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...
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Alex roused in the night, a rustle pulling him from his sleep; it was a noise that was unlike the whispering of the leaves of the trees.
ㅤDazed, his senses returned to him. The monstrous fire in his dreams had kept him warm but now, back in the real world, the cold steady ground was hard and real. The deafening screams that had gored his ears had dissipated into gentle wind.
ㅤDespite the arrival of a muggy spring, the air and ground fell into an uncomfortable coolness at night. Even though Alex had wrapped himself in blankets, the cold had still touched him. His back felt like it was missing an anchoring warm pressure, feeling blue and untethered. The rustle of clothes continued.
ㅤJames.
ㅤIn the night, James had pressed their backs together to keep them both warm, but now he was absent.
ㅤTurning his head and squinting in the early morning dark, he saw James walking away from the camp.
ㅤUnease pricking under his skin, he sat up. The others slept still; Fletcher and Thomas huddled together and Riley resting on his own, snoring lightly. He wasn't too worried though, James hadn't taken the opportunity to run away at the Moira Temple and he didn't think James was carrying any of his belongings with him now.
ㅤAfter a moment of hesitation, he pulled himself up, the blankets sliding off him. He shivered in the humid mist as his skin was exposed to the air.
ㅤHe followed James from a distance, wondering where the man was going so early in the morning. James was a dark silhouette as he slowly shuffled over the rocky path, surrounded by a dark grey glow of fog that bled into all else, outlined by the trees that fringed either side, standing tall and solid like walls built to confine him in the centre. A few times, James stumbled, seemingly tripping over the easily avoidable. It was strange considering James was so sure-footed that you couldn't hear the man walk. There was something ethereal about the picture.
ㅤEventually, James stopped and stared up at the sky. Alex watched on, waiting; but James never moved on from the spot. As the minutes dragged on, Alex debated turning back but instead moved off the path and sat on a log, too curious for his own good. It must've been uncomfortable standing for so long but it didn't seem to bother James.
ㅤGradually, the mist became paler and the path was awash with a greyish blue, the sun breathing a cold colour into the world. James watched on, waiting, as the horizon above the trees became a pale brown, an orange orb vaguely pushing through the thick wet barrier. James stood in the centre of it, the tan haze wrapping around him in an embrace.
ㅤAlex got a weird feeling in his chest, feeling like James could be devoured by it at any moment like air, disappearing from the world like he'd never stepped on it.
ㅤHe wondered what was going through James' head at that moment. James wasn't the sentimental type but it felt oddly intrusive to watch him just then. For some reason, Alex got the sense that James was a solitary soul, with no connection to the land of living.
