The Fear of Loneliness (Fear Series Book 1)

Chapter 4: Protection (unedited)

The process of removing the bolt is long and tedious, requiring Leo to free the muscle, slide the bolt out a minuscule amount, and have to free the caught tissue once again. While he works, doing his best to cause as little pain as possible, the human is very aware of how fast the light is disappearing. He needs to hurry if he intends to get back to the fort before dark. It takes nearly half an hour to free the bolt.

As expected, the wound gushes blood as soon as the bolt is removed, and Leo wastes no time in discarding the evil weapon and instead quickly removing his cloak. Immediately, he shivers against the cold. Under the cloak all he has is his heavy metal armor and a thin under-shirt, protecting his skin from chafing. It is not great protection from the windy and snowy weather. Yes... he is definitely going to have to hurry back to the fort. Turning to Ausren, Leo holds up the cloak and asks, "Can you rip this near the clasps?"

Ausren studies the cloak for a moment, a phantom of pain in his eyes. Judging by all the snorting and angry snarling he was doing during the removal of the wicked broad-head, the procedure hurt. Leo can't blame him.

Then, reaching out with one foot, Ausren pins the cloak to the ground, taking it near the clasps in between his teeth. With a quick and powerful movement, the dragon twists his head and rips backward. The cloak gives a loud groan before the fur-line, sheep-skin, and leather material gives. With a jarring snap, the material breaks near the dragon's teeth, leaving Only about two inches in either clasp. For a moment, Leo only blinks in shock, staring at the dragon, then at the tatters of his cloak, which Ausren spits back onto the ground. Of course, the human is aware that the beast before him is powerful, but to rip an elk hide like that, with just brute strength... it's an impressive feat.

Shaking himself out of it, Leo tugs the majority of the cloak out from under Ausren's paw, assisted by the fact that Ausren lifts his foot. Scooping up the clasps, Leo pins them back in place. Then, wadding the cloak up to the best of his ability, the boy presses it into the puncture wound. Ausren snarls, shifting away from the pressure.

"Sorry," Leo mutters. "I'm trying to stop the bleeding."

Ausren huffs, laying his head down on the ground, watching the human out of one eye. His breathing settles into a slow and steady rate as Leo leans his body weight against the wound, attempting to apply enough pressure to get the bigger veins to close. The blood was not spurting, leading the human to believe that, if there were any arteries in the way of the bolt, they were not severed. Which means that it should be possible to stop the bleeding.

It is not until the human's arms are exhausted, making him grit his teeth to keep the pressure on the wound, and the light has faded into near-nothingness, that the dragon speaks again.

"You should go, Leonidas. If you do not leave soon, you will freeze on your way back," Ausren murmurs softly.

Already shivering relatively violently, Leo shakes his head, replying through chattering teeth, "Not yet. We need to move you. If I go back to them now, they'll make me bring them to you. We need to make it look like you got up and left after we fought."

"I'm not entirely sure I can get up. Besides, they will be able to track my footprints very easily in this snow."

"We're not going through the snow," Leo says. "We're going up that." The boy turns, his hand coming up as he points to the scree slope behind them. Ausren lifts his head up higher, his eyes widening slightly as he takes in the slick rock.

Eyes narrowing into a slightly annoyed expression, the dragon asks, "And how, exactly do you propose I do that? Have you forgotten, Leonidas, that we do not even know if I can stand, let alone climb that?"