I pushed myself off the rock and jumped after him.

  I managed to catch him in mid-air, but at this point my strained wings reached their limit. Despite my efforts, Light's weight pulled me down, onto the rocky slope, and we covered the rest of the distance towards the bottom in an exceptionally unpleasant way.

  When the world around me finally stopped spinning, all I could feel was pain... and lack of air. It took a few horrible moments before I managed to take a proper breath again... There was a sharp pain in my left side, accompanied by the not so small weight of Light, who unfortunately landed right on top of my ribs. I hoped that it would at least mean that my efforts to shield him during the fall didn't go to waste... Still, I didn't have the courage to open my eyes and see the actual result. Eventually though, I had to, and looked...

  Through the sparks of pain dancing in front of my eyes I saw Light, lying face down, unmoving. The two broken, black shafts of arrows sticking out of his back almost made me feel nauseous... I pushed myself up with my elbow, my whole body trembling, and tried to gently roll him to his side, inwardly praying to whatever god that might exist that he wouldn't be...

  ... he couldn't...

  But Light was still breathing, though it was shallow and interrupted at times. There was also a scarlet stain of blood on his stomach, but I quickly realized that it didn't belong to him... I looked around. The kanh could follow us down here any moment and the rain was getting arduous... We had to hide somewhere...

  There was something that looked like the entrance to a small cave in the rock wall, so I grabbed Light under his arms and pulled him over to it as gently and carefully as I could, ignoring the pain in my own body. I tried to get him as deep in as possible to avoid detection, but while I thought my body would still handle this challenge, my knees soon informed me that they had other plans and I slumped down onto the graveled ground.

  Light then twitched and opened his eyes. "Sigrian..." he started quietly. "Get out of here..."

  "No..." I whimpered.

  "You're injured... you have to find Yasenka, she can..."

  "You're injured too...! I won't leave you here like this, are you insane...?!"

  "But you can still be saved... for me... it might be too late..."

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I tried not to allow that thought to sneak into my head before but when Light actually voiced it... some nasty feeling stabbed my chest.

  "Listen..." Light continued weakly. "Don't tell her what really happened... You can say anything... that I fled like a coward or that you lost sight of me during the battle... just don't tell her that I..."

  "Stop it...!" I was trying my best to hold back the tears that forced their way out of me. "You'll return with us, I won't have to..."

  My voice caught in my throat, the wound on my cheek that I wasn't even aware of stung as tears mixed with blood...

  The young mage managed a sad smile. "War is no place for you..." he lifted a trembling hand and wiped some of it away. "You're too kind..." he paused for a second to gather some strength. "I have request, Sigrian... When I... when I'm not there anymore..." I opened my mouth to protest, but he didn't let me. "I want to ask you not to cry..."

  "But..."

  "I don't want you to do it for me... but for Siaril... if he sees your tears of sorrow one more time... his heart might break..."

  I took his hand into both my own and pressed it to my chest, squeezing my eyes shut. Whatever the price for stopping this would be, I'd pay it... Anything would be better than losing him, this hand that led me through any hardship, taught me strength, brought us all together...

  Light's fingers gently squeezed my own to get my attention back, before his gaze shifted to the irregular arch that the rocks formed above our heads. "That sword you got from the elves..." he whispered. "Did you take a good look at it...?"

  "No..." I whined, having the feeling the young mage was starting to get delirious.

  "Around the grip right under the guard... there are words engraved in the language of elves..." he used his remaining strength to look me in the eyes. "May the winds be favorable to you... whichever of them will carry your wings..."

  The warm brown of his eyes paled slightly before his eyelids covered them, like curtains blocking out sunlight...

  "Light!"

  I quickly leaned down to put an ear to his chest and listen for a heartbeat, but a jolt of pain in my side yanked me back...

  And the thing to stop me from trying again was a female voice behind my back, gentle, terrified, full of disbelief... "Sigrian...?"

  I turned around so abruptly that the pain almost deprived me of consciousness. Standing in the entrance of the cave was Yasenka... out of breath, drenched, her clothing stained with blood here and there... The look in her eyes told me that she already knew what happened...

  "Yasenka..." my voice was but a quiet whimper. "I couldn't... do anything..."

  She approached slowly and kneeled down next to me. Her hand reached towards the young mage, then froze just above his chest when I spoke again:

  "I'm sorry... It's my fault..."

  "It's not..."

  "It is..." my eyes drifted shut. A new wave of exhaustion hit me, breathing requiring more effort than normally for some reason...

  "We can still... Sig...?" Was that still Yasenka's voice...? "Sigrian!"

  Yeah... it was her... no one else's voice was this clear and strong... like a tiny part of the Silivren Forest that was wandering the world freely... making me feel so calm... so peaceful...

  "Stay with me...! Sigrian!"