It was all to familiar to him. Months ago, he had done the same thing: run for his life. Except this time, he was following the group, rather than leading it. The weight of Eris began to wear Barret down as he ran through the woods. The prisoners who had been freed had moved a short distance into the forest, the rain turning the ground into mud beneath their feet. As many of them stopped to catch their breath, Barret fell to the ground, letting his brother fall on him. "Barret!" Haelith ran over to him, and helped pull Eris off of him.

"I… I'll be fine. Help him, please." He glanced over, and regretted doing so. The blood flowed like water from his many cuts, his side was sliced wide open, and three bolts stuck into his back from when he was being carried. One was just below his left shoulder, barely beneath the skin. Another had punctured his armor and caught his right side less than an inch where Kalnaroth's blade pierced him. But the last one… the last was the worst, punching clean through the armor and grazing the left side of his spine. Somehow still alive, Barret held his brother's hand tightly, wishing he could take the pain.

"I'll do what I can, but we don't have much time, or the right tools. Where's my bag?" Barret laid there as Haelith began looking over the multitude of wounds, analyzing which ones were the most urgent to patch up. "This is bad. This is very bad." She couldn't hide the panic in her voice, and fear crept into Barret's heart.

Raine walked over, her fur matted, disheveled and wet. "I hate to say this, but we should keep moving. We're still too close to the fortress, they could send people out to come after us."

"She's right." one of the prisoners said. Barret recognized him as one of the ones he was close too, as he was missing his left hand. "We have to go."

"Go? Go where?" someone else said, walking over. "We just broke out of a Templar jail, where can we go? We have nothing! We can't go to town to get supplies, they'd be looking for us!"

"Oh, and do you have a better option?" a third said, shoving him.

"Edinmire!" Raine said, stepping between them before they could come to blows. "We have some people waiting for us in Edinmire."

"We're not going anywhere right now, not with the state he's in." Haelith said, pulling a bent knife from her bag. "This will be a problem… all my tools are damaged. I can't extract the bolts without cutting him open, the tips are barbed. Someone come over here and hold him down while I wrap some of these cuts. He's out cold right now, but as soon as he wakes up, we're going to have a problem."

"We have to move!" someone else argued. "Just leave him! He's not going to-"

"We are not leaving him!" Haelith was furious. No one was helping her. "You would not be free right now if it wasn't for him! He saved our lives today!"

"One good deed does not wash away a lifetime of evil. Stay behind if you want to, I'm not going to wait here for them to find us." The Ishtaer walked away, leaving many in stunned silence. Several turned to follow behind him, while most didn't know what else to do. Barret didn't take in any of this, his only care being his broken brother, the last family he had, laying next to him. Raine glanced around, seeing that only a dozen had actually left.

"Edinmire is my home." A snow leopard Keidran walked over, her ribs showing just how malnourished she actually was. "I can't get there on my own, so I'm gonna stick with you. One way or another, I will see my daughter again."

"If you really think we'll be safe there, then lead on." the gold scaled Ishtaer said, putting his hand on Raine's shoulder.

"We could move him…" Haelith said as she stood up. "We would need something to carry him with, like a stretcher. He's not the only one who's injured, but he's hurt the worst. I've done all I can for now, I have to try and fix my tools before anything else can be done." She reached down and pulled Barret up, who rubbed the tears from his eyes. "We need your help, Barret. I can't do this alone."

He was quiet as he looked down at his brother. "Right." His mind suddenly raced as it caught back up to the world around him, seeing the others, knowing that they were suddenly relying on him. "Get me some long branches and any cloth you can spare. It won't be perfect, but we can carry him behind us for a while." The cluster of prisoners listened intensely as he spoke, his words carrying power. "We'll also need food and water, so bring me wood and stone. Any tools we make will have to be crude, but they'll be better than nothing. Anyone who knows how to hunt, we can fashion spears and bows. We'll have to travel light, but we also need enough to get us through any time we can't find enough. I don't want to leave his side, but they're right: We need to get moving."

Raine smiled and walked over to him. "You do what needs to be done. Haelith and I will make sure he stays alive. Go." Barret hesitated, but turned to his bag, where he had a number of knives he distributed. He picked up his longbow, and then remembered he was out of arrows. Sighing, he set about working to make sure they could survive, well aware that the lives of many rested on his shoulders, and their eyes followed him as he worked. He didn't ask for this, but Fate put him in this position, and he would make sure they would reach Edinmire safely. Within half an hour, a stretcher had been fashioned, several crutches were made for some of the other injured, and some wood had been collected for fires and weapons. Many eager eyes followed Barret as he set forth, leading them southeast, over the hill, heading home.

Evening came quickly as the storm had begun to recede after five long days, though everyone was still beyond soaked and exhausted when Barret came to a stop. The glade was large and flat, but well sheltered from the wind, a blanket of moss giving the area a soft feel as it muffled their footsteps. Eris had not woken up, even after he was set down. His scales had begun to lose their color, causing Barret to worry more and more for his brother's life. Haelith had found another Ishtaer who was willing to help her take care of the wounded while she poured all of her attention into Eris. She pried and pulled at her tools, hoping to fix them, but to little success. Frustrated but determined to try her best, she had Eris set inside of the only tent they had, and she began to work by the light of Raine's lantern. Into the night she worked, with a rotating group of helpers as she tried her best to remove the bolts from his back. Most of her medical salves and herbs were gone, but that didn't seem to matter much; he barely stirred, even when she began to attempt to remove the bolt from his back. Barret didn't sleep well, visions of his brother plaguing his dreams at some points, and an empty nothingness for the rest.

…

It was still dark out when Barret was woken up. One of the prisoners had shaken him awake gently, but when he spoke his voice was shaky. "You need to get up now. It's Erisdar. It's bad. The doctor said… you should just come." Barret followed, his mind racing, all exhaustion forgotten.

When he got close, Haelith stepped out of the tent, her hands covered in blood, and the wrinkled surgical apron covered was freshly stained with gore. "I… I'm sorry. I did everything I could. He's still alive, but he won't make it. The bolt that hit his spine also damaged his lung. I can't pull it out, since I can't even remove his armor, and even if I could, it wouldn't help at all. He's lost so much blood, he's beyond exhausted his very being. I don't know how he's even alive still, but he's awake. You… you should say goodbye… while you can." She pulled him close as she could see his heart breaking. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." she sobbed. She let him into the tent, but she remained outside though. This was something he had to face alone.

"Eris? Are you awake?" he asked as he knelt down beside his brother. The ground was stained red, and he could see that there were still two bolts in his back. Eris' eyes fluttered open, his breathing shallow. A trickle of blood came from his mouth as one eye came to rest on Barret, unfocused and glassed over. "I… don't know if you're even able to understand me… but I wanted to thank you. You saved my life yesterday. You saved all of our lives." Barret struggled to find the right words, and Eris managed to croak a few of his own out.

"I… failed you…" Barret reached over and held his hand as Eris spoke softly and slowly, every word a struggle. "I… wasn't there… I left you… I'm sorry…"

"You came back though." Tears rolled down Barret's face. He knew his time was short. "You came back and saved everyone."

"No… I just… I needed… you. It was… always for… me before… but… but then… you were there. And I knew… I needed to save… you…"

"And you did. You saved me. Thank you. Eris, you are my brother. And I love you. I always have. And you will always be my brother." His voice was breaking with his heart as Eris' already shallow breathing became strained. "You'll always be my brother."

"Brother… bro…ther…" And with that, Eris breathed no more, his hand falling limply from Barret's, his eyes closing, and his life ending. Barret sat in the mud sobbing as he truly became the last of his bloodline.

Eris was gone.