A Collection of Short Stories

Part Three: Letting Taredd Go

*Lucan's POV*

It was cold. Not just my skin, but everything. The air, the ground beneath me, the icy ache in my chest, and the colossal storm in my head. He went last night, just after the sun ducked below the mountains. He knew, we all knew. Everyone was ready, everyone had accepted it. Except for me. I'd never accept it. But I put all of that aside for this day, this one last day. I took him to the river, I held him and talked for hours. I told him the story all over again, our story. Slow and thick with detail just the way he wanted. And when the sun began to set, he said things that broke me.

"I'll be gone soon, love." His voice was frail, but deliberate. He looked at me, with the same eyes I had loved for four decades. "Don't let your life stop after I go. You still have so much time, and I want you to have every bit of it. Every second with you has been a lifetime within itself. Loving you is big, it's the biggest thing I have ever done. Thank you for giving that to me." His last breath followed shortly after. I squeezed him to my chest, and choked out a cry that came straight from my hollow chest. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move. I held him like that well into the night. His skin turned cold, but I was still pleading, though they had become quiet whispers. I hadn't blinked for a while, and my eyes seemed to be stuck open as they gazed at the river. Clinging to him, though it was no longer him anymore. The trees rustled but it wasn't just the wind. Kai's hand landed on my shoulder, but I didn't move, I didn't make a sound.

"Luc, it's time to let him go." She wasn't crying but I knew she wanted to. I know her better than she knows herself. I knew she was right but it took everything in me to stand up. I carried him to the place he had picked out. I glanced at Kai for a fraction of a second and she nodded, slipping back into the woods. I laid him on the blanket, and took one long last look at him. It felt like every part of me that mattered was dissolving into the chilled air.

I lay silent on that mound of dirt as the sun returned, and set again. I couldn't bring myself to move. Even breathing had become a chore. I would have sat there forever, silent and still until I wasted away, but he made me promise. It took 57 hours for me to move from that spot on the dirt. And once I was moving, I didn't stop. I left while Kai slept. I left her a note, five words. "Don't look for me, please." I knew It would break her heart, but I couldn't continue to exist unless I did this. And I had to keep my promise to Taredd. He deserved as much. If I couldn't go with him, then I had to go somewhere. Anywhere.