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With a desperate cry, Horus landed beside Renher, feathers slick with rain. He nestled close, as if trying to share his warmth, trying to deny what was happening.

Renher let out a weak chuckle. "You stayed… stubborn bird."

Horus fluffed his feathers, his sharp eyes scanning Renher's face, understanding yet refusing to accept. "You are hurt," he said softly, his voice laced with the echoes of their ancient bond.

Renher exhaled. "Hurt is an understatement, my friend." He let his fingers brush against the damp feathers. "Looks like… I won't be flying with you anymore."

Horus shifted closer. "Then I will walk beside you."

A pang of sorrow filled Renher's fading heart. "Not this time… old friend. You must go on… without me."

The bird hesitated, his wings twitching as though he might refuse. "No," he cawed sharply, as if sheer defiance could change fate.

Renher's vision blurred, the world slipping away. He swallowed, forcing himself to stay conscious for just a little longer. "Horus, listen to me," he rasped. "Find Kaileen. She will need you now."

Horus let out a low, mournful cry, pecking gently at Renher's hand as if urging him to fight, to hold on.

Thymur, watching in silent anguish, clenched his fists. "Renher, don't do this," he said, voice trembling. "You can still make it. Just hold on, damn it!"

Alison wiped at his rain-soaked face, though the tears mixed with the storm. "We need you, Renher. The kingdom needs you."

Renher managed a faint, tired smile. "No," he whispered. "It needs you now."

The battlefield, once filled with the clash of steel and the roars of war, was now drowned in sorrow. And as Horus cawed a final, mournful cry, the sky wept with them.

Renher laid there with strength leaving his body every minute , his only regret now left not meeting Kaileen once again and making things right between them.

With the mention of Kaileen the Horus started pecking his back , Thymus who was watching this found it Disconcerting.

He immediately opened the small pouch tied to his back only to find a small letter there.

Renher with his last bit of strength asked who it was from , but deep inside he knew it was from Kaileen , nobody else could get this stupid bird down from the sky and put a letter for him to carry.

Thymus replied , "it's from the queen" .Thymur without waiting for a reply from Renher continued to read it out for Renher. 

My Dearest Husband,

The ink bleeds on this page, much like the wound in my heart. The words seem inadequate, frail things against the storm of unspoken regrets that churn within me. I know you ride at dawn, and the thought of you facing the horrors of the battlefield with our last words hanging between us like a poisoned shroud is unbearable.

The fight, that bitter clash of wills, now seems a cruel, petty thing in the face of what looms. I know my words were sharp, and perhaps I spoke too hastily, driven by a fear I couldn't name. But know this, my love, beneath the anger, beneath the hurt, lies a love that burns brighter than any battlefield fire.

I wish, with every fiber of my being, that we could have mended the rift, that I could have held you close and whispered apologies until dawn. But time, that relentless master, steals you away, leaving me with only these inadequate words.

Go now, my love, with the strength of our kingdom behind you. Let the memory of our love, however flawed it may seem now, be your shield and your sword.

 Return to me, my love. Return to me whole, and we will find our way back to the peace we once knew.

Until then, my heart rides with you.

Your Queen, forever and always.

The searing pain in Renher's chest was a cruel, mocking reminder of his folly. 

Kaileen... if only I had listened, he thought, a wave of regret so profound it threatened to drown him. But fate, that mischievous imp, always has the last laugh, doesn't it? He could almost hear her gentle reprimand, her worried eyes, the way she'd smooth his hair with a sigh. 

Too late now, my love, he thought bitterly, a tear tracing a path through the grime on his cheek.

He glanced at Thymur and Alison, their faces etched with a silent, agonizing grief. They've never seen me cry before, he realized, a strange detachment settling over him. 

What a pathetic display for a king. He wanted to speak, to whisper a final, desperate "I love you" to Kaileen, to tell her how much he cherished her laughter, her warmth, her unwavering belief in him. 

But his tongue felt like a lead weight, his voice trapped behind a wall of despair. If only I had a quill, a scrap of paper... a way to reach her, he lamented, feeling utterly powerless in the face of death.

His strength was ebbing away, his mind a sluggish, swirling vortex. Despair... is this what it feels like? he wondered, a foreign emotion clawing at his throat, a sharp, bitter taste. Then, a flicker of memory, a desperate, fragile hope. The letter!

With a trembling hand, he turned to Alison, his gaze pleading. "My... my armor," he rasped, his voice barely a breath. "Inside... there's..."

Alison, his eyes wide with concern, his face a mask of worry, reached into Renher's blood-soaked armor. 

His fingers brushed against something crumpled, something papery. A letter? He pulled it out, a tightly folded ball of creased paper. What is this? What does it mean?

Renher, his gaze fixed on Horus, the magnificent war hawk perched nearby, his eyes filled with a desperate urgency, spoke with what little strength remained. "Horus... my partner... my friend... take this. To Kaileen. Please... stay by her side. Protect her."

His breath hitched, his hand slipping from Horus's feathered leg. Fly... for me... one last time, he thought, the words a silent, heartbreaking plea. Show her how much I loved her.

For a heartbeat, Horus remained still, his keen eyes reflecting Renher's fading light, a silent understanding passing between them. 

Then, with a mournful cry that tore through the battlefield's chaos, a cry that echoed the grief in their hearts, he spread his powerful wings, soaring into the tempestuous sky, carrying Renher's final message, a fragile hope against the storm.

It's so cold... Renher thought, a chill spreading through his limbs, a cold that went beyond the battlefield's biting wind. I'm proud of you both, he managed, his voice a strained, barely audible whisper to Thymur and Alison.

Tears streamed down their faces, blurring their vision, mixing with the mud and blood. He's smiling? they wondered, a strange mix of grief and awe filling them. Even now, even in this moment...

Renher's thoughts drifted, the world fading into a soft, muted gray. The light... it's going out. Not like a candle's gentle flicker, but like a sun swallowed by a storm, leaving only a vast, empty darkness. 

My fingers... gone numb. A heavy, suffocating blanket... pulling me down, down into the abyss. Not painful... I'm just tired. I'm so tired.

Whispers... like leaves rustling in a forgotten forest. The darkness... not scary, not as terrifying as I imagined.

 Just empty. A vast, quiet room, waiting. Coming for me now... creeping up my legs... up my chest... so still... just let it happen. Just let it be over.

Just as the darkness enveloped him completely, he saw a wisp of dark smoke, like a phantom, twisting and forming a blood-red puddle, the distant, echoing roar of thousands of soldiers, and a blinding flash of light in the sky, a final, brilliant burst before the void.

"Sire... no!" Alison's voice, choked with grief, echoed through the air, his hand trembling as he reached for the king's still form. "Please, no... don't leave us."

His hand slipped from Alison's grasp, falling heavily onto the muddy ground, his body finally still, his spirit gone.

"He's gone," Thymur whispered, tears mingling with the grime on his face, his voice heavy with disbelief. "He's truly gone."

"By the gods..." Alison slammed his fist against the ground, a raw sound of despair escaping his lips. "This shouldn't have happened! We should have protected him!"

"We should have begged him," Thymur sobbed, his voice breaking, tears streaming down his face. "Told him to stay back, to stay safe!"

Thymur cradled Renher's head, his voice a broken whisper, filled with guilt and regret. "My king... forgive us. We failed you. We failed the kingdom."

"We failed everything," Alison growled, his eyes dark with grief, his voice filled with a despair that seemed to darken the very air around them. "What now? What do we do now? How do we go on without him?"

Thymur shook his head, tears streaming down his face, his voice trembling. "I don't know. I don't know what to do."

"We fight on," Alison said, his voice regaining a sliver of its usual steel, his gaze hardening. "For him. For the kingdom. We fight until our last breath, until we avenge him."

"But... without him..." Thymur trailed off, his voice heavy with doubt.

"We honor his memory," Alison said, his gaze fixed on Renher's lifeless face, his eyes filled with a steely resolve. "We carry on his legacy. We become the shield he wanted us to be. That is all we can do."

The storm raged on, a tempest mirroring the storm within their hearts, a tempest that seemed to echo their grief. For Alison and Thymur, the true battle, the battle to honor their king's memory, had begun.