Caelynn
Black mist clings toTyadin and Rev until they are all but invisible, even to me. I smile at their expressions as they disappear into darkness, open mouths and angry eyes.
And then I sprint through the stone archway before they can argue.
The world around me lightens, the wind blows against my skin softly and I blink in this entirely different world. Well, not literally, but it feels like a different world. The Whisperwood is something special indeed.
My heart aches at the absence of the darkness of my homeland, and for the first time, I wonder if this is a mistake.
I clench my jaw and run forward. I’ve already made the choice, I’m going to follow through.
A few minutes later, I turn the corner and see her. She’s slumped against a tree, holding her thigh tightly. Her dark hair falls over her face, covering her dimmed eyes.
I approach slowly. Her head snaps in my direction, and I stop, hands up. Her eyes are wide and wild.
“Come to finish the job?” she says, her voice hoarse, her face pale.
“Drake isn’t coming back for you. He’s moving on without you,” I say.
She blinks, pain clear in her eyes, but her expression betrays no other emotion. “Unsurprising.”
I take a few more steps forward and then kneel in front of her.
“What are you doing?” she says, jerking away from my approaching fingers.
“Helping.”
“No,” she says firmly. “Why?”
“If you don’t complete the challenge by sundown you’ll be taken out of the competition. They’ll come for you. But at this rate, you’ll bleed out before that time.”
A strange noise reverberates from her throat. Panic? Confusion? Shock?
“I can stop the blood loss enough that you can survive this.”
Kari presses her eyes closed. “I don’t understand.”
I rip off a full strip of her pants to gain access to the wound at the inside of her leg. She doesn’t stop me.
“I don’t need any more death on my conscience.”
She opens her eyes and studies me quietly as I work, but she asks no more questions.
I wrap the cloth around her thigh above the wound and tie it tightly. Bright red drips over my fingers. I drip three droplets of a healing potion onto to the open wound.
Lastly, I hand her my water container. She stares at it for a long moment before closing shaking fingers around the bottle and bringing it to her lips.
“It’ll be a very long night,” I tell her. “But you should live.”
She licks her pale lips and nods, her eyes closed again. “Thank you,” she says as I stand and walk away.
“He’s going to kill you, you know?” she says to my back.
I stop.
“Rev,” she clarifies. “I know him. He’s smart, so he’ll take your aid while he needs it, but it won’t stop his thirst for vengeance. It’s the only thing he’s ever really wanted.”
I swallow without turning toward her, but I nod just the same. “It would be a fitting death,” I admit before continuing my march.
