The King with Six Friends

A Snuffed Flame

The proximity of the impacts shook the ground. Eryx struggled to keep his footing on the uneven earth.

Another Snowvidian soldier rushed at him and they locked into a close-combat fight. The soldier struck him with the blunt end of his weapon in the side. Eryx retaliated with a strike over the head and a kick to the knee. The joint cracked and the soldier buckled to the ground, crying out in agony.

Another round of catapult launches sounded with three more projectiles.

This time, a rock the size of a horse cart was hurtling right toward Eryx. It was so close he could see the pickaxe fissures on it from when it was quarried.

Before he could react, a sudden blunt force rammed into him from the side and threw him out of the path of the rock. Eryx hit the ground just as it impacted. Mud and rocks flew over him, showering his head and back with debris.

As he shook himself off, Eryx noticed blood spatters on his arm, but it wasn't his blood. A muffled groaning came from the crater of the boulder.

That was when Eryx saw Kindle's fiery red hair under the rock. Kindle's hands grasped at the grass to pull himself away. The rock had crushed his body from the chest down.

"No." Eryx's trembling voice was barely a whisper. "No, no, no, no, NO, NO!"

Eryx dashed to the crater, abandoning his weapon in the mud. He frantically pushed against the massive weight of the rock in an attempt to free Kindle. His boots dug into the earth and slid against the soil. It listed only slightly, but refuse to give.

Kindle had pushed him out of the way of the boulder. He saved him from being crushed at his own expense.

Eryx desperately cried out and pushed against the boulder, willing it to move. Kindle fell still.

Two friendly soldiers noticed and joined in to help. It was only when a third man arrived that the rock started to budge. With a uniform lift, and their legs sinking into the mud, they rolled the boulder off of Kindle.

With the boulder gone, Eryx could see the true damage done to Kindle's body. His shoulders were misaligned with his back. The sheer weight of the rock had crushed Kindle's armor to his body in cracks.

Eryx shakily knelt down and carefully turned Kindle face-up, cradling him in his arms. Blood poured down Kindle's face from a gash on the side of his head. His hair was matted from blood. Kindle was breathing, but it came shallow and rattled. He was still alive. His eyes squinted shut with unconscious agony.

As quick as his shaky hands could, Eryx tore off pieces of his scarf and held them against the most severe-looking injuries to staunch some of the blood loss.

"It's going to be okay," Eryx whispered weakly. He gently picked Kindle up and carried him out of the crater. He kept walking- away from the battle and away from the war. He had no idea where he was going, but somehow, his legs carried him toward the base camp's healers where Furze was. Furze could save him.

"It will be okay, you're going to get better, I promise." Kindle's warm blood seeped onto Eryx's tunic. There was so much blood.

Eryx's pace quickened until he was almost sprinting across the battlefield. He wound around the pits and boulder impacts until he saw the timber wall of the encampment. He dashed through the gate, ignoring the orders from the guards to halt. A soldier stopped him at the door of the healer's tent.

"Let me through! Please!" Eryx begged. "He needs help!"

"There are too many wounded already inside, there's no room," the soldier explained, pushing him back. "And he looks too far gone to save, I'm sorry."

"He's still alive! There's still a chance!" Eryx's eyesight went blurry from threatening tears.

"Eyrex!" Furze's old, wrinkled face appeared from the tent. He paled when he saw Kindle's broken body in Eryx's arms. "Bring him inside, quickly."

The soldier hadn't lied. Wounded men laid bandaged on makeshift cots and blankets on the ground. Flies and the odor of infection and human fluids wafted through the tent. Pained moans and weepings were heard all around.

Eryx laid Kindle down on a small patch of matted grass that wasn't occupied. Furze cut the straps off the breastplate and removed it to survey the injuries. His tired, cataract-striped eyes scanned up and down the body. He examined Kindle's head, turning it gently to see the gash. He listened to Kindle's hollowed breathing and faint heartbeat.

The longer Furze was silent, the more anxious Eyrex grew.

"Can you save him? Can he survive this?" Eryx pleaded.

Furze's mouth twisted down with conflict. "Eryx, I'm sorry. I can't-"

"You have to try!" Eryx demanded, "You have to because if he dies. . . if he dies I don't know what I'll do-" His shoulders hunched and his eyes watered up. "He saved me, and for what? To be killed instead?" Sobs shook his body and he hung his head.

"Eryx?" Kindle's voice came soft but clear.

Eryx's head snapped up. Kindle stared blankly at the tent's ceiling. His left hand groped around blindly on the ground for another to hold.

Eryx tenderly took his hand. "I'm here. You're going to get better, I promise."

Kindle's blue eyes lacked focus. "I don't think I can get better from this."

Eyrx shook his head. "Yes, you can. We can get you medicines and physicians-"

"I can't feel anything," Kindle breathed. "I can't see anything. I know something's wrong, but I don't feel any pain."

Eryx tried to swallow the spiny urchin in his throat, but it wouldn't go away.

"It's going to be okay," Eryx said again. As many times as he told himself that, he didn't believe it.

"Eryx?" Kindle slowly blinked.

"I'm here."

Kindle weakly squeezed Eryx's hand. "Don't be scared for me. I'll be alright." He sharply exhaled. "Be brave. . . for me."

His narrow chest fell still. Kindle's hand went limp, and he was gone.

Eryx finally let the strangling sobs take him. As gently as he dared, Eryx brought Kindle's head up and held his heavy body in an embrace. Kindle's head lolled loosely on his shoulder. Eryx held him tighter as he trembled.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. . . " Eryx wailed. For the first time, Kindle was cold to touch.

Furze watched silently with tears rolling down his ancient face. He had witnessed this scene hundreds of times over the last few weeks- even in the many years of his life. The agony never dulled no matter how many times it happened.

He consolingly put a hand on Eryx's shaking shoulder. Furze knew all too well how it felt. No medicine or physician could ease this suffering. Only time would tell how Eryx would find peace.