Extra: Silver and Grey II

The smoke rising into the dark sky made his heart sink. He dropped everything and ran tumbling down the mountain. He only needed to get home in that moment.

But he found nothing but fire everywhere. And corpses. The whole tribe just lying there with their life plundered ruthlessly. The scorching heat fought against his pale face, burning it. Yet he walked into that fiery hell. That's when he caught the glimpse of two familiar figures lying side by side.

His parents.

They must have fought back, he thought and walked on in a daze. Just a little ahead, another pile of corpses lay. More familiar faces. And Silver's family too. They were all dead too. But where was she? As soon as he remembered, a current ran through him.

"Silva!", he began looking for her, frantically.

There was no corpse that resembled her. He ran to her home, thinking she may have escaped. But he needed to make sure. Their camp was already down on the ground, giving in to the blazes.

"Silva!", he called for her again, but to no avail.

He began tearing the camp apart, burning himself in the process. And though he wished she wouldn't be buried under it, sure enough, he found her. His life may have left him in that moment, had he not realized that she wasn't dead.

He pulled her out of the fire that night. How he managed to save her, even he didn't know. It had to be a miracle. He carried her on his back for days on end. By the time, she had recuperated enough to walk, they had already left the North behind.

"Why did you save me?", she had asked him one night in despair.

And though Grey didn't say it, he meant to tell her that he was only saving himself when he pulled her out of that fire. He had no answer to give her. He had joined a group of mercenaries. And everyday when he came back to tend to her, he looked worse than her. But Silver chose the same path as him, despite all his protests. And so they made a promise to never die.

"Let's survive", Grey had said.

"Survive what?"

"Everything."

And so they did.

"Alright then, no matter what happens, lets make it through", Silver replied.

It didn't matter what happened from then on. If they could survive, even just the two of them, that would have been enough.

*******************

When she opened her eyes, Grey's face was the first thing that came into view. He was wounded. But he had a cold look on his face, that only looked ahead. She was on a horse, riding away with him. He held onto her quite forcefully.

The town they were leaving behind was silent, at peace. She never saw what happened. That town had been frozen, with all their friends and foes alike. They had been frozen in time too for the ice was one that never melted. She remembered being stabbed in her stomach, but that wound was gone. Only the trace of ice remained on the surface of her stomach, closing the wound.

But she didn't know yet, if she would survive. Grey had brought her into a deep forest, where there would be no threat. He laid her down beside a shimmering lake. And he sat beside her, heaving his breath. He then looked at her dull face and placed his hand on her forehead, stroking back the stray strands of her hair, much the same color as his own. The truth reflected in his eyes, and carried a defeat, a certain sadness. He was exhausted.

Both understood. Their promise had been so close to being fulfilled. They had always known in some corner of their hearts, that a sudden day would come when one of them wouldn't be able to keep their share of the promise. And so what was to be done now?

Silver extended her hand into the lake. The water was cold, peaceful, light. She liked the feeling of it. But her hand was going numb. She knew she won't be able to enjoy that feeling for long.

Grey held onto her other hand. It was too cold, he thought, and he squeezed it a little to draw a reaction from her, but none came. She must have already lost much of her feeling. But he held onto her hand, without saying anything. Neither felt there was any need to say anything. It was all in front of them. Their gains and losses, life and death...Silver and Grey were right there.

But before long, Grey had lost her company and he didn't need to look at her to confirm the fact. He had seen it coming so long ago. Almost as far back, he thought, as the day he pulled her out of that burning camp.

Nothing was to be done now. He just rested there alongside her, with one of her hands in his hand, and the other flailing in the water. He avoided looking at her. There was peace, right in front of him, but if he looked at her, he knew it would all come down. So he sat there for God knows how long, before he noticed the lake had turned to ice.

A burial, he thought. And so he picked her body up, it was lighter than he remembered, and took her to the center of the frozen lake. There, he placed her, still not sparing a look at her face. Once he had done so, he walked back and stood under the trees that were now letting the sun peek through.

An epitaph, it occurred to him, was needed. But he was no good with such words. Still, he needed to come up with something. So he stood there, staring at the sun through the leaves, thinking of some good words.

It took a long long time before he realized it was no good after all. Something broke down. He was down on his knees. His failure now reflected on his face, and his back turned to the lake, the realization dawned on him, finally. He slammed his head into the ground, and stayed there, with his head in the mud.