A Haunting Melody: The Golden Lyre

28 | The Haunting Melody, Our Achille's Heel

Astrid felt her chest burning as she sprinted after him. After everything he had done, there was no way she would let him escape her this time.

"Stop running away like a coward and fight me already!" she screamed after him.

Daniel didn't look back as he keep running further and further away from her.

She felt hot tears pouring down her face as her frustration kept building. She couldn't understand why she wasn't getting any closer to catching him. It was like she was running, but not going anywhere.

Eventually she let herself slow down and came to a stop, watching Daniel's figure get smaller in the distance.

"YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER! I'll find you," she breathed hard, feeling dizzy, "I'll kill you," she mumbled, letting herself drop to the ground as her thoughts faded into the darkness once again.

***

Chris was unsure how long Astrid had been lying there on the road. The sun was rising by the time he had managed to carry her limp body to his car and taken her to Adras.

Whatever had happened, Astrid had definitely suffered. She looked an absolute mess, caked in dried blood, a sword through her shoulder, bruises all over and streaks of dirty tears on her face.

He glanced over at her worriedly as he drove, wondering if she would ever recover from her injuries... they looked very serious.

When he had finally arrived at Adras's house, he had wasted no time getting Astrid inside, laying her down carefully on the examination table in Adras's basement.

Adras was silent as he tended to Astrid's wounds. He was clearly a very skilled healer, knowing exactly how to treat each of her wounds. He started with the most serious issue - the sword in her shoulder.

"Chris, I'm going to need you to hold her up while I remove the sword," Adras said calmly, looking up at him.

Chris nodded and got into position, biting his lip as he anticipated what was to come. He sat Astrid's limp body upright, straining slightly at the deadweight.

Adras came around the table and carefully gripped the hilt of the sword, which was protruding from her back.

"She may react to the pain she's about to experience, so make sure that you hold her tightly. She cannot move while I am removing the weapon," Adras said seriously, making eye contact with him.

"Yes, sir," Chris nodded, bracing himself.

Adras began to slowly pull the sword out, using a hand to steady himself on Astrid's back.

Although her eyes didn't open, she began to stir and let out a groan as he removed the sword. Her blood had begun to leak from her wound again. Now that the sword was out, it was coming out in torrents.

Once Adras had laid the sword on a small table nearby, he motioned from Chris to lay her back down. Adras was moving more hurriedly now, fetching instruments here and there and attending to her wound, trying to stop the flow of blood.

"Would you mind fetching some more towels?" he asked, not looking up.

"Yes, sir," Chris said quickly, looking around for some towels and quickly realising he would have to fetch some from the bathroom upstairs.

By the time he had made it back, Adras was still hard at work.

"Will she be alright?" Chris asked, unable to contain his concern any longer as he looked at her battered body.