Role

Chapter 19

"There is something we have to talk about."

The large green and brown spotted dog stared dutifully at her Mistress,
thoughts swirling. She was a smart cooshee, of course. She had sensed what
came next long before the moment ever arrived. She had a good nose and an
even keener sense of spirit. The decay was there, but it was different.
Before the words ever broke the silence, Aurew knew this would be the last
walk Drissa ever took her on.

"Must you be in form?"

With great reluctance, Aurew reverted to her two-legged elven form.

"It is how I am most comfortable. It is where I retreat to when I am afraid."

And she was afraid. Terrified. The day had come.

"I know, and this won't be a comfortable conversation. But some are like
that." She continued to speak as they stepped through the vale. "I've been
feeling something pulling me away for a while now. I should have probably
gone before this rough stretch, but I wanted to resist it."

On and on and on, she spoke. "I know you'll carry on, when I'm gone" and
"I'll be with you, always. You'll be strong." Supportive things that Aurew
could not fathom in the moment. All she could see was her world crumbling
all around. She wanted to scream, to beg her not to go. Her work was not
over. The Fortress needed her. Aurew needed her. But like so many centuries
before, Aurew had learned that sometimes you must let them go. It would hurt
like hell, and that ache would never truly go away, but she could not deny
Drissa that right. Drissa would be okay. Mourning was the mantle of the
living.

When words finally came to Aurew, they were not enough. They felt empty as
place where her heart had been, shattered into a thousand pieces that would
never be restored to its original shape, size or strength.

"I do not know what I would have been without you. What I will be without
you." Aurew paused, then, "You are the heart that beats. I am not ready for
it to stop."

"I know. There will be other hearts, although perhaps none the same. We both
knew it would end some day, my friend. Don't let it break you."

Aurew struggled to hold herself together. "I have stood by you like no other,
loved you like no other, befriended you like no other. I do not know if it
will break me, but I will certainly be lost."

"You know I feel the same way about you." Drissa sighed. "I could not leave
without seeing you one last time, if this is to be the last."