Curse Breaker (2)

35

Three thousand six hundred and nine.

Time passes at a crawling pace.

Killian's limp body lies at my feet. In the darkness of the night, his face is difficult to make out. Still, I've spent what feels like hours studying his features. His warmth, even in the unconscious state, radiates from his skin. Every so often, doubts seep into my mind. Had I hit him too hard? Has the cloud done something else to take him?

Chest rising and falling at a consistent rate, I occasionally press my fingers to where his jaw meets his neck, comforted by the steady pulse.

Three thousand six hundred and fifty four.

Killian is my only comfort in the cloud, the only thing keeping me from feeling entirely alone. It's just me, Killian, the distant screams of my loved ones and a voice, however small, in the back of my mind. High-pitched and childlike. Samu's voice with one simple reminder that keeps me sane.

It's not real.

At 4802 seconds, the screams subside. At 5000, the first sounds settle in. The stream trickles outside, a gentle breeze picks up, and then--voices. I stay frozen in the tent as Casimir's low voice carries through the material, calling my name. I can't be sure whether it's a trick of the cloud or if it's real.

Only when the sheet brushes aside do I allow myself to take a breath. Lei ducks her head in, eyes narrowing in on Killian slumped on the floor.

"Lei?" I breathe a sigh of relief, my voice shaking. "Is that really you?"

A deep cut slashes across her cheek, her hair tangled with mud. "What happened?" she demands. "Is he--"

"He's okay, I-I knocked him out. The cloud was... it was...here."

"You knocked him out?" She leans back on the balls of her feet, raising an eyebrow. "Impressive."

I blink at her, still shaken by the cloud. "Is Casimir--"

At my question, Lei's shoved aside, Casimir taking her place. "Hey," he says, surveying the tent. "You guys okay?"

I nod numbly, taking the hand he offers me to clamber out with a quick glance at Killian's slumped form. It's still dark outside, but the sky is clearer than it was when we pitched the tent, the moon reflecting on the surface of the stream.

Juem and Lei wait outside, Juem rifling through his bag. I survey the three of them, the relief coursing through my veins almost overwhelming. While I waited, I didn't let myself think about them. I couldn't. Because the one time I did, it invited the screams in. Their screams. And those were harder to convince myself they were false.

But on their appearance, it seems that what Killian and I faced may have been less dangerous than them. Wounds litter their bodies, blood marking their clothes. Lei's cut still oozes with fresh blood.

"We need to keep moving. We've lost two hours, at least. And one of the horses."

"Killian is still unconscious," I say.

Juem rises to his feet with a root from his back. He moves to the tent. "I'll wake him up."

I turn back to Lei. "What happened? Did you get stuck in the cloud, too?"

She shakes her head. "The cloud only rolled through the valley. We saw it coming, but it was too late to warn you. But don't worry, we had challenges of our own."

Before she can explain, a groan echoes from inside the tent. Then low, murmured voices as the material ruffles and the both of them crawl out, Killian's movements much more labored. He squeezes his eyes, rubbing a hand down the length of his face as he shoves to his feet.