The Thread

She could still hear his last statement ringing in her ears. 'The moment your strength wavers, that boy dies'. Rache couldn't even imagine how long she'd be able to maintain this momentum before she fell back down into her usual, terrified, powerless position in front of him.

"Meheheheh!"

Darrach headbutting her chest broke her out of those thoughts before she could even consider how she was supposed to act from then onward. The little baby goat was looking up at her with that expression she could almost call a smile, and the knot in her chest began to loosen just a little bit.

"Ah..." The air released from her lungs in one soft sigh, and she relaxed her hand from around the goat. She hadn't meant to hold on to him, in case she'd hurt him, but she'd ended up holding him anyway.