The Forgotten Light

7. Harlyn

Harlyn woke up when someone started shaking him sharply. He managed to open only one eye, as the other was covered with dried blood. He was surprised to realize that he was still alive. Two shaggy heads were leaning over him.

"I told you he was alive," he heard the voice of one of the kids.

With a gasp, he tried to raise himself up on his elbows, but a sharp pain in his left side stopped him. He fell back with a thud.

"You have a big hole over here, buddy," said the other boy, touching the wound on his side. "And a nasty cut here." This time he ran his finger from his eyebrow up to his jaw.

Harlyn hissed through clenched teeth. "So don't touch it, for God's sake..."

Both boys recoiled in fright at his tone. Their doe eyes became practically round.

"No, no... Hey, I'm sorry, okay? It's just..." He tried to get up again, but it was for nothing. Warm blood was spilling down his back. "Help me sit down, please."

The children obediently embraced him under his arms and helped him lean against the wall. He found a blood-stained dagger beside him.

"What are your names?" He wiped the blade on his pants and cut his own black shirt. He was getting weak and nauseous from the loss of blood. He also didn't know how long he had already been lying unconscious.

"Axel..."

"...and Liam."

He rolled the cut T-shirt into a ball and pressed it firmly against his bleeding side. He clenched his teeth to avoid screaming and frightening the youngsters who were staring at him with wide-open eyes.

"I think I told you to sit in the chimney until I call you," he reprimanded in a low voice.

"If we had listened to you, you would have died, and you wouldn't even know it," Liam snapped back.

Harlyn snorted with laughter, leaning his head against the boards behind him. "I already thought I was dead. But thanks..."

A small hand slapped him on the cheek.

"Hey! Don't sleep!" shouted Axel.

Harlyn picked up his head, which fell on his chest.

"We have to get out of here. Who knows if those big freaks won't come back here. Get up," said Liam.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," he agreed drowsily. He used the stone fireplace as a support and got to his feet, bending double in pain with his arm pressed against his side. "About a mile from here there is a Jeep. We just need to get there."

He walked a few shaky steps when he suddenly stopped at a large breach in the wall. He fastened his eyes on his friend's lifeless body. "Akio..."

His knees buckled under him again, even Axel and Liam were unable to hold him up. Harlyn put one hand on his friend's cold shoulder. His head was unnaturally twisted, his eyes staring inanimately into space.

"I'm so sorry..." he whispered, otherwise his voice would have broken. He closed his friend's eyes and rose to his feet again with an effort. He knew he had to leave him here. He hated the thought, but he had no choice. If only he had enough strength and wouldn't lose blood with every heartbeat...

He felt the small hand wrap surprisingly tightly around his free hand.

Harlyn looked down into Liam's sparkling doe eyes.

"We have to go," urged the boy quietly.

Harlyn nodded and they walked out of the collapsing hovel. Without looking back, they walked through the empty neighborhood as the first rays of the sun emerged from behind the horizon line, falling on Harlyn and the boys supporting him on both sides.

***

When they reached the car, Harlyn could not find the keys anywhere. He patted his pants pockets, mumbling under his breath "Keys... I need keys. Where are the damn keys?"

Eventually he had to start the engine using the starter cables, and the curious boys watched intently. They shouted happily when the Jeep started, and Harlyn only smiled crookedly.

With every minute, less and less was coming to him, and he knew they had to get back to base in Florence quickly. He kept driving with one hand on the steering wheel, the other pressing the already soaked T-shirt against his left side. He focused the gaze of his tired eyes on the rocky road on which he was speeding like a crazy person. When he felt like he was going to faint, he slowed down so he wouldn't kill them in case he was really about to pass out

Liam and Axel insisted on talking loudly the whole way so that Harlyn wouldn't lose contact with reality again, but he was getting only third of what they were saying.

It seemed to him that an eternity passed before a dilapidated, low, orange house with a flat dented roof appeared before them in the glow of the morning sun. At the sound of an approaching car, Ace and Usain were the first to jump out to meet them, followed by the rest of the camp.

The door on the driver's side swung open, and his brother, frantic with anxiety, helped him crawl out of the seat.

"For Christ's sake, what happened? Tell me what happened?!" he shouted to Harlyn who was as white as sheet.

"Kids... We've found the two boys that Carter was talking about," he answered vaguely, staggering. He was grateful for Ace's strength.

"And where are the others?" Usain inquired.

Harlyn looked around with misty eyes at the faces of his friends, whom he now barely recognized.

"Where is Akio?" he recognized Dusty's voice.

He swallowed hard before he rasped out "He's gone..."

A restless murmur of distraught voices passed through the crowd. Harlyn felt like the ground beneath his feet was quaking. Ace patted him on his uninjured cheek, trying to keep the boy conscious. "What about Ritael? Where is Fairlight?"

He froze in terror.

Ritael and Fairlight...

They were there with him. Rit fought by his side, Fairlight had gone only for a moment to go around the house, then returned while they were already contending with the enemy.

What had happened? How could he forget about them? How could he not look for them?

They never made it to the base. Neither Fairlight nor Ritael. He was the only one who made it back.

Where were they?

Fairlight...

Ritael...

Two people near and dear to him.

He returned alone. He left them behind. He abandoned them to their fates....

"Harlyn...?"

This time the ground beneath his feet gave away and Harlyn felt into darkness.