The King's Remorse

I Didn't, Like, Travel to Another Dimension!

Just find Wolf. 1 step at a time.

I kneel on the bank of the stream and take a few moments to get a drink. The pressure in my ankle releases when there's no longer any weight on it.

The water is cool against my throat. Movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. Light glints off of the silvery scales of a few fish.

My next meal. I feel bad, but I haven't eaten in about a day and I'm starting to get pretty hungry. Here, fishy, fishy, fishy. Come to the Dust Devil, not to Luke, because Luke doesn't exist- there's only the Dust Devil.

I creep closer to them before laying down on a rock that overhangs the stream. My arms dangle into the water.

"Oh, that's chilly."

The snake in my mind takes over just enough to let my fingernails sharpen.

Bit by bit, the fish inch closer. It's tempting to just reach out, but I hold back. Eventually, the fish are within inches, then they start brushing up against my skin every so often. My arms are numb, but I stay still. The fish draw ever nearer, and then 1 swims between my hands. Like a trap, I slam my hands together, claws keeping the fish from escaping. The rest scatter as I pull the fish from the water.

"I'm sorry, fish. I'm sorry," I murmur as it gradually stops thrashing.

The snake retreats to the back of my mind as it watches the fish. The snake's eyes glow with a smug look.

Soon, I'm sitting with my back against a tree and am gazing into a small fire. I hold a stick over the flames, slowly roasting the fish.

Night blankets Ragdon in a cover of darkness and twinkling stars.

Once the fish is thoroughly cooked, I balance the stick with my knees and eat the fish. It tastes better than anything I ate at Bryant's castle.

xxxx

I don't know how long I was asleep, but it feels like only a few moments before I'm jolted awake by someone -or something- walking nearby. My fingers wrap around the hilt of my sword and I begin to draw it, ready to fight back any attacker.

The snake presses forward in my mind, expression bored.

"You," I murmur. The 1 next to the eagle at my performance in the White Tent Sea.

"Sure, me," she sneers. "Gimme 1 good reason why I shouldn't just kill you now and get it over with." Her eyes are dark with anger.

What? My confusion must've been written clear across my face because she adds on.

"You betrayed us in my dimension of Ragdon." Murder swirls in her brown eyes.

"Dimension?" What the hell?

"Yeah, dimension. You betrayed us in my and Icarus's dimension, and you're gonna do it again here. If you betrayed us then, how is now any different? You just wanted a higher rank, and betrayal was how you'd achieve it. You were some spineless coward who followed his King like some dumb dog mindlessly following his master. But you're not going to betray us now cuz you'll be too dead to do so." She draws nearer.

Green triangles shimmer into existence, running down her cheeks from her eyes. Her shoulders hunch forward, and her arms fall to the ground as she folds over at the hips.

The snake in my mind lifts its head and tilts it to the side, staring in curiosity as a deer materializes in a display of sparkles and shimmering lights.

I press myself further against the tree trunk behind me, willing the snake not to take over; I don't want any more blood on my hands. Can't... I just can't.