Curse of Ferreus

24 - Fire

All I know is agony. It claws at my shredded nerves and tears strangled gasps from my mouth. I lie there on the forest floor, writhing beneath the spearing weight of it, wishing for one final pain to finish me off. I'm not sure which is worse— the fire in my veins or the bolt in my side. Liliana is a good shot— she hasn't hit anything vital. No doubt she wants me to suffer a bit, and an untimely death isn't her goal.

So when a wolf comes slinking from the shadows of swaying bushes, I manage a little, breathless laugh. Of course it would end like this. I should've known.

It races over and whines, its ears folding back as it sniffs tentatively at the bolt sticking into my side. But it doesn't bite me. It just sniffs at my face and paws gently at my arm. I cringe away from it and hiss as the agonies flare.

And then the wolf throws its head back and howls a long, lonely, mournful melody. I flinch. It's calling for reinforcements and they're going to tear me apart.

The wolf whines and falls back, pacing back and forth with bristled fur. It's watching the bushes around us — not me — and I melt against the ground and hope I die from blood loss before its friends can get here.

There's a strange growling noise lurking beneath the persistent rustling and chirping and sighing sounds of the woods. It seems vaguely familiar, but I cannot lend any focus to it.

Get the bolt out and you'll heal. Leave it and you'll slowly bleed to death. At least you can get up and fight when it's gone.

Delusional with pain, I force my shaking fist to close around the shaft of the bolt stuck deep into my side. A cold sweat breaks out across my skin and the lichtenberg figures on my arms glow and pulse as though a fire lurks in their roots. With a sharp breath, I rip—

An excruciating pain slams through me, tearing a scream from my throat. A smothering darkness rolls over my sight and everything fades.

Only to come rushing back, bringing agony with it.

The wolf is back. It whines and takes my arm in its mouth. I can't feel it, but I fall still, frozen with terror. If it bites down, I'm gone. I'm dead. They're going to shoot me. They already have.

But it doesn't bite me. It hasn't even got my arm— only my sleeve— and it tugs my hand away from the bolt with a grumbling noise that sounds creepily close to an admonition. It didn't work. The bolt is stuck fast. There's so much blood.

A strangled sob rushes past my lips as I gaze up at the melting whirlpool of the tree canopy. The wolf sniffs at my face, its wet nose brushing against my cheek. I haven't got the energy to push it away.

The ground beneath me trembles in tune to that growling noise, louder than before. Maybe it's a whole pack coming to kill me, their paws thundering against the dirt.

With a yip, the wolf bounds into the shrubs. Lost in a fog, I just manage to catch a screech, a slam, a sharp voice.

"Kay, what the fuck— I almost hit you!"

I'm fading. There's more voices, but I can't quite make sense of them. I can do nothing but gaze up at the blurred ocean of emerald and listen and let my eyes flutter. I need to... I need to get the bolt out.

"Are you hurt? I smell blood." This voice, I know. It seeps through all the cracks in my mind. Clarity flickers like a timid candle's flame battling against a hurricane.

Rowan's alive. Thank fuck. At least his day has been successful. At least his nose is still working.

The wolf races into view and hazy figures follow close behind, but I can't quite open my eyes more than halfway anymore. I'm cold and I'm tired and I want them to leave me alone.