Here it is guys! Hope y'all like it! Also, I got some grammar software and you have no idea how much better that has been...lol...so hopefully fewer mistakes! Crossing my fingers, it is free software so I don't know...lol....hopefully it's at least some of an improvement. As always feedback is welcome and needed, I like to know what you guys think good and bad, please! That being said, happy reading folks!

Kayti

Forsythe walked quickly, his strides long and purposeful. The sooner they got to the mine, the better. King Whitson had at least fifteen bucks with him, and they would greatly aid the labors in the mine. Forsythe wiped at his eyes as he sniffed. He couldn’t stop thinking about Kyter and how things might have been different if they had only listened to Kay Jack if he had only listened. He felt a hand laid on his shoulder and looked to see the king.

“Not much further, sir.” He said, trying to keep his voice steady.

“Are you okay, Forsythe? I have been thinking of Blackstar and didn’t even remember to ask if you were okay; for that, I am sorry. You said Kyter was your best friend, so are you okay?” King Whitson looked at him kindly.

Forsythe was stunned; the king carried about him. His father had told him that King Whitson was a nice buck, but he had never thought the king of Natalia would be asking if he was okay. “To be honest, no sir.” Forsythe looked down to hide the tears that welled to his eyes like water bursting from a spring. He couldn’t hold them back, not anymore. “I want to be brave, sir, like my father but…” Forsythe stumbled and leaned against a tree as King Whitson bent down in front of him. “But I’m worried about him, he’s so little. I should have taken better care of him. If I had, this wouldn’t have happened. He’s too little to die. He shouldn’t die. He can’t die!”

King Whitson laid his hands on Forsythe’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Tell me, Forsythe, when you say little, what do you mean? Little in height?”

“Age sir,” Forsythe wiped at his eyes. He then looked into the king’s calm, clear eyes. “He’s not much older than your daughter. I was supposed to take care of him; I promised Lord Blackstar I would. I failed him.” Forsythe shook with the sobs as the guilt broke over him like a wave. He felt like he was drowning under the weight of it; would he ever do anything right? He had let his best friend down. “He’s younger than me, but he’s always been my best friend, and now…”

Forsythe felt the king pull him into an embrace, and he leaned into it. Though he had never met the king, it did not feel awkward, for it was a strong, kind shoulder to cry on. The king rubbed the back of his head and shushed him quietly as he said, “There, there, it is alright. Everything will be fine, I’m sure.”

Forsythe wanted to believe the king, but why were those words so hard to believe? Maybe it was because everyone was saying them, and it felt as if everyone were trying to reassure each other when deep down, they all knew it might not be alright.

Kyter woke with a start as he heard scrabbling on the other side of the rock wall. Help! What a glorious thought. He moved a little, trying to get closer to the wall but immediately regretted it. Pain shot up his leg, climbing up his back and hitting him with such force he barely kept from screaming. Worse, it was worse. He had thought it could get no worse, but he had been wrong. He sucked in air and then started coughing.

The coughs burned his throat and rattled his lungs. He felt as though he couldn’t breathe, as if he would never get air back into his body. When it was over, he laid back exhausted and in pain, with black creeping along the edges of his vision and threatening to overwhelm him. But then he heard voices on the other side of the wall.

“I think we're almost through, not much longer, Blackstar.” The first voice said it wasn’t one he recognized.

He then heard a second voice. “These other bucks and I will keep moving rocks if you will go tell Gavin for us.” His father’s voice. It sounded weary and sad, and he so wanted to hug his father and tell him everything was going to be fine.

“But Fleck, you are so tired. Gavin said you haven’t left the mine since…well, you know. I think you should go get some rest, and when we break through…”

“No! I want to be the first thing he sees if he’s alive. I can’t go back to Raelyn, not without him. It would break her heart; I can’t leave him. You should know this, Whitson…” Kyter wondered why that name sounded familiar, and his mind searched for the answer. “…you didn’t leave the water when you were looking for Lander until they dragged you from it because you were about to drown.” Lander, Whitson, the king, and the prince! It hit him with such force he gasped the king was helping look for him. It was something he couldn’t fathom.

“Whitson, you looked for Lander until you couldn’t swim another second. So, I am going to look for Kyter until I cannot lift another rock, and then I am going to make myself keep lifting rocks. He is my son, and he is in here somewhere. I am going to find him. I don’t care if I have to tear the whole mountain down; I am going to find my son!” Kyter heard his father sob, and a fist slammed the rocks between them.

Such a small barrier, yet so much distance. He reached out and set his good hand against the rocks, imaging that his father’s fist was right on the other side. He held the mangled hand close to his chest as he tapped the rock three times.

“What was that?” King Whitson said. Kyter heard his father gasp. He wanted them to know he was alive and close.

“Probably falling rock,” a voice said, a miner.

Kyter hit the rock again. He would have called out, but his throat was so dry he could barely make any sound above a croak. So, he tapped the rock three times. Then he waited for a second and tapped it three more times. But his energy was waning. He hadn’t eaten in who knew how long, and his limbs felt heavy. He tried to knock again, but his hand fell short. No, please get me out.

He heard movement on the other side of the wall and then his father’s voice. “Hang in there, Kyter. We are going to get you out.”

Kyter smiled softly to himself as everything in the dim darkness around him began to fade. He didn’t want to fall asleep he wanted to be awake when his dad came for him. He moved, hoping to keep himself awake, even if it was by making himself hurt. The pain ripped up his leg, twisting his stomach and making him feel sick. It was intense and agonizing, and before he knew it, he had blacked out, as it became more than he could bear.