Sacrifice

© SACRIFICE by DELAFOI

The skinny Walker stopped. A few yards further down his path stood the voice he had been searching for all this time. An ancient idea had driven him, and an old map he kept in a jar had led the way. And even though the dry and dusty trails of the highlands had failed in giving him any signs or warnings, he smiled at the sight of not being alone.

Their eyes met, and the skinny Walker stumbled across his words in a low voice. "I'd do anything to hear you speak. If even just the most fragile of words. Anything." The Thin Wild Duke didn't answer at first. The mid-day sun cut through the clear blue sky with its bright grin, and the Duke's eyes wandered slowly across the worn and skinny man who had, with either courage or folly, suddenly appeared in his path.

"Anything?" he said.
The Walker nodded.

"Yes. Anything."
The Thin Wild Duke raised his head slightly. His eyes glanced at the horizon.

"You've come a long way to see me," he said, "don't you think that is enough?" The skinny Walker smiled, "I'd walk a hundred times more if that's what you want?" The Thin Wild Duke looked at him in silence, and for a moment, the world was put on hold. His voice was firm.

"Your life," he said.
"My life?" The request caught the Walker off-guard, but the Thin Wild Duke didn't move nor hesitate.

"Yes. Give me your life, and I'll speak the words you need to hear."
"I'll be dead without it," said the Walker.

The Thin Wild Duke looked at him with the eyes of those who know. "Death is already upon you," he said, "I know you feel its breath in each step you take. Would you even be here if you were alive?"

The Walker took a small step back to find some ground for defense. "My life is all I've got. How could I give it away? I'd be lost without it."

"Those who come here are lost with it," said the Thin Wild Duke. "If it's all you've got, why do you hide it so well?"

"Who says I'm hiding it?"
The Thin Wild Duke was quick in his reply.

"It's the only thing you're telling me," he said, "In all the things you think you need, in all the answers you seek, in everything you surround yourself with, every day you're hiding life."

The Walker's voice changed. Was this all a mistake? Hadn't he come all this way to get answers, not questions?

"And death is the most suitable punishment?" he asked.
"It's the only possible outcome," said the Thin Wild Duke, "You've done nothing real in life until you've truly died. Let death pass through you to no longer stand in your way."

“You’ve done nothing real in life until you’ve truly died. Let death pass through you to no longer stand in your way.”

The Walker stood quiet for a moment. He tried to look at the Duke, but his eyes flickered. "I don't know how?" he said.

"Your life and everything that comes with it. All those things you believe define you, your sorrows, and your shame. All of it is a short life feeding a long death."

The Thin Wild Duke paused. He took a step forward and pointed at the dusty path between them. "Here. Die with me for just a second," he said, "Give me everything, and I'll give you anything in return."

The skinny Walker could no longer speak. The mid-day sun burned his tears into salty white scars as he heard the final words from the Thin Wild Duke.

"Death is short, and life is long," said the Duke, "All that exists is what you're willing to sacrifice on your way to resurrection."

“All that exists is what you’re willing to sacrifice on your way to resurrection.”