Love and Despair (A Hermitcraft Au)

Chapter 32: Agony

After another pause to gather his strength, Xizara pulled one leg under him, forcing himself onto his feet. 

Pride filled his heart as he stood. With a shattered shoulder, a stab wound going straight through his stomach, and countless scratches, bruises, and gashes, he somehow was able to not only able to stand, but he had the strength to keep going, even though all he wanted to do was give up.

Maybe Xizara really was stronger than he had thought.

The joy was short lived though, as he tried to take a step forwards and his leg gave out under him. Yet again, Xizara crashed to the floor. 

Another scream tore through his throat, and his vision went black as his head hit the ground with a sickening thud. 

~

Doc tore down the hall, fleeing from the glitched out world behind him. Ignoring his burnt hand and bloody leg, he fled.

Following the map, he ran down hall after hall, eventually coming up on the Throne room as it was labelled on the map. Flying through the doors, he skidded to a stop at what he saw inside.

A massive throne sat elevated opposite of the Flare, looming over the large room. Fallen chunks of the roof and walls littered the floor, along with a body sprawled out on the left. 

Doc sucked in a breath as he ran to Xizara, dropping to his knees beside him. He cried out, a weird jumble of sounds escaping his mouth from confusion, sorrow, and shock.

There was a hole in the center of Xizara's chest, dried blood staining his armor as fresh blood flowed out. Doc desperately searched for a pulse, growling in anger as he struggled to find it. Finally, he found it, though it was weak and slow.

Xizara was barely alive, but he was. 

Anger flooded Doc's vein at the thought of the Hermits leaving Xizara behind, as he was clearly alive. Even if they couldn't find a pulse, Stress should have known he was alive! Why in Nether would they leave him while he was still alive!?

"Xizara! Xizara can you hear me?" Doc gently shook Z's shoulder, jumping back in surprise when the Voider cried out in pain. Scrambling back to Xizara, Doc crawled around to his other side, grabbing ahold of his left arm gently.

"Come on Xizara, we gotta go." The Voider whimpered, trying desperately to make himself move, but exhaustion held him down. With a groan, Doc began pulling him up, cringing at the yells of protest, even if they were painful to hear and hard to ignore. 

It took a few minutes, a lot of struggling, and many, many curses from Xizara, but Doc pulled him up. Looping the injured man's good arm around his shoulders, heaving him up. The world lurched, causing Z to crumple, but Doc held tight, keeping him from crashing back down. 

The glitched out checkerboard began flickering and multiplying into the Throne room, seemingly getting faster by the second.   

see picture at the top for info

(it's just a quick sketch I did of this scene)

Knowing how bad it would be if they were caught in it, Doc began dragging Xizara towards the door at the side of the room, away from the glitches. The Voider struggled to keep his feet underneath him, but he was determined to not slow Doc down, so he ignored the pain and continued on. 

The duo limped through the door, down the adjacent hall. Doc did his best to hold both the map and the Voider up, trying not to let Xizara slip through his fingers, quite literally. Tears were streaming down Zara's cheeks from the agonizing pain that flared through his entire body, his breathing erratic.