The ornate cornucopia in her mouth, almost too red to eat.

"Eat and live."

The young boy appeared on the scene, he had seen much death but not death like this.

"Get it out!

Go get water!

Get it out!

GET IT OUT!"

The young girl grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

"The water is over there, we have to get her out of this, help her!

Go to her!"

That's when he saw her.

His Mother, his beautiful mother.

Her beauty.

Her pain.

Her beating.

Her wrists and hands and feet.

"Help her!"

He was forced to run the few steps and was about to help her when suddenly another man grabbed him.

"Run!"

The leader's voice boomed through the village, shaking the earth and the very trees and the deep roots.

"Run!

Run!"

He was about to do as he was told when the young girl shot at him from behind.

The sound of the shot rang throughout the forest and tore through his very core, knocking him to his knees.

He had heard the stories.

There was no turning back.

He watched as the young girl's father placed his gun in her hand and the young boy threw him a knife.

"Just do it."

he whispered, but with that he was gone.

The next moment he watched in horror as the girl emptied her chamber into her own mother.

Her father watched on in tears, screaming at her to get it out.

They pulled their daughter and mother away and the man threw them both into the healing pool.

The young girl stood next to him, wiping her bloody hands on her blood covered dress.

He knew it was time to leave, that he needed to get out of there.

He turned to leave and the girl put a hand to his chest, stopping him in his tracks.

"I'm not leaving you.

Not like this."

Her voice quivered with emotion.

"You don't know what happened.

You don't know what he did.

You can't go back there, you can't …."

She was unable to continue, sobbing uncontrollably as she held his hand.

He had known about this but had kept it from her.

"I'm sorry.

Please, you have to go.

Go."

He leaned into her and rested his head on her chest, her heart beat a faint cadence next to his.

She began to weep uncontrollably.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

She cried, the sobs hurting her as she pushed them down.

"Please go.

Please go.

Go."

The voice echoed in the bushes as the man held his breath, preparing to run.

He could not move.

He watched as the young girl lifted her hands and tore the dress off, blood running down her arms.

Then she pulled the bullet out and tossed it on the ground.

"I'm not leaving you.

Not like this."

She pulled him towards the water.

He followed, feeling his heart break a bit more, knowing what she was about to do.

The whole of this experience, the pain, the tears, the death, the terror of his people and the destruction and loneliness of his heart.

He felt his heart break as he saw her face.

She stared at the sky, her beautiful deep eyes piercing through the deep shadows of the trees, the flowers that reached up towards her.

Then she looked down at him, tears flowing down her face, and closed her eyes.

She knelt and slowly began to pour the water onto his chest.

She reached up to wipe the tears from her face.

The Earth trembled and as he looked up he saw a hole appear in the middle of the tree above.

A light formed around it and began to pour down on him.

It seemed to take forever as he felt his being fill.

"DIE!

DIE!

DIE!"

The man was screaming, he wanted to live, he wanted to be with her, but he was so close, so close.

When he felt the warmth fill him he was filled with such peace and he knew he was going home.

He lay there for a long time, reaching out to her, watching her kneel beside him, watching the light pour over him and watch as it slowly enveloped her.

Then the light changed, started to swirl in dark, thick billows and then there was a flash of light.

The whole world faded to black as the man fell to the ground.

"He's dead!"

He yelled out.

He had given up and given in to the darkness.

He had let go and let God.

He fell back to the ground, his whole body filled with grief and guilt.

"Why?" he cried out.

He had promised himself, the world and God that he would never give in to darkness.

But he had and now he was paying the price.

Then he saw her; she was reaching down to him, her bright blue eyes staring into his black, gaping darkness.

She pulled him to his feet and brought him to the hole, placing her hands on his shoulders, helping him.

"You won't let me down God, I promise.

I won't let you down.

I won't …."

He struggled to finish as the darkness threatened to swallow him again, but he stayed, breathing slowly.

"You won't let me down."

She placed her hands on his shoulders and began to pull him, slowly.

"DIE!

DIE!

DIE!

DIE!"

He screamed as the darkness took him once more.

He shivered, the cold was gone and he was filled with nothingness.

God heard him and immediately sent another light.

This one shone and it took the shape of a woman with golden hair, wearing a long flowing white dress.

She turned to him and smiled warmly, her blue eyes never leaving his.

He stood and took one small step towards her.

She smiled and placed her hand on his forehead.

As he fell to his knees she pulled him to his feet, took him to the hole, removed the stone from the center and began to pour the light down.

She watched him, the love in her eyes glowing bright, the light surrounding him.

Then she looked at him one more time and began to pull him down, lower, deeper.

She pulled him as he laughed and cried, then he felt the pain and terror of his own death.

She pulled him down and down, his scream echoing through the vastness of space.

She pulled him to the darkest place, the most evil place, the place where his dark side resided, the place where he felt at home.

She pulled him into the darkness, the darkness that had been feeding him for all of his life.

Then she placed her hands on his face and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again she was smiling, and he was home.

A / N: They say the light breaks the darkness and gives us the light that we needed, when we had none.

This story is dedicated to those who have gone before and those who may find hope and peace in their darkness.

God love them and so do I.

God forgive me.

Thank you for reading.

Mountain … A Mountain was an odd thing.

A living thing, with bark, leaves, and an obvious ability to move around on the ground.

For much of its life Mountain was content to roam about the forest, killing small animals to eat, hiding from others that wished to hunt them.

Eventually Mountain was attacked by something that could move like a mountain, but leave behind nothing.

Mountain moved, it's shell stretching, muscles bursting and bones popping.

Mountain was injured, but not severely.

It was alert though.

Its limbs weren't sure, but they worked to support it.

Its eyes opened and focused on a spot at the top of the mountain.

Mountain began to climb and it was not a simple thing.

Every joint seemed to protest against movement and some threatened to give in to the pain.

Mountain had a couple of fights with rocks and sticks, but nothing serious.

Eventually Mountain made it to the top and started to climb down the other side.

As it began it's descent it stopped and thought.

"I have to be careful."

It said to itself, "if I fell this high I would never make it back up.

I'm tired and wounded.

A fall of even a few feet would kill me."

Mountain began to do a little dance, trying to loosen up, trying to work out the stiffness in its limbs.

Mountain eventually made it down to the bottom, but it was disoriented.

After it found its bearings it set about to head out to find food.

Many days went by, but Mountain did not find food, so eventually Mountain decided to sleep.

It didn't move for many hours, it was simply lying there.

Then, all at once, Mountain's shell split open.

Inside was something unlike Mountain had ever experienced.

Something that Mountain did not even recognize.

It was a shell that could not contain the strength of a mountain.

Within its shell was a creature the likes of which Mountain had never even thought about.

This new creature had arms, legs, and a tail, but it was round and solid.

It was extremely small, but at the same time had great strength and could scale very tall mountains with ease.

This thing's name was Robot.

Robot was green and it had no face, but it's eyes watched Mountain as it slept.

It floated down to the bottom of Mountain and started to talk.

"Mountain!

What are you doing?"

It was not a human voice, but Mountain didn't understand, so it didn't care.

"It's going to kill us!

It will eat us!"

Said Robot.

"Not if we are dead."

Robot said as it took a stick from the ground and began to attack Mountain with it.

Each time Mountain flinched, but Robot kept getting in more and more hits.

"Are you going to get out of your shell?"

Robot asked.

Mountain didn't know what was going on, but it didn't want to be eaten.

"I'll try."

Mountain responded.

Mountain began to move, but slowly.

After a while it lifted itself up and tried to move.

Mountain moved on its hind legs, but it's front legs wouldn't move.

"Stupid legs!

I hate you!

I'll never use you again!"

Said Mountain.

After a long struggle Mountain managed to stand.

Then it tried to stand on its front legs, but they were so weak it fell to the ground.

Then Mountain tried to stand on all of its legs, but it couldn't.

"The bottom must be very weak."

Mountain thought.

After another great struggle Mountain fell to the ground.

Mountain found that, even though its legs were incredibly weak, it still had great upper body strength.

It jumped to its feet and started to run.

Robot was close behind and did not catch up.

"This is hopeless."

Mountain said.

Robot then did something that surprised Mountain.

It flew past Mountain and went behind it.

It then began to chase Mountain.

Mountain started to run faster, but Robot was always faster.

It started to fly around Mountain and, although Mountain would get close to Robot, Robot could always beat it.

After Robot defeated Mountain again and again Mountain got more and more frustrated.

Mountain was then, finally, able to climb up Robot's body and fly away.

It was extremely high up in the air, but Mountain was more afraid of being eaten by Robot than the fall.

Robot had stopped chasing Mountain long ago, but now it just glowed with a bright light, looking upon what it had created.

Then Mountain fell