Page 37 of The Arcane God

Ty had just enough mental fortitude to reach for the knife at his belt as he emerged, but as he looked down at his side, he noticed his fingers were blackened and numb and wouldn’t grasp the hilt.

The woman leaned over him, and he got his eyes open enough to see her—but he couldn’t see much. She was covered in furs from head to toe, the only part of her visible was her eyes, which were strikingly unique. One of them was light green, and the other a dark black—darker even than Steig’s eyes.

He tried to flinch as she reached out to touch his skin, but he couldn’t move that fast. Her fingers made contact with his bare cheek, and she immediately tsked.

“You are nearly frozen to death,” she said with disdain, as if it were shameful that he’d gotten so cold.

The way she spoke was strange too. Ty could understand her, but some of the words sounded different. Was that the cold getting to him?

The woman disappeared from his view, doing Iblis only knew what, and Ty tried to force his sluggish brain to take stock of himself. He couldn’t hold his knife to defend himself. Could he stand? Could he fight if he needed to? He could probably still muster enough mental concentration to use his Power if he needed an advantage, but—

The woman reappeared with a bundle of sticks under her arm, then proceeded to clear the space at the base of the fallen tree of snow and pile them strategically.

Was she starting a fire for him?

Maybe she didn’t mean harm then. Maybe…

Ty felt himself start to drift off again, until he felt a sharp slap on his face.

“No, no, no,” the woman said. “No more of that. You need to stay conscious.”

The slap made him angry, which raised his blood pressure slightly and did the trick. He felt his brain stutter to life once more as he rolled over slowly on his side towards the fire the woman was building.

The woman struck a piece of flint a few times and a fire blazed to life on the sticks and pine needles she’d gathered. Then she turned towards him and put her arm underneath his side, lifting him into a sitting position and dragging him under his arms to the base of the tree, which she propped him up against.

His collarbone screamed at him, but he didn’t fight her at all. The fire was warm in front of him, and the snow that was still on him began to melt immediately. He focused on staying awake, like she’d said, as she continued to feed it and build it up. The longer he sat by the fire, the more his brain started to work again, and he realized who this woman must have been…

She must have been one of the Omnis worshippers they’d been looking for.

They.

Ena and Turner.

Iblis! The thought came to him so sharply, like waking up from a dream and having reality crash back into you.

He’d fallen into the river when the log had hit him. They’d been safe on the bank, but where were they now? Were they still safe? Had they gone after him?

His mind was frantic all of a sudden as the reality of his situation sunk in.

“There you are,” the woman said tauntingly.

Ty looked up to find her strange gaze assessing him.

“Your mind is working again, no?”

Ty didn’t respond. She suddenly seemed more hostile than she had a few minutes ago, and he found himself assessing her too.

“I’ll take that scowl as a yes,” she said with a smile in her voice. “Which means you are aware enough to tell me…who are you?”

Who was he? He had the very same question for her, and several follow-ups, because if she had found him, did that mean that others had found, or might find, Ena and Turner? Would they be hostile to them? He wasn’t there to protect Ena and the baby if there were any violent misunderstandings.

He had to get back to them—now.

Ty tried to move, but his body still felt heavy and exhausted—though not quite as lead-filled as it had a few minutes ago—and when he went to move his arm, he let out an involuntary grunt of pain at the feel of his collarbone, which was no doubt broken.

The woman eyed him, clearly noticing his discomfort. “You will not be well enough to run or fight for many hours, maybe even days yet, so none of that,” she said, gesturing at his pitiful attempt to move. “Just tell me who you are.”

Ty sighed, realizing that his go-to tactic of physical force was not going to protect him right now, so he’d have to try another: reason.