Inktober Snippet

A small taste of my Inktober plot, a sneakpeak into the later story...

I inhale a shaky breath, a cough wracking me as I shiver in the cold night air. The pain in my side dulls to an ache, and the ache slowly disappears.

I can't be dying...

Slowly, I turn over onto my back. The stars are bright tonight, bright for the first time in weeks. Orien stares down at me, his bow forever outstretched, and high above me, the North Star glows in the heavens, a beacon to the lost, a lighthouse in the storm.

Something warm and wet soaks into the ground, leaking from my side, but I don't touch it. I refuse to remove the beauty of this moment.

Am I dying?

My breaths are coming slower but I breathe a prayer, a prayer of thanksgiving for the stars.

“... a city of fallen dreams, a city of angels…”

The words are out of my lips before I can think about them.

"City of Angels..."

My words from the night before come back, the words I whispered as I tackled him, pinning him to the ground, before he could do something he — we both — would regret.

"I'll be here... Your guardian angel."

I can feel my lifeblood leaking out now, as clear as I can see the stars above me, or hear the noises from the town.

I'm dying.

"Oh, Father," I whisper, "bring me home..."

I'm going home now.

I'm going home.