The Frozen Moon - By J.D. Swinn Page 0,44
clearly it was. His greatest fear was that more was hidden where he could not find it.
With these fears beating down on him in pulses like tribal drums, he was aware of every aspect of his existence. He knew his time may be limited, and his body was responding to this knowledge. With his heightened senses, he could feel every hair on his body stand on end, feel each deep breath, heartbeat, blink, swallow. They were amplified by a thousand times, whispering to him that they could be his last. He tried to savor them, hold onto each autumn smell, bright color, anything. But he knew it was useless; either he was going to die or he was not.
Though he imagined everyone was forming the same thoughts, he wished he would have lived more. The life of a Markbearer was traditionally shorter, because of the heavy taxes on the body and frequent battles, but he had not been fully prepared for this. He was not a seasoned fighter, ready to shed his precious blood for the cause, but he would now have to become one. Truly, he could finally admit to himself in what seemed like his final hour, the only thing he wanted to do was be with Nameh. He had never felt such love for another person, and already it was escaping him. Nothing he could do would change that.
He didn’t like to sugar coat things, and the odds were against them. It wasn’t a completely hopeless situation, but the feeling of impending doom fell upon him and refused to relent. Regardless of the situation, they were all too far in to back out now. It was a fight that lay before them, and no matter how long Nameh managed to stall, it was still waiting. He gently felt the curving metal of the Relic in his pocket. I hope you were worth it, he thought. But he already knew it had been. He simply hoped that they could finish what they had started, and keep the Guild from the amulet once and for all. The whole task might have been easier if anyone in the group knew exactly what the amulet did. Power, they knew as much.
This would be a battle unlike any he had fought before. At this thought, he was reminded of the cool silver pendant that hung loosely about his neck. The mark of the Tah was still with him, and that gave him some security, though he knew it would be useless until he could read it, which he still could not.
He steeled himself for the battle of his lifetime, the battle that would determine the fate of the world.
The news was surprising, yes, and the method through which she received it more surprising still. Yet she was not shocked that Nameh had a darker past than she let on, she had suspected. She wondered how quickly Seth was relaying the information, how much time they had left. Time, a funny thought. So taken for granted, yet so precious. She thought it was meant to be that way, not valued until you had so little left. Everything seems so clear and simple when your time is short, when there are so few decisions to make and little matters. If only we could have had this kind of perspective when we did have time left. She thought of all the times she’d shared with those around her, they had become a family of sorts. Today, she thought, they might die as a family.
She hadn’t thought about death very often in the past, for it wasn’t a particularly pleasant subject. Now that it was staring her in the face and breathing its icy breath against her cheek, she wasn’t as afraid as she had thought she would be. Being surrounded by the ones she cared about made her feel capable of anything. There was no guarantee they would succeed, but no certainty that they would not either. There is always hope, she thought. Nameh had never been one to hope, was she hoping now? Even if not, she still wouldn’t give up, this much was certain to Mira.
She wished that she could embrace Nameh one last time, and feel that security of being close to someone so dear. There would be time for that later, she thought. Time, again, so much time.
Nameh still held Daniel’s stare, it had been about thirty seconds since Seth had began communicating with the others, and she hoped beyond hope