Chapter 64

My stomach sank like a ship attacked by pirates.

"What? What's wrong with Orion?!"

"He was hurt, come quick."

My leg pain muted as I pushed my way up the hill as fast as I could. My legs were cold and wet from the snow, my heart pounded. Anxiety corrupted me, twisting my insides into a tight knot.

At the top of the mountainside were several tents up. The uninjured soldiers guarded the tents.

"Where is he?" I said to Daniel, who was several feet behind me.

He took me to a weak tent, barley being held up. Orion was laid on a wooden slab. Several soldiers surrounded him.

"Orion!" I pleaded, the soldiers moved. Orion was shirtless.. Blood pooled from his stomach. Rags were pressed onto his stomach, but the dark blood was seeping through.

"Zander." He said weakly. His skin was pallid, his eyes were red.

I collapsed to his side.

"Orion, what happened?" I examined his wound.

"After we got past the wall.. " He began coughing, blood dripped out of his mouth.

"After we spilt apart, Orion was fighting a few soldiers. One of them stabbed him and left him. One of our soldiers found him, we brought him back up here." Daniel explained.

"Where is Galen? They need to get in here, now!" I said. I tore off my glove and wrapped my bare hand around Orion's. His fingers were warm, despite the cold.

"They're healing someone else right now, your majesty." A soldier said.

"I don't care! Get them in here NOW!" I commanded.

A soldier followed my orders and scurried off.

Orion coughed again.

"Zander, it's alright." Orion said, squeezing my hand.

"No, you need to be healed. Galen will come in and fix your wound. You will be okay. You need to be okay." I stroked his hand with mine.

"I didn't expect to survive this war. I didn't care if I did, until I met you.." He coughed again.

"No. No. Orion, don't. You will be alright. GALEN!" I shouted.

"Zander, let the other's heal. It's alright." He rubbed his fingers against mine. His movements were slowed.

"No! No! You can't die! We didn't even get a chance. We didn't even get a chance to figure out what we could have been." Tears welted my eyes as Orion's rags turned red.

"I'm sure we would've been great. We were great.." His weak voice trailed off.

"Please, Zander. Find my sister for me." He gently squeezed my hand.

"You will find her, you will see her again. Just hold on, please. Galen is coming. Please." I pleaded with him, Galen was coming. They had to be coming. They had to save him.

"Find her. She needs to be safe from my father."

My throat choked me. Words became hard to push out. I let out a nod as I gripped his hand tighter.

His eyes closed, his hand went limp in mine.

"ORION! ORION! NO!" I jerked him. I pressed my hand on his heart. There was no beat.

"NO! NO!" I began pushing on his chest, begging, praying, that his heart would start again. Tears fell from my eyes and onto his scarred body.

I felt an arm pull me.

"Zander, he's gone."

"GET AWAY FROM ME! I NEED TO RESTART HIS HEART!" I yelled,continuing to press on his chest.

"It won't work, Zander. He's gone. He bled too much."

I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it. He couldn't leave me. Not Orion, no. I needed him. We needed each other.

The tarp over the tent pulled back. Galen entered.

"Galen! Save him!"

Galen approached Orion's lifeless body.

"Zander, you know I cannot heal people once they are gone." Galen said in their voice that remained soft, despite the circumstances.

"Why didn't you come sooner? Can't you see he was bleeding out?"

"Orion instructed me to heal the others first. I did as he asked."

"He can't die..We need him.. I need him." I gripped his hand once more. The warmth had left it. The cold began biting at his fingertips.

"I'm sorry, Zander. But there is no bringing him back." Galen said.

I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I was trapped in an infinite loop of frozen pain. How could I go on? How could I move? I was a statue. A hollow, broken, statue. Only Orion could pickup the pieces and glue me back together.

"Zander, we need to keep moving." Daniel said.

"No. I'm not leaving him." I said, staying close to his body.

"He isn't coming back. He's gone."

I was scared to leave him. How was I supposed to move forward from the spot I was stuck in? He was the fire in a damp, cold cave. He lit up my life when I was unable to find oil for my lantern. He was a consistent part of my team. He was loved by me. How could I move forward after my flame was put out with a cold gust?

It couldn't be true. He couldn't be gone. Perhaps it was the mountains playing tricks on me, I thought. Perhaps it was an awful nightmare I needed to wake up from. Perhaps Orion and I are still sleeping in each other's arms.

My hands grazed my neck, remembering the love bite he marked me with the night before. It hadn't even begun to fade. A day ago Orion and I were hiking up the mountains together, barely speaking, I thought. Now, he is gone, leaving a mark on my neck and my heart.

Daniel attempted to break me from my melancholy thoughts once more. I couldn't take my eyes off Orion. I was waiting for him to move, to show that he was still in there.

"Your highness, he's gone. We should move him, make room for another injured person."

"I don't want to leave him." I said.

"I know. I wish we didn't have to."

"Can we at least bury him?" I said through my sob.

"The ground is frozen, we won't be able to. We can't start a fire out here, either."

"So what do you want us to do? Just toss him out in the snowbank?"

Daniel was quiet for a moment.

"I'm sorry that we can't give him a grave he deserves. He was a good man. We wouldn't have made it this far without him."

I slowly stood up, examining his lifeless body one more time. His scars ran deep across his body. Attached to his trousers was his cased dagger. I pulled it off of him, examining the dark dagger. The memory of me giving it to him made me cry more, now knowing that the dagger sealed his love for me made it so much harder. How would I go on not seeing his ember eyes ever again?

Daniel pulled me away from him, and took me outside the tent. I couldn't look at anybody. I went further up the mountain to get away from everyone. I climbed and found a spot away from the noise. My exhausted body fell to my knees, immediately wetting my trousers more. I held the dagger in my hands, my fingers grazed the top of the blade. A feeling of despair circled and surrounded me. The thought of joining Orion crossed my mind. Ending it all to be with him in peace, forever.

I knew deep down that Orion wouldn't want that. Orion had saved me from my own destruction before. I couldn't let his efforts go to waste. I couldn't fail him.

My body was freezing, despite the layers I wore. I found myself once again, too stiff to move. Everything hurt so much. An anger for myself hit me. I was so focused on protecting Daniel, I didn't watch over Orion. I am at fault for his death, I should have protected him more. Perhaps I didn't deserve to live, on the other hand, perhaps death would've been too kind to me.

Night came. Hours passed by weeping in the snow. It was dark, and I had no light.

I thought of what Orion would want, past the hurt. Past the pain. I needed to do what he would have wanted, it felt like the final way to respect him. He wouldn't want me to be angry at myself. He would want me to succeed.

It was the Vendov King. It was Orion's father. It was Samuel, and everyone else who tried to hurt him. It was everyone who hurt him. Orion wanted the war to end, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

I trudged through the darkness, searching for the light. Our small camp was illuminated by a few lights. I followed the muted lights to find my way back through the dark mountains.

I stumbled through the snow to our camp. I went back into the tent where Orion had died. Another soldier was slapped onto the wooden slab, already taking his place. Galen was healing him.

"Zander, it's good to see that you're alright. We were worried." Galen said over the injured soldier's leg.

"I need my pack, have you seen it?" I asked.

"Unsure, but it may be best to leave early tomorrow morning."

"You all shall return to Belmonte in the morning. I'm leaving tonight." I stated.

"Where are you going?" Galen asked, I exited the tent. They followed me.

Daniel had two horses by the lead, including my horse that had ran.

"We found our horses a little ways away. Luckily, they're alright."

I petted my horse's cold snout, and pulled the pack off of her.

"You must take everyone to Belmonte first thing in the morning. If the Salkon king finds you here, he will find a way to hurt you."

"Aren't you coming to Belmonte too? Where are you going?" Daniel questioned me as I threw my pack on my back.

"I'm going to end the war. Once and for all."