Page 85 of The Anointed's Paladin

I knelt on the rock, gazing out at the lapping waves. I still didn’t move. Every once in a while, thoughts floated to the front of my mind.

It must be late, likely close to midnight.

I guess I should be glad he didn’t stab me before he left.

I should go, a voice within me urged.I needed to go and find the temple, find the relic.

And yet, I sat on the rock, staring at the sea.

What was the point?

It was so shitty; how little say we had in any of this.

Me, Nidori, and Kaine, three kindred spirits on opposing paths. For all of us, those paths had been dictated by every other fucking person our whole fucking lives.

Fuck what we wanted; we were faced with impossible choice after impossible choice.

Kaine, his one chance at life forcing him to leave me and Nidori behind.

Nidori, trapped by her kin, forced to kill her own kind to stay free.

Me, forced to choose between my own death and Kaine’s.

They had to win. I had to win. The thoughts spun around in my head, spreading bitterness throughout my very soul.

I wished I had just died when the nagai had bit me. Then, at least, I would have been spared the hell of waking up alone on this shitstain of a morning.

What a miserable view.

Cold spray was already making me damp, and the only thing I could see were rocks jutting from the water and thick mist, clinging to every surface.

Finally, I stood, wanting to see if anything had changed with Nidori. I pulled on my clothes, stiff from the salt water. Most of my things had been lost at sea, only my sword and the salty clothes on my back remaining. I retraced my steps on the beach until I reached the tangle of plants and vines that had enclosed her and Leihandra yesterday.

It was unchanged, impenetrable.

I rested my hand on top. “Nidori…” I needed her now. Needed her unwavering optimism, her sweet, naive belief that everything would work out. “What do I do?”

Nothing happened. It was just me, talking to a pile of plants on the beach.

I imagined her patting my arm with a smile.

“You could start by standing up.”

“Right. One thing at a time.” I breathed, sending a silent thank you to pretend Nidori.

I’d made it this far. The next right thing to do was to just leave this beach. I’d take the next step after that. And the next.

“Good luck, little bean,” I said, bending down and pressing a kiss on her cocoon.

I trudged up a steep, narrow path that cut up the cliffs. I pictured Kaine clambering up, lips set in a thin line as he tried not to look down.

Had he thought of me? Wished I was there to steady him like I had before?

The thought was painful. It didn’t matter. He was gone, and within the next day, one of us would be dead. Or worse.

The cliffs ended, and I stood on a grassy field at the top. It stretched along the edge of the island, as far as I could see before the fog swallowed it up. I blinked, trying to make out shapes ahead of me.

I sighed, unable to make sense of any of it. I had a hard enough time finding my way when it was clear.

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