HEART''SALBATROSS


    Well, Lynne thought, smiling bitterly. Here goes nothing.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    No… a child’s voice echoed out in his mind at that moment, sending a strange, electric-like jolt through his mind.


    No, the same voice beckoned out, but the child hadn’t parted its lips. No… that’s all it said, yet, amidst the burning pain that was akin to billions of needles etching themselves into every inch of his body and then pushing further down, he felt a strange sense of relief, almost as thought he restored faith in surviving.


    ‘No…’ that was spoken in childish, familiar voice. He hung on it as though it was his last thread of hope, last shred of sanity and humanity remaining within him. What was the truth and what was the lie quickly lost all meaning, as images of horrific acts he committed began to blur before his eyes; murder, slavery, genocide, raping, torture… all acts transpired before his eyes, and he was the culprit every time. He fell Edgemaw and burned it to ash, capsized Highlind into eternal abyss, razed Elvernheimn and everyone within it to ground, lifted up his friends, family and beloved onto crosses and burned them alive… but, that faint ‘No…’ remained.


    “…


    ‘No…’ he desperately clung onto, a slightly louder ‘Endure…’ appeared. He wished to smile, but his lips were already carved out. He wanted to laugh, but his lungs were already filled with his own blood. He wanted to do many things, but, in the end, he could only wreathe in agony and anguish… and endure.