Author's Note: This is the final installment in the Heirs to Darkness series. If you haven't read the first two, Daughter of Earth and Sky and Son of Wrath and Fire, it probably won't make very much sense. Hearts to all, KittenofShadows

Life is bought with a terrible price.

Rune's eyes surveyed the grey, dead place before her. The screams of the forest still echoed in her heart. She felt tears in her eyes, but they didn't fall.

The Pinewood city…so much beauty.

Gone.

Rune didn't feel Eragon at her side. She kneeled in the ash, not caring that she was getting her tunic dirty. She sifted it in her fingers.

There was nothing left.

All gone…

Eragon squeezed her shoulder, but Rune paid no heed. She felt as if her heart was being torn into a thousand pieces by metal gauntleted hands. Her chest felt empty. The sadness, the inexistence of life, the soberness of it all made her want to scream, but she didn't have the energy.

This is what death feels like.

Eragon pulled her into his arms, and she didn't protest. She felt like an empty shell. As if she had died with the forest. His lips were on her forehead, his arms around her as if trying to protect her from everything.

But the harm was already done. Ellesméra was gone. Things would never be the same.

She wished the tears would just come. But they refused to. It all felt unreal, a shadow or a dream. She could just open her eyes and it would all be okay again.

But when she looked around, the same nightmare met her sage gaze. The same grey death, the same hopelessness. Eragon hugged her tighter.

She wanted to send him an array of sad colors, but the effort was too much. She was dead to him, dead to the world. It seemed pointless to live now. The Pinewood city…the beautiful Ellesméra…all gone.

Gone, gone, gone.

"From destruction is born life," someone was saying. "The forest cleanses itself of the old, to bring in the new."

Rune knew the voice. Izlanzadí. But it didn't matter. She heard the words, but they didn't register in her mind.

Her body hurt all over, but the pain was far away. She felt it brutally, but didn't care. Pain, at least, ensured that she was still alive. She didn't feel alive. Her heart felt dead. Like the forest.

Eragon let go of her, and she nearly toppled over. Standing seemed like such a waste of energy…energy she didn't have. But she stayed on her feet, for soon she was enveloped in a new set of arms.

"I'm so sorry, Rune," said a voice close to her ear. "I shouldn't have left you."

Súndavar.

She wanted to speak, but couldn't get her mouth to move.

"She's still in shock," Shay's voice said. Rune opened her eyes to look at her, but the world spun. She couldn't focus. It was like a dream. Things were clear and blurry at the same time.

Súndavar squeezed her, and Rune managed to slip her arms around his waist for a half-hearted hug.

"You were so brave," he said. "I'm proud of you."

Rune tilted her face up to him. His eyes were the color of an evergreen's spines, deep pools of darkest green. There was a tiny, sad smile on his lips. His black hair fringed his eyes, and he brushed it away with a flick of his head.

Rune finally managed to ask the question on her mind. "…what happened to Alanna and the boy?"

"They're fine," Shay assured. "Arya has them. Their mothers are eager to meet you."

"In due time," Eragon said hollowly. "Rune…are you alright?"

Rune tried to say she was, but she shook her head instead, leaning her head on Súndavar's chest.

She couldn't remember what had happened. It was a sort of blur…Alanna and the little boy…Shruikan flying away…Lily, the woman beneath the Menoa Tree…the screams of the forest around her…

The elves had stopped the fire sometime during the night…but she didn't remember when. She gave a little moan.

"I hurt," she protested. "I hurt everywhere."

She pushed Súndavar away, lost her balance, and tumbled into his arms again.

The day was passed in soberness.

"Things will look better in the morning," Eragon assured her that night.

But they wouldn't.

Everything was gone.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Lily looked at the sword in her hand, then down at the sleeping figure beneath her.

No.

She didn't want to do this. The girl looked so peaceful, laying there between the Riders on the sand.

Finish the fire's job.

That had been her command.

Kill her. Kill Rune.

Lily knew the girl. She used to clean her room, back so long ago. Princess Rune. She had always come across as an airhead to Lily, but after seeing her actions in the heat of the fire, she had changed her view. The little princess had been so brave.

She's not your little dove anymore, Murtagh, Lily thought. You're right when you call her thornessa.

Murtagh would never forgive her if she killed the girl. Shay would never forgive her. She would never forgive herself.

Lily was interrupted from her reverie by the sound of feet in the sand. She hid behind a tree – the elves had managed to protect this part of the forest, closest to the water – and hoped she wouldn't be discovered. She had managed to remain illusive thus far.

Two figures were walking together in the moonlight. Their fingers were entwined, and the smaller of the two was leaning on the other.

"I'm scared, Vanir."

The voice made Lily jump. It was so familiar. Shay.

The second figure stopped walking, spinning Shay to face him. "Don't be a baby. It's over."

Shay leaned into him more. "I don't care…I'm still afraid."

Lily wanted nothing more than to reveal herself. Shay! That was Shay! Right there, in front of her. She had dreamt about the moment they were reunited for ages, and it was finally here. But she couldn't step out into the light of the moon. Something besides Galbatorix's magic held her back.

Vanir opened his mouth to say something more, but Shay slapped her hand over his lips, not in the least gentle. She looked around. Lily felt her apprehension, and knew she had been discovered.

"Hello?"

Lily pulled up her hood, before slinking out of the cover of the tree.

"Hello Shay."