edited by GeekAngel
*
Part I : The beginning of the end
A starry sky silhouetted the landscape around Besand. He sat alone, facing east atop a large grassy hill. Most of the night dwellers had already returned to their dens. The birds were just beginning to warm their voices to usher in the new day. They seemed to Besand to be mocking him, but Besand didn't pay them any heed. He could not remember when he last saw the sun rise. He tried to remember how beautiful it was, so long ago. There must have been a choir of jays, robins, and sparrows. Perhaps a deer was licking the dew from the grass, and perhaps the mist was rising slightly off the cool ground, shrouding the area with a blanket of white. For the first time that he could remember, these things seemed beautiful to him.
He wondered how much of that he would see again.
Besand drew his knees up to his chest and sighed. "You do know how much it's going to hurt, Besand?" a feminine voice said from behind him.
"I've seen the executions, Dalia."
"Then why—"
"I don't care. I want to see the sunrise. Suzy liked to watch the sunrise."
"You—"
"Shut up!" Besand demanded. He shot up and turned to face Dalia. A single trail of blood ran from the corner of his eye down his cheek. "I couldn't care a damn what you think of me, Suzy, or anything."
"Think of what you are doing!"
"I am. I'm tired. I want my life back."
"You can't—"
"You think I don't know that? I hate what I've become."
"Why didn't you take Suzy with you then, huh? Besand, this is stupid."
"This," Besand waved his hands towards the small pinkish glow on the horizon. "Do you even remember how beautiful this is?" Dalia turned. Besand scoffed. "Of course you don't. You fear it. You hate it. That's what we are now, but not Suzy. No, Suzy knew how beautiful this was. I couldn't take that from her, Dalia. I loved her too much."
Dalia chuckled. "So you let her die." In an instant, Besand became a blur of motion and ended up in front of Dalia. He struck her cheek sending her to the ground. Dalia hissed as Besand walked away.
"You're still my slave, you insolent wench. Show me the respect due my station, or you'll share the hill with me this morning."