"Like father, like son."

Balgair heard his best friend's words and a tear flowed down the side of his face as he lay there putting pressure on the wound.

It wasn't like what had happened with Cade. The wound was there from a real sword meant to kill. So it was over. That was it.

But although he could move his mouth and produce sound, no words came.

He just watched as Aurelius hissed and looked around with ferocious eyes for bodies to rip apart. But everyone was already dead.

Then Cade rose to her feet, wobbling as her hands and mouth dripped with blood. Her eyes were tired, but more than that, they were worried to the point of tears.

She grabbed his hand once she made it close enough. "Rey, please we have to... before the after-effects—"

For a second Aurelius looked at her, disgusted. She probably thought his disgust was at her. But Aurelius was just disgusted at himself. Balgair could see it so clearly. The flaws in the man he saw as flawless. But even then, he held no contempt against him. Seeing his flaws only made him feel that they were closer. Like true brothers.

He wheezed a breath before relaxing his body and letting the pain settle in.

Aurelius looked away from Cade quickly. His eyes darted around before finding those of Balgair. He ripped his hand from Cade's grasp and rushed over.

He kneeled at Balgair's side, splashing some mud on his face. Finally, Balgair stopped putting pressure on the wounds. No point anymore. He just wanted a few words before he went. Unfortunately, he didn't know what it was he wanted to say. Maybe it was best to just listen.

But no words came either.

"Aaaaaa, nonononono..." Aurelius mumbled as he shook his head, searched for the wounds and hovered his hands over Baglair's midsection, trembling and unable to touch.

Then he put his hands on his face and ripped at the hair on his forehead while rambling incoherently about some hospital or something. The downpour had stopped, but droplets of water flowed down Aurelius' face.

Cade approached warily and crouched at his other side. Her frown deepened as she reached out a hand and touched Balgair's face.

He smiled. "T— thanks," he said with a slight chuckle.

Aurelius took his hands off his face to reveal his shaking eyes. "Balgair! You... We can—"

"No... Goldilocks. This is it," Balgair said, his voice an unintentional whisper.

"What?! Hey, look at me. Do you want to die? You'll survive, but we have to work fast," Aurelius said as he wrapped his arms around Balgair in order to get him up.

"Stop," Cade said, averting his eyes. Then louder, "Stop!" She pushed him back onto the mud, away from Balgair.

Balgair tried saying something, but his low voice went unheard.

"Balgair is dying here, relaxed with his friends. Not while being delusionally rushed to a faraway place where he still won't be saved!"

Aurelius rushed forth and smacked her, making her fly back. He wasn't listening. He tried grabbing Balgair again. Only this time it was his hand pushing Aurelius away.

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Aurelius' eyes opened wide. "Why are you resisting? You believe her?" He pointed at Cade with animalistic eyes. The Aurelius he knew was covered by something horrible.

He tried grabbing Balgair again and that time he succeeded despite Balgair's best efforts to push him away.

Balgair took a deep breath and bellowed, "Stop!" Aurelius froze as Balgair shook his head with teary eyes. "I'm going to die, you idiot. Just let me be in peace while I do. Smile, Aurelius. Don't be depressed over dumb shit." Balgair smiled and chuckled. "I'm dumb shit. I would've died in any case. I'm just thankful I got to be friends with you before I did."

"No, stop," Aurelius said with a face twisted in pain. Somehow, he was so good of a guy that he could act like the biggest asshole. "Stop talking. Argh, why you? Why couldn't he kill me? Just no. What?"

'Oh, no. What am I leaving him with?' Balgair thought horror seeping into his calm mind as he watched his best friend tear himself apart.

"It's not your fault," he whispered.

"It is my fault! I never should've taken you along. If I hadn't started all this, everybody would be alive!" There was nothing Balgair could do. Aurelius was ripping himself apart from the inside. "I should never have left. I should've stayed at that farm. Lived at that farm. Died at that farm." Aurelius hit himself on the head as he crumbled at Balgair's side.

"No. My life was hell." Balgair looked to the dark sky. "I would've died like a rat in a hole if you hadn't come along... These few months with you two were worth more than my entire life."

Cade crouched back down by his side, unfazed by the red mark on her cheek. Aurelius couldn't bear to look at her. It may have been the enhancer at play, but he would bear all the punishment himself. That's just the type of person he was. Always had to take the hardest journey.

Cade smiled down at him. "I'm happy I met you. And even when you're dead, I'll be happy I knew you."

As Balgair looked into her usually dull eyes, he could see a sparkle of light when those words came. He knew they were real. More real than any other he'd ever heard.

He wanted to respond. Tell her how much those simple words meant. How they made his heart flutter. But he couldn't talk through the blood at the back of his throat. Only gurgles came out.

Aurelius opened and closed his mouth multiple times, but not a sound came. In the end, he just sat there with his eyes and mouth open for eternity. Balgair could feel his eyes tempting him to close them, but he wouldn't. Not yet.

As he looked at Aurelius' sad figure, he imagined another world. One where he didn't die. One where they moved past all this, escaped Mircrest and lived happily somewhere till the end. It could be a farm where they reaped and sowed. It could be Zalfari where they worked under the emperor in luxury. It could have been anywhere. Traveling all around with an unbreakable connection. They would both marry and have children. Then they could watch as those children played and grew old together. It would be a big family. A bundle of happiness.

He wanted to chuckle but couldn't. He looked at Aurelius and in his sad eyes, he saw that he'd thought about the same thing. Probably much more than he had. It had been the only thing running through his mind when he tried to rush him away from here. That fantasy was the only thing that could make him hurt the ones closest to him because it was all about the ones closest to him.

'Why did I only see it now?'

If he had seen that fantasy before, he wouldn't have risked everything like this.

'I don't wanna go. Not here. Not now... I don't want to die. I wanted to be better.' He looked at Aurelius. 'I wanted to be just like you.'

'Would that man really have let us go?' A desperate thought at one's grave.

But of course he wouldn't have. He just wanted Aurelius to know betrayal as well as death. He must've had something set up. It was over the second they went to those beasts. It was over all along.

Balgair bit his teeth together and put up a hand. A hand, dirtied by blood and mud. Aurelius looked at it before clasping it and bringing his forehead to it. Then he burst into tears. Seeing that, Balgair couldn't hold his own and did likewise.

Until the very end, they shared tears like they had so many times before done with laughter.

***

Life faded from Balgair. Cade shut his eyes. Aurelius went closer before going backward.

He snorted and his weeping turned into wails. He looked at Cade and only then did she understand her. Only when he looked at Balgair's lifeless figure could he comprehend what went on in the background when Cade had first met him.

She knew this, but she still got close to people. How could she bear it?

Aurelius turned and walked away. But his power was gone, bile rising in his throat. He stumbled forward, barely staying on his feet as he wailed at the sky.

When he fell, he fell hard, but Cade was there to catch him. She looked down at him with a sad smile. "It's going to be okay. You'll be okay."

There was so much faith in those desperate eyes of hers. Faith in him. His recovery. But he didn't have it.

He was never going to be the same.