Seraphina stroked the child’s chubby face. “Your daddy is not ready to come home yet...” She laughed. “She doesn’t even know what he looks like.” Bitter, she left in a whirl, her mind on the party and a pair of warm, brown eyes.
The gruesome journey continued in the mountains, the path winding up into the rock, the sheer walls to their right and a dizzying void to their left, the cart barely fitting, but the sturdy horses knew the way and continued, placid, not losing their footing or shying from the void.
Kyle and Marius held hands as best as they could, but Marius’ strength was dwindling with every passing day, his exhausted, starved body giving in to the cold, that single blanket not offering enough protection against the crisp, cold air pouring down from the mountains.
Lothar shouted from the back of the cage. “We can’t stop on this path, so just carry on. We should be at the end of it by night.”
Kyle signaled that he’d heard it, raising his whip, but his mind raced, looking down into the void, rocky slopes, and at the bottom, a thin stream surrounded by pebbled shores, snaking through the valley. A falcon appeared above them, screeching, something attached to its legs, and it flew to the front.
Lothar laughed. “At last, your bastard uncle has sent a message. You might die tonight, Roman, if he lets you go. I’ll make sure you don’t go easily. It will take hours!”
Kyle felt Marius’ fingers clench around his, and he squeezed reassuringly, his heart in his throat. Slowly, he squeezed harder, turning his head, meeting Marius’ eyes through the grates, gesturing with his eyes towards the void.
Marius followed his stare and blanched, but his mind had given up already, resigned to whatever fate the gods had in store for him.
A sharp light shone in Kyle’s eyes as he took his knife out and, swift as lightning, jabbed it into the right horse’s rump, the animal rearing at the sudden pain, shying from it. He watched in slow motion as the horse pushed his companion over the edge of the path, the animals screaming, their bodies sliding into the void, pulling the cart with them. Kyle held on to the grates of the cage, their eyes locking with Marius, their fingers intertwined through the bars.I love you, Kyle mouthed, and let go, his body disappearing as Marius’ world was thrown upside down, the cage tumbling down the steep hill, freed from the cart and the screaming horses. Marius lost consciousness at the third bounce, hitting his head violently into the cage’s bottom, blacking out.
There was a commotion in the ranks, Lothar watching, howling, the cart disappear, then slide down on its side, the horses a tangled mess of flesh and tack, their rippling bodies sliding down the steep slope. He could not see in the distance and the dust Kyle clutching one of the horse’s mane, laying on his body, sliding on it, the animal’s flesh ripped to shreds by the stones. Kyle’s mind was on Marius, praying to whatever gods that he survived the fall. The cage tumbled violently down the slope, bouncing and rattling, until it came to a stop near the stream, its side torn open.
There was an eerie silence as the barbarians struggled to see what was going on with the dust settling. The horses seemed dead, laying near the stream, and there was no movement from the cage either. Lothar couldn’t ride to the front, but they passed the message on. There was no way they could go down here, but farther away, where the path ended, it was possible, and they decided to ride on and come back through the valley to see what was left of them.
Kyle heard them move, hiding behind the horses’ bodies, watching them go. He waited, his eyes on the cage, on Marius’ still form, white as a sheet, barely visible through the mangled grates.Please, please, gods....He waited some more and when the last one of the barbarians had disappeared, he got up and ran to the cage. The side was torn up, and he climbed in, crouching down to Marius’ prone body, blood streaming from his head, his black hair full of it, his chalk-white face still.
Kyle shook his shoulders, his voice a whisper. “Wake up, love, please...” He put his head on Marius' chest and was rewarded with a light thud, his heart still beating.
He ran to the stream and scooped the icy water up in his hands, going back to him, pouring it in his face. He slapped him then, hard, and Marius jolted, drawing in a big breath. Kyle slapped him again and this time, his eyes flew open, glazed over with shock. His eyes locked on Kyle, a thin stream of blood escaping his mouth.
“Come on! Get up!”
Kyle tried to pull him up, but Marius couldn’t move, bruised, and battered by his fall, his head swimming. His breath flew. “Run, Kyle, leave me...”
These were his first words since his capture, and they made Kyle die inside. “No... I won’t leave you.”
Marius closed his eyes, another gush of blood leaving his mouth. “Just go... please...”
“No! No! Get up! Get the fuck up, soldier!” Kyle was yelling now, not caring if the sound traveled in that treacherous ravine, pulling at his shoulders. “Get up, soldier! Move!”
His words hit something deep within Marius, and he sat up, his hands flying to Kyle, clutching at him for support and, in an extreme effort, Kyle pulled him up, making him scramble out of the cage on all fours. He was heaving, crying, but he could not give up, not now.
Kyle tugged at his armpit. “Get up! Let’s go!”
Marius held on to him, slowly rising, his legs barely bearing his weight. The icy air bit into him, and he shivered, the fog slowly clearing.
“That’s it... come on, we have to move. Lean on me...”
They moved then, slowly; the shackles making it very difficult to progress. But slowly, shuffling, trailing blood, they managed to disappear into the woods of the valley.
Kyle sat him down against a tree, pulling his cloak off and putting it around Marius' shoulders. “Stay here, I’m going back to that cart to gather some supplies. They won’t be here until dusk...”
Marius closed his eyes, unable to talk, but Kyle leant over to him, his lips on his bloodied lips, making him moan, that single warm kiss sending electric waves up his spine and into his core.
“I’ll be back...”
Darkness, pain... I’m here, open your eyes, please, love... No, leave me alone... it’s good here... peaceful... Come on! Wake up! No...Light streaming in, his eyes opening, Kyle’s face so close... Marius raised his hand, trying to touch his face, but his shackles weighed them down, the unforgiving metal sliding on his bloodied skin.
Kyle watched his hand fall as Marius whimpered.
“We have to take these off... I found the keys.” He undid them quickly, the collar making Marius choke as he wrenched it off. He coughed, crying against the sudden freedom, rubbing his wrist.
