so he walked until his legs collapsed.

under the bright red sun the desert beamed and his shadow burned.

he saw no end to the horizon. it grew ever distant, ever fading.
sometime it sparkled, a faint hope, but lost in the pale wind before a sigh was heard.

lifeless.

he was abandoned. left alone for the vultures of life to devour him, inch by inch,
as he slowly watched consequence unfold.

he once recalled of the day he kept so dearly to his beaten heart.

"hold my hand and let faith destroy us"

and it did.

he knew this because it was of his doing.

but how he longed for the words he said to repent.

how he longed to come back to his comrade and beg for forgiveness.

oh, how he saw the glorious field as the everlasting heat vanished and the
starless night appeared in the veiling of the sun.

he reached out his hand, to her, to him, to everything that was once found in
the grasp of his pulsating heart.

he never heard the footsteps pound.

the hard rain collided with the burning ground, creating a mist of steam around him.

he felt the shock of pain in his skull.

the dent in his skull, the blood trickle down his nose, on his lip.

his mind flashed.

an angel with torn, bloodied wings, bound by chains.

a girl, alone, crying by the sea, pearls of emotion running down her sweet cheek.

a young man sitting in a dark house twisting his hair and laying his head on his lap.

things that made his heart warm regardless of the stinge of pain.

his mind deceived him of the gash on the back of his legs.

he felt his knees hit the smoldering sand.

he cried, for all things that he wish he had not done.

he cried, for the shadow that burned was now detached from him.

the pain, all at once, hit his mind.

he stared ahead, refusing to watch his foe behind.

he sees her.

he reaches out.

his mind fills with sand.

so he walked until his legs collapsed.