Hello All! This is a story I wrote years ago, I wanted to post it here with some light editing. I'll be posting some of my newer works soon! Thanks for reading!

Prologue

I told him to come back when the moon had risen in the sky, but he didn't. Nothing but empty winds in the trees as I waited for him. Hours upon hours sacrificed to useless worrying and futile hope that he'd step through the oaks and transpire. 

I knew already. 

I knew what had happened and I knew I should've alerted the others, but I couldn't bring myself to move from the spot I said I'd stay until he returned.

He wasn't going to come...since he was dead. Sure, with this world full of magic and possibilities, some of the greatest things are still fairytales. Wistful dreams of the impossible, just beyond reach. So close but so far away.

He was an idiot who was cocky enough to waste his time stretching his arms towards the moon with the false impression that he could actually touch it. It was hundreds of thousands of miles away with the illusion of just a few feet. If I could get a penny for every time I told him to get his head out of the clouds, I can promise there's not enough money in the world.

"Take this. I want you to have it," he had told me, right before running off to the unknown. The unknown is what  killed him. And what do I get? His ring. His goddamn ring!

I didn't want a stupid piece of jewelry. I wanted him.

He had to have known what was going to happen; he knew that it would kill him. He wanted to leave me; running off on this suicide mission.

The cool metal of the ring pressed into my palm reminding me of what I would never have again. That scared me...being alone. I didn't want this type of ending.

"Noah?"

Forcing my face away, I hid my tears from Mira, hoping to no avail that she'd misread my painfully obvious distress signals. Somehow, in my mind, tears had made me weakling. In a way, that was true, but it wasn't the tears that made me weak. My source of strength had always come from him. One smile and I was ready to fight the world, just for him.

"Noah, are you–are you crying? What happened? What's wrong?" She inquired and I soon found myself staring into those big brown eyes of hers, reminding me of a kitten. 

One look and she knew. I saw the spark in her eyes as realization dawned on her, when they darted around behind me, searching for him in the trees just as I had done for hours. 

"Where is Ryker?" 

I shook my head. 

He didn't make it back just like the idiot knew he wouldn't. How selfish of him to abandon everything and everyone searching for that stupid place. How could he just rip himself from our lives? Did he even care about us? Did he even care about me? 

"He went, didn't he?" 

I nodded, choking on a pathetic sob. 

What would I do without him? I was nothing without Ryker. He's my world. 

"Oh Noah, I'm so sorry." Mira reached out and yanked me into her arms while I cried for my lost lover. 

"He knew," I whispered with accusation buried deep in the tone. Mira didn't listen, just shushed me while rocking back and forth in some sort of ritual of comfort. It wouldn't work because at the end of the day, I would never hold him again.

"We should go tell the others."

"No. I need to–I need to find him. I need t–to find his body."

Mira pulled back to stare at me incredulously. "Are you insane? You'll be killed too!"

"So be it." And I meant that. If Ryker decided had decided that this was a life no longer worth living, then I'd join him in the Hell he descended to.

"Noah, you're not thinking straight. Come on, let's go back."

"I'm serious, I'm not going back." Each word fuelled my resolve, shaping my future and my early demise. I would see him one last time, whether here or in the afterlife, I swear my soul on it. 

Raising to my feet, my eyes roamed the oaks under the moon's light in the same direction Ryker disappeared through. My future was just beyond these trees. My lover was even further and I would find them both before it killed me.

"Noah please, you don't know what you're doing!"

"But I do," I told her. "This is goodbye, Mira. Take care of yourself. Tell the others I wish them well. Ryker and I will watch over you all."

"Noah!"

Walking forward I began the search for the love of my life. I swear that we will be reunited again. Death could not tear us apart.