Farris swore under his breath as he dove behind the boulder with the others. Fire burned in Fionn’s hand as the mage launched flames blindly over his head, not daring to move from his hiding space. Padraig clutched a useless broadsword in one hand as Aislinn Carríga unsheathed her own.

“They’ve pinned us,” said Farris, quickly sticking his head out to examine what lay before them. “There’s no way over.”

“Look up!” cried Nicole, with terror in her voice. “There’s more!”

Indeed, high above them, along the icy valley walls, another group of Wraiths marched forward, crossbows in their hands.

“We need to retreat,” said Farris. “Leave and regroup!”

More bolts tore through the air as Farris gave the signal to flee. Everything seemed to slow as he ran, with Nicole and Fionn by his side, the other two not a step behind. The Firemaster roared as he threw more flames behind him, though these were met with another stream of silent bolts.

“Regroup!” cried Farris. “Over here—”

From the corner of Farris’s limited vision, Nicole glanced back up the valley, but as soon as she turned, a bolt struck her in the face with a sickening crack. She fell backwards, collapsing onto the stone floor with a clang of metal.

“No!”

Paying the salvo of ammunition little mind, Farris leapt to the ground where Nicole lay. A thick iron bolt extended out from her visor, barely small enough to fit. Blood poured out from the motionless helm, running down the snow-clad steel in drips.

“No,” Farris whispered, desperately shaking her body. “Not here… not like this.”

But she did not respond.

“Please,” said Farris, shaking her again. “Don’t leave me. Nicole, don’t leave me!”

More bolts fell around him, one striking the back of his neck, ricocheting off his armour.

“Don’t. Please. There’s no one else.”

Tears streamed down his face, obscuring his vision.

“No one else knew,” he sobbed, bowing his head over her chest. “No one else knew me like you did.”

His throat went dry, his words failed.

No one else made me feel unafraid, as you did.

A flaming arrow struck the ground by Farris’s feet, followed by another.

“She loved me,” he whispered. “She said she loved me, but I was too afraid to say the same.”

Because I am a coward.

Farris heard voices, shouting out to him. But whether they came from his allies, or his enemies, he did not know.

He removed his gauntlets, then removed one of Nicole’s. With both his hands, he clutched her exposed one. The kindness and warmth that her touch once held had already gone, lost to the cold of this dead world.

Maybe he always knew how he felt but was too afraid to acknowledge it. Or maybe he only realised it now that she was gone. There in that isolated, frigid valley, with steel bolts and fiery arrows raining down upon him, it all became clear.

“I loved her,” he said. Slowly, he stood, flexing his exposed fingers. He faced the Wraiths, as more crossbow bolts bounced off his armour.

“I loved her!” he roared. His voice boomed through the canyon. A familiar fear gripped Farris’s spine. The same anxiety that plagued him his whole life. The same terror that made him lie so often, to pretend he was someone he was not. But without Nicole’s warm presence to quell it, the old fear thundered through his chest.

There’s nothing left in this world to fight for. There’s nothing left to fear.

“Do you hear me?” he cried, reaching down for Nicole’s satchel. “Do you fucking hear me?”

He picked it up, checking that the ammunition was inside. They were, along with Nicole’s explosive device.

I’ll kill them all, he swore, slinging the satchel over his shoulder. I’ll kill them all and shove this down Seletoth’s fucking throat myself.

From his waist, he pulled two daggers, clutching both tightly in each hand. Then he turned towards the valley and howled. His chest strained with the outpour of grief, and whole mountain seemed to shake. In that cry, there was everything he had felt for her. Everything had had been afraid to admit. Everything she had the courage to tell him, but he did not have the same to say it back.

I should have told her first. I should have told her every hour of every day.

He roared again, but this time a cloud of flaming arrows answered. Farris raised his arm to cover his visor. Most of them missed their mark, while others bluntly struck his body and bounced off.

“She never wanted to come,” he whispered, more tears forming. “She wanted to go home to Penance, to live the rest of our lives in peace. Together.” He sniffed, clenching the daggers in both hands. “But you took that from her, and for what?”

Farris jumped into a sprint.

“And for what?!”

Through the flaming arrows and bolts of the Wraiths, Farris tore forwards, not slowing no matter how many hit him.

Her armour is made from strong stuff.

Through the thin slit of his helm, Farris focused on one Wraith standing in the centre path up ahead. The dark figure held his crossbow between his knees, frantically reloading as two of his companions continued to fire at Farris.

But the enraged Simian did not slow.

As if observing his actions from another body, Farris saw himself leap upon the Wraith, plunging a dagger into the darkness of his hood. They both fell to the ground, the cloak of the Wraith knocked askew. With a wet crunch, the blade of Farris’s dagger found the centre of the Wraith’s now exposed face.

Farris ripped the bloodied blade from bone and turned to the other two. Both figures balked in response, hands raised in surrender.

As anguish surged through his veins, Farris plunged forward, running both blades across the chests of the cloaked figures. The two fell easily, their hoods revealing two old, greying men.

Just men, thought Farris, turning his attention to the others, now fleeing up the mountain path. Only men.

Farris threw the daggers aside and reached into his holster, his fingers finding two firearms. Without a second’s hesitation, he pulled both out and fired at those running, immediately dropping two, leaving one remaining.

“Tell the others!” Farris roared. “Tell them I’ll kill you all!”

Several yards from where he stood, a rope ladder hung down the cliff’s face, leading up to where the Wraith’s upon the higher ground had been. Farris threw himself against the stone face, pulling himself up the ladder with pained movements.

Don’t think about her, Farris told himself. Just keep on moving. Don’t stop until they’re all dead.

When Farris reached the top, he was greeted with another burst of ammunition, bolts and fiery arrows bouncing from his armour. Six Wraiths stood before him, huddled together like an unarmed phalanx.