That Which We Carry
By Kay
Disclaimer: Not yet. Not anytime. Damn it all.
Author's Note: A series of gen drabbles from the future, post!series of Everworld. How have our four heroes changed in their futures?
David endures many things throughout his life.
The cold hilt of a sword that does not conform to his hand. The ridicule of that action from those he would lay his life down to protect. The weight of five people, who turn into thousands, who turn into an entire world. Unforgivable sins. Blood taken by force and in anger, which he regretted many years later in the ages of wisdom that followed youth. A war, being unable to slake his thirst and discovering what true filth felt like against his ankles. Humans and gods alike at his back, humans and gods alike before him. A duty. The role of savior. The bodies he buried when no one else would touch them. Jalil's sharp chidings in early mornings, over gray mists and cups of poorly-made tea, for him to sleep. Christopher's bitter quiet. April's fading smile.
Senna's empty grave.
And much farther ahead, a victory. A peace. Even a crown. But after all that he has carried, all he has supported and raised and hoarded fiercely in times of danger, David always remembers, even when the world is still, of that first step off of a pier and how he had been afraid to fall.
End