To Learn To Fall (Sequel to the Other Side)

Chapter Thirty (The Lost Warrior)

"What's going on?" Eliza asked reaching to place a hand on my shoulder, but I was already out the door with only one thought in my mind, screaming louder than any other.

"What are we going to do?" Angelica asked, suddenly besides me.

"You have to tell the others. I'm going out to find him."

"You don't even know where he's going."

"And you do?" When she was silent for more than a couple seconds, I nodded and kept pushing onward, finding myself in the forest the next moment. I listened for birdsong and heard nothing, as if all the winged creatures had simply disappeared from the world without a trace. I couldn't let myself waste anymore time, because any second I spent letting him get away from me was a second that sent him hurtling closer and closer to death.

"Thomas!" I screamed, not caring that I sounded like a desperate child. "Thomas, please!"

He's going to get himself killed he's going to die he's going to fall and there's nothing I can do about it.

I tried to drive the thoughts from my mind, but they were present behind every single one of my frantic screams that I amplified to make as loud as possible, echoing through the trees the way a normal scream couldn't.

"Thomas! Stop! You're going to get yourself killed!" I yelled. "Thomas, please!"

Oh God, what if he was already dead? What if he was already laying on the ground, his blood staining the grass red, his eyes lifeless and pale? And what if he was alone?

Tears blinding my vision, I continued to scream and yell and try because if I didn't find him, I would never be able to live with myself. Instinct took over, pushing aside any rational thought or reasoning, and I found that I had my eyes closed and arms outstretched.

I could see the energy between everything, strings of light beaming in the darkness. I swiveled my head around, searching for something. Anything.

There.

A concentration of energy denser than just that of the trees. I could make out the form of birds dragging at something, something that had to have been Thomas. I let the energy consume me, and before I knew what was happening, I was staring up into his silver eyes shaped like those of a cat's. He paused, and the sick determination fled him for even the briefest of moments.

"Thomas! What in Divinity's name were you thinking?" I demanded, grabbing his arm so he couldn't leave. But I could finally breathe again, and the imagined sight of his lifeless body fell away. "It's okay. Come on, we're going back. Angelica told the others, and they're probably panicking. But it's alright. Come on."

"No." The single word silenced the protesting of the birds. He stepped backwards away from me, making me drop his arm. I glanced warily at the long, curved blade he held. It took me a second to recognize it as a scythe, and a second longer for the fear to sink in as I remembered exactly what a scythe symbolized.

"What do you mean, no?"

"I have to do this, Alexander."

"Thomas, please. It isn't worth it," I begged without hesitation. "I need you. I'm nothing without you."

He stumbled, his eyes softening, but there was the same hardness in his pose and the grip he held on the large, black weapon. "Get out of the way, Alexander."

"No!"

"Thomas!" exclaimed Angelica from behind me, making me spin to see all of our friends waiting behind me. "Thomas, you can't go!"