Ok guys this is the final installment of the Diego and Shira tragedy. unlike my previous two story's, this one will be up to 3 or 4 chapters. also this story is inspired by the song My Immortal by Evanescence, so listen to that when i tell you to, which is kinda weird because ill tell you to do that in the last chapter, but go ahead and listen to it to get the mood of the story if you want to. As always i own nothing except the idea and the OC's. So with that, enjoy the story!

CH1

Time seems to slow down. I can barely hear anything, except for my own heart beat pounding against my chest.

I'm not sure what it is, either the blood loss or the pain that is dulling me, but I can still see the scene before me unfold, and as much as I want to jump back into reality, I can't, because this is reality.

Peaches, Sid, Granny, Crash and Eddie all follow Ellie's orders to run back to the safety of your clearing. Manny chases the rogue saber back into the foliage of the forest, swinging his tusks in defense, while Ellie holds me back as I struggle to get out of her hold. I try to use all my strength to free myself, only for excruciating pain to run through my body from the large wound on my lower ribs.

"DIEGO!" I yell in a fruitless effort to the body ahead of me, for what feels like the hundredth time. I can no longer tell if he is still alive.

An eternity seems to pass before Manny finally emerges from the brush, his tusks covered in blood and his trunk circled with claw marks. This is when time returns to normal. Ellie puts me on the ground carefully, as if I might break.

I limp to his side as fast as I can without blacking out from the pain. When I finally reach him, I let out a shaky sob of horror.

His body is drenched in blood, mostly coming from a large gash in his upper abdomen. I can see the tip of one of his bones. His body is coated in deep claw marks, ranging from his head to his hind legs. There are at least five punctures on him from the fangs that pierced his hide again, and again. One that has torn through his ear, two on his neck, one up close to his head and one next to his left shoulder, one his right hip, and one on his stomach. I let out a strangled noise.

"Oh god..." I whisper under my breath. His eyes are half closed, one of them has blood calming it of the lid.

"Diego?" I say in a small voice that isn't my own. I lick his cheek, trying to get a response. "Hey stay with me."

He looks up at me, his hazel eyes almost blank.

"You are going to be ok..." I say biting down the tears that threaten to spill over. "You can get through this..."

He lets out a strangled cough, spitting up blood. "S-Shira..." He says, his breathing is shallow and slow. "We- we both know I can't..."

"Yes, yes you can!" I almost yell. I'm not sure who I'm trying to convince anymore, him or myself.

"No I can't..." He breathes as his body slumps even more, sounding so weak it scares me.

I can feel the shadows against my back but I don't turn around, all my focus is on him.

"S-s-stay with me..." I repeat again. He gives me a look that could very well be his last, before moving his eyes to the figures behind me.

"Manny?" He says in confusion.

"Ya buddy I'm here" says the large mammoth, his voice cracks, threatening to release its tears

"I'm here too tiger." Says Sid, his lisp shaky.

"Thank you for everything..." Diego tells them. He is wincing in pain as he try's to take bigger breaths.

"We really should be thanking you." Says Manny. "You saved all of us at least once. The possums during the flood, Peaches when she was stuck in that tree, Ellie when she went into labor... Defending me against Your old pack..."

"Not to mention the hundreds of times you saved me" says Sid with a sad laugh

Diego gives a weak smile "Well thanks for showing me how great a herd is." It sounds like he's talking to more than just them now, I think the rest of the herd is there. There is a pause as he tries to catch his breath. Then he looks at me, his eyes filled with a mix of love and sorrow.

"And Shira..." He says with such effort I'm afraid he might pass out before he can finish.

"Yes..." I almost plead.

"I love you..." All the muscles in his body go slack, his eyes glaze over, and he takes his last breath. His bloody coat shining in the setting sun's rays.

"Diego...?" I croak. No response. "Diego!" I say again, hoping somehow he will come back, but we all know that's unsensible. I throw myself over his body and finally let the tears flood out.

I lose count of how long I stay there, but when I reopen my eyes it is dark and cold, just like how i feel inside. I have cried for so long, that no more tears leak through my eyes. I'm still shaking. A storm of emotions rages inside me. Complete distress, the most sadness I have ever felt, and the pure rage hatred I have for myself. This is all my fault. He is dead because of me! And I couldn't even save him!

I get up and look over his body, in all its bloody glory.

"I swear to god," I say between shaky, dry sobs "I will avenge you. Even if it kills me..."

So what did you guys think? please leave reviews and tell me what you think the rest of the story will be like, i always like to know what you people and potatoes are thinking