"What's what, Scorn?"

"I just saw mist in the air."

"Come on. Hang on this time." I jump back when Wolf's arms wrap around me again. She doesn't hesitate before the twins and the wolf glow again and we dissolve into nothingness.

When we reappear, we're a little ways from where the Singing Marshes and the Siren's Lookout are. So that's where everyone is. The choppy waves have become violent and crash into the cliffs, sending massive swells of water hurtling across the stone and into the marshes. A faint humming drifts across the grasses as they blow in the breeze that's calm despite the furious waters.

A creature bursts from the ocean, drenching everyone in seawater. Smooth baby blue skin gleams brilliantly in the sunlight, contrasting beautifully with the dazzling orange frills marked with dizzying jagged lines of dark blue. It's the prettiest being I've ever seen. It inhales before parting its jaws in a scream. But instead of a harsh sound, it's the most beautiful song I've ever heard. I'm rooted to the ground, entranced by the music the creature is creating. My eyes widen with awe as my breath catches in my throat. In the back of my mind, I notice Wolf standing in front of me, saying something, but all I can hear is the enthralling song of the creature. Somehow, I know it's the Siren. Yes, that's it's name: the Siren. My lungs cry out for air, but taking a breath would distract me from the Siren's music. The Lullaby, yes, that's what this song is called. Every neuron in my brain is focused on the Lullaby the Siren is singing. Why couldn't we listen to this all the time? I slowly sink to the ground as I feel my muscles relax. My vision starts to black out, and I willingly follow. Anything to be able to hear the Lullaby just a little clearer. Yes, please, please let me black out. I don't want anything distracting me from the Lullaby.

Then, suddenly, the song stops. I'm unable to move, and not from the Lullaby. I'm paralyzed, my neck is tingling, and my body is burning ever so slightly, as if I had a fever. My vision has blacked out, and I'm teetering on the edge of unconsciousness. It feels like a million little daggers are slicing through my skin, which crawls with heat. I cannot move. Unsuccessfully, I try to block the pain out. Momentarily, I pull back from my body and slip into oblivion. But then I return.

Bit by bit my senses return. I feel the familiar weight of my armor and the ache in my ankle that can never seem to go away no matter what I do. Deafening silence gives way to shouts, though I cannot process what they're saying. I taste the salt in the air as I regain enough control to open my eyes. "Scorn! There you are!" Huh? What happened? I shake by head a bit to try to clear the fog from my brain. The tingling on the back of my neck lessens a bit.

"What happened?" I roll to my side and push myself up to a seated position, moving my limbs to bring life back into them.

"Not gonna sugarcoat it: you almost died."

"How?"

"Some monster creature. It started screaming but then I guess my Midnight Wolf powers kicked in and I'm not sure what happened after that. But then I sorta like came back and then you were almost dead. You were just, like, lying on the ground. I don't know how I did it, but a bunch of the constellations summoned themselves and then somehow kept you from dying. God, I gotta find Dove. I've no idea how to control the constellations," Wolf says, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Uh, well, thanks." I think I processed about 5 words of that.

"Can you, like, get up or do you need help? Should you be getting up?"

"I'll be fine. Let's go see what that thing was." My legs shake, but I manage to stay upright. I brace myself on my knees as my vision starts to close in until it clears up again.

"You ok, Scorn?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just go find Dove." So he can get Pisces off my neck. Then only 1 unwanted thing in my mind.

"Alright," Wolf replies.

"I'll be right behind you." Please, please, please let this be a success. I'll already be in enough trouble for not killing Wolf. I can't go back with a Midnight Wolf's constellation on my neck and the snake locked away in some far-off corner of my mind.

Wolf has barely taken more than 2 or 3 steps when she stops and freezes. I follow her gaze and my breath catches in my throat. A Soldier holds Dove in place on his knees. A few paces back, a Guard is nocking an arrow. After a short moment, the arrow flies through the air, piercing through his back. Blood spills, soaking through his shirt like a sick flower. Dove slumps forward. He doesn't move. Brook races to Dove's side and nudges him with her nose.

It was the Guard I'd talked to when the disease had first taken control of my mind. He was the 1 who shot Dove with the arrow. The Guard who I'd told those lies about how it was an honor to serve Bryant. All those lies. Every 1 of them. It was my fault Dove was dead. My chest shakes as I draw in a ragged breath. My fault. I can't move. The only thing I can think about is that I told those lies to the Guard, the lies I wanted so badly to believe. Maybe then I could be the model Soldier everyone thought I was. I told those lies to the Guard and now he's the 1 who killed Dove. It's my fault. Sure, I wasn't the 1 who drew back the drawstring of the bow, but I was the 1 who got the Guard to that place. I'm just as guilty, if not more. My fault.

Beside me, I see Wolf's legs tremble before she sinks to the ground, a sob wracking through her body. But she doesn't cry. Her cheeks remain dry

A snarl breaks my attention from Wolf and Dove. A black cat seethes on the other side of the Singing Marshes. He's far away, but I don't have to be close to see how tense he is. How his claws gouge out chunks of rock. How his eyes burn, or how a fiery inferno coats his fur, making him look like a blazing ember. "You just sealed your fate, King Garonda XIV," Phoenix snarls. "Nothing is more dangerous than someone who's got nothing left to lose." He stands beside Ky, who's laying on the ground, unmoving and eyes staring off into the distance, looking at something beyond Ragdon. Ky's dead too? Another death that's my fault. More blood on my hands. When I look down, I see scarlet dripping from my fingertips. It coats my hands like a second skin and runs down my forearms in red rivulets. My breath shakes in my throat, and I can't get enough air into my lungs.

"Hey, are you alright?" A voice sounds beside me, but it's as if it's coming from across the Singing Marshes. Black spots form in my vision and my head starts to swim. The tingling starts on my limbs but soon consumes my body. The lack of oxygen makes my chest burn but I can't choke enough down. Panic has taken ahold of me in its iron grip. I killed Dove and am responsible for Ky's death. It's my fault. My fault. "Are you alright? Please, can you answer me?" When my legs give out, my knees slam into the ground, sending pain shooting through my nerves. My hands brace myself, but even they cannot keep myself upright as my vision starts to black out and my eyelids flutter. Voices speak around me, but I can't make out any of what they're saying. Fingers brush against my shoulder, and I flinch. They burn against my armor. Why did you do this to me, Bryant? Why, Wolf? I'm a vessel for someone else's power. I'm some twisted thing that's somehow convinced others that what Bryant wants is right. And that's cost Ky and Dove their lives. It's my fault. Darkness rolls over my mind, a force that overwhelms me and I cannot resist. I fall to my side, and I sink into oblivion.

xxxx

It's quieter when I wake up. I draw in a deep breath before sitting up and shaking my head to become a little less disoriented. "Oh, hey. You're up." Someone walks over to me.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Miles. And you?"

"I'm the Dust Devil."

"Alright. How are you feeling?"

"Fine." I swing my legs over the edge of the bed.

"Why don't you rest some more. You took a pretty hard fall back by the Singing Marshes."

The Singing Marshes. Memories wash over me, crashing into my mind. Wolf, Pisces, the snake, the arrow, the Guard, Ky, Dove. Every 1 of them, louder and heavier than the last, and I can't stop them. I killed Ky and Dove, I'm responsible.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"I-I'm fine."

"What's going on? I can't help if you don't tell me." What's Miles doing?

"Wh-who are you?"

"I'm Miles. I'm 1 of the doctors here in the White Tent Sea." Doctor? No, I can't be here. I can't hear... No, no, no. Get me out of here. You're just going to say it's all in your head. You're not going to believe me. I-. No. I scramble out of the bed. My chest heaves with each breath as I gulp down air. The snake strains against Pisces's hold, sensing my panic. My neck burns.

"Hey, it's alright. What can I do to help?" Miles takes a step forward. I hold out a hand, pressing myself against the back of the tent.

"S-stay back." Miles immediately retreats and holds up his hands.

"I won't move from here." You gotta get it together, Luke. You're the Dust Devil. You're not anyone else. You need to become the Dust Devil again. In, 2, 3, 4. Out, 2, 3, 4. Block it out, ignore it. In, 2, 3, 4. Out, 2, 3, 4.

I close my eyes, trusting that just for a few moments Miles won't move and focus on trying to slow my racing heart. My mind jumps back to the doctors as they told me what was happening on my ankle was all in my head, that it was my fault, that I had made it up. How they gave up on trying to figure out what was going on because they had other patients whom they could treat easier. I'll never forget the look in their eyes when I was told it was in my head. It was 1 of coldness. It wasn't 1 of malice, bad intent, but more of 1 where they simply didn't care. It was just icy, empty. I remember steeling my expression, not reacting to their words externally. But I can still feel the betrayal that clawed through my chest and left my heart frayed in ribbons. They were supposed to help me. They're doctors. They're supposed to help me. They were supposed to help me. And they didn't. They brushed me off. I knew something was wrong with my ankle. Something was wrong with it. I'd twisted it and it never got better. The swelling disappeared but I still couldn't walk on it. Why did they have to tell me that it was all in my head? Why couldn't they just believe me?

When I open my eyes again, I see that Miles is saying something, but I hadn't heard any of it. "S-sorry, I missed that." I see Miles, but I also see the stony appearance of the doctors who had told me it was all in my head. I gotta get out of here.

"It's alright. Deep breaths. In, and out. In, and out." Gotta get out, gotta get out, gotta get out. Blood roars in my ears. Miles's form flickers to each of the doctors I saw all those years ago. I can't see anyone else. Gotta get out. Get out, Luke. Get out, get out, get out.

Taking a deep breath, I count to 3 and then sprint around Miles and out into the pathways of the White Tent Sea before he can react. A moment later, I hear Miles calling for me to return but I don't stop running until I'm far, far away from his tent. I duck into an abandoned little offshoot and crouch down. You're away now. You're away from Miles. Deep breaths. Come on, you gotta calm down. You're the Dust Devil. You can't be like this. Calm down, Luke. Get it together.

My heart rate is just beginning to slow and the panic is dwindling into nothing when footsteps draw nearer, nearer, and then stop. "Dust Devil?" I silently curse.

Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying The King's Remorse. If you are, please consider a vote! And comment your thoughts- I'd love to hear them!

Well, that can't be good. Miles is a doctor, and they're Luke's biggest fear. 

Who has found the Luke?

Luke heard the Siren's Lullaby. Wolf was able to save him, luckily, but it nearly cost him his life. Wolf doesn't have much control over the constellations, and Dove was supposed to help her but he's not dead. What's going to happen there? Will Luke be able to be freed from Pisces like Wolf said?

I hope you're all staying safe and healthy!

-Werewolf14-