ELSEWHEN

“You’re pretty strong, Boy”, said the woman in a low raspy voice.

Haze struggled to breath. His whole body ached. Her stale breath and her iron grip on his neck as she pressed him against the jutting boulder that stood seven feet tall made it even harder to breathe. The air was cold despite the overhead sun; like during the wee hours of the morning.

She ran the tip of her dagger across his lips and smiled, “You’re quite a sight for sore eyes”.

“Unfortunately, I am bound by an oath of honesty so I cannot return the compliment…” Haze looked her in the eye.

She smiled tightening her grip, “hmmmmm….”

Her blade ran down his chest before it settled on his left side beneath his rib cage. He winced as it sank slowly into his abdomen.  The warm deep metallic taste of his blood flooded his mouth. The others had stepped back, lurking in the shadows of the other abandoned structures watching. They snickered.

“He had to go and say that…” started one amused and amazed.

“Yeah…I feel sorry for the poor bugger…” said another.

“You know…You…kinda …remind…me…of…. someone” she started, punctuating her sentence with a firm twist of her blade every time. A groan escaped his lips despite his strong urge to not give in to her sadistic whim.

His vision became blurry and he could feel his strength dwindle as his warm blood caressed his left leg. He smiled. He did not mind death; in fact, he welcomed it. That was why he had attacked a group of individuals who he clearly saw had scars of battle and cold eyes like people who had beaten death over and over again.

He fell in a heap on the dirt ground as she spun around pulling the blade out of him and letting go of his neck. He saw her standing with her knees bent and arms positioned as if preparing to fight. The last thing he saw as he lost consciousness was a child. A four-year-old, running towards him with a lean woman with long blonde hair in a ponytail in tow with a sword in hand.

“Master…” he heard her voice as if she was far away.

The child squat before him and reached out to touch his face as he drifted off to a world surrounded by darkness and emptiness.

****

“Why are you so fascinated by him?”  asked a woman’s voice.

If he wasn’t a man, Haze would have been weeping with agony. Haze attempted to shift his aching body to get a look at the people talking. The familiar blonde woman had her back to him with her arms on her rounded hips. Judging from her lively hand movements and shaking of her head, she didn’t seem pleased.

“I have my reasons…” Came a deep masculine voice. Haze arched his head with difficulty but couldn’t make out who the man was.

“I joined you because you are a lone wolf with no liabilities…but this” she turned to face him as he drifted to the darkness, “This is not like you…”

Haze struggled to stay conscious but the darkness tugged him like a reaper after a lost soul.