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Kayla woke after a while with a rage boiling so badly she snatched up her daggers and she threw them at a knot in a nearby tree, hitting the mark dead-on each time |
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The fire flickers, its light dancing across his pale skin. I watch as he sways, barely upright, his body betraying him in slow, agonizing increments. His breath is ragged. I hear it, thin and fleeting, as though it might vanish entirely with the next exhale. He knows. I see it in his eyes—the distant, sinking look of a man slipping between worlds. His heartbeat stumbles, weaker, uneven. He’s nearly mine. Then, barely a whisper— “Kayla.” A name. A tether. I wait. His lips part again, but his voice is smaller this time, uncertain. "Never mind." He lets it go. The fight, the fear, the last remnants of resistance. He curls inward, tucking his knees to his chest like a boy seeking shelter from a storm. His head bows, forehead pressing into his arms. I step closer. The fire crackles. The wind sighs through the trees. He shivers, though I offer no chill. Soon. Not yet. Though he's close, he's not ready. Not yet. I dream of the day I step forward and gently lift his soul from him, his spirit trickling in my arms as I carry him up, hoping Kayla wouldn't awake as I went. I know it'll break her, and it'll break me to watch her. But one thing, it will absolutely not be my fault. |
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Kayla sighed and went to retrieve her daggers before settling beside him once more |
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The man stayed how he was, tucked tight to himself, ignoring the faucets that kept dripping from his eyes as he stayed silent. Why couldn't he have just kept quiet and never got into theivery? Never betrayed the royals? Never been caught and tortured so many times it became part of his monthly routine? |
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Kayla saw his tears and nearly gasped. "Baby....Oh, baby no....why are you crying?" She asked, worriedly wiping the tears away |
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Gale moved her hand away, blinking them back and erasing the remaining from his face before turning and looking at her, nothing but pain and regret in his gaze. "Why couldn't I have just...not turned into a theif? Why couldn't I have just lived a normal life and kept my mouth shut and stay away from the royals? Why couldn't I have been hidden to the point where being caught and tortured wasn't a part of my monthly routine?" He asked, turning his gaze to the fire. |
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Kayla was unable to answer, knowing he was upset but not knowing how to help. "You're here now, with me...." She said, a feeble attempt at helping |
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"There's not point besides you at this point, nobody left, they're all either dead or alive but too be fair I don't give a damn about them, I just know if I go now you'll follow sooner or later." Gale said quietly, gaze still in the fire. |
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Kayla was silent, standing and walking into the woods without so much as a "I'll be right back" Thrown over her shoulder. She knew she was being petty but she needed to walk away before weapons and 'training' (If you'd call it that) got involved without her thinking |
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Gale nodded, not noting what she had said before he eventually, and uncomfortably, drifted off into a contorted nightmare. |
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High Heat Advisory: Extreme Heat Index
