Chapter 10

As I took in the moment, my sense were heightened.

Cold water ran over my skin.

Salt-Upon-Wounds panting on the ground, the booming of thunder, and rain pounding on the ground around me filled my ears.

The air smelled of gun powder and rain on once dry earth.

The weak tribal at my mercy knelt down in front of my with his hands clasped pleadingly.

Kicking him in the side sent the man to the ground in a heap. He curled in on himself as he clutched his torso. I brought the butt of the pistol down on his shoulder and a crack and screams in anguish fell upon deaf ears.

Salt-Upon-Wounds threw his hands up in surrender as he begged for mercy. Another swift kick in the back brought tears to his eyes.

I stood over him, watching as his chin quiver as quiet sobs escaped him, racking his body violently. The once strong warlord was a crying mess underneath me. I wrenched his head up by the hair and leaned in closer to his face.

"You're pathetic."

He nodded quickly but kept quiet.

"You come into their home and take the holy lands. You follow us here as we tried to escape. You try to destroy these peaceful people solely because you feel like it."

His sobs grew louder as he realized how desperate he was. I shoved his face in the dirt forcefully, earning a sick crack. I lifted his face to see blood streaming down his chin from his broken nose.

He said something in his filthy language but I ignored him. Something else had caught my attention from near the edge of the cliff. The tell tale red hair shrouding a pale, cold face.

"Addie, I told you to stay hidden. Do you not care about your own safety?" I spit out through clenched teeth.

She shook her head and stepped closer. "I'm fine. I've lived through worse." She looked down at Salt-Upon-Wounds. "What are you doing to him?"

"This animal has never shown any trace of humanity to the Dead Horses or Sorrows. He does not deserve your curiosity."

"How does that make you any better than him?" She knelt down by Salt-Upon-Wounds on the ground. He flinched as she laid a frail hand on his arm.

"You do not know what you are talking about. He has murdered children in front of their parents." I shook him by the hair.

"Joshua, please let him go. You don't need to do this." She looked up with her dark eyes.

"Would you show him the same kindness if he killed your daughter?"

She lightly squeezed his arm. Her jaw ticked as she glared at me with pure anger. "Would you show him the same hatred if you were still in the Legion?"

Salt-Upon-Wounds frantically searched for something between the two of us. My grip had not loosened on his hair and neither did Addie's on his arm. She and I had not broken eye contact.

"Joshua, if you do this, you will prove to me that you never changed after the fires. You will always be the man you were before."

My grip on his hair loosened a fraction as I processed what she had said. "Do you really think he deserves to live after the things he has done?"

"And do you really think that you deserved to live after the things you were told to do in the Legion? I know you've changed. You aren't the same man. I know you won't kill him."

I dropped his hair and let her continue.

"You were a real asshole before they threw you down here. Just like you, Salt-Upon-Wounds can change if given another chance. You are what he could be in the future. Do you really want to take that away from him?"

I stepped off of him and he scrambled away from me and towards Addie. He twisted to face her and held her legs tightly like a child. She placed her hands on his shoulders protectively and looked at me expectantly.

I was silent for the moment as I calculated my decision. Looking down at the broken man wrapping himself around his savior. My mind was made up.

"Leave. Now."

"But-"

"Not you. Him." I glared at Salt-Upon-Wounds.

He jumped up from the ground. He hugged Addie tightly and thanked her over and over. She smiled and shooed him away. He hobbled down the cliff side quickly, leaving the two of us alone.

We stood in silence on the cliff as the rain continued to pour relentlessly. We hadn't looked away from each other since he left. It seemed like hours had passed in the silence.

Addie was the first one to move. We drew closer to each other slowly. I wrapped my arms around her tightly and buried my face into her wet hair. I inhaled deeply and found her smell. She had that distinct smell of a woman and something else. It smelled like fresh fruit.

"Thank you, Addie." My voice was shaky.

"I knew you didn't really want to kill him."

I kissed her and pressed my forehead to hers. I closed my eyes and let her breathe life back into me. "You've saved two people today."

"That's my job. I'm Courier Six."