Deadwood (The Chronicles of Mistar - Short Story)

···Minkin Castor

Bastendin 18, 40386 BW···

I watched her step into our cave lightly. My Del was careful not to make a sound but I knew who it was. Whoever came with her was gone now. They left her at the door and now she had to fend for her life with me.

Suddenly distraught, she crawled into my arms. Old and withered, we hugged tightly. I figured she was going to cry but tears never came. I could just see the way her face scrunched up when she resistant to do something or surprised at an important outcome, which seemed to be all the time.

Delfie's face turned stern as she took a step back from me. I knew she had to do it and I wouldn't stop her. By the end of the day, the waterfall would take her and I'd be alone with my wanas and their wanas. It was a sad ending to a horrific story but at least I would be with some of my family.

"Thank you," she said softly. I watched her eyes, looking for tears. Unsurprising, they never came. Tears used to be common with her until Death Day. That's when her whole persona changed. She became like me, though I know she probably denies it, or maybe denies it outright and secretly thinks it's true in the back of her brain.

"Thank you," she said again. "Thank you for trusting me, trying not to stop me."

I pursed my lips. "I know," I sighed.

Delfie rolled her eyes as usual. Biting her lip, she suddenly looked nervous. "You aren't going to try and stop me are you?"

"How could I? I, more than anyone you know, knows how much this means. It's for the future."

My Del sighed, relaxing her shoulders as she looked to the ceiling of the cave. The dead sister flashed through my mind, but I let the thought escape me. I didn't want her wicked smile to corrupt this beautiful moment.

"For Gazar," I said, letting us bask in the smell of fresh spring water and spray of the falls.

"For Mistar," Delfie hummed.

Then she was gone. One tear slid down my cheek as I let go and pushed. I watched her fall, sliding into the pounding abyss of water.

Another tear fell. I knew it. I could practically hear her heart sputter out as her bones broke. My Del was dead, but for a good cause.

I fell on my old knees, not caring that kneecaps probably displaced themselves and shattered when they hit the stone ground in thud. I could feel as burst of power let go, wind circling the cave. It blew me to my back, knocking the wind out of me.

I heaved, wanting to puke just as I had before when I watched the sister die.

Outside the cave, screams echoed through the Deadwood. Whoever walked with Delfie to the cave probably saw her body floating through the river.

As my breath came back, I realized something. I felt stupid now. Before, the sister had come back. She came back a totally different person but she had come back.

My Del was dead, but who knows. She could be alive.