Gone Too Far

Clemency told Joshua she was going to check on Enahs.

“Not now,” he said. “The stress of the past few weeks has—”

“I can get him to listen.”

“Enahs isn’t stable,” Joshua said, running his hand through his hair.

“Josh, let me. We have—”

“He needs time alone.”

“He needs someone.”

“I’ll have Thom and a few guys go.”

She shook her head. “The last thing he needs is those people. They—”

“I’m not sending you out there.”

“More people would—”

“What if he did something to you?”

She clenched her fist. “I can handle myself.”

“Clem, he’s not—”

“You think I can’t take care of myself.”         “What? No! I—”

Her wings curled around her. “You forget I can fly?”        

He grasped her hand tightly. “He put a gun to my head.”

Clemency faltered.

"I know that!” she blurted. “I mean, I know what he did. He needs someone to listen to him.”

Joshua sighed, not convinced. “Now isn’t the time to be arguing this. He’s too unhinged to deal with alone. I’ll send a squad—”

But she was already rushing out of the tent. He ran after her.

“Clemency, wait—”

He made it outside just in time to see her take off, watching her form silhouetted by the two moons.

Clemency had been gone for fifteen minutes when her GPS tracker disappeared. He brought his wrist comm to his face.

“Clem, you there?”Silence.

“Clem?”

Nothing.

“CLEMENCY!”

“Help!” she cried out.

Then something muffled her voice and the connection cut out.

Fear seized him. He shoved his Deagle in his holster before running out of camp. Soldiers watched him go, unsure of what to make of it.

  “Josh, what are you—?” Kēht began.

“No time to explain. If I’m not back in thirty, send a squad.”

He made it out of the perimeter of camp before Kēht could reply and ran off into the night.

As he ran through the barren valley, scraggly bushes tore at his pants and each petrified tree seemed determined to block his way. Then he realized he’d forgotten his helmet. No wonder he couldn’t see a thing.

Son of a—

He stopped and looked back towards camp, then looked deeper into the valley.

No, he was too far out to go back.

Joshua looked down at himself. He still wore his armor, knowing that it had served him well enough in the past, and continued running.

You couldn’t stay at camp. You just had to go and play the healer.

He saw signs of a struggle. Ambushed by a group? No. The entire camp would have heard that a mile away.

Sweat trickled down his face. If anything happened to her…

         A feminine cry cut through the silence of the night.

“Clemency!” Joshua unholstered his Deagle and increased his sprint as his adrenaline spiked. What he saw made him snap his gun up and flick the safety off.

“Enahs, what are you doing!?”

Twenty feet away, Enahs held Clemency in a head lock with the barrel of his Colt Python an inch from her head.

“Stay back!” Enahs said.

Clemency grasped Enahs’s muscular arm around her throat as tears streamed down her cheek, wetting his sleeve.

         “Enahs,” she whimpered, “please—”

“Shut up,” he said and readjusted his hold on her.

Joshua kept his voice and his gun steady as he began to close the distance between them. “Why are you doing this?”

Enahs shook his head and sighed. “It was never just about being in command.”

“What?”

“It was never about being in command!” he yelled, tightening his grip.

Clemency clutched his arm. “Enahs, you’re better than this—”

“It’s always been for you.”

“Enahs, put the gun down!” Joshua cut in.

“W-what?” Clemency said.

“I was the only one there for you.”

“That’s… that’s not true. Just put the gun down and we can talk.”

“Let her go!” Joshua yelled.

“You don’t know what’s true,” Enahs muttered.

“Enahs, you’re not making sense. Calm yourself—”

“You forget six months ago. You forget about us and the Hexlands?”

“Stand down, soldier!” Joshua said.

“Enahs, what are you talking about?”

“I was there for you.”

“T-There for me?” Clemency sputtered. “You were just being the squad leader. Let me go and we can—”

“I was the only one that loved you!” he spat.

There was silence for a moment, interrupted by the crickets in the background.

“You need to stand down, soldier,” Joshua said.

Enahs brought his head down close to Clemency’s ear. “I’m tired of you and him.” He said the word him like it left a vile taste in his mouth. He looked back up at Joshua, now ten feet away. “Leave or I’ll blow her head off.”

Clemency let out a whimper. “Enahs, no…”

Enahs raised his revolver and brought it down hard on Clemency’s head. She cried out and her eyes lolled back.

Joshua gritted his teeth. “Stand down!”

Enahs sneered and pulled the hammer back.

Joshua lowered his gaze to Clemency. He knew the choice he had to make, and he hated himself for it. Hopefully Enahs would forgive him.

Now he just needed an opportunity.

He stared into Clemency’s eyes. When their gazes locked, he signaled to her by rolling his shoulders.

There was fear in her eyes, and a slight shake of her head: No. I can’t.

Joshua simply shook his head back: Trust.

Clemency nodded and turned to Enahs. “Enahs, you don’t have to do this.”

“You don’t get it! None of you do! It’s not about that…”

As Enahs continued speaking, Joshua nodded and Clemency extended her wings out behind them and flapped them.

“Hey st—”

As Enahs flinched, the gun was pointed away from Clemency’s head. Joshua pulled the trigger, the sound piercing his uncovered ears like a stake through flesh.

Enahs couldn’t react. The bullet ripped a piece of his shoulder off and he toppled backwards. He howled as he fell back, and Clemency stumbled free of his grasp.

As she lurched away, Enahs steadied his own gun and pulled the trigger.

 The world shattered once more as his bullet went through her wing leaving a bloody hole. Clemency screamed as she hit the ground.

Joshua felt the breath leave his body. No…

Enahs dropped his gun and he yelled a string of expletives as he began to convulse. Joshua had to restrain every instinct telling him to finish him off. He would get what was due.

Joshua ran to Clemency’s side. His ears rang like a high-pitched siren, and he could barely hear himself as he spoke.         “Clem! Clem!”

         “Argh, he hit my wing, he hit my—argh!” Clemency cried out on her back as her wing extended out, exposing the bloody, feathery hole. Joshua had seen gore before, but seeing it on someone he cared about, seeing it on her, made him want to throw up. He almost didn’t feel bad about shooting Enahs. Almost.  

He grabbed his last painkiller syringe from his belt and shoved it into her arm. She relaxed as the sedative kicked in. He pulled out a medi-ointment bottle and coated the wounded areas with a shaky hand. Clemency’s breathing slowed as she took deep breaths to calm herself. He held her hand, silently praying for her to recover.

“Josh… I’m thinking maybe you were right.”

“Clem. I-I didn’t—”

“N-No, Josh. ’s okay. It’ll heal. I’ll f-fly again.”  She dug at the dirt with her hands. “If you just—”

He heard the sound of movement come from Enahs.

Clemency’s eyes went wide. “B-behind you!”

Joshua whirled around to see Enahs shove four stims into his thigh. He rose unsteadily and cast them away. His right arm hung limp.

That’s impossible.

He’s asking for an overdose.

Enahs came back with the Python and aimed it at Clemency.

“No!” he yelled as he dove back to protect her.

The bullet hit the plate protecting his sternum and pain exploded in his senses as it cracked bone and knocked the wind out of him. Through the pain, he realized three things: he was alive, Clemency was alive, and Enahs had made his choice. Joshua didn’t want to kill him, but Enahs didn’t care. It was too late for him now.

A memory came to him. The first time Enahs saved his life.

He banished it and, with a one-handed grip, Joshua pulled the trigger.

The bullet went through Enahs’s neck like a nail through bone, and his eyes went wide as a gargle escaped his lips. He crumpled to the ground as Joshua’s ears rang like a flatline.          I killed him. 

His arms and legs went weak as he let his gun drop to the ground with a clunk.

Despite the wounded wing, Clemency shuffled out from under him and began to lurch towards the body. “Let me heal him. There’s still time—”

Joshua grabbed her around the waist and held her back. “No! You can’t.” He knew it wasn’t about the amount of blood that had already left his body to the unforgiving ground of the valley.

“It’s my fault,” she said, tears wetting the ground. “I shouldn’t have—”

“No. It’s not,” Joshua cut in. He buried his face in her neck. “He was too far gone…”

He said that line over and over again as she repositioned herself and burrowed her head into his chest, crying softly as they wrapped their arms around each other. He listened to her slow breathing as he stroked her head. They stayed like that until the soldiers from camp came to the area and the lights from their rifles came over them.