His legs quivered, the color of coal. Dark mane plastered to his curled neck, unseeing eyes staring blankly at the ground. Rasping breaths wheezed from the beast, the monster. The red-gold pelt wrapped around him was slick and damp. His exhaustion came from within, raging a war in his mind, with himself. His heart.
Kinley..
The ghostly apparition of his daughter was no where to be found. He'd failed her in life, and now she wouldn't show herself anymore. What had he done this time? Didn't she see he needed her? She used to follow him everywhere, keeping him company in his isolation from the rest of the world. His beautiful baby girl..
She had been so real to him. Almost reborn. His second chance. But she was gone again, and he wasn't sure she was coming back this time. He wasn't sure he could survive losing her again. He failed her.
Like slick clay, he melted to the ground. He let his legs fall wherever they would, uncaring. Unfeeling. His throat closed and he choked, grimacing in pain no type of healing could cure. Unshed tears spilled to the clinging dirt as his head fell heavily. Barrelled sides heaved with stuttering gasps, the darkness around him somehow growing darker. Am I dying..?
A last deep breath, and with a slow exhalation his body stilled. Numb. Detached. So emotionally spent, he could only stare ahead, not even registering what his eyes took in. Everything was bleak and blurry. So dark..
A light..so faint. So soft.
A face.
Kinley?
His heart clutched and tightened, he couldn't breathe. Tears fell from him, unashamed, happy. She was here. She came for him. He was too fatigued to move. Could only lie there, his inner turmoil spilling down his face as he stared bleary-eyed at the figure. She came back. His baby.
"Please..don't leave me," he whispered with a choking sob.