#roelia

Seth’s legs buckled and his vision swam. He was probably going to pass out. Where was Don? He needed to find him. He needed Don to be there.

Most of the fire was gone from the rain. However, even with the freezing rain beating down on Seth’s back, the heat from the burned trees was still intense. 

He heard shouting and running nearby. Maybe it was Don. He stumbled toward the sounds, even though his hindquarters seared in pain. As Seth crawled through the bushes, he stepped on something soft and warm. He looked down to see golden fur… and blood. Her face was a rosy color, her features were round, but her eyes looked toward nowhere. The hole in her ribs showed she had been impaled by a spear. “No, Dee!” he cried. “No please, Dee! I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry! I didn’t know, I didn’t know.” Seth wept.

It was all his fault. He warned Syl the pride would come and burn the village down. He thought the pride would just retreat. They didn’t. Now Delilah was dead.

Seth felt something slide into his skin, the pain hit soon after. He whipped his head around and witnessed a young Slicer cutting into his neck. “No!” The attacker’s face turned from fury to shocked recognition. 

Seth was on a cot. The pain made him grit his teeth. His neck itched around the cut but he knew better than to touch it. He opened his eyes to see medics darting around to injured slicers. Valor was there, but he was as chatty as ever. A medic who noticed he was awake shoved a cup of water to his beak and had him drink. 

Seth remembered Don’s words, “You can’t come back now. Stay with the slicers so they don’t hurt you.” He couldn’t come home after what he’d done. The worst night of his life was over, but it would never leave him.