Episode 60 — The Price of Freedom
Dawn peeled back the dark like old skin, its first light sharp on broken stone. The ruin lay quiet but for ragged breath and shifting shadows. In the half-collapsed passage, Aria's body swayed between two young men, each step a battle between hope and exhaustion.
Her head lolled forward, pulse fluttering at her throat. Every heartbeat felt thinner than the last.
"Hold her up," Saira gasped, voice wet with pain. She pressed a blood-soaked hand to her own side where Malik's blade had found flesh. But she stayed moving — scarred face set with stubborn defiance.
"Almost there, doctor," Saira rasped, though the words were as much for herself as for Aria.
---
Far across ruined alleys, Raian ran. Or tried to. Each breath dragged fire through torn ribs, vision swimming in red at the edges. But rage and fear drove his feet harder than pain could stop.
The city had woken — market doors cracking open, the riverfront alive with laborers and traders. None spared him more than a glance: a man running at dawn, soaked in blood, was a sight too dangerous to see.
At every turn, Raian whispered her name. Aria. Aria. Aria. The word tasted of iron and prayer.
---
Inside the ruin, Malik's captain pressed forward, men at his back like dark wings. His blade still glistened with Saira's blood.
"Find the girl," he ordered, voice like winter steel. "No mistakes."
They moved over broken tiles slick with rain and ruin, every footstep scattering bone-dry leaves.
One young man carrying Aria looked over his shoulder, terror hollowing his gaze. "They're coming—" "Keep moving!" Saira hissed, sweat running in streaks over old scars. "The river's close. Once we're on the water, they can't follow."
---
Raian reached the river road just as the sun tipped above broken roofs. Ahead, smoke curled into pale sky — the ruin, alive with motion. Even from here, he saw dark shapes moving inside.
His heart seized. Too late, fear hissed.
"No," he rasped aloud. "Not again."
Pain flared as he pushed his broken body faster. Stone blurred underfoot, breath burning his chest. Each step was war — each heartbeat a gamble.
Aria. Please be alive.
---
Near the ruin's rear wall, the river shone grey and cold. The boys staggered toward it, Aria half-conscious in their arms. Blood soaked through cloth at her side — fresh, dark, frighteningly fast.
Saira stumbled, catching herself on a fallen beam. "Go!" she gasped. "Get her to the boat."
One boy hesitated, guilt and terror tangling his face. "But you—" "GO!"
His mouth set. Together, they dragged Aria down the slope of broken stone toward the river's edge, breath raw in the morning chill.
---
Behind them, Malik's captain stepped from shadow. Steel in his hand gleamed like hunger. "Enough," he rasped.
Saira turned, knife shaking in her grip. Blood ran hot down her leg, breath rattling in her chest.
"You've already lost," she spat, voice cracking. "And you've already bled," he returned, stepping closer. "One more cut won't matter."
---
Raian burst through a splintered door, heart hammering pain into every vein. His gaze swept the ruin — broken crates, blood on stone, shadows moving at the far wall.
Then he saw her.
Aria's body slumped between the boys, blood dark on her dress, hair clinging damp to pale skin. For a heartbeat, the world stopped — the ruin fell silent except for his pulse roaring in his ears.
Alive. Relief buckled his knees, but rage caught him, forced him forward.
---
Malik's captain raised his blade to strike Saira down. But in that breath, Raian's voice cracked through the ruin.
"Touch her," he rasped, voice hoarse with blood and fury, "and your bones will feed the crows."
The captain turned, eyes narrowing at the sight of Raian — broken, breathless, but alive and burning with a killer's resolve.
"You're too late," he sneered. "She's already dying."
Raian's gaze flicked to Aria, limp in the boys' arms, then back to the man who stood between him and salvation.
"No," he rasped, stepping forward. "Not today."
---
Pain bent his spine, but rage straightened it again. Chain wrapped around his forearm, blade slick with another man's blood.
The captain smirked, blade raised. "You won't make it two steps."
Raian lunged.
Steel clashed — fire and pain exploded in his side. The captain was faster, blade scoring deep along Raian's ribs.
Raian staggered, breath torn ragged. But he didn't stop.
His knife found flesh — shallow, but enough to draw blood. The captain snarled, twisting to break the grapple.
---
By the river's edge, the boys reached a half-rotted boat tied to cracked stone. Water lapped at its sides, dark and cold.
"Lift her in!" one gasped, voice raw with terror.
Aria's head lolled, eyes flickering open for a heartbeat. Raian? she tried to say, but no sound came.
---
Back in the ruin, Raian caught the captain's wrist, chain digging deep. His other hand drove the knife forward.
The blade sank home — deep, final. Shock widened the captain's gaze; breath fled his lungs in a wet gasp.
Raian's voice was low, shaking. "You shouldn't have touched her."
He wrenched the blade free. The captain crumpled, steel clattering to stone.
---
Breathless, blood running hot down his side, Raian turned toward the river. Aria. Only that name filled the wreckage of his thoughts.
Outside, dawn caught her hair in pale gold. Even bleeding, she was the brightest thing his broken world had left.
He stumbled across broken tiles, ribs screaming, vision tunneling. Every heartbeat a question: Too late? Too late?
---
By the river, the boys had lifted Aria into the boat. Saira limped after them, hand pressed to her bleeding side.
Then Raian's shadow fell over them. One boy spun, knife raised, but froze at the sight of those grey eyes.
"Help her," Raian rasped, voice raw, "before she stops breathing."
---
He dropped into the boat, knees hitting wet wood. Hands shaking, he tore away soaked bandages, pressed trembling fingers to the wound.
"Stay with me, Aria," he whispered, voice cracking. "Don't you dare go where I can't follow."
Her eyelids fluttered. "Raian…" she breathed, voice so faint he might've dreamed it.
"I'm here," he rasped, tears salt on his lips. "I'm here."
---
At the riverbank, Malik's last men hesitated, fear chilling them. The captain lay dead. Saira's blade still dripped blood.
"Push!" she snarled at the boys, breath ragged.
They shoved the boat away from stone, water closing cold around splintered wood.
Raian held Aria close, pressing cloth to her side, breath shaking between rage and prayer.
"Stay," he begged. "Stay."
---
Teaser for Episode 61:
As the boat drifts toward uncertain refuge, Aria's life hangs by a thread — and Raian faces the unthinkable: what if love isn't enough to save her?