
David's legs ached with running, his stomach cramped with hunger, and his head pounded with dehydration, but he absolutely and completely refused to stop. Not after he had finally gotten so far away.
In the beginning, running hadn't seemed like an option, later it had seemed like the most impossible and dream filled option. Now, it was the dirty, painful reality of having managed to get almost a hundred miles away only to die of hunger in a stupid, tree filled valley he would never get away from.
Death was still better. Because in this death was a little victory of having chosen it. And if that was all he got to choose in his short life, at least it was also the only thing that wouldn't be taken.
Shivering, he stopped, leaning against one of the endless trees, legs quivering as they tried to collapse under him. After only a few seconds, he shoved off again. He knew, deep down in his core knew, that if he stopped to long, he'd never start again. And despite the victory of choosing his own death, he also wasn't going to just lie down and meet it. If this escapade of his proved anything, he was a damned better fighter than either of them had given him credit for.
He must be delirious - the only rational part of his mind noted - because he was starting to contradict himself, even in his inner monologue. And since when did he have a...
The world began to fade in and out. For the longest moment he stared blankly at the castle that had appeared in front of him.
...Where had that come from?