Each year the Kingdom of Khearia throws a festival in remembrance of one of their most beloved kings who had tragically perished along with his wife and second son. His first son, Prince Fabian, was the only one to survive. Witnesses claimed his cro...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
James held Eris by her grip in his trembling hands, his hands cold and glassy. He quivered on his knees, the ground hard and jagged against his bare legs, the realisation of what he had to do sinking in his gut like his nightmares.
ㅤ"I can't." he whimpered.
ㅤHe lost the strength to hold onto the sword, and she clinked against the ground, slipping from his fingers. Watered down blood streaked across his hands, the red bleeding into the clear sheen.
ㅤJay kicked his leg out from where he slumped on a tree, painfully catching James in the knee.
ㅤ"Pick her up, boy." he growled, his voice strained. "Pick her up and stand up."
ㅤOut of habit, James obediently followed Jay's orders and took her, the dirt from the ground helping his grip and sticking to the moisture on his palm.
ㅤ"Now, stand." Jay commanded, less heat in his voice, the pain seeping through.
ㅤWith weak legs, James forced his body to move despite its wishes. His body was battered from the tumble into the river and it was possible he'd fractured a few ribs and fingers in the process, sharp pains rippling with each movement.
ㅤIt was late and cloudy, but that didn't stop the blood from Jay's shoulder burning red into his eyes, the rest of the world sapped of colour and grey around it.
ㅤ"We could pull it out." James tried, staring at the arrow embedded in his mentor in horror.
ㅤInstead of trying to argue verbally, his mentor held Eris' bare blade, his hands turning black as he did so, he cried out in pain but stubbornly and shakily guided the metal to his chest, hovering over his heart.
ㅤ"Push." he ground out, his eyes wrinkled and narrow from the pain and the determined glare he aimed James' way. A painful shiver came over James and rattled him, his throat sharp with the emotions that threatened to teeter him over the edge.
ㅤ"I can't do this without you." he whispered, biting his cheek so hard that he could taste metal in his mouth.
ㅤDespite the situation, his mentor smiled at him, a small quirk of the lips that seemed more like a grimace. If his mentor's eyes hadn't softened with the gesture, James wouldn't have been able to recognise it as a smile at all.
ㅤVoices howled from the distance, shouting and barking, their pursuers hunting them.
ㅤ"Now!" Jay ordered.
ㅤJames lurched forward before he could stop himself, Eris' blade sinking into his mentor's body with resistance, scraping against bone and squelching against hard flesh.
ㅤHis mentor looked him in the eyes until the very last moment, fiery and adamant until the end. He took in one last gasp of raspy breath, the noise haunting him and twisting his organs up inside. His mentor never exhaled, the life draining from his eyes. James delicately removed Eris from his chest, not wanting to hurt his body any further. Only a black charcoal remained where his heart should have been. Tears stung his eyes.
