Kasien stumbled through the battlefield, his feet dragging in the dirt as he walked past the corpses of fallen soldiers. The air smelled of ash and blood, the stench of war thick in his lungs. His mind was foggy, clouded with the remnants of his magic. His hands shook at his sides, his body weary beyond measure, but his heart was the heaviest of all. He had just used his powers again, just healed an entire unit of soldiers who had been cut down in the ambush, and yet the relief he once felt from using his magic had evaporated.
The silence of the battlefield felt suffocating. All he could hear was the ringing in his ears, the buzzing noise that came whenever he overused his abilities. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. He didn't know if he had the strength to keep standing, let alone continue to heal and fight.
"Lord Kasien!"
The voice pulled him from his stupor. He turned slowly, the familiar face of Elara standing before him. She was covered in blood, as most of the soldiers were, her armor scuffed from the fighting. But it was her eyes—filled with concern, but also a kind of pleading—that caught his attention. She knew. She always knew. She could see it.
"Please, Kasien," she said gently, taking a step closer. "You've given enough. Let someone else take over for a while."
Kasien's eyes flickered to the battlefield around him. The soldiers were still recovering, some of them getting back on their feet, others still too injured to move. His magic had already saved them—at least, for now. But his body felt like it was being crushed under the weight of all their expectations. He was the healer, the one who fixed everything. But what happened when there was nothing left of him to give?
"I can't," Kasien said, his voice hoarse. "I can't stop. If I stop… people will die."
"I know," Elara said softly, her hand reaching out to him. "But you can't keep going like this. You're falling apart, Kasien. You're not okay. You need rest. You need—"
"I don't need rest!" Kasien snapped, his voice rising in frustration, his breath coming in sharp, shallow gasps. He grabbed her wrist before she could touch him, his grip tightening around her arm. "I don't need rest. They need me, Elara. They need me. They can't afford to lose me."
She looked at him, hurt flashing across her face, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she gently placed her other hand over his. "Kasien… You're not a machine. You're human. You can't keep sacrificing yourself like this."
Kasien's breath hitched, his pulse quickening. He knew she was right, but the fear, the desperation, gripped him tighter than any of his powers ever had. What if he let them down? What if, this time, his weakness cost them everything?
"I can't stop. I'm the only one who can save them," he said, his voice small, almost pleading, as if he were trying to convince himself more than her.
Elara's eyes softened with pity. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to ground him, but Kasien couldn't feel the comfort. All he could feel was the emptiness inside him, the gaping hole that had only grown wider with every use of his powers.
"I understand, Kasien," Elara said quietly. "But even you have limits. You're not a god. You can't keep doing this to yourself."
Kasien let out a strained laugh, a hollow sound that echoed across the battlefield. "Maybe I'm not a god. But if I stop, they die. If I stop… I'll be the one to blame."
He could feel the weight of that responsibility crushing him. He had done this for so long, this endless cycle of healing, saving, fixing. But each time he used his magic, it cost him. And now… now it was starting to cost him more than he could give.
The battlefield was too quiet now. The sounds of war were distant, muffled by the screaming silence in his mind. His magic—his power—was all-consuming. And each time he used it, it was as if he were ripping pieces of himself away, shredding his soul with every life he saved, with every battle he won.
Kasien dropped his head into his hands, his body trembling. He wanted to scream, but the words wouldn't come. He didn't want to be this broken person. He didn't want to keep going like this, using people's lives to fill the emptiness in his heart.
"Kasien…" Elara's voice was soft now, filled with understanding. She reached out again, touching his arm gently, but this time, he didn't pull away.
"I don't want to keep hurting," Kasien whispered, his voice barely audible. His eyes were glassy with exhaustion, his gaze far away. "I'm afraid… I'm afraid of what I'll become if I keep using this power. But I can't stop. I can't."
Elara didn't say anything for a moment, but her eyes were filled with a kind of sadness that made Kasien feel like he was drowning. He had no one to turn to, no one who understood the weight he carried.
He couldn't let go of his magic. He couldn't let go of the people who needed him. But the harder he clung to it, the more it consumed him.
"We'll help you," Elara finally said, her voice steady but filled with concern. "You don't have to carry it alone."
Kasien shook his head, feeling the urge to cry building in his chest. Help? Who could help him now? Who could understand what it was like to be broken by something so powerful?
"I don't think anyone can help me," he whispered.
As if to prove his point, the sound of battle broke the moment, a loud cry from the east wall. Kasien's head snapped up. The chaos, the bloodshed, the constant need for his magic—it was all waiting for him.
Before Elara could say another word, Kasien was already moving, his mind detached from the world as the power surged within him once more. His body was exhausted. His mind was shattered. But the power—the magic—it wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop it.
His fingers trembled, but his hands were steady as he raised them, a flare of energy crackling from his palms. He didn't even think, didn't have to—he had become too familiar with the feeling of this power to question it anymore. It exploded outward, healing the wounded, crushing the enemy, and the battlefield fell silent once again.
But inside, Kasien was numb.
He had saved them. But at what cost?