major character death warning. angsty chapter up ahead

"Get up! We have to go!" Little Inigo rubs his eyes as he's startled awake by his mother's urgency. He gives a shuddering yawn, as his mother scoops him up and bundles him in a blanket. He doesn't remember being carried like this for a long time. He has hardly any time to even grab his teddy, because she runs away with him, swifter than the night. The door hangs ajar, but there's no real point in locking it now. There won't be anything left to return to.

"Where's Daddy?" he mumbles sleepily, and tries to peek over his mother's shoulder. She pushes his head back down, and hopes that he doesn't have to witness the growing carnage. She prays to Naga that her husband will return. He's always been a skilled fighter. Just some Risen, she tells herself, as she readies a grip around the sword in her belt. "Where are we going?" he inquires next, and to that she has an answer.

"We're going up to the castle, dear. It'll be safe there," she grunts as she turns the corner. She hasn't carried her ten year old son in a few years, but she'll take him up a mountain if it means she can save her precious son. She hopes it'll be safe there…It's her last hope.

She skids across the dirt and has to ignore all the blood curdling screams around her. As a soldier, it pains her to let the tortured cries fall to deaf ears, but as of now, saving her son is the most important thing.

"I can run Mom, you can put me down," he tries to offer helpfully, but she only shakes her. Her tears glisten and freeze on her face.

Almost there…Almost there…Dear Naga won't you help us?

She thinks of her husband. He may be yet alive, but he's probably helping the civilians out. Is there any use? Won't they just die? Can't he remain alive for the sake of his family?

Just as the thought passes through her mind, she hears a pained cry pierce through the night, and feels sick to her stomach.

She'd recognize that voice anywhere.

It feels like she's stepping in quicksand, but for the sake of the boy fearfully clutching her shoulders, she knows that she must move forward.

At last she spots the castle gates, and uses one last surge of energy to burst forward.

She pounds on the castle door among the other refugees, and like a blessing, the door opens wide.

She drops off Inigo once it's safe.

"Mommy loves you, alright, love? You know that, right my love? My sweet, precious, precious boy." She has his cheeks squished between her hands and he clasps his hands around hers, as though he's finally awakening to the situation at hand.

"Wh-what's going on? You're staying here right?" he's trying to smile. He has a pure heart, bless him, his mother thinks. Her tears fall on to his skin, and a steady stream starts to pour out of his eyes. A part of him knows that something very bad is about to happen.

"I love you, Inigo," she says, and kisses his forehead, each cheek, and then finally his nose. She presses their foreheads together and fondly runs her fingers through his hair one last time. "Promise me you'll stay safe?"

"Mom—Mommy?" this doesn't sound good. No, not at all. The other kids said that when they heard this…something really bad happened. He can't let it happen to mom.

"Take care, love," she tells him. She pulls him in for a tight hug that's much too short, and forces herself to go back the way she came.

She must find her husband. She must.

He's frozen in shock. But she's gone by the time he works up the strength to say I love you.

No, he can't let her leave! His short little legs work harder than they've ever before, and he just barely slips past the doors before they shut. He hears someone faintly cry out Inigo, but he pays no mind to it.

"Mom! Mommy! Mommy where are you!" he's sobbing and sobbing, but this time she's not around. He keeps going forward and follows his intuition. He spots a head of pink hair, and knows it must be her.

She has his father supported against her, as she's encouraging him that they will make it. Trepidation seizes her heart when she sees their son running towards them.

"INIGO!" she screeches as a cold, fleshless hand plucks him up by his collar.

They won't take take him…Not if she could help it! She lets go of her beloved, who immediately crumples to the ground. Something tells them that he won't make it tonight, but she's damned if that'll happen. She takes her sword and charges through the Risen, who drops Inigo.

But she wasn't accounting for the sword that is now sticking through her back.

"I—Inigo…" she coughs, and averts her face away to hide the blood coming out of her mouth. She never wanted him to see her like this. His father like this. "Go now…please, be safe. Know that we love you…" She falls to the dirt and soaks the earth beneath it. He crawls behind her as she drags her barely breathing form to her husband.

His chest still rises and falls with his breath, but they've decreased too much. His mouth won't even work anymore, no matter how much he wants to tell his son and his wife that he loves them. And he might even have to witness the death of both his loved ones.

She lets her head fall against his chest."I beg you. Love, please…just…" Her head lies limp as her lips form the word 'go.'

His eyes widen with denial and disbelief. He clutches his mother and father's hands, hands that barely have any warmth left in them.

"No..Mom…PLEASE. MOM! DAD! I love you!" He couldn't even tell them I love you. And now he never will be able to ever again. He presses his cheek against his father's chest. One heart beat. Another one. There's a hand in his hair, and he looks at his father's face hopefully…but even that stills. The beat is gone, and the hand falls to the side.

"What did I do…this is all my fault…" he's choking on his tears and lies with his parents, as though they were cuddling before bedtime. His eyes find the sword still deep within his mother. There's no point in living…if…if he caused his family this fate. Just as he reaches out for the blade, someone picks him up.

"Inigo! We need to get out of here!" It's Lissa, his mind barely registers. She helps him up and literally drags him with her.

"Let me go!" he's trying to fight away from her grasp. "Leave me behind!" He even bites her hand, but to her credit, she barely flinches. Perhaps what she saw has numbed anything physical she can feel.

There's nothing she can even say. Her friends…in front of their son…she can only quietly cry as she figures out what on earth they can do now.

The last memory he has of the night is him hanging on to the teddy he dropped in the palace, and a ring being pressed into his palm.

"She gave it to me a while back," Lissa explained. "In case—"

"I don't want it," he says. "I don't deserve it…"

Somehow, some way, he still has it on his finger. One of the last mementos.

Inigo reaches for a heart shaped button as he wakes after yet another fitful dream. A button, from a childhood toy, lovingly made by his mother. Next, his finger caresses the ring on his finger. His heart beat steadies, as he sighs once more.

"Time to move camp. Again."

"Stay safe…" the words echo in his mind, even so many years from then.

"I'll try, Mother," he says to no one. There's no one to talk to. "I'll try. I love you Mom."

Not even the Mother in his memory answers him.