The Fox & The Crow

Chapter Twenty - Four

Leaves collect themselves between my feet as Edmund helps me through the dimly lit woods. A cold sweat breaks over my brow as my vision blurs in and out. I collapse, exhausted, against a tree, gripping my head, my heartbeat pulsing behind my eyes.

How hard did I hit the ground?

"We have to go," Edmund tries to slip my arm over his shoulder again, but I push him away, settling myself against a tree.

I can't speak. I can't tell him that I can't go any further; my tongue feels too heavy, and I only take another unsteady breath as I shake my head.

A deep and guttural cry echoes through the wood from about a hundred feet away. I close my eyes, silently willing for the strength to get up.

"Shit, shit, shit." Edmund runs his hands through his hair, and my head tilts forward as I watch him kneel before me. I squint as his dark eyes come into focus, but the frantic movement they make as he takes in my state leaves me dizzier than before.

Edmund makes a miserable attempt at comforting me, but his touch isn't soothing. He's irritated. Beyond irritated, he's furious that he's lost in Narnia's endless woods with me. I can't stand. I can't see straight. Hell, I can't even talk. I can see it in his eyes as he covers his mouth, this disdain that has already taken root and grows every moment we're near one another. Everything about that look silences all other thoughts and picks away at me. He's a thorn in my side. The last thing I want is him seeing me like this. Heaven knows he'll hold it against me.

"Please, just leave me alone," I rasp.

"What?"

"Leave!" I say louder, meeting my eyes to his before I clutch my head with both hands. I'm hungry, tired, and my head hurts beyond belief.

"Are you actually stupid?" My eyes shoot up to his. He arches an eyebrow, hinting that it wasn't a rhetorical question.

"I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and hope that, for your sake, you didn't just say that." I grit my teeth, pushing back the pain of my headache.

"Oh, I said it," Edmund stands up, still holding eye contact. "Are...you...actually...stupid."

I lean against the tree for support as I stand, forgetting my dizziness.

"Look around us, Edmund. The general is gone, our horses are likely dead, we barely got out of the marsh alive, and we have no idea where we are. Call me stupid, but I'd rather be alone than have to deal with you on top of all that."

His eyes narrow, but he doesn't move.

"And are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Dealing with me?" He asks. "Because right now, it looks a hell of a lot like I'm dealing with you." I furrow my brow, my nose creasing with irritation.

"You shouldn't have swum up to me. It was your fault those things heard us in the marsh."

"Was it?" Edmund's voice is getting louder. He clasps his hands together and bends forward to keep eye contact with me. "And who sent us there? This insane trip to find some insane river elves to stop some insane witch was your idea. And all I'm trying to do right now is help, and you won't even let me do that."

I bite my tongue as a hot spell flashes through my body. Edmund takes my silence for compliance and reaches a hand toward my head, but I quickly seize it.

"Please tell me how you've helped before. I'll wait patiently." I hiss towards him, watching as his eyes narrow. He waits only a moment before twisting his arm out of my grip and stepping back.