Because that is what I’ve always been best at.Killing.
I wonder if I can ever be good at anything else.
I wonder if I can begood to her.
And that is when a drek shreds my chest with its talons.
I roar and turn it to cinders. Turn everything to cinders.
A distraction. I wasdistracted, thinking of her, ofus, of a future we could never have, and I let my guard down. Teeth gritted in pain, I portal back to my room, andI’m bleeding. I’m alone.
Darkness crawls beneath my skin, the drek poison seeping into my blood. My heart begins to slow. My breaths start to hurt.
I don’t know if my power is enough to heal this, to overcome this. When my eyes close, I might wake up, hours later, soaked in sweat, gasping. Or ... I might not wake up at all.
I always imagined dying alone. Me, bleeding out next to the scar, a thousand dreks blocking out the sun, thrusting me into an endless darkness.
But right now ... I don’t want to be alone.
I want to die looking into piercing green eyes.
I portal to her room before I can change my mind, landing roughly, my power nearly giving out.
“Hearteater,” I croak.
She’s next to me in an instant, and I can feel her concern. It’sreal.
“Grim?”
“I believe you’ll be pleased,” I say, barely managing to get the words out. My blood is everywhere, staining her floor.
She doesn’t seem to care. “Will I?”
“Something got very close to killing me.”
She doesn’t feel pleased at all. No, she feels panicked, and anxious, and afraid. “Oh? That is wonderful news,” she whispers, playing along. Neither of us capable of admitting the truth.
I nod. “It is with great regret that I share it did not succeed.”
She shrugs. Her eyes slip down my considerable injuries. “Not yet, at least.”
I bark out a laugh, surprising myself. Then I groan, my chest aflame.
Her arms are around me and yes, I think I could die now, happily. She starts unbuttoning my shirt, and I wish she was doing it for any reason other than to get a better look at my wounds.
Shock.
“What is this?” she asks.
I know what she’s seeing. Dark veins and marks, the ruinous extent of my injuries. Part of the reason the dreks have been impossible to defeat.
“The elixir, Hearteater,” I say, having a thought. “The Wildling flower.”
Ever since she’s used it on me and I saw its potency, I’ve wondered if it might work on these wounds.
Her face is going blurry. The room is spinning. I can feel myself losing my grip on consciousness.
This Wildling ruler who hates me is the only thing standing between life and death.
