Mark didn’t scream for the whole time. Instead, he just bore his eyes into mine, the blue of his irises tense and unyielding, his lips pressed together in a defiance against the whole world. Still, it was as if he was talking to me. He was telling me without words to hold on, to not give myself up for him, to stay strong, because the stakes were too high than any of us.
The blood ran like rivers over his naked torso, its crimson red mingling with the colors of his tattoos, the pattern of the world, the symbols of the beginning and the end. His muscles tensed painfully, and his jaw clenched with each blow, with each blade piercing through his skin. Shadows clouded his face and he looked so tense because he didn’t want to crumble in front of me. From time to time a growl tore out of his thr
