Drav moved to look out the Warren's entrance. Dawn was coming, orange light spreading across the vertical world like fire.
"When I was dying," he said quietly. "Forty-three seasons unbonded. Three degrees below healthy body temperature. I thought about attacking bonded pairs. Considered it seriously. Calculated my odds." He turned back to me. "The only thing that stopped me was knowing I'd have to live with what I'd done. That even if I survived, I'd be the male who'd stolen someone's mate. Who'd killed to survive."
"But you didn't do it."
"Because I still had time. Still had hope another portal would open, another female would come." He moved closer. "Tahl didn't have time. Didn't have hope. Just desperation. That doesn't excuse what he did. But it explains it."
"So what do we do?"
"We grant mercy." Drav's voice was certain. "He's cooperated. He's dying anyway. Making him suffer three more days serves no purpose except cruelty."
I nodded, feeling the weight of it settle in my chest. "Okay. But I can't watch."
"You don't have to."
We went back to the chamber. Tahl looked up, saw our expressions, understood.
"Thank you," he said. "Truly. Thank you."
"Do you have any last words?" Drav asked. "Anything you want us to tell anyone?"
"Tell my brother I died fighting. Not attacking you—just... fighting. Let him think I went down with honor." Tahl closed his eyes. "That's all."
"I'll tell him," Drav said.
I left the chamber. Didn't want to see it but needed to hear it, needed to know what mercy sounded like in this brutal world.
One quick movement. Snap of vertebrae. Silence.
I stood in the outer chamber, hand on my belly, and tried not to cry.
Drav found me at the Warren's entrance an hour later.
"It's done," he said. "He didn't suffer."
"Good."
We stood in silence, watching the sun rise over territory we'd defended through violence, through death, through choices that would haunt us.
"We need to move," Drav said after a while. "Kethar and Vhel will attack in three days. We need better ground."
"Where?"
"The Eyrie. Kethar's old territory." He pointed north. "Highest point in the region. Superior caves. Better sight lines. Easier to defend."
"You want to take his territory before he can reclaim it."
"Yes. Force him to attack uphill. Into defended positions. On our terms."
It made tactical sense. But it also felt like scavenging before the body was cold.
"When do we leave?" I asked.
"Dawn tomorrow. We need today to rest, to prepare, to..." He pulled me against him. "To remind ourselves why we're fighting."
I understood. We needed each other. Needed the confirmation. Needed to feel alive after watching someone die.
"Now?" I asked.
