Darian ran.
The tunnel was a throat of stone that narrowed with every step. The walls scraped his shoulders. His back burned as if splinters were driven into his vertebrae. The blood from his nose tasted like iron on his lips.
Run. Run, you useless fool. She's out there. Because of you.
She told you on the first day. "Before you act, observe." She was right in front of you, bow in hand, looking at you with those green eyes. "Be careful next time." And you... you never learned. You never observed. You just ran. Just acted. And you lost her.
Vael flew beside him, beating his wings with difficulty. A squeak of encouragement. Darian couldn't even look at him.
Varkas and Kára planted themselves before the three enemies.
The golden light of the Protector's Sentence flickered and went out. Eryndor lowered his shield. Liriel and Brom were healed. The burn on the fighter's chest was now a pink scar. The mage's cuts had disappeared.
Eryndor said nothing. He just advanced.
Varkas charged at Brom. Sword against sword. The fighter was fast, throwing precise slashes. Varkas blocked with his forearm, taking cuts he barely felt. He returned a punch to the ribs. Brom grunted and countered with a slash to the thigh. Varkas half-dodged it. The blade opened a shallow cut. Both stepped back, sizing each other up.
Kára went for Liriel. The mage made roots burst from the ground. Kára threw a burst of flame with her free hand and burned them. Liriel launched a volley of thorns. Kára summoned an electric field from Kazak'Thur. The thorns incinerated upon contact. Liriel created a wall of bark. Kára struck the ground with her hammer. A combined wave of fire and electricity shattered the wall. Liriel was thrown back, but got up. She had a cut on her forehead. She smiled at Kára.
"You're fun, dwarf."
"And you're a pain, elf."
They clashed again.
Eryndor watched. He waited.
Darian stumbled.
The tunnel floor was uneven. His boot caught in a crack and he fell face-first. The impact knocked the air from him. His back screamed.
Get up. Are you going to lie there? Eight years to learn a physical reinforcement. Eight years of failure. And now you can't even run.
She believed in you. She looked you in the eyes and told you that you weren't a failure. That you were lethal with a sword. That you had survived Low Mountain. A demon. She meant it. And you... you paid her back by ignoring her. Letting her go. Failing her.
Vael landed beside him. He pushed his cheek with his snout. A soft sound, almost a lament.
Darian pressed his hands against the ground. He got up. He kept running.
Eryndor moved.
Not toward Kára. Toward Varkas's back.
Kára saw it.
"Varkas!"
The giant turned just in time to take the shield blow to the chest. The impact resonated like a thunderclap. Varkas dropped to his knees. The sword slipped from his hand.
Eryndor raised his shield. Protector's Sentence. The golden area expanded. Liriel and Brom, inside, began to heal. Varkas, outside, got up staggering. Kára waited.
The light flickered and went out. Eryndor lowered his shield. And then they saw it.
The elf staggered. His breathing was ragged. He could barely hold the shield. Vulnerable.
Kára noticed.
"After he uses it... he's left weak."
Varkas nodded.
"Next time, we attack the moment it goes out."
The fight resumed.
Varkas and Brom clashed again.
The fighter was fresh, healed. Varkas wasn't. He took a slash to the arm, another to the side. But he didn't fall. He returned a punch to Brom's jaw that made his teeth crack. The fighter staggered. Varkas grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the ground. The stone cracked. Brom lay stunned.
Kára and Liriel were exhausted. The mage created another bark wall. Kára shattered it with a combined wave. Liriel fell to her knees, but got up. Her hands were trembling.
Eryndor charged at Kára. She blocked with the hammer, but the impact threw her against a column. She hit her back. She spat blood. She got up with difficulty.
Eryndor raised his shield again. Protector's Sentence. Second time. The golden area expanded. Liriel and Brom healed again. Varkas and Kára, outside, caught their breath.
The light went out. Eryndor lowered his shield. Vulnerable again. He was breathing hard. Varkas and Kára launched themselves at him, but Liriel and Brom stepped in. They pushed them back.
Kára clenched her teeth.
"The third time we won't miss."
The tunnel ended.
Darian burst out into the night. The sky was clear, full of stars he couldn't see. The smell of salt hit his face. The sound of the sea.
The old wooden dock stretched before him.
And beyond it, in the dark water, a ship.
No... no, no, no...
It was sailing. The sails were already raised. The bow pointed toward the horizon. Too far.
She told you about her mother. How she watched her wither away. How she swore she would never be weak again. She opened her heart to you by the fire and you... you showed her that her weakness was trusting you.
He ran down the dock. The planks creaked under his boots. Vael flew above him, shrieking.
On the ship's deck, a figure turned. Too far to see her face. But Darian knew it was her. He knew she was looking at him.
She extended a hand toward him.
No... don't go...
Vael didn't give up.
The dragon beat his wings, shrieked, pulled with everything he had. And little by little, centimeter by centimeter, he dragged Darian toward the shore.
The sand scraped his back. Darian coughed salt water. Vael collapsed beside him, panting.
The ship was gone.
She wrote that note for you. For Varkas. For Kára. "I don't know if you'll read this. Maybe you'll hate me." She didn't hate you. She was protecting you. Like she always did. And you... you couldn't even stop her.
Darian lay there in the sand, with the water lapping at his boots. Vael curled against his chest, whimpering.
And then he cried.
He covered his eyes with his forearm and cried. He cried with his whole body, with shudders that tore at his throat. He cried from frustration, from rage, from pain. From guilt.
He cried until he ran out of air, until his forearm tasted of salt and blood.
I'm not a hero. I'm not like Alterion. I'm not like my grandfather. I'm not like my father.
His mother, when he was a child. "Be good, Darian. That's all that matters."
I couldn't even do that.
Vael pressed tighter against him. A faint warmth, the only one he had left.
The sea broke against the shore. The wind blew cold.
And Aria was gone