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Previous Chapter: ENDLESS Chapter 67: Failure

Next Chapter: ENDLESS Chapter 69: Kadem

All Chapters HERE .

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CHAPTER 68: STORIES

Once Aldous and Bayard were done with their tales, Malia regretted having been unable to take notes; she was certain she would forget important details as soon as she fell asleep, and she had gotten lost a couple of times during their narration. Still, regardless of the fatigue that burdened her whole being, she was mostly satisfied with what she had heard from her friends.

Apparently, old general Ellwood and his disciples had been able to keep peace all over the kingdom in the villages where humans had suddenly regained their will. Aldous had mentioned a violent incident in the northern palace, but when she had attempted to inquire about it, he had postponed explaining it until the subject had gotten lost in a labyrinth of tangents; whether the redhead had done it intentionally she couldn’t tell, but she had soon been absorbed by other anecdotes.

Bayard recounted how the collaboration between the human rebellion and the Eirian troops had been the proper course of action: awakened humans retained memories from their time as empty husks, so the presence of fellow humans among the immortal soldiers had alleviated initial, panicked tensions. It was also up to Bayard to explain that Clarissa and Frida were overseeing the formation of a new government up north: Eirians were averse to ruling beyond their ancestral lands, so they were aiding humans and northern immortals in the creation of a new order… or of something as close to ‘order’ as their newborn system could get.

Malia couldn’t contain her excitement upon hearing what a crucial role Lyra was playing in the mitigation of northern turmoil; the blonde handmaiden had been selected as one of the rebellion’s representatives in the negotiations.

“It was to be expected!” Aldous had sounded proud, “Lyra’s better with words than everyone in the rebellion combined, the guys love her and she has Rose’s support too. She’s a great intermediary, being an immortal lady and all. It’ll take a good long while before anyone can get used to ‘humans’ and ‘immortals’ not being a real thing anymore… but those like Lyra are a great help. I bet you’ll be too, rebel Princess!”

Other facts and events Bayard had reported in detail were already becoming blurred and unclear in Malia’s memory. She tried not to dwell on how frightening it was to feel herself losing her grip on her own consciousness. She was so very tired.

As she focused on breathing to keep her mind clear, one story distinctly stuck to her memory. Allegedly, a group of Daimonlance soldiers had been taking their pleasure with those bound by the curse, as it was their habit, when the spell was lifted and everyone in the run-down village started regaining their will. Startled by the unprecedented change, the soldiers had locked themselves in a cabin with their victims as hostages. Before anyone else could intervene, the house had caught on fire inexplicably, reducing everything and everyone within it to ashes… except for the young hostages, who had been found miraculously untouched by the flames inside the charred building. Malia needed only to recall the fiery eyes, and any doubts about the incident were settled in perplexing clarity. She wouldn’t have been surprised, either, if more tales of mysterious embers reached her ears.

Now that she had been left alone with Gorken, the silence emphasized her throbbing skull. Just listening to the voices of her companions had left her alarmingly crippled by exhaustion. Her lungs were barely holding enough air, her heart struggled to keep pumping… but her brain had no trouble infesting her every thought with fear of what she knew was coming.

It was Gorken’s presence that saved her from her own head, as it had so many times before: Malia’s attention was snatched by him striving and failing to tie his hair. Neither his bandaged arm nor his outwardly healthy one had the strength to even reach the back of his head, much less fiddle with the small hair tie. Defeated, he let his hands fall limply on the mattress.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Malia smiled at him, “You look handsome with your hair down.”

Subtle joy softened his green eyes, “I’ll take your word for it.”

The following quiet belonged to them and them alone. Their bodies screamed wordlessly at them, and even if they lacked the knowledge, they knew. They knew better than anyone else.

“…We don’t have much time left, do we?” Malia said.

Gorken nodded, as assured as he was desolate.

“Will you…” she hesitated, “Will you hear me out?”

“Always.” Gorken’s answer was serene and honest.

“We broke the spell, we freed humanity, the kingdom is changing… and yet… The white maiden was a ghost. From the very beginning she had no intention of even hitting me, she couldn’t touch me. The dragon could have killed me easily, and he chose to place himself in front of my fist. I… What did I do in the end? What did I accomplish? I kept going on and on about wanting to make the world a better place, and now that we ‘succeeded’ I feel like I don’t really care. All I can think about is that… that… that I don’t want to die. I just want to be happy with you guys, to live and have adventures and have fun and… I never thought I was such a farce…!” she sobbed, aghast at her own words, “…I’m sorry Gorken, I shouldn’t have said anything… I just-”

“If you’re a farce,” Gorken murmured, “I don’t know what I am. I’m the leader of the human rebellion, I have people who depend on me, people I swore to guide… I promised Aldous and Bayard that I would be worthy of their loyalty, I vowed to keep you alive… and ever since I woke up I’ve only been praying to die before you do. That’s how much of a selfish coward I am. I wouldn’t be able to handle you d-… not again… I just want to-” he wasn’t crying, and yet his voice trembled, “-to leave first.”

By then Malia was a weeping mess, “Don’t you dare… If anything, we should leave together…” she sniffed, too weak to wipe away the tears with her hands, “We’re a wreck, aren’t we? Let’s hope no one comes into the room right now.” She felt snot dripping out of her nose, “I don’t want to be remembered like this.”

Gorken couldn’t help chuckling, and as he did tears finally welled in his eyes.

“That’s great, laugh at the snotty dying princess!” Malia managed to clean her face against the bedding, “If I could I’d throw a pillow at your face…!” then she added in a tiny voice: “…and after that I would hug you.”

“Ah,” Gorken complained, “now I really want that hug.”

Description
You can also follow ENDLESS on TWITTER !

Previous Chapter: ENDLESS Chapter 67: Failure

Next Chapter: ENDLESS Chapter 69: Kadem

All Chapters HERE .

Watch the Trailer: ENDLESS Trailer

CHAPTER 68: STORIES

Once Aldous and Bayard were done with their tales, Malia regretted having been unable to take notes; she was certain she would forget important details as soon as she fell asleep, and she had gotten lost a couple of times during their narration. Still, regardless of the fatigue that burdened her whole being, she was mostly satisfied with what she had heard from her friends.

Apparently, old general Ellwood and his disciples had been able to keep peace all over the kingdom in the villages where humans had suddenly regained their will. Aldous had mentioned a violent incident in the northern palace, but when she had attempted to inquire about it, he had postponed explaining it until the subject had gotten lost in a labyrinth of tangents; whether the redhead had done it intentionally she couldn’t tell, but she had soon been absorbed by other anecdotes.

Bayard recounted how the collaboration between the human rebellion and the Eirian troops had been the proper course of action: awakened humans retained memories from their time as empty husks, so the presence of fellow humans among the immortal soldiers had alleviated initial, panicked tensions. It was also up to Bayard to explain that Clarissa and Frida were overseeing the formation of a new government up north: Eirians were averse to ruling beyond their ancestral lands, so they were aiding humans and northern immortals in the creation of a new order… or of something as close to ‘order’ as their newborn system could get.

Malia couldn’t contain her excitement upon hearing what a crucial role Lyra was playing in the mitigation of northern turmoil; the blonde handmaiden had been selected as one of the rebellion’s representatives in the negotiations.

“It was to be expected!” Aldous had sounded proud, “Lyra’s better with words than everyone in the rebellion combined, the guys love her and she has Rose’s support too. She’s a great intermediary, being an immortal lady and all. It’ll take a good long while before anyone can get used to ‘humans’ and ‘immortals’ not being a real thing anymore… but those like Lyra are a great help. I bet you’ll be too, rebel Princess!”

Other facts and events Bayard had reported in detail were already becoming blurred and unclear in Malia’s memory. She tried not to dwell on how frightening it was to feel herself losing her grip on her own consciousness. She was so very tired.

As she focused on breathing to keep her mind clear, one story distinctly stuck to her memory. Allegedly, a group of Daimonlance soldiers had been taking their pleasure with those bound by the curse, as it was their habit, when the spell was lifted and everyone in the run-down village started regaining their will. Startled by the unprecedented change, the soldiers had locked themselves in a cabin with their victims as hostages. Before anyone else could intervene, the house had caught on fire inexplicably, reducing everything and everyone within it to ashes… except for the young hostages, who had been found miraculously untouched by the flames inside the charred building. Malia needed only to recall the fiery eyes, and any doubts about the incident were settled in perplexing clarity. She wouldn’t have been surprised, either, if more tales of mysterious embers reached her ears.

Now that she had been left alone with Gorken, the silence emphasized her throbbing skull. Just listening to the voices of her companions had left her alarmingly crippled by exhaustion. Her lungs were barely holding enough air, her heart struggled to keep pumping… but her brain had no trouble infesting her every thought with fear of what she knew was coming.

It was Gorken’s presence that saved her from her own head, as it had so many times before: Malia’s attention was snatched by him striving and failing to tie his hair. Neither his bandaged arm nor his outwardly healthy one had the strength to even reach the back of his head, much less fiddle with the small hair tie. Defeated, he let his hands fall limply on the mattress.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Malia smiled at him, “You look handsome with your hair down.”

Subtle joy softened his green eyes, “I’ll take your word for it.”

The following quiet belonged to them and them alone. Their bodies screamed wordlessly at them, and even if they lacked the knowledge, they knew. They knew better than anyone else.

“…We don’t have much time left, do we?” Malia said.

Gorken nodded, as assured as he was desolate.

“Will you…” she hesitated, “Will you hear me out?”

“Always.” Gorken’s answer was serene and honest.

“We broke the spell, we freed humanity, the kingdom is changing… and yet… The white maiden was a ghost. From the very beginning she had no intention of even hitting me, she couldn’t touch me. The dragon could have killed me easily, and he chose to place himself in front of my fist. I… What did I do in the end? What did I accomplish? I kept going on and on about wanting to make the world a better place, and now that we ‘succeeded’ I feel like I don’t really care. All I can think about is that… that… that I don’t want to die. I just want to be happy with you guys, to live and have adventures and have fun and… I never thought I was such a farce…!” she sobbed, aghast at her own words, “…I’m sorry Gorken, I shouldn’t have said anything… I just-”

“If you’re a farce,” Gorken murmured, “I don’t know what I am. I’m the leader of the human rebellion, I have people who depend on me, people I swore to guide… I promised Aldous and Bayard that I would be worthy of their loyalty, I vowed to keep you alive… and ever since I woke up I’ve only been praying to die before you do. That’s how much of a selfish coward I am. I wouldn’t be able to handle you d-… not again… I just want to-” he wasn’t crying, and yet his voice trembled, “-to leave first.”

By then Malia was a weeping mess, “Don’t you dare… If anything, we should leave together…” she sniffed, too weak to wipe away the tears with her hands, “We’re a wreck, aren’t we? Let’s hope no one comes into the room right now.” She felt snot dripping out of her nose, “I don’t want to be remembered like this.”

Gorken couldn’t help chuckling, and as he did tears finally welled in his eyes.

“That’s great, laugh at the snotty dying princess!” Malia managed to clean her face against the bedding, “If I could I’d throw a pillow at your face…!” then she added in a tiny voice: “…and after that I would hug you.”

“Ah,” Gorken complained, “now I really want that hug.”