Unsevered Ties

Limited Run 2

 Chapter 2

“Where are you off to?” Rafeo watched Auzra precariously carry a glass of water around the open kitchen door, the boy’s concentration high as he focused on not spilling it.

“To give golden brother a drink. He says he’s really thirsty but can’t move his legs.” 

Rafeo studied a map of their terrain, his tired eyes wanting to do nothing more than close, but doomsday waited for no one. It’d been a year since the mayhem started. A year of nightmares and literal monsters, beast roaming their lands, ready to devour any person who they stumbled on.

The Sha, devouring wolf beast that were once regular Shashiva like them, now turned by a dark and evil magic that sought to take over their land. Their God Night held no biased to his creations, he only wanted to encompass the world in his darkness and seep the Black into every thinking creature. Night did not care if the Shashiva were the children of him and Moon, if they were his, they should be the strongest. The strong could consume the weak.

A year of staving off death and it only multiplied. Fatigue didn’t cave to trying to stay alive. He absently nodded to Auzra, “okay buddy, just pour it slowly.” Rafeo paused, looking at his little brother, who took a big step on the stairs, rising to steady his frame. “Who’s thirsty? Aiden? Buddy, Aiden has tubes to give him water. Have you been pouring water into your brother’s mouth?”

Auzra glanced up with a flat expression, “of course not big brother, I know I can’t pour water in his mouth obviously. How would he be able to tell me when it’s too much water?”

“Right,” Rafeo responded blankly, knowing that explaining that drowning was a thing seemed like a lot right now. “So…why are we bringing water?”

“He said water. He can’t seem to move a lot, but his voice is really dry sounding, and he said water so…” Auzra looked at the cup. “Big brother, can you take it? You have more leg.”

Rafeo knew going up would just make things simpler, so he took the drink, letting Auzra go first as he followed him up. When they got to the room they kept Aiden in, Rafeo expected the same sleeping man, deep in a God induced slumber. When a tired face on a thinned neck turned to him, he nearly dropped the water, but Auzra was tall enough to keep it from dropping.

“Big brother, golden brother, needs the water, not the floor.”

“Holy shit! Aiden! Aiden!?”

“Leion says shit is not a good word.”

“Right, don’t tell him I said it and I’ll sneak you a night time piece of cake.” At Auzra’s nod of approval, Rafeo stumbled over to the sleepy-looking eyes. “Aiden, you piece of s-h-i-t. When did you wake up? Are you okay? Can you move anything? Can I get you something!?”

“The…water…”

“Oh, right!” Rafeo tilted the water into his brother’s mouth, lifting Aiden’s head. “Don’t know if you’ve looked down, but you’ve been out for a while.”

Aiden felt like he’d licked up a river of sand. His throat cried for liquid, he felt he could cough powder. “Is my beard gone?” Currently, he only had control of his neck and even that felt like a lot of effort. “My chin feels naked.”

Rafeo gave a soft smile, but his eyes shimmered with a type of long needed relief. He propped another pillow behind Aiden so he had some leverage to see himself. “Yeah, that thing grew in density every day. I got so tired of shaving it low, only for it to be back two days later. So I just made the critical decision to shave it off until you woke up.”