Chapter 13 - Reason to Live

I don't know anymore.

Why I run.

Why I bother.

I try to mind my own business, but it's never enough. I'm never enough. They always seek me out. But why me?

To which, I suppose, the answer is: why not?

Why not torment a broken soul that can barely fight back? No one will care.

All I can do is run down the stone hallways of the Etiord's dungeons. Run with the remains of a hero on my back, and another leading the way. Run away from the pain that always finds us. But I suppose that's my life: bite the bullet until it bites me.

As I run along, blood drips and splatters the floor. Whether it's mine or my father's, I honestly can't tell. All I know is that it fades into the stench of death that encompasses the hallways, though from what, I dare not ask.

Ahead of us lay the gates: tall, wooden giants reaching towards the sky, with their grain twisting and twirling, daring the onlooker to walk straight out. To defy the norm.

"C'mon, kid! Open tha' doors!"

"Un, Granuaile, can you do it? I'm flamin' worn out, to be honest."

"So you were referencing that. You were from the Central Pack."

Flames! She knows! She knows how I failed!

"N-no! I'm... not?"

Flames, I'm so weak. Unlike father. Argh! He rejected me, but I still care about him. Why am I like this?!

"Well, you keep referencing that, and you have the right personality to boot."

"So? What does the personality thing have to do with any of this flaming mess?!"

"Everythin' kid. Only the Central Pack had folks as snarky as you. Now c'mon, they're almost here."

"Fine. Have it your flamin' way."

Fortunately, these are only a simple hinge. While the gate is strong, it is evidently just for show. A simple push should grant me... what? Freedom? Happiness? Only one way to find out. Regardlless, the giants crash down when the blocks the hinges are set into are removed, and crash with a billowing dust cloud traveling outwards, making our presence known.

"Free again! Let's... go... what is it?"

She's hilarious! Delusional, but hilarious!

"No one's every truly free. It might look like it, but it's just a lie that is told to protect sanity. Ah, sanity, such a fragile thing. How can one lose something they never had, hm? The reason, is that it never flamin' existed in the first place! Freedom, sanity, joy, happiness - they're all lies. Hahahahaha! Now, shall we?"

Perhaps it was wrong to reveal the truth of life to someone else so soon, perhaps not. Regardless, the giants have fallen, and I have to but wait for a reprieve from this pain... and life.

"let's... jus' get going."

But looking back at the doors now rent asunder, I can't help but wonder if this is what awaits all legends: to be split in two, trampled into the ground, with cracks across their visage and naught but a glance cast their way.

Though if this is the case, why has my father not received the same?

"I don't flamin' know..."

"Don't know what?"

Flames! Did I say that out loud? Uhh... c'mon... think fast...

"Where... we... are?"

"Yeah... okay. Just East of the edge of what used to be Central Pack territory. Only about a league away, and we're heading North, towards my Hunter's territory. We've been running for 5 minutes. So... any combat skills?'

"Lethal, I presume? As if there's any other form of genuine combat? Hahaha!"

Flames! I just told my boss a joke, and they didn't laugh! I'm such a screw-up.

"No? Not funny? Um, alright... yeah, I can fight okay. Don't like to, but I can. Close combat is fine, and rather enjoyable. Really gets the adrenaline flowing, and makes yoiu earn your success, I suppose. I can also use a sword, sorta... it didn't work out so well last time. Got all flamin' beat up, sent to the dungeons. So... yeah."

"How do ya' feel about you fighting?"

"I feel okay, I guess? I can do it just fine."

"That's not what I mean, kid. I guess wha' I mean, is; do ya' like it?"

"Depends who... there are some that I'd love to tear down and bathe in their blood. Oh, yes, yes indeed..."

Wait, why'd she stop walking? Did I answer too honestly? I mean, I'd love to do more to Him. I figured that I veiled the truth enough.

"Kid, ya' not okay. I don' know if I'm okay with ya' fightin' just yet. Ya' need help... lots o' it."

"So tearing down tyrants is a bad thing? What are you, with them!"

She's a flaming traitor! She's defending them! She's defending Him! After I did... the thing... to save her!

"Stand down! Tearing down tyrants is bad, if you simply replace them and become a tyrant yourself. So stand down, and c'mon. We're gettin' ya' help, alright kid?

"I guess that makes sense, but I don't see how I'd become a tyrant. Life isn't a zero-sum game; you can only tear down, never take. And soon, we'll run out of things to tear down, and the journey will be done."

"Kid, the fact that you didn't see any o' the things wrong with tha' means tha' ya need a lot of help. Good news, though, is tha' the pack is only an hour or so away. Just keep a steady pace, alright?"

"Alright... Let's just get to the pack."

I can't believe she thinks there's something wrong with me! I'm as normal as it gets in this world! Sane? No. But no one's ever truly sane. Ha! Sane is just a hypothetical term, designed to convince the enlightened that they are in the wrong!

And the idea of a Hunter not favoring lethal force... it's like a shifter that hates shifting! It doesn't work! Let's just hope that pack is as functional as I initially thought.

I'm sure it will be.

But what if it isn't?

Then we run.

Again?

Fine. We'll leave, and make sure that they don't follow us.

Just don't get too close. We don't want to get too attached.

Good idea! We got this. Just keep our distance, and we're good.

No, we're not good... we're on the Narrow Path.

Right and wrong are lies. The center is the only truth.

Agreed. Now, we should be there soon.

Alright, keep your eyes peeled. Watch for any backstabbing.

Yeah, don't want a repeat of last time. Or the time before that.

Let's just keep our eyes peeled. And take note of the scenery.

Ooh, it changed. We left the field that extended away from the...

Living nightmare?

Yeah.