but it refused

The screams of the battlefield still echoed hauntingly in Rai’s ears. He sat on the ground, sweaty back against a gnarled tree. The hill he was on gave him and Lugh, who sat quietly next to him, an almost birds eye view of the carnage below them.

Blood soaked grass, bodies lying still amongst crushed flowers. Torn apart with the tell-tale animalistic brutality of the Darkfolk.

“What happened?” he whispered, mostly to himself. He didn’t expect Lugh to hear him, but they always do.

They exhaled, a defeated sound that doesn’t belong to one of the renowned Travellers with victory after victory under their belt, but to someone that has seen too much of the harsh realities of life. 

Life. Rai can’t help but think cynically, It has not been kind to either of us.

“We failed.” Lugh said simply. They were not one to be long-winded, but the bluntness of their words cut Rai deeper than he would like to admit. 

The hopes of the people, their very lives, rested on the shoulders of two people who, according to an ancient text, should not be alive. They were outsiders, no matter how much they were revered, no matter how much they try to fit in and belong. They just don’t.

“How-” Rai began, finding that the words stick in his throat. Hot tears of frustration and rage on behalf of the thousands of lives slaughtered before him in the blood-soaked fields threaten to pour down his face. He screwed his eyes shut against them, and from Lugh’s questioning gaze.

They wait patiently for him, they always do.

He cleared his throat, wiping at his eyes with the back of his gloved hand. His godmark burned underneath the leather, a physical manifestation of his anguish.

“How are we meant to save the realm if we can’t even save one person?”

He gestured to the carnage before them, unable to muster more words to convey the turmoil that swirled within him. The note of desperation in his voice trembled in the air, threatening to break a dam of emotions the two Travellers have been holding back ever since the futility of their mission sunk in.

Lugh sighed again, seeking Rai’s hand with their own. Their warm skin met the cold of his, and Rai didn’t move as they interlock their fingers with his. The gesture helped to soothe the panic bubbling up in his dry throat.

“We just have to try.” They spoke after a moment of silence. “No matter what happens to us, we need to try. I don’t care about the Prophecy, nor the expectations put upon us by other people. All I want to show them is that we tried, and if we set an example for the people to follow, then maybe, just maybe, we can succeed against Lord Nocre. Together.”

They held up their clasped hands with a wry smile, shifting their body to face Rai. He blinked at them, surprised, before a small smile spread on his face. 

They squeezed each other’s hands in a wordless promise, before settling back against the tree.

Night in Lytari is a subtle thing. Annureth is a fixed object in the sky, but gradually, as the light lessens, small pinpricks of stars fade into view. 

Just as the stars appear in the sky, a glimmer of hope reignited in Rai. Hope that maybe, just maybe, they could fufill the purpose they were meant to.