Dusk and Ash (In Progress)

Chapter 7

The cold cobblestone road sent jolts through Durmhain's bones with every step. Before him, pine trees covered in snow blended with the surrounding frozen landscape. Durmhain continued to run straight toward the forest once the road turned westward, and soon the snow reached his ankles. Sounds of battle coming from the fortress echoed through the valley surrounded by mountains, but Durmhain didn't dare look back. He could only look forward, away from what he had done. As he fled, the bonds with the dead he had made diminished and snapped. However, he could not escape the feeling of vitriol in his gut and veins, slowly staining him like ink in water.

The few Husks that had escaped had left in numerous directions, leaving trails where their feet had dragged through the snow. Try as he might, Durmhain couldn't tell which of the figures disappearing in the distant treeline was Virrin. The shin-deep snow made moving faster than a walk difficult, and though the wind was merely a faint breeze, it cut through Durmhain's soaked and ragged clothing, robbing any vestige of warmth.

By the time Durmhain had kicked through the snow to the treeline, he couldn't feel his lower body. Somehow, he willed his legs to move, one step at a time. A branch hidden beneath the snowdrift caught his foot, causing him to tumble down face-first into the bank of a frozen river. As his body came to a stop, the snow swaddled him. He wished he could pull it over him like a blanket, and disappear into its pure, tranquil oblivion. It felt like the best end he could hope for, one that would wash away the sin and corruption he felt festering in his heart and mind.

Instinct finally kicked in, and he pulled himself forward, one handful of snow and frozen grass at a time until he could regain his feet and continue shambling forward, stepping carefully over the frozen river to the other side and continuing down the slight decline of the forest floor. Rows upon endless rows of trees passed before him, dark in contrast with the white snow, all of which the mountain's shadow cast into gray. Shapes and forms began to blur as Durmhain moved forward from meer momentum, ready to drop and shatter at the first sign of resistance.

The trees parted into a clearing, and Durmhain squinted through sunlight reflected off the snow on the far side, glistening in the trees high above him. In the clearing knelt Virrin, huddled against the cold, the glow of her golden aura reduced to a shimmer.

"Captain," Durmhain gasped, stumbling forward.

Virrin looked up as he approached and scrambled away, her single gray eye feral and afraid. Her body was covered in blood, and her tawny skin had darkened, tinged blue with cold.

"You crossed the line, Durmhain," Virrin hissed. "You now stand on the other side. The side we swore to protect the world from."

"I know," Durmhain said, clenching his jaw to keep from falling apart. "But I couldn't let them take us. Not again."

"We could have died honorably, even without Akreus' favor," Virrin said, crouched as if she didn't know whether to attack Durmhain or flee. "I could have gone to the Abyss knowing we had lived and died the best we could. But you... you have corrupted the dead. And yourself. That blight will mar your soul forevermore."

"You told me to look past the means to the end!"

"And what end were you seeking, Durmhain? Survival? Is that the mere pittance your integrity, your honor, your soul is worth?"

Durmhain closed his eyes. He could barely manage to open them again. He walked forward, and Virrin crouched down lower, ready to pounce or bolt as she saw fit. Durmhain continued to walk toward her until he could feel the warmth of the sun on his back and he stood face to face with her.

"I don't know what my soul is worth. I can't hold it, feel it... I don't even know what it is. But... I wanted to live... I wanted you to live," Durmhain added as he reached for Virrin, but she pulled away. "That's all that mattered to me. I feel... this poison inside me. I didn't know what price I would pay to see us out of there alive. But I pay it gladly, for your sake if not for mine. I owe you that much, at least."