A Tale of Life

[DoS Archive]

Date: 12/11/97 11:54 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: BekaCavish


Grasping hold of his forearms she tilted her face up to meet his gaze, "What's wrong?". Her gaze dropped to follow Rand's own astonished one to where the tip of an arrow's iron spiked head protruded from between his bottom ribs. "Sakor's blood!", her curse rang out louder than she would have liked. "Enemies in the camp!" Looking around desperately as she lowered him gently to the ground,"Medic! Quickly a medic!". She knelt beside him, her palms pressed around the wound as she tried to slow the bleeding. "It needs to be broken, love." He nodded his head slightly, his features holding a palid quality. Quickly,she snapped the end of the arrow off, noting an odd blue ichor on the edges of the iron mingled with the blood. "No... no.", she knew what it was and turning to look in Rand's eyes sheknew it was poison and potent. "Love, you must hold on." His right hand moved to cover her own above his wound, his voice holdingthe last of his conviction,"Beka, my lady, you will always have my heart and soul, take comfort in that I will never be far from you." "Medic! Blood and bloody ashes medic!", she ran her fingers across his cheek and smoothed his hair back, a trail of crimson following her touch.She could nearly feel the warmth fleeing his body. "Rand, please....please, don't go.", her words falling to a whisper as she bent down over him, her head coming to rest on his chest. "Look at me, my love.", he spoke and she did, "Forever in your eyes, Beka. Never forget I love you... but do not wait for comfort forever." Leaning forward, she brushed a feather soft kiss across his lips, her visionbecame obscured as tears sprung to her eyes. Her voice trembled as she spoke, "Forever in my heart, Rand... I will not forget." Faintly she was awareof her comrade bustling to arms to defend the camp. Hearing the words, a type of peace smoothed out Rand's features;his lipsformed the smile that Beka had come to think of as her own and his eyes slidshut. The hand that remained pressed to his wound told her that his breathinghad ceased. As a child her father would take her out to the fields surrounding their humble home of Watermead and give names to the things found in nature. During summer there would be the rare sight of white balls of almost cottony nature that would drift through the air; a nucleus from which silken strands extended forth and were tipped with starshaped blooms in a circle. Her father had told her that if she were to capture one gently, any wish she made would come true just by calling it to the wind and releasing the flower to the currents. As she rose from the ground, her hands slick with the blood of her true love,a great gust of wind swept over her as though it had been summoned. Upon the currents rode hundreds of the rare blooms with Beka in the centerof the storm; strands of coppery hair crossing over her face at the will of thewind. Her face turned toward the heavens as a light dimmed within her gray-green eyes. "Farewell my love", the words mingled with the currents on a field full of wishes riding on the wind.