Regicide

Chapter 6

He had no idea how much time had passed when he regained consciousness. If the sun had moved, he had not noticed. Everything was out of focus, and he still felt drowsy. Was the dead rodent still there? He took in a deep sniff, and a picture of where everything was started to form in his head. He felt a weight lift off his chest as he realised, with extreme relief, that the corpse had not been displaced, or found, or eaten by anything else.

For a moment, he simply lay on his belly, limp in the sand. The sun's cruel rays scorched him, and he could feel a small yearning for water begin to occupy his mind. What he wanted more than anything was a cool, refreshing oasis. But he needed food first, and that was a more pressing matter for the moment.

Dune waited for his energy to return. As he did, he thought of his sister. The weight he thought had come off his chest promptly returned, as he remembered how she looked him in the face and had called him a pathetic runt. Her eyes held a bitterness he had never seen inside of her before- a hatred which, for the life of him, he could not understand.

With a sigh, he averted his thoughtless gaze back to the rodent corpse. Flies buzzed around its matted fur, and its flesh was brown and rotting. Dune felt his stomach squirm, and yet, his starved self could not help but salivate at the sight. Flexing his claws, he breathed steadily, preparing himself for the pain to come once more.

Reaching out, he opened his jaws and cried out as he started pulling himself forwards. It felt like every muscle in his body was tearing apart, as they constricted and retracted harshly. He felt his screams echo out of his throat, blood spitting from his mouth.

Endure, He told himself. Don't give up. You have something to live for. Something you must finish before death takes you.

Only two meters were left. Dragging himself across the sand, his legs lagged behind him, leaving a wide trail of blood from where he had crawled from. Strings of red saliva hung from his open maw, dripping.

With wide, teary eyes, he launched himself forwards with a big push. He howled out as he felt his broken ribs move and bend within when he landed on the ground. He curled his clawed fingers into the dust, grimacing. Breathing heavily, his head collapsed into the sand, and with squinting eyes, he stared at the corpse next to his head. The smell of death overwhelmed him, and almost instinctively, ignoring any of the pain, he lashed out and grabbed the rodent in his jaws. The taste was foul and bitter, but he crunched into its body, revelling at the sensation of its metallic blood on his tongue. Biting the half-eaten corpse in two, he wolfed down the rear, devouring it whole.

He sighed, relieved that the problem of food had been taken care of. He began nibbling at the rest of the rodent, pulling out tough pieces of flesh and chewing on it.

(You have something to live for. Something you must finish before death takes you.)

Trembling, his heart burned as he remembered the way the five looked down at him.

('You can trust me.')

The way his sister looked down at him.

('I won't leave you behind')

How weak he had felt.

('You are nothing.')

His left hand curled into a fist. You traitor. You knew how much I trusted you. You knew my past. You knew I was vulnerable. And yet you acted without mercy. Well, sister, two can play at that game. You say I am weak, do you not? I shall prove you wrong. I shall train, and I shall become strong, stronger than you could possibly imagine.

Blood, Shadow, Sand, Bone. Those are the names of the raptor's who convinced you to betray me. You must be so thankful for their help, aren't you, sister? So grateful for them 'showing you the light'.

I will kill them. I will kill them all, one by one.

And then, when every single one of them is dead, when every single one of them is rotting in the scorching desert sand...

I will kill you.

(It ain't over till it's over.)