Tears for Mercy

by daOtterGuy

Determination

“We’ve done nothing wrong,” a soothing voice said.

“I’m a monster,” Meadowbrook whispered, tears rolling down her face, her body shaking from what she’d done. “I can never come back from this.”

“We’re saviours,” the voice said, they’re words sugary sweet. “You’ve done the right thing.”

“No, that is not what I am,” Meadowbrook hissed. “I’ve killed her. I’m a murderer.”

“We have not killed her, merely released her from her horrible fate.”

“I still had more time. There was still hope that—”

“There was no hope for a cure. It doesn’t exist,” the voice interrupted. “While we searched futilely for a remedy that could never be made, she would have suffered, for days, in agony.” The voice softened. “This way, she slips peacefully into the end, never to feel pain again.”

“... That still leaves the rest of the village. I needed a cure to save them. With her gone—”

“We do not need to discover a cure, for we already have it.”

Meadowbrook became enveloped by the voice’s presence. A shadowed figure within a cloak of woven reeds. Pale blue eyes stared out from a skeletal face. Blue flowers bloomed about its head like a crown. Its jaw opened, half of its snout gone.

“There is only one way to save them,” Somnus explained. “We know what to do, how to free them from their pain.”

“But how could I—”

“Do not overthink this. Simplify. What is more kind? To let them languish in pain as they slowly inch toward their death—” He leaned in close, his eyes boring into hers “—Or to let them drift peacefully off to sleep, never to feel pain again.”

Thoughts raced through Meadowbrook’s head. Hesitation. Self-loathing. Heartache. Soon they ebbed away, leaving only cold determination. She stared back at Somnus, her face set.

“I will save them,” Meadowbrook declared.