone.


"How? HOW?!" Graelynn sobbed. The tide took her away for a long moment and she thought she might drown in a sea of her own tears.

She laid down in her bed, curling in on herself.

"How can I..."

Finally, her tears ebbed, and she felt herself drift off. As tides come in, so the must go out, and for this tiny moment of peace she was grateful... for she knew that the waters of mourning would rise again, and she would find herself asking once more....

"How do I go on without you, Jo?"