“Oh, just get it over with.” He snaps off the end of the arrow and begins to push it further into him.
“What are you doing?” I shout.
“I need you to pull it out.” He turns his back to me, and I see the pointed tip sticking further out. “Just do it, Reign,” he orders in a low growl that has me thinking he’s in more pain than he’s leading on.
I wrap my hand around the arrow’s body, slick with his onyx blood, and pull. He exhales a deep grunt and slumps against the nearest tree. I drop to my knees and immediately start unbuttoning his jacket, but he puts his hand on top of mine to stop me.
“Let me look,” I demand in a tone I know he won’t argue with. He reluctantly lets go of my hand and leans his head against the tree.
After everything that had just transpired a few minutes ago, undressing him, even to look at the wound, feels charged with sexual tension. When I lift up his shirt, I have to try to stop myself from blushing. Instead, I focus all my attention on the arrow’s entrance point. Without the arrow, the point of entry is being hidden by the blood seeping from the wound. It would be hard enough to see with normal blood, but his is thick and inky and in the dead of night it’s impossible for me to see the damage.
Suddenly, I remember I had packed some gauze and begin sifting through the pack. I hear the ground crunch behind me and instinctively throw up my fiery shield, preparing for more arrows.
To my surprise, I see the Crux standing several yards away, its slender body made of twisted tree roots and branches just as I remember. The heat from my shield seems to scare it and it slowly backs away.
“No, wait!” I shoot up, releasing the hold on my shield. “Please, don’t go.”
The mysterious creature stops but doesn’t come any closer. Ryder moans behind me and when I turn back to look at him, he somehow looks worse than he did a second ago.
He’s losing too much blood.
I find the gauze and press it to the wound, trying to slow the bleeding. I’ve been able to cauterize before, but this wound is different. It’s all the way through and I’m not experienced enough to know what to do. I glance back to the Crux, but it’s already gone and so is our opportunity to create an alliance.
I can’t worry about that right now, though. Ryder needs help.
“Can you vaporate? We need to get you back.” He’s barely able to hold his head up and I can tell I’m losing him. “Just hold on, okay?”
Panic begins to crawl its way to the surface. If I don’t do something soon, he’ll die. I could try cauterizing but that doesn’t feel like the right move. Maybe it’ll at least buy him more time, though.
Just as the heat begins to prickle in my finger, I hear movement behind me. When I whirl around this time, the Crux isn’t alone.
Is this an ambush?
I unsheathe two daggers from my torso. Ryder would tell me to attack first, but something inside of me is screaming at me not to. The Crux lifts its twisted arm and the white, angelic-looking creature next to it begins to cautiously approach.It moves to the right, attempting to look at Ryder and that’s when it clicks.
“Can you help him?”
It nods. I sheathe one of the daggers but keep the other one out just in case. When I shift to crouch next to Ryder, the creature that must be at least six feet tall kneels down. The hand it reaches out with begins to fuse into a stream of white light.
“Wait!”
The creature snaps its hand back to its previous form and looks at me. I’m so focused on what’s happening, I didn’t notice the Crux had come closer. It reaches out its three long fingers and touches my shoulder. The gesture is gentle and reassuring as if to tell me everything is going to be okay. I decide to trust my instincts and motion for the other to continue.
As it fuses its hand again, it reminds me of the tail that formed when I had redirected the ball of dragon fire back to the sun. The glowing white light fills the hole where the arrow went in. Ryder lets out a relieved breath and my shoulders instantly relax at the sound.
I stay next to him, stroking his hair as the strange creature heals him. I don’t know what I would do if I lost him. Somehow, he’s become so much a part of my life. A part of me.
When he opens his eyes, my heart feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest. The glow fades and the creature is quick to back away when Ryder straightens against the tree.
“Thank you,” I say to both of them.
“Wait” Ryder grunts. The two stop walking and stare at us from a distance. “We have an offer.”
They look to one another, and I stand up, drawing their attention.
“We know King Cimmerian has offered you freedom to fight for him, but he is not a man of his word.” I take a few steps closer and am pleasantly surprised when they don’t retreat. “We want you to fight with us. We want you to help us stop him from hurting anyone else. If you join our cause, we promise to let you live in peace.Real peace.Not the kind he pretends to offer.”
The Crux turns to the one who healed Ryder. However it is they communicate with one another, it’s not something I’m able to translate or even hear for that matter. Whatever was said between them has the angelic one floating away deeper into the forest.
