Seizing the mantle

‘Kadar’s dead, yet I’m still here,’ Malik heard himself say, detached and thin. ‘I…I couldn’t save him, and yet I live. As do you.’The ‘It should’ve been you to die that day’ hung unsaid between them, but its presence loomed over them both larger than life.Nobody’s head had sunken even lower as his hood’s shadow hid him from view, but Malik was able to read defeat in every line of his body at the very same time.‘I have a task to fulfill,’ the other mumbled into the tense silence. ‘Once I’ve achieved it, my life is yours to end.’