Everglade: The Underaged

Chapter 17

Ailwin dodged the Underaged just in time. The Underaged whirled around and lunged again with another scream, this time at Luke. Luke dodged out of the way. The Underaged screamed and dived at Isabella. Luke got in the way. He gasped as the knife sank deep into his stomach. Ailwin tackled the Underaged to the ground. He wrestled with him for a minute before the Underaged fell still. Luke put his hands on the knife hilt sticking out of him. He groaned. His clothes got quickly soaked with blood. It was warm and sticky. Luke felt himself fall sideways. Ailwin came over to him.

"Luke!" he saw the knife. "Oh no." Luke screamed as the knife was pulled out. "Sorry." Ailwin pulled a cloth from a bag and pressed it against the wound. Luke groaned softly. Ailwin tore his shirt open.

"How bad is it?" Luke asked weakly. He groaned again.

"It's pretty serious."

"How deep is it?"

"Deep enough to scar." Luke groaned again. It hurt badly, but his body felt numb. He coughed and tasted blood.

I'm dying. He realized. I can't die. Eclipse came over to him.

Okay? She asked.

No, I'm dying. Luke told her. Eclipse put her head near his wound. She purred, then began to lick it. Luke felt the strength slowly return to his limbs. He lifted his head. The wound was closed up, it was just a pink line. He looked at Eclipse.

You saved me. He said.

You... needed. Do good things. She replied. Rest. Luke felt his eyes slowly slide shut. He fell asleep.

Luke woke up abruptly with a snort. He looked around. He was still in the clearing that had been their rondevu point. His wound felt much better. He lifted up his head and looked at it. It was still a pink line. It didn't hurt as much. It wasn't fully healed yet, he knew. Eclipse had only healed it part of the way so it wouldn't kill him. His ruined shirt was still on him. He pulled it off. It wouldn't be of much use to him torn up and stained with blood. Luke looked around a bit more. No one was around except the Underaged. Eclipse walked into the clearing with Ailwin and Althalos by her side.

"Hey, where is everyone?" Luke asked.

"Isabella and Estrilda are gathering more firewood, Korman is scouting."

"Korman? He said he didn't know how to fight!" Luke tried to stand up. The world swam before his eyes. He fell back to the ground. He tried to get back up, pain flared through the partially healed wound. He gasped and put a hand over the wound. It came away with blood. He laid back down on the ground with a groan. Ailwin came over.

"Now look at what you've done." He said in a scolding tone. He pressed a cloth against the wound. "You're going to kill yourself if you make this worse. If you keep opening it, it could go septic." Isabella and Estrilda came back.

"Did he rip it open?" Isabella asked. "He could die doing that."

"I told him that." Ailwin said.

"I'm fine!" Luke yelled. He sat up. Then laid back down with a groan of pain.

"Uh huh." said Isabella disbelievingly. Eclipse came over.

You important. She said,

No, I'm not. I'm a nobody who was adopted by a somebody. Luke told her.

You important. She insisted. Luke sighed. He was a nobody, but that Griffin had seen something in him. He didn't know what though. He thought back to the dream he'd had of his parents, for some reason, it was still clear in his mind. His father had said he was meant for greatness. He just wanted to live a normal life.