In Victory, We Are the Losers

by daOtterGuy

Tunnel

“You should turn back,” Nike said.

He ignored her, pushing onward. His skin scraped along the rock, causing a horrible tearing sound to echo through the tunnel. Blood trickled from his open wounds and onto the cave floor, leaving a splatter trail behind himself.

“This isn’t what you were told to do, remember?”

Guard the entrance. No one can pass. Memories buried under his desire to win at any cost began to surface. Memories eclipsed by his need to become stronger from Nike’s blessings. To live up to expectations. To not be weak anymore.

“What if someone enters the cave while you’re not there? You’ll have failed your purpose.”

His purpose. He needed one. He needed to be needed. He needed to know he wasn’t worthless. That he was a warrior. Like… like his father. He was told to watch the cave, but that had been… he didn’t know how long ago it had been. He knew he was doing something wrong, but he felt it was warranted to check on them.

“They’ll be mad that you left your post. That you couldn’t even do the most basic task. Healing rites take time. More time than the food you had stockpiled.”

Food. He hadn’t needed it anymore. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had ate something. Days? Weeks? He didn’t know. Only new enemies had marked the passage of time, and somewhere during that period he had stopped needing to consume.

“You should turn back.”

Rockhoof wanted to. The urge was so strong, to forget about his clan and perform the duty he was assigned, but the knight had awakened a dread in him. It ate away at his insides and he knew that if he let it be, it would consume him. He needed to know. He needed to know that he had purpose.

The tunnel opened up.

Rockhoof stopped.

“... I take it back.” There was no point to looking back; he could hear that Nike was grinning. “This is exactly what you needed to see.”