Rise of the Warrior of Everfen

Chapter 75: Am I Dying?

Erinne stared after him in horror but couldn't speak, couldn't stand, couldn't do anything. Farswar continued to fight back the mob with his soldiers while one of the guards lifted her. As he did so, the pain was too much to bear and the world faded from her sight.

When she opened her eyes again, they were in the doorway to the castle, still fighting to get her inside and she heard the one carrying her mutter, "She's bleeding everywhere. I think she's dying!"

She blinked up at him but couldn't stay focused. She felt weak, there was no strength left within her. She was vaguely aware of her arm hanging loosely as he carried her through the halls of the castle and thought she heard him shouting Khash's name but his voice seemed so distant, as if he were across a field instead of carrying her. Her body jostled and the guard set her down before Khash appeared in front of her eyes, hovering over her. She was no longer certain this was real or some strange dream she'd fallen into.

"Take this, take it. Come on, swallow it!" His hand was over her mouth and she swallowed. She hadn't even felt him place the medicine on her tongue. "Erinne?" The world sharpened and she felt her heart start jumping in her chest and she gasped for breath, her throat tingling. "Erinne?"

"Andol," she didn't know how she managed to speak.

"Cold Hammer will find him. They'll be okay, we have guards going after them now. They'll be fine." Khash told her, but the world was fading again. She struggled to stay alert, she didn't want the world to fade out, she wanted to speak. Time felt distorted, like hours and minutes were passing all at the same time.

She flinched and jerked when a voice roared through the room, "What happened?!" She didn't know how long it'd been since she'd last been alert. Minutes? Seconds? Days?

"I'm sorry, my king, we reached them as fast as we could."

"Where is she? Move!" She felt a hand on her arm but she couldn't focus enough to see the face. "Erinne?" She couldn't see. "In the name of the gods, what have they done to her? Farswar! Who did this?"

"Townsfolk, milord, it was a mob attack."

"Why? Why would they do this? They were my guests!"

"Move!" Khash elbowed everyone out of the way to reach her again. She didn't know how she found the strength, but everything within her propelled her to reach out her hand and she grabbed onto his arm, squeezing and he slowed. She still couldn't see him clearly, but she knew it was him, her friend. She felt his fingers brush over her knuckles and he clutched her hand in his. "I'm going to save you, Erinne, I promise."

Save her from what? She no longer knew why she was here, or why she was so scared.

A darker voice spoke next to his shoulder, "What about the baby?"

"I don't know. I'll do everything I can." She felt like she should know the second voice, but she couldn't quite place it. It sounded vaguely primal, edged with darkness, just like the world around her. She didn't want to go, but she could feel it disappearing from her. She felt like she was supposed to know that voice, know the person holding her hand. Everything was getting too dark, and she was too broken to care.

. . . .

Erinne opened her eyes and reached for Cold Hammer but he wasn't there. She frowned, she didn't know what was happening anymore. Where was her son? She couldn't lose him. "Andol? Cold Hammer?" She'd been in and out of consciousness, but the world still felt disjointed and then her body heaved and she became more alert. Something was wrong.

"Shhh," the hand on her arm squeezed lightly. "She's awake again."

"I doubt she'll be conscious for long. She's lost too much blood."