DILLON

My body burns as if I am walking through a forest of flames. Sensations of scorching needles stab at every inch of my skin. Tears stream uncontrollably. There are no physical wounds save for the one I inflicted on myself. It feels like I am descending into madness.

There is an incessant sound that plays in my mind; the sound of screams and crushing bones. But then the pain stops. I cough dryly, vomiting booze and stomach acid onto the wood. My throat burns. I am gasping. From the depths of darkness, I hear thunderous footsteps inch closer.

"A Khronish boy, come for my head." A deep voice with a thick accent echoes from the corner of the hut. My eyes flick towards him. Ghükar. A laugh escapes me.

"We are kin." He says when he sees my eyes. I have no kin.

I look at the most wanted man in the south but my vision blurs. Lucky for me, he kneels and grabs a fistful of my hair and pulls me up like I am a weightless doll. I grit my teeth. I knew I should've shaved.

Ghükar is a monster. Over two meters tall, he is shirtless and built like a beast. His face is rugged, plastered with creases and scars. He does not sweat, even in this heat. Neat blonde braided hair hangs loosely over his shoulder. I laugh again. He tilts his head, amused. The only similarity we share is our eyes. The eyes of the Khronish. Deep icy blue like the northern sea.

"You find me funny." No, I find him utterly terrifying, but I do not tell him. I laugh because if I do not, I will die in pain. Today, I will die laughing. He sees my defeated expression and drops me to the floor. I choke on my own tears. I would feel shame for my patheticness, but I sold my pride a long time ago.

"You want my head for what? So you can marry a little girl?" He chuckles low and deep, the sounds make my skin crawl. "You call me a monster, but you are a different kind."

He talks too much. I drag myself up to my knees, kneeling in front of him like I am praying to a God. I may as well be. I have never met a man so inhuman. His palms spread as he laughs, tilting his head back. I notice a blood-red gem the size of an egg between his fingers and then the pain of burning needles comes back like a wave. I stifle a pitiful sob.

"I will praise you for getting through my arrows. It was a fun trick, don't you agree? Magic is wondrous." He lets out a throaty chuckle.

"Your men left you to die alone. Sad." He lifts his leg and punts me in the chin. My jaw dislocates. I scream. My body slams into the wood and I cannot move my neck. Has he paralysed me too?

I thought myself a veteran in the arts of combat but I have never faced a brute with an affinity for Magic before now. No Gem should be able to conjure so much power. Before I could even see him, he had me writhing in pain. It is a pain I feel still. He can kill me from a distance. Just as he did my comrades. Fear is something I vowed I would never succumb to, never again. But against this monster, I betray myself.

Ghükar sighs as if he is bored. I wish I can laugh. He slams a foot onto my shin and starts to walk over them, one excruciating step at a time. He will crush my legs. Lazily, he kneels on top of me, staring at the Gem in his palm.

"I have heard the little girl is a witch," He smiles. "If I drink her blood, maybe…" He rubs his chin. I open my mouth wide and my jaw clicks back into place. The pain is blinding, but the noise distracts him for a moment. A moment is all I need.

I seize my sword from the floor and shove the blade into his thigh. Once, twice. But, my hand then slips from the hilt. Ghükar screams and rolls off me. I try to pull the sword from his leg but he turns away too quickly, his face contorting in anger. It is like fighting a bull. He is big, but he is also fast.

I stagger to my feet and laugh. It comes out as strange choking noises. Ghükar pulls the sword from his thigh, limping, blood spurts from his wound and moistens the dry wood floor. The gem in his palm ignites, casting blood-red rays of light throughout the hut.

Before he has a chance to use the gem, I charge at him with what is left of my strength. My shoulder plate digs into his bare stomach. I hear him grunt, the air pushed violently from his lungs, but then he grabs my neck. He squeezes down until it feels like my bones will crumble under his monstrous strength. Still, I push him back, depending on all the strength in my legs on this one single move.

When he lurches forward from my weight, I boot his ankle with my foot and he falls like a great monster toppled. I fall with him. The wood cracks beneath us sending plumes of dust and debris into the air. Ghükar lets go and I gasp, but I get no respite as he jams his finger deep into the wound on my thigh.

I scream. Everything is a mess of blood and pain. I don't know what I am doing. All I know is that the gem is no longer in his palm. It glows violently beside him. I punch him in the eyes thrice before he yelps and knocks me off with a force of a hurricane. I wheeze and frantically reach for the gem. He understands my strategy but before he captures my leg in his freakish hand, the stone is in my grasp.

My palm sizzles. The gem burns through my flesh, but I refuse to let go. The smell is grotesque. I do not know how to use magic so I hold it tightly like a stubborn child refusing to let go of a toy.

Ghükar laughs. Without the adrenaline in my veins, I think I would be dead by now. My breaths are deep as I try to conjure something. Anything. But the stone just melts through my flesh, slowly. Smoke rises from my palm. The pain is blinding. He hobbles to my sword and picks it up like a toy stick, twirling it deftly in his hands.

"You fight well. No fear." He nods respectfully. He is wrong. Fear is all I feel.

I throw my head back and laugh, inching up onto my elbows. I spit the blood from my mouth. The gem stops burning. Or maybe I am so far gone, my nerves are so fried that I can no longer feel the pain. I was ready to end this, so why does my body keep telling me to fight? With shaking legs, I push myself up. When I am standing, Ghükar claps slowly in delight.

"You are very fun!" His face splits into an ugly grin.

"And you a-are… chatty." My words come out as grumbles. I cough and feel blood running down my nose. This time, he charges at me. I accept my death.

But then I notice his limp. He is not as fast as I originally thought. Had fear clouded my judgment before? I pivot to the side at the last second, keeping my body small and nimble. The sword goes wide and I punch him in the gut. His abs are like stone. My wrist almost sprains. I don't have time to celebrate. Ghükar slams the hilt of the sword into the back of my head and I fall ungracefully forward into his monstrous body. The pain is excruciating and my vision blurs.

Do not blackout. Do not blackout. I chant in my mind like I am praying to a deity. I stagger and shove my left hand into his mouth, holding tightly to his slimy bottom teeth, as I drag his jaw down with me. Ghükar clamps his mouth shut but the pain does not register. Were it not for the force of my weight, he would've bitten off my fingers.

Ghükar chokes when he hits the floor. I shove the gem so far down his throat, that I feel him gag and convulse, bile and blood rise up from his throat and coat my hand. His stomach acid coats the burning flesh of my palm. The pain is unlike any other. I yank my hand out and try to hold his jaw shut but my hands are slippery. Ghükar punches my side until his arms go limp, but I don't budge.

Suddenly, he stops and starts choking beneath me. His hands fly to his throat, body spasming. I jump off him. The sounds he makes are dreadful. Tears stream from Ghükar's eyes as he tries to crawl after me, hand outstretched, colour draining from his face. The gem is lodged in his throat along with the bile and blood; blocking his airway.

In all my years, I have yet to see a man choke to death. It is a horrible sight. But, I take no chances. I grab my sword and stagger over his convulsing form. With awkward swings, I hack at his neck. I have no strength left in me and it takes six blows until his head rolls from his body. The sword slips from my fingers.

I collapse into the wood and laugh until I faint.