well, heys.
sorry its been awhile. and i will compile this at the end its all screwed up right now.
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Solane lay sobbing on the ground, a large blotch already marring her harp-calloused arms. Cleon lifted his mate from the dirt where their baby was buried, hugging her tightly when she simply collapsed back onto the soft soil.
"Deli!" she wept.
Shushing her, the redheaded man sat both of them on the ground. "Shh, Solane. It's all right," he told her as his eyes filled with tears. "We'll all be together soon." She fingered first the rainbow spot on her arm, then the pale orange smear that spread slowly across his left cheek.
The group dispersed, many with their own Chaos spots, marking them for a painful death. Solane and Cleon sat there on the dirt for hours, until they slowly trudged back to their empty hut.
"Neal, wake up," a soft voice brought him out of his dream. Neal opened his eyes, surprised to fined them tear-filled.
"Kel?" He yawned and sat up at his desk in the Healer's Hut, staring at the papers. "It's too late," he said regretfully.
Her hazel eyes were sad, yet strangely calm. "I know, lovey. But no one blames you, Neal. Both you and your father tried so very hard." Her voice broke on the last word as her gaze landed on the empty desk across from her husband's.
"Who did we lose today?" he whispered. So many in so little time.
Kel paused. "Amber and her baby, Lewner, Jesse, Serna, Perln's entire family, and..." she hesitated- "Roald."
"Great Gods. It means to wipe us out in less than a month." Neal's eyes spilled over. "How is Thayet?"
"She's too far gone herself to even realize her son is dead, Neal. She wont be more than a day or two." Kel sighed, her Yamani face long worn out by grief and fatigue. "How are you doing?"
"I think I'm fine yet. You?" Checking each other for the tell-tale marks, they came up with none. "Good," he breathed. "We have a bit more time."
Kel, watching his face, burst into tears.
"Kel?" Shifting tiredly, he put his arm around her shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"No! Neal, I'm not!" she cried. "I'm going to have a baby!" Sobbing, she completely fell apart from the normally calm and rational Kel she usually was. "It's going to die, and we won't ever...ever raise children, even see it, and grow old, or even grow up ..." She buried her face in his shoulder.
"It's all right," he chanted into her ear. "We have each other," he told himself, as his own tears slowly slid into her hair.
~~~~~~~~~
By the end of the week, there was a single hut of infected people left in the entire colony. The raving were attended by Faleron, Kel, and Neal, the only three unmarked left to nurse the sick.
Thayet was dead, Alanna and George right behind her within minutes. Eyes dry, the three squires managed to bury the three before fatigue forced them to create one mass grave.
A handful of people lay in the emptied room, raving and sweating themselves to death. And on all, the marks of Chaos exposure mottled their twitching limbs.
Neal wiped his face on his sleeve. "We lost this one, Kel."
With a grunt, both she and Faleron heaved the body out of the cot and into the shallow ditch their remaining energy. Settling the child with the most tenderness they could muster, the two trudged back to the Healer's Hut.
But they didn't go four steps before the boy gasped and fell to his knees. "Gods, Kel!"
"What? Faleron?"
His breath came in ragged gasps. "Its...my hand." On his skin, a green-bluey mark spread between the webbing of his index finger and his thumb.
Tears pricked her eyes. "C'mon, friend. Let's get you back home."
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was over, Neal thought to himself. This is it.
Two days after Faleron died, quietly in his sleep, Kel lay in the same cot as he had. A few marks stretched over her arms, legs, and belly, but sweat dotted her forehead liberally.
"Kel?"
"What, lovey?"
His voice cracked on the last note. "Are you okay, yet?"
"Fine." Her light alto was a breathy whisper, weak in its lack of energy and supressed pain. Just the effort of keeping the agony out of her voice, for Neal's sake, made her head spin and the world darken. Managing a smile, she asked, "Is there anyone else you need to help right now?"
Neal shook his head, tears running down his face. "No." In truth, there was no one else left to tend. "You're all mine, Kel."
"All right then. I'm glad, love." She sighed and turned her head to the pillow, the last words she would speak. Neal felt her hand squeeze his own once, before it relaxed and her eyes closed gently.
And the healer was left alone, holding her limp hand in his own rainbow marred palm.
~~~~~~~~~
im gonna write another section, but im gonna compile them later...after the next one.