KANE COULDN'T BREATHE.

He stumbled out of the tent of pained groans and golden blood. His head pounded something fearsome. Hands attempted to steer him back inside but he shucked them off, staggering onto the beach. Bodies littered the stained sand. His stomach turned. Kane pressed a hand to his mouth to keep from throwing up again.

Broken memories of losing Silver before being tugged underwater flashed in his mind. His throat constricted. The siren's touch had scorched his skin not with fear but with a burning lust he couldn't free himself from. Once ensnared by her dazzling diamond eyes his body went slack.

It was her eyes that placated Kane. That made him feel content to die in her arms at the bottom of the sea. He'd given up right when...

When?

Kane shook his head. It took every bit of strength he had left not to keel over. He gingerly touched the side of his face, following the bandage wrapped around his head. He hissed when he found the source of his pain, feeling the bandage damp with blood.

Ok, so, he had drowned. But he hadn't died, right? Somehow, he'd made it onto the beach. Someone had to have come after him. But who?

A cold wind blew over Kane. He shivered, having finally been stripped of his armor to wander around in a thin shirt and pants. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

When Kane looked up he locked eyes with an unknown man. Shrouded in darkness, the tall figure moved like a plague through the devastation. Kane held his breath. Each severely wounded fae the man passed closed their eyes.

They didn't open.

"Death," Kane whispered, mouth hanging ajar, stupefied. "Am I gonna...?"

Kane couldn't even finish the sentence as Death stood over him. His dark eyes almost looked... angry?

"Am I gonna die?"

"No."

He sagged in relief, letting out a heavy sigh. A sudden rustling at the bottom of Death's cloak drew his attention. His mouth fell open in disbelief and he stuttered, "Kobe? Uh, I mean, Wolf?"

The runt bolted forward, licking Kane's nose affectionately. Sand kicked up as he plopped onto the ground, tongue lolling out as he eyed Death.

"Why?" Kane trailed off, pain slamming into the back of his head with a vengeance. "What happened?"

Death stared at Kane blankly. For a short spell, only the sounds of wailing and waves crashing upon the shore could be heard. Then he crooked his finger, setting off towards a long tent standing apart from the others.

Kane scrambled after Death and Kobe. His legs shook like jelly. To his surprise, neither of the fae guarding the entrance spared Death or Kobe so much as a glance. Could they not see them? Did that mean...

Was Kobe dead?!

Terror seized Kane's heart when his gaze fell to the runt. He bolted into the tent without so much as a look back. Death followed and the guards didn't acknowledge them even when the tent flaps shifted.

"State your business, Pendragon."

Kane froze. "Um..."

The woman beside the blond man questioning Kane elbowed him in the side. "He's obviously here to see Lady Tempest. Don't be an idiot, Saffron." The fair woman gave him a soft smile, tilting her head to the side as she swept the flap back. "You can go in, Pendragon."

"Thanks!" Kane said, grinning back so tensely that it mirrored a clown mask.

All it took was three steps for all the air in Kane's lungs to leave and never return.

Tempest laid on her side, stripped to her undergarments. Gold blood poured from her mouth and into a half filled bucket beside her cot. Tears flowed from her closed eyes like ichor. Her hair was black and her skin an ashy gray. Bruises bloomed across her decaying canvas like flowers of death.

"Is she...?"

"No," Death said, trembling fingers caressing her bare shoulder. "She's with the gods now."

"Isn't that what you guys say when people die here?!" Kane didn't wither under Death's glare. His worry for Tempest didn't allow him to. "Why isn't anyone helping her?!"

"Because they don't know how to," Death replied with a heavy growl. "Lady of the Lake's are different and Tempest..." Death sighed, aging thousands of years with grief. His shoulders rose as he ducked his head, rubbing away the wetness clinging to his lashes. "She did something she shouldn't have. Accessed a forbidden domain to save you. I don't even know her fate right now. The gods must still be deciding what to do with her."

Kane's ears were ringing. "She did something she shouldn't have... to save me?"

Kane was no stranger to guilt. But never before had he been so consumed by an emotion that his knees buckled from the weight. Every word from Death's mouth as he recounted all that she'd done to save him and Silver was like an arrow to the heart.

"What can I do to save her?" When Death didn't respond Kane grabbed his cold wrist in desperation. "You have to know something. You're their friend, right? Help her."

Death clenched his jaw, twisting away from Kane's bruising grip. "We all have lines in the sand that we cannot cross. If I show favoritism, if I—" Heartbreak clouded his features. He turned his back to Kane. Kobe let out a low whine, pressing against Death's leg. "I'll make things worse for her. At least she's only facing death now. But if I get involved? I don't even want to know what price she'd have to pay then."

"She's only facing death?" Kane repeated in an incredulous tone. "Are you being serious right now?"

Death stiffened, face turning to the side to stare at Kane with eyes completely blackened by a pool of dark ink. "There are things worse than death, Pendragon. You should count yourself lucky that you've yet to experience any of them."

Kane gulped. Balling up his shaking hands, he held Death's freezing stare and said, "Then tell me what to do. I'll do everything on my own. Just tell me what to do so I can save her. Please."

She can't die because of me, were the words that went unsaid.

"Find a lake," Death whispered, timid. "Place her inside. The lake water will heal her body. Whether she comes back or not is a judgment that isn't mine to make."

When Kane blinked both Death and Kobe were gone. Something that, under normal circumstances, would've sent him into a fit of anxiety. But now it was something he simply had to accept.

Death wasn't a bad guy. If he had Kobe then Kane knew that he was the one Tempest chose to give the runt away to. His heart twisted but he didn't allow himself to wallow. There wasn't any time to waste on falling apart.

Using Caliburn he slashed through the fabric of the back of the tent. Yanking the cut open wider, he peered into the darkness with fear in his eyes and determination in his heart. Tempest's small body weighed next to nothing when he scooped her up. She shivered as her skin touched his cold armor. The first sign of movement he'd seen besides her shallow breathing.

Kane didn't know as much about Silver as he'd like. But if there was one thing he did know it was that Silver was a survivor. He'd find his way back to them no matter what. Kane believed that with his whole heart.

So he swore on his family name that he'd bring Tempest back no matter the cost and plunged into the rainforest.

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QOTD: Do you trust in Kane to help Tempest? What do you think is in store for her when we meet the gods in the next chapter?