Thread of Ash and Fire

Ch. 61: I Can Feel You

Penny dropped to her knees.

Grayson slumped against the bridge. Blood trickled down his sides, pooling in the cracks of the grey stone. Something exploded nearby. Grayson glanced towards the noise, and he fumbled for the knife buried in his stomach, his hands skidding on the slick blade.

"Don't take it out," Penny ordered.

She didn't know much about knife wounds, but she knew that would only make him bleed out faster. Grayson paused.

"How bad is it?"

Penny's mouth tightened. "You're going to be fine."

She was going to make him fine. She glanced back at the castle. The bridge wasn't long — only about two hundred metres — but Halson had archers trained on it, firing on anybody that tried to stop his soldiers from storming the castle. Penny could probably make it, in a pinch, but not while dragging 180 pounds of muscle behind her.

Grayson's throat bobbed. "Halson..."

Penny glanced back. "Kane's dealing with him." A dragon soared overhead, breathing fire down on enemy troops. Halson would be preoccupied. For now. "Can you walk?"

Grayson closed his eyes. He made as if to move, and then winced. "I don't think so."

"It's not far," Penny said. "Just to the other side of the bridge."

Grayson shook his head. His breath was coming in odd spurts, like the last gasps of a fire. "My chest feels strange. Can you look?"

Penny fumbled with his armour. She peeled off his breastplate, being careful to avoid where the knife had entered.

She stared.

Blood was everywhere. A large skin flap hung open, revealing muscle and bone beneath. Halson must have driven the knife upwards, like a fist punching through glass; the blade had cut directly through Grayson's chest. Close enough to nick his heart.

"Ah," Grayson said, reading her face. "So it is bad."

Penny whirled. "Healer!" Her heartbeat was frantic. Shit. Shit. "Someone help us! I need a—"

"Penny," Grayson said. "Look at me."

His face was turning an odd greyish colour. Penny placed a hand on his stomach, her chest tightening. Fuck it. She'd physically hold him together, if she had to. "Stop that. You're going to be fine."

An explosion rocked the bridge. Stone shattered, tumbling into the waters below. It was their own men, Penny realized, glancing up at the spires; they were taking down the bridge so that Halson couldn't get across to the castle.

But it meant that they wouldn't be able to, either.

Grayson grimaced. "Take my sword."

"No."

He fumbled for the blade, lifting it with bloody hands. "You'll die if you stay here."

Penny shook her head. "I'm not leaving you."

"Penny," Grayson said. "Please." His blue eyes were terribly bright. "If you love me, you'll do this. It's too late for me now."

A knot formed in her throat. "Don't say that."

Grayson held out a hand. "Look at me, Princess."

Penny laced their fingers. Her throat felt raw. Beneath the blood, she could see Grayson's tattoo fading; the lines were dissolving into his skin, leaving only whispers of black waves. No more compass. No more map. They'd found the sword, and now the last guardian of the blade was laying down his duties.