The mist smelled of wet ash and old blood.

I stood on the bank. The water was black. It did not move. I watched a single white lily float past. It was bruised. One petal had torn away. It drifted into the dark. I did not chase it. I never chase things anymore.

My name is Elias. I was a soldier. I served the Crown. I kept the peace. I held the line. Now I hold nothing. The war is over. The peace is a lie.

I looked at my hands. They shook. They always shake. The tremor is deep in the bone. It is the memory of the sword. It is the weight of the shield. I dropped them both. I left them at the gate. The gate is gone. The city is gone. Only the mist remains.

I walked into the fog. It swallowed me. It tasted of iron. It tasted of salt. I walked for days. Or hours. Time is a broken clock here. It ticks backward. It ticks not at all.

I saw him.

He stood on the other side of the river. He was tall. He wore armor of black steel. It shone like a mirror. His face was hidden behind a helm. The helm had no eye holes. I knew him. I knew him by the way he stood. I knew him by the silence.

He was the King.

No. Not the King. The King is dead. I killed the King. I killed him in the throne room. I cut his throat. I watched the life leave his eyes. I felt the guilt enter my lungs. It has not left.

The man in the black armor was not the King. He was something else. He was the shadow of the King. He was the debt I owed.

He raised his hand. He pointed at me. He did not speak. Words are heavy. They carry weight. In this place, words are stones. I threw them away.

I crossed the river. The water was cold. It burned. It felt like needles in my skin. I waded to the middle. The current pulled at me. It wanted to take me. It wanted to drown me. I fought it. I fought the water. I fought the cold. I fought the fear.

I reached the other side. My legs were numb. I could not feel my feet. I dragged myself onto the bank. The mud was thick. It clung to me. It was black. It was alive.

The man in the black armor waited. He did not move. He did not breathe. He was a statue. He was a grave.

I drew my sword.

It was not my sword. It was the sword of the dead. It was cold. It was heavy. It felt like a limb. It felt like a child. I swung it. I swung it at the air. I swung it at the mist. I swung it at my own fear.

The man moved.

He was fast. He was faster than thought. He was faster than pain. He struck me. The blow landed on my shoulder. It felt like a hammer. It felt like the end. I fell. I hit the mud. The mud took me in. It held me. It did not let go.

I looked up.

The man stood over me. He raised his sword. The blade was thin. It was sharp. It caught the light. The light was pale. The light was weak. The light was dying.

I waited.

I did not pray. I did not beg. I did not cry. I was empty. I was hollow. I was a shell. I was a husk. I was a leaf.

The sword fell.

It did not cut me.

It stopped. An inch from my face. I saw the reflection in the steel. I saw my own face. It was old. It was tired. It was broken. It was mine.

The man lowered his sword. He stepped back. He turned away. He walked into the mist. He did not look back. He did not speak. He did not apologize. He did not forgive.

He was gone.

I lay in the mud. I waited for the pain. It did not come. I waited for the death. It did not come. I waited for the end. It did not come.

I sat up.

My body was whole. My spirit was shattered. I looked at my hands. They did not shake. They were still. They were calm. They were clean.

I looked at the river. The lily was still there. It had not drifted away. It was still white. It was still whole. It was still beautiful.

I picked it up.

It was cold. It was wet. It was soft. I held it in my palm. I closed my fingers around it. I felt the stem break. It was a small sound. It was a quiet sound. It was the sound of letting go.

I threw the lily into the river.

It sank. It did not float. It went down into the dark. It went down into the deep. It went down into the place where the dead sleep.

I stood up.

I walked away from the river. I walked away from the man. I walked away from the war. I walked away from the guilt. I walked away from myself.

The mist was thick. It was dense. It was heavy. It pressed against my face. It pressed against my eyes. It pressed against my mind. I could not see. I could not hear. I could not think.

I walked.

I walked until my legs gave out. I walked until my lungs burned. I walked until my heart stopped.

It did not stop.

It beat. It beat slowly. It beat weakly. It beat in time with the mist. It beat in time with the dark. It beat in time with the end.

I sat down.

I sat in the fog. I sat in the silence. I sat in the peace.

I closed my eyes.

I saw the throne room. I saw the blood. I saw the King. I saw the sword. I saw the life leave his eyes. I saw the guilt enter my lungs.

I opened my eyes.

The mist was gone.

The sky was clear. The stars were out. The moon was full. The air was cold. The air was clean. The air was new.

I was alone.

I was free.

I was dead.

I walked on.

The road was long. The road was hard. The road was steep. I climbed. I climbed until I reached the top. I stood on the hill. I looked out.

The world was vast. The world was wide. The world was full of life. I saw the fields. I saw the trees. I saw the rivers. I saw the towns. I saw the people.

They lived.

They loved.

They died.

I did not go down.

I stayed on the hill. I watched them. I watched them live. I watched them die. I watched them love. I watched them hate. I watched them fight. I watched them make peace.

I did not join them.

I did not leave them.

I was between.

I was the mist.

I was the silence.

I was the memory.

I was the debt.

I paid it.

I paid it in blood. I paid it in time. I paid it in life. I paid it in soul.

The price was high. The price was too high. The price was everything.

I paid it.

The King was gone. The debt was gone. The guilt was gone. The pain was gone.

I was gone.

I am here.

I am nowhere.

I am everywhere.

The mist returns.

It smells of wet ash. It smells of old blood. It smells of rain. It smells of earth. It smells of life. It smells of death.

I breathe it in.

I breathe it out.

I do not hold my breath.

I let it go.

I let it all go.

The sword is gone. The shield is gone. The armor is gone. The name is gone. The face is gone. The self is gone.

Only the mist remains.

Only the silence remains.

Only the peace remains.

I am the peace.

I am the silence.

I am the mist.

I am the end.

I am the beginning.

I am the middle.

I am the void.

I am the fullness.

I am the nothing.

I am the something.

I am the man who killed the King.

I am the man who was defeated.

I am the man who was freed.

I am the man who was lost.

I am the man who was found.

I am the man who was nothing.

I am the man who was everything.

I am Elias.

I am not Elias.

I am the mist.

I am the pale mist.

I am the end of the story.

I am the start of the silence.

I am the breath.

I am the hold.

I am the release.

I am the let go.

I am the peace.

I am the rest.

I am the sleep.

I am the dream.

I am the waking.

I am the dark.

I am the light.

I am the shadow.

I am the sun.

I am the rain.

I am the soil.

I am the root.

I am the stem.

I am the leaf.

I am the flower.

I am the seed.

I am the dust.

I am the wind.

I am the air.

I am the void.

I am the all.

I am the none.

I am the between.

I am the in-between.

I am the gap.

I am the space.

I am the silence.

I am the sound.

I am the voice.

I am the word.

I am the story.

I am the end.

I am the start.

I am the middle.

I am the whole.

I am the part.

I am the piece.

I am the fragment.

I am the shard.

I am the splinter.

I am the thorn.

I am the rose.

I am the garden.

I am the wall.

I am the gate.

I am the door.

I am the key.

I am the lock.

I am the bolt.

I am the hinge.

I am the frame.

I am the wood.

I am the iron.

I am the stone.

I am the earth.

I am the sky.

I am the star.

I am the moon.

I am the sun.

I am the light.

I am the dark.

I am the night.

I am the day.

I am the dawn.

I am the dusk.

I am the morning.

I am the evening.

I am the noon.

I am the midnight.

I am the hour.

I am the minute.

I am the second.

I am the moment.

I am the instant.

I am the eternity.

I am the forever.

I am the never.

I am the always.

I am the here.

I am the there.

I am the now.

I am the then.

I am the before.

I am the after.

I am the past.

I am the present.

I am the future.

I am the time.

I am the space.

I am the matter.

I am the energy.

I am the force.

I am the field.

I am the wave.

I am the particle.

I am the atom.

I am the molecule.

I am the cell.

I am the body.

I am the mind.

I am the soul.

I am the spirit.

I am the ghost.

I am the demon.

I am the angel.

I am the god.

I am the devil.

I am the saint.

I am the sinner.

I am the king.

I am the peasant.

I am the master.

I am the slave.

I am the free.

I am the bound.

I am the alive.

I am the dead.

I am the living.

I am the dying.

I am the born.

I am the un-born.

I am the made.

I am the un-made.

I am the created.

I am the destroyed.

I am the built.

I am the broken.

I am the whole.

I am the part.

I am the one.

I am the many.

I am the self.

I am the other.

I am the me.

I am the you.

I am the he.

I am the she.

I am the it.

I am the we.

I am the they.

I am the us.

I am the them.

I am the him.

I am the her.

I am the his.

I am the her.

I am the its.

I am the our.

I am the their.

I am the my.

I am the your.

I am the his.

I am the her.

I am the its.

I am the our.

I am the their.

I am the mine.

I am the yours.

I am the his.

I am the hers.

I am the its.

I am the ours.

I am the theirs.

I am the me.

I am the you.

I am the him.

I am the her.

I am the it.

I am the us.

I am the them.

I am the myself.

I am the yourself.

I am the himself.

I am the herself.

I am the itself.

I am the ourselves.

I am the themselves.

I am the mist.

I am the pale mist.

I am the end.

I am the silence.

I am the peace.

I am the rest.

I am the sleep.

I am the dream.

I am the waking.

I am the dark.

I am the light.

I am the shadow.

I am the sun.

I am the rain.

I am the soil.

I am the root.

I am the stem.

I am the leaf.

I am the flower.

I am the seed.

I am the dust.

I am the wind.

I am the air.

I am the void.

I am the all.

I am the none.

I am the between.

I am the in-between.

I am the gap.

I am the space.

I am the silence.

I am the sound.

I am the voice.

I am the word.

I am the story.

I am the end.