A Heart So Precious Sample

Chapter Three

VARDAN

The girl lay in the cold snow before me, her chest still, portraying no signs of life. Hovering my hand over her mouth, I hoped for even a wisp of a breath to edge forth from her dangerously blue lips. After a moment of waiting, my hand drifted to her soft hair, pushing it gently aside. Feeling for a pulse, I could feel my chest tighten when, once again, she showed no sign of life.

While having no pulse doesn't necessarily mean she is dead, it certainly did mean that she is near death. Which means she really didn't have much time left. I could feel my hands start to quiver, as I debated what to do. When I had left my brethren back on that muddy path, I hadn't really expected to find anyone out her. Now that I had found her, I didn't know what to do.

" Miss," I murmured quietly, hoping desperately that she would miraculously wake up. Looking over my shoulder at the trees bordering the clearing, I weighed my options. I could leave the girl and find my father, in the hopes he would know what to do to save the poor girl. Or I could...

" Vardan", a deep voice bellowed from behind me.

Leaping to my feet, I whipped around, coming face to face with my father. Well, I suppose this resolved that issue.

" What the hell were you thinking?" my father snarled. He glared intensely at me, his lip curling with apparent displeasure. "You know the rules. We stick together, no matter what."

Opening his mouth as if to continue, he froze. His eyes trained over my shoulder at something behind me. Turning, I saw my father looking in surprise at the girl, unmoving, on the ground.

" What..," my father rasped, shocked. "You actually found her?"

Meeting my fathers eyes, I responded quickly. " Yes, I did, but we must be quick. She doesn't have much time left." Hoping to convey my urgency with my eyes, I waited for my father to respond.

Standing there silently for a brief moment, my father visibly shook himself, hurrying to the still form of the girl in the snow before us. Before I could explain the situation, my father had already knelt down in the snow, checking for her pulse and any signs of breathing.

Walking quietly over to my father, my fellow hunters lurking at the edge of the clearing, I stood by his side. Opening my mouth to ask if she would be okay, my father interrupted me abruptly, the urgency evident in his tone.

That wasn't a good sign.

"Take off your tunic and fur," my father grunted, hurriedly stripping the girl of her outer garments. Glancing over his shoulder at me, noticing I had made no move to follow his orders, his eyes darkened considerably. "Now".

My mouth agape, I decide against arguing with my obviously flustered father. Stripping myself of my warm fur, I quickly undid the laces of my tunic, pulling it over my head.

Immediately, the mountainous winds whipped across my bare skin, causing me to shiver. As I stood next to my father, I averted my eyes as my father undressed the girl. Just as I was about to ask what he was doing, he addressed me.

" Now, pick up the girl son," my father grunted, standing back onto his feet with a groan. Before I could question him, he started speaking again, addressing my confusion.

"She is too cold," my father explained, looking intently at me. " At this point, the best way to warm her up is through body heat." Pausing momentarily, my father's eyes started twinkling with a hint of mischief. " Since you seem to be such a man, invincible to the dangers of the wild, it looks to me that you would be best suited for the job of carrying the girl."

Glaring at the ground, I knew this was my fathers form of punishment. His tone of mock innocence didn't fool me. Crouching down next to the girl, I lifted her gently into my arms. I fought the urge to smile as I noticed my father had dressed her in my dry tunic.