Immortality (Sequel to Apprentice)

Chapter 29: The Survival Games: Forgive me

Note: I've been waiting to make this chapter for sooooo long! :D

Martyn's POV

Toby was gone. I tried to protect him, promised him I would. But in the end, I failed. I always failed him. I didn't deserve him. 

Dragging my body through the woods, I could barely stand. The trees were silent, almost respectful as I, the Sapling king, passed by. Usually, they were full of life, evergreen leaves swaying sofly in the breeze, bowing at my presence. But, like me, they too were dead, still and silent as death itself. 

My blonde hair turned brown as my heart began to break as I relived all the memories. I shut my eyes, leaning against a tree. The brown oak seemed to envelop me and I slid to the ground. I didn't care what happened to me now.

The snapping of twigs makes me glance up. Sjin was emerging from the bushes looking as dead as I felt. A partner for a partner. A mate for a mate. Sips for Toby. We meet eyes and for a moment we share in our grief as if we weren't the cause of their deaths. 

"You look dead already" Sjin whispers. "I feel like it" I reply, glancing down at the abandoned Sapling blade inches from me, yet my hand was too weak and numb to pick it up. "I haven't slept for days. Keep thinking about it." Sjin says, sitting opposite me. "I have, but he haunts my dreams. I keep remembering it, keep dreaming about it happening over and over again but there's nothing I could do" I whisper, shutting my eyes.

"One of us has to die" he says numbly, the scraping of metal against the dirt making my eyes snap open. "It doesn't have to end like this. You are a good man, Sjin, so is Sips. It wasn't meant to be like this" I protest, but I still don't pick up my weapon. I wasn't meant to be a killer. I was meant to rule the forest, run with the fastest wind, swing from the longest vines, climb the tallest trees and breath in the seasonal air, from the floral scent of spring to the damp, mossy smell of autumn. 

"You and Toby, too. Good people, you are. We shouldn't be like this, locked in a dome with no way out but to fight to the death. God knows why we have to." he says, shuddering though there is no breeze. "If God intended us to live a full life, then there is no God in my eyes, only death." I huff, tracing the cold metal of the Sapling blade. "Death takes us all in the end" Sjin agrees.

We both sigh, and there is once again silence in the opening of the forest. A sudden gleam shooting down from behind the low canopy of oak leaves shines in my eyes, dazzling me for a second.

I hear the woosh of metal and I duck, and for a moment I wonder if there is a God when I hear Sjin's sword thwack against the tree.

Rolling, I grip my sword tightly, and in the green reflection, I see my hair turning blonde once more as the trees move, shivering in the breeze. I was not dead, I realize, not yet.

Spinning round, I barely make the oncoming attack, shaking as the hiss of his blade strikes mine, and we stand like that, struggling for power. I let go first, backing away as his sword swings through the air, and he launches himself at me.

Sjin was a powerful man, with brute force enough to kill me. But I was quicker and my blade sank into his stomach as I dodged his own blade.

He stops, eyes widening as he glances down at the blood spurting from his stomach. "I will see you soon Sjin. Give my apologies to Sips and Toby." I whisper. He trembles on my blade, but his eyes soften and he nods once, before his oak eyes glaze over and he slumps onto the floor, sliding off my sword.

Boom.

I sheath my sword after wiping the blood off with a small piece of moss. The trees were moving again, but not fluidly. I get the sense that they are crying, mourning the loss of their once, mercifull Sapling king.