The Warden

Chapter 21

Content warning: Depicted in this chapter are scenes of attempted suicide.

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This could be useful, thought Kyla, as she sunned her face under the pleasant midday sun.

She kept pace with the mute, slack Masis, as he stumbled along in the general direction of the sea. His immaculate posture failed. That proud brow broke with defeat. Those usually keen eyes, now blank, barely kept him from tripping over every obstacle.

Masis' lifelight swirled into deeper and deeper shades of blue until it was nigh unto black. Points of white, pure lifelight, would flash out from the midst of that maelstrom only to be sucked into its tumultuous depths and snuffed out. If Lady Kyla could keep him from doing harm to himself long enough, then offer him a firm hand to pull him from those constrictive depths, Masis would strain to take her aid. Even dying men would, in the final moments of clarity, grasp out for any aid available and cling to what life they could. The Domrae boy was no different in that sense. She would offer. He would reach. Patience as always won the goal.

He had dropped his possessions, measly though they were, when he found his mount dead. Kyla had collected them but abandoned the now useless tack.

No point to burden myself, she had reasoned.

Shadowing the boy this time could not have been easier. All alertness had abandoned him. His slouched gait allowed the tall impeding grass to grip and grasp at him, slowing his efforts. Soon his breath came out labored. Perspiration dripped from his forehead. When he paused to catch his failing breath, Kyla would simply stand and enjoy the cool breeze as it shocked her own sweat with its chill passing. She barely had to conceal herself by any means in her arsenal. Her lifelight, what she had left, flashed out un-shuttered. She barely masked her physical form, choosing to keep it in a hazy, mirage-like clarity. But Masis never turned around.

Another item to add to the list, she thought. Emotions.

He had to master them. If he allowed himself to be swayed by every faint breath of feeling, he would die in his first scuffle, no matter if he became the Warden or not.

Masis collapsed to the ground again. His voice muttered out over the distance. "My fault... I did it... killed them..."

He would try something drastic if he kept up with that line of thinking.

Kyla shrugged and began to rummage through his belongings. Some of the carefully packed food remained tucked away. Probably saved so that a taste of home could be gained from time to time. The few articles of clothing stowed amongst the pack's contents assaulted Kyla's nose with their unwashed bouquet. Weather stained and dusty, reeking of weeks of travel, Masis' cloak slid between Kyla's fingers, its smoothness betrayed the wool's fine quality. A greasy, salty aroma of dried meats peppered Kyla's nose pleasantly.

Kyla glanced up. Masis still rocked where he had slumped down.

Her hand dove into his bag and homed in on the pouch that held the hearty aroma. Snatching it out, Kyla pressed it to her nose and savored the heady, spicy notes that permeated the very cloth itself. She preferred her meat raw and freshly killed but that didn't keep her from appreciating such finely prepared morsels. Masis' bag fell from her grasp as her senses devoted themselves to the bits she poured into her hand. Popping one into her mouth, Kyla's saliva welled up and smothered the tidbit, disseminating the flavor to every cranny of her mouth. Eyes rolled back into her head. A shiver coursed through her body. Pure ecstasy. The Domraes truly had employed some fine cooks in their kitchen.

"Kyla..." Masis' voice pronouncing those two syllables twitched her back into alertness. "Wasn't her fault..."

She snorted. Her attention went back to the dried meat in her mouth. Her teeth reduced it into oblivion and then another of the pieces underwent the same process. It repeated until there was none left. Kyla even went so far as to stick her face into the bag to suss out if any remained. None did. Blowing sharp huffs through her nose, she tried to rid herself of the stench also packed within the bag.