Tear A Path 155 Stones Thrown

Without the guards in place, reaching her was too easy, he didn't require any skills or strength, just walking in like strolling through a park. She was in there, he could smell her, a soft lingering fragrance that she always bathed in. Guess there were some things she couldn't leave behind so easily. He entered the flaps of her tent, watching her from above her tired body.

He wondered if the beasts ever experienced this, no hunt, no trap, no chase... just the kill. A whole different game from the one he'd been forced to learn. This would be to easy, put her slender neck between his thumb and fore finger, with a little twist the life would be snuffed out. No this wasn't the way of a hunter, it was the way of a killer.

And it wasn't like he threw the first stone, he'd patiently taken the stones thrown at him by her and her people. Now he had the chance to throw it back and cave in the skull of his sufferings. His breath became more labored as his hands reached out. He would snuff her out and tomorrow everything would be fine, everything would go back it the way it was. Just as his fingers were about to pinch inwards, a slight breeze blew into the tent.

He looked up and his eyes stayed there, across from him, on the other side of the bed was the one person he'd called a friend since he came here. Her silver hair fluttering in the way he remembered. He tried closing his eyes, maybe like all the other times, it would just disappear. But she didn't.

She was standing right there, her military posture the way her eyes always looked ahead unwavering, and the kindness in those deep wells that she really only ever showed him. This was the Kitsi he knew, he wondered if he'd gone crazy in these few days, and then he wondered if it mattered.

She reached her hand out to caress his chin, but her fingers stopped short, almost afraid that the touch would break the moment they had right now. Her other hand went down, reaching for his hand which was now around Eyisha's neck. "Why?..."

"Why haunt me?... Why protect her?..." A flash of hatred ran across his eyes as his hands quivered in antic.i.p.ation of the strength that was building under it, he could close it now and it would all be over.

Her mouth opened, but no words came out, her face distorted at the thought that she coudln't vocalize what she needed to say. After a few seconds she said it anyway.

Her lips moved and a silent message was delivered as Zhao Wei watched on.

-I'm not protecting her-

-I'm...- watching over you. She hesitated to finish that sentence, But Zhao Wei knew exactly what she meant.

-You're not this guy...- She said as her hands finally touched his own, there was no solid feeling, instead a cold permeated through his hand. She brought his hand up, cradling it against her own cheeks, finding her joy in the moment, though a little too late as her body began to glow and turned transparent. -You're too kind for this world, and that makes you stronger than the rest of us, she's not worth you losing that over-

Zhao Wei's knees buckled as he fell to the floor, his hands limp by his sides as his eyes gla.s.sed over before tears freely flowed down his cheeks as he kept his head down. She came in close and brought hugged him from above, feeling his body shake as he tried to control his weeping.

Kissing the top of his head, she pulled his face up so that his eyes were looking directly into hers. Her body was almost just almost completely transparent as parts of her body began to disperse into silver beads of light.

He watched hopelessly as the hand he held tightly began to break apart escaping his grasp. In that moment he could only whisper, "Don't go..."

It was soft, but Kitsi gave the happiest smile as she heard it. The hand she had left reached towards his forehead and gave of a glow as it touched before dispersing as well. The process quickened until it was just her smiling face that was also quickly dissolving.

She looked at him for the last time and mouthed the three important words she wanted to say when she was alive, unlike the rest of the words she spoke, he heard these loud and clear. "I love you."

Finally the lights all faded away as the room returned to it's natural darkness, leaving an unsuspecting sleeping princess and a broken man kneeling right next to her. His body bent forward even more as his cries became almost uncontrollable, he raised his hand and turned it into a fist before smashing heavily on the ground.

Eyisha was startled awake by the sudden boom so close to her, using her Tantra she lit her hand aflame to find an empty room, the flaps of her tent blowing wildly in the wind, she got off her bed to close it but as she stepped down, she felt the newly uneven surface and looked down to see a newly formed crater at the foot of her bed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zhao Wei returned to the snake's body, running one of his hands across his face to wipe the tears and up to tug against his hair as his face distorted in pain, his scream tore through the night.