Page 75 of Eryx

I grabbed his arm as he turned to leave.

“Axios… do not leave this way,” I pleaded, as panic rose in my chest. “I only meant it as a possible option. You are not a whore, nor will I ever consider you one. You’re my heart.”

“And yet you speak of leaving me.” He yanked his arm from my hold.

He stood directly in front of me, yet I felt so alone. My dream from the night before flitted through my mind: the raven flying higher in the sky, soaring out of my reach.

“I said the truth would hurt more than the lie.” My eyes watered as he stepped farther away. “We can discuss this. Don’t… don’t leave me. I beg of you. Do not leave my side still so consumed with rage.”

“I have nothing more to say.”

Axios turned his back to me and left the room. At first, I could do nothing but stare at his retreating form.

And then I ran after him.

Running out into the sun, I searched the grounds before spotting him near the courtyard. His broad shoulders were hunched forward a bit, and his hand was balled into a fist at his side. I shouted his name, but he kept walking. He didn’t even look in my direction.

Black hair caught the sun’s rays just like the raven’s feathers in my mind’s eye.

“Do not leave me,” I whispered as the tears in my eyes finally fell.

Axios faded from my sight just as the raven had done in my dream.

“This is why love is for the weak,”Galen had said.

I understood him now.

***

“Hit me!” I pounded my chest with my fist, challenging Cassius to attack. His golden hair was darkened from sweat, and he wavered in place as exhaustion weighed him down. The day was hot, almost unbearably so, and the youth struggled because of it. “In battle, you will face many obstacles. The sun is the least of your worries. Nowhit me!”

Cassius quickly shook his head, as if to clear his vision, before lurching forward.

I spun to the side and dodged his attack, pushing down on the back of his head as he passed. He stumbled to the dirt.

“I cannot,” he said through gritted teeth. He remained on his knees, panting. “You are too quick.”

I kicked him in the ribs, and he grunted as he flipped to his back. The argument with Axios lingered in the back of my mind, fueling my rage and blinding me with it. The voice of reason told me to send Cassius back to the line and choose another boy to take his place. We had been training for much too long, and I had pushed him to his limit.

Yet, I only felt my rage. I remembered the pain as Axios had walked away from me, and I replaced that pain with fury.

“To your feet!” I kicked him in the side.

His chin trembled as he stared up at me. When he attempted to sit up, he grimaced from the exertion and fell back down. I kicked him again. Cassius rolled to his stomach and vomited in the dirt. He then planted his hands on the earth and shakily rose to his knees.

I grabbed the back of his hair and tilted his head back.

“Do you admit defeat?” I growled, yanking his hair harder.

His blue eyes lifted to me before fluttering closed.

“Cassius!” Demetrius shouted from the line. “Stand! Do not surrender to the pain.”

At the sound of his companion’s voice, Cassius opened his eyes. The empty look I had seen in them only moments ago was absent. Though still weak, he shone with a new resolve.

As for me, I was momentarily frozen. The way Demetrius had called out to Cassius reminded me of Axios. The memory of that day so long ago, of when I’d begged him to stand when Felix was beating him, settled over my chest like a massive weight.

“De…metri…us,” Cassius said, swaying in my grasp.