Submitted by Char on Wed, 05/05/2010 - 11:25pm

COMING THIS FRIDAY TO A WEB SERIAL NEAR YOU.

As in, right here on this page.

Yep, I'm out of ideas for lead-ins.

* * *
Patrick
* * *

There's some part of myself that's mocking me for standing here like a coward. I wonder if that's the lingering remnants of Cade... and then I stop getting to wonder, because then the whip comes down, and I'm in a world without thought, but full of pain. That whip is all the malice and agony that Cade accepted as a necessary and normal part of day-to-day life, that he just wore like a comfortable coat instead of even feeling it. It kept him warm. To me, it just burns.

As terrible as it all is, it doesn't last as long as I expect. Maybe it takes less for a man to die than I remember. There's just this odd report, like a very calculated explosion - then the pain ceases.

My vision takes a few moments to uncloud, which is as long as it takes for me to realize that I can see, and that means I'm probably not dead.

The Peacock King clutches his hand - it's bleeding as if it's been bitten. One of Gerald's guns is smoking. The other is aimed at the King, ready to take him down should he make another move.

He saved me.

* * *

Let's hope my braindeadedness doesn't last until Friday, or this chapter's going to be called Chapter 44 - It Has Words (and Stuff).