AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Krista begins sobbing uncontrollably next to me, holding her stomach.
“Krista, you have to stay calm. You could hurt your babies.”
“My babies could grow up without their father!” she wails.
“No, no, they will. Lasta is probably on his way here right now. Breathe, Krista. Breathe.”
Aurora crawls into the bed and hugs Krista into her chest, rocking her back and forth. I can’t imagine if I were pregnant during this. If I were Krista, I would’ve been a mess from the moment they left.
Suddenly, Aurora sits straight up, shock in her eyes. I follow her stare to the entrance of her room, where Zalith stands. He looks grim, and there’s blood and dirt all over his body.
Aurora chokes back a sob, jumping up and running towards him. He picks her up and holds her close.
Slyth walks in right behind him, immediately heading towards Lorelai who’s still sitting in the window seat, looking dead in the eyes… until she sees him. Then the tears come. Slyth picks her up and they kiss, so intensely that I have to look away.
When no one else comes through the door, me and Krista look at each other. Her face crumples, and tears begin effortlessly streaming down my own face. We hug each other, staring towards the door.
“Where are they?” Krista shrieks.
Zalith looks over at us, confusion on his face. He looks back at the door and opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, two naga men walk in.
It’s Lasta and Selliss. They look at each other and nod, Lasta patting him on the back. When Lasta notices me and Krista, he runs over, immediately pulling Krista towards him.
“Is everything okay? Are the babies okay?” he questions.
She sobs into his neck, nodding.
I slowly look back to Selliss, who’s leaning against the door jamb. He smirks at me like the prick he is, and I climb out of bed, walking over to him.
“Miss me?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
I punch him as hard as I can in his arm, which admittedly is not very hard.
“Shut up. You’re an asshole. I was worried about you all night. You have no idea what it’s been like waiting for you to come back.”
At this point, I break down in tears. All the emotions I’ve felt for the past twelve hours rush into me at once.
“I thought you died… I thought you died, and I was going to be all alone. I thought I killed you!” I sob.
He pulls me into his chest, laying his head on top of mine.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have joked. I was just trying to lighten the mood. But I’m fine, and I barely have any injuries.”
“You’re injured? Where? Are they bad?”
“No, no. Nothing serious at all. Just need a few bandages and a good night’s rest, that’s all. None of us were badly hurt, thankfully. We were really lucky.”
“So what happened?” I hear Aurora ask Zalith.
I turn around to hear his answer, and it seems like I’m not the only one who’s curious. Lorelai and Krista look at him, too, awaiting his response.
“It was bad. Really bad. When we first got there, it was impossible to get everyone to settle down. Kriseri’s men were setting fire to everything, and some Lodrian men started joining them. They definitely took a few supporters with them. But we finally drove them out of there and killed quite a few of them along the way.”
“How many casualties?” Rory asks.
Zalith looks at the ground, shaking his head.
“Way too many. They started killing the naga men who didn’t agree with them. A lot of women lost their mates. It’s terrible. We have a lot of work to do in rebuilding that town.”
