Red Axe, Black Sun

Departure

Dryston fiddled with Kyra’s present in his fingers. He was sitting in the vast chamber were all crypt-dwellers had gathered around the fire.

“Boy, this damn sure ain't the same Dryston I once knew,” Cormack said. 

“I know, I know, me too. I am not quite myself when I talk to her.” He slid over to face Cormack’s huling form. “It’s like the language has a different meaning when she is around. Nothing makes sense, and we can’t understand each other’s words.”

He then stared into the fire, weighing his next words before speaking them. The flames showed her face and flowing hair from his memories.

“Are you still in love with that bride?” Cormack asked.

“I guess,” Dryston said. “If ever there was someone I could say I was in love with, it would be her.”

“Huh,” said Cormack. “And from the looks of it, she took your heart and yanked it right out of your chest. You usually hide your emotions pretty well, but right now it’s plain on your face. But you know what they say…” Cormack laid a massive hand on Dryston’s shoulder. “Once a witch, always a witch.”

“Now she is engaged, to someone who can give her the cozy home she always wanted,” Dryston said.

“That would not have prevented the Dryston I knew from going after her,” Cormack pointed out.

“Hell, I’m not saying it is preventing me,” Dryston said, closing his gift tight in his fist. His jaw was trembling. “All it does is make me feel more determined to stomp that bastard and take her away from him. I’m not going to lose her.”

Cormack nodded in sympathy. Dryston’s glance wandered over to the throne that was now occupied by Jade Cyrus. Slowly, she caressed the handles of the high seat and regarded them with shadowed eyes.

Cormack cleared his throat and turned back to Dryston. “I think you have a decision to make.”

“No,” Dryston said, getting up. The movement of his knee made him grimace in pain. “I already decided the moment she turned away and left. There is really only one way. That's the whole beauty of screwed up situations like this. You don't have to wrap your head around it. There's only one way to go.”

“Easy as hell, huh?” Cormack said. “Like always.”

Dryston limped into the middle of the room, where Jade was sitting. With every step, his posture normalized, till he was standing straight. 

“There's nothing like a healthy attitude,” Cormack said. “But one last thing.”

Dryston turned and looked back.

Cormack looked at Dryston from head to foot, seemingly searching for something. A smile carved itself into the giant’s granite face.

“That edge you used to have, do you still have it?”

Dryston returned the smile. “Don't worry about it; I’ll get it back soon.”

“Rather sooner than later, friend,” Cormack said.

Dryston could see Jade eyeing him from her high position. He knew she was no fool. Coming from a far-off land filled with misty jungles and ziggurats, she had extensive experience surviving in places far more uninhabitable than this. Warmth and moisture acted like a magnet for diseases, parasites and predators. Surviving in places rife with such things took some tough qualities, and her physique showed that she had them. Dryston swallowed as he looked into her dark, shaded eyes. “I need you to do me a favor, Jade. To help me overcome my injuries.”