Chapter 422 The Crawl

Chapter 422: Chapter 422 The Crawl

Talia’s POV

I turned to Kaelen, and I took a step toward him.

I did not know if I could walk, and I did not know if my legs would carry me, but I had to try.

The distance between us was not far. Ten feet, maybe less. But every step felt like a mile, and every breath felt like my last.

My legs gave out.

I fell to my knees, and then I fell forward, and my hands hit the dead earth. My nose was bleeding, and I could feel the warm blood dripping down my face and onto the ground. I tried to push myself up, but my arms would not hold me. They were shaking, and they were weak.

My magic was gone, and my strength was gone. My body was empty, like a cup that had been drained to the last drop.

I lay there for a moment, with my cheek pressed against the cold, dead earth. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears, slow and heavy. I could taste the blood in my mouth, and I could feel it pooling beneath my face.

The earth smelled of ash and blood and something older, something that had been dead long before this battle began. It was the smell of a land that had been corrupted for so long that it had forgotten what it felt like to be alive.

My eyes were heavy, and my body was heavy. The darkness was calling to me, and I wanted to answer.

The silence was deafening. It was the silence of a battlefield after the fighting stops, when the only sounds are the moans of the wounded and the weeping of those who survived. It was the silence of a world that had just witnessed something impossible.

But then I heard him.

Through the bond, I heard him. It was faint, and it was weak, but it was there. It was Kaelen.

I opened my eyes.

I lifted my head, and I looked at him. He was only a few feet away, but it felt like miles.

I started to crawl.

I dragged myself forward, inch by inch, and the dead earth tore at my skin. I could feel the grit embedding in my palms, and I could feel the blood mixing with the dirt, and I did not care.

My arms shook with every movement, and my legs dragged behind me. The dead earth scraped against my palms, and the blood from my nose dripped onto the ground, leaving a trail behind me.

I did not stop, and I could not stop. I had to reach him.

"Almost there," I whispered to myself. "Almost there."

I crawled until I reached him, and I collapsed beside him.

For a moment, I just lay there, my cheek pressed against the cold ground beside his shoulder. I could hear his breathing, shallow and uneven, and I could smell the silver on his skin, sharp and metallic.

I touched his face, and his skin was still hot from the silver. The blisters were still there, red and raw and spreading. I could see the tiny particles of silver embedded in his skin, and I could see the way his flesh was reacting to it.

His eyes were closed, and he was not moving.

"Kaelen," I said, and I shook him gently.

"Kaelen," I said, and my voice cracked on his name. "Kaelen, it is over. Malachai is gone. You can wake up now."

He did not respond.

"Kaelen, wake up."

He did not respond.

I pressed my fingers to his neck, and I felt for a pulse. It was there, but it was weak. It was fading.

"No," I whispered. "No, no, no. Do not leave me. Please do not leave me."

I reached for the bond, and I tried to send him my strength. I felt him through the bond. He was there, but he was faint. He was like a candle flickering in the wind, so faint that I could barely feel him.

I could feel his life force, fragile and thin, like a thread that was about to snap. But it had not snapped yet. Not yet.

But he was there.

"I am here," I whispered through the bond. "I am not leaving you."

I felt something. A flicker. A response. He heard me.

I held onto that flicker, and I held onto it like a lifeline.

I heard footsteps behind me, and I did not turn around.

I heard voices. Jax. Silas. Cain. The Alphas.

They were walking toward me. They were coming to me.

I could hear their footsteps on the dead earth, and I could hear their breathing, and I could hear their silence.

I did not look up. I kept my eyes on Kaelen, and I kept my hand on his face.

Jax was the first to reach me, and he knelt beside me.

He did not speak, and he just looked at Kaelen. His face was pale, and his eyes were wide, and his hands were shaking.

He reached out and touched Kaelen’s shoulder, and he did not say he was alive. He did not say anything.

He just looked at me, and his eyes were full of something I did not want to see.

I saw the truth in his eyes before he said a word. I saw the grief, and the pity, and the helplessness of a man who wanted to fix something but could not.

I looked away from him. I could not bear it.

Silas arrived next, and he stood behind me. He did not speak, and he just watched.

Cain arrived after him, and he stood beside Silas. He was bleeding from his shoulder, but he did not seem to notice.

"Luna," Cain said, and his voice was quiet.

"I do not care," I said, and my voice was hollow. "I do not care about any of it."

"You are bleeding."

I did not respond. I did not care.

They were silent, and they were waiting.

No one spoke. No one moved. The only sound was the wind, and the distant crackle of dying fires, and the soft, ragged sound of Kaelen’s breathing.

Then the Alphas came.