The Longest Journey Pt. 1: Battle

Everything hurt. Her arm ached from swinging the sword. Her head throbbed from the cut on her head. She felt the sweat pour down her forehead, causing her hair to stick to her face. She resisted the urge to wipe it away as she swung at another soldier. Down he went, as she swiped at another one.
Nothing felt more terrifying than this battle. She was scared for her life, but she was more scared for his.
She had been feeling nothing but cramped muscles and stiff joints for the past hour and a half. Before that it had been soreness and aching bones. Now her mind felt as numb as her body as she fought against the next wave of soldiers.
She refused to stop. Not when he was so close. She could see him. She could see his tall, broad-shouldered body swiping at the incoming army. She saw his gleaming sword now glowing red with blood. She saw his tattered clothing and blood-stained armor. She knew he could see her too. Just a few more yards. Just a few more feet.
She stabbed another soldier, ducked and swiped at another. A constant din of shouting surrounded her, but nothing else seemed to matter. Just him. Just get to him.
As she neared the center of the battle, the cries got louder, the soldiers came faster, and the number of dead bodies grew. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of cloth and barely managed to block the soldier. She lunged for his head, but he sidestepped and returned her missed strike with a slash to her stomach.
She gave a quick cry of pain, before lunging at him again, drawing a line of blood from his right eye to the left side of his jaw. He stumbled back, clutching his face. She saw him grit his teeth as he swung down hard aiming for her head. She fell back, tripping over bodies as she tumbled to the ground. The sword came down slicing the ear of a dead body, just missing her face.
A gasp caught in her parched throat as she saw her reflection in the soldier’s sword. She struggled to her feet. Her muscles pleaded with her to stop. Her legs shook as she lunged towards him again. Only for him to sidestep once more. There was a flash of silver, before a sharp, stinging pain was felt in her stomach.
She shouted and dropped her sword. The soldier twisted the knife in her gut before ripping it out. He sheathed the knife and ran off, while letting her fall to the ground with a thud to join the other dead bodies.
She gasped stuttering breaths. She glanced down; just below her ribcage was a gory mess of ripped skin and torn flesh. The sight alone made her sick. She fell back too tired to do anything else. She felt her aching muscles start to relax. She took a slow, painful breath and a smell of decaying bodies filled her nostrils. She started coughing, suddenly trying to vomit up the smell.
“Hey, it's okay. It's okay. You're going to be okay." A voice said. She felt a hand pressing against her wound. She shouted in pain, before looking up and smiling. He made it.
“Hi.” She whispered through her dry throat. He was here.
“You’ll be fine. Just hold on!” He said, before calling for help.
Her vision started to blur. The sounds of the battle started to fade. She saw a blindingly bright setting sun. Her eyes started to become heavy, as her mind began to wander, remembering long hours on a balcony; quiet, starry nights; and cool, evening walks with him.
He turned to her, "Don't worry. You'll be okay. You'll be fine." His breath was as short and as ragged as hers. She could feel his hands and arms trembling as he tried to stop the bleeding.
She took in a sharp and shaky breath, before coughing up blood. Her throat burned, she could feel the liquid dripping down her chin. He rolled her onto her side as she continued to vomit blood.
He rolled her back when she was finished. He stared at her with desperate eyes. "Please. Please." He whispered, “You can’t leave me too.”
She tried to give him a smile. She wanted to comfort him. She wanted to sit up and hug him so, so tightly. She wanted to tell him everything would be okay. Just like she had all those times before. But she could't find the strength. All she could do was place her bloody hand on his.
Her wound was still bleeding. Her vision started to cloud. Breathing was hard.
"NO! Stop! Stay with me! Please, you can't go." He said. He pressed on the wound even harder. "Please. Help is coming, okay?” He said. "Just hold on. A little more.”
She smiled up. Even though the pain was unbearable. Even though she could barely breath. Even though, her vision was so blurry and unfocused she could hardly see him, she wanted to make sure he was okay
“It...It'll be..okay. ” She said through bleeding lips. "No--Noah." She squeezed his hand and gave him a smile, before taking one more painful, gasping breath. The last thing she saw was his warm brown eyes.


His eyes widened as a horrible, bestial, cry flew from his mouth. He heard the blood pounding in his ears. He smelled the sickly, red fluid on his hands. He tasted the salt from his tears.
“Evie.” He whispered. “No. No." He felt hands around his shoulders. Voices started coming into focus.
“Hey, come on.”
“Let her go.”
"NO! NO!" He grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her, "Come on. Wake up! Please!" He couldn’t let her go. She was still alive. She could still be alive.
She had to be.
“Let the doctor see.” Another voice said. Another set of hands grabbed him, attempting to pull him away
“Stop!” He shouted. “Let me go!” He pulled and struggled against the soldiers, desperately trying to shove them away. She needs my help. She needs me. He thought. He couldn’t leave her.
“Wake up! You have to wake up!” He shouted, as the soldiers tried to grapple him away from her. “Evie, please, get up!”
He shouted and cried for her, as the soldiers slowly dragged him away. In one last effort to stay with her, he flung himself towards her body, stretching out to touch her hand, only to find it cold and hard and stiff. His heart fell and with his already exhausted body, it wasn’t long before they were able to haul him away from the battlefield.
He sat on a stump feeling tired and cold and desolate. His arms ached; his body was bloodied and bruised. And the love of his life, his beautiful girl, had died in front of him. Everything hurt.