Wrong answer. I’ll give you three days to change your mind, I hope by then you have made the right decision.
Then it’s like her soul was snapped back into her body as the sun glares down on her like this is all her fault. It didn’t even give her time to answer, although she doesn’t know what she would have said. That she wasn’t going to change her answer? Who knows what it would have said to that? Maybe it wouldn’t have even sent her soul back. The thought makes her shudder which alerts Maiken and Fenrir that she’s awake.
Within a second, Maiken’s back by her side with wide eyes and hands gripping her arm. “Are you okay? Nauseous, dizzy, hungry, thirsty?” He asks. “Too cold or hot?”
Edith frowns at him then lifts her hand up and pushes his face away from her. His face was wet like he’d been crying. He’d been crying because he thought she was dead.
So they weren’t going to throw her into a lake after all.
She spots Fenrir standing back, looking at the two of them with interest. It was obvious something was on his mind, although it wasn’t clear what. Before Edith can open her mouth and ask about it, her attention is snagged by Maiken and his bound of questions for her well-being.
“I’m fine.” She gets out but even she can hear the struggle in her voice. Even she can hear the pain.
It wasn’t abnormal or anything for her voice to be strangled like that. The feeling in her legs comes back gradually. But the pain? It’s white hot, searing her legs and making its way up to her chest as she lets out a whimper. It claws at her chest, fighting to be let out but it stays trapped as it gradually grows and gets worse.
Maiken’s lips are moving but she hears nothing, the hurt turning all her senses useless one by one until eventually her vision goes blurry. From tears though. And they fall like heavy rain as he grabs her shoulders and then thinks better of it before using his hands to wipe her tears. It seems like he yells for Fenrir who is there within seconds.
Fenrir’s hands run over her body, checking for where the pain could be. He worked fast but Edith knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she wasn’t hurt in any place. This was internal pain.
And she was certain Humanity was causing it, no doubt upset about her answer to his question.
Maybe he found out she knew, since he’s in her head and all, because the pain stopped. Not gradually, not slowly, just all at once. Like a switch was flicked.
With her chest rising and falling rapidly, the tears still streak from her eyes at the lingering whisper of the pain. She is barely aware of the worried eyes of Maiken and the disappointed eyes of Fenrir.
She never wondered what he could be disappointed about.
Eventually, she sits up. He hands her some break and water, ordering her to eat it even though she’s not hungry. Although he was wrong about that, she was hungry. In fact, she was starving. If they had offered her, she could have consumed a whole village.
After finishing, Edith finally opens her mouth and says the words she dreaded. The words that would tell her how bad it was.
“What happened?”
Maiken purses his lips and Fenrir is the one to answer. Before he opens his mouth though, Maiken grabs her hand. She’s sure it was meant to be comforting but that just made her worry more.
“Once you had passed out, we had to get somewhere secure. Alpha had picked you up and ran, almost leaving me behind,” he chuckles but it seems dry. “We ran for a while, trying to lose the beast as best as we could so we could rest somewhere slightly safe. Eventually, we found this cave and have been here for the last two days, leaving only to gather food and necessities.”
She swallows. “And my leg?”
Maiken’s grip tightens.
Even Fenrir looks uncomfortable. Clearing his throat, he finally responds. “We, uhm, we had to replace your leg. We made it as comfortable as we could, and sturdy. You should be fine.”
The words barely register by the time he’s done and letting go of Maiken, she moves the blanket covering the lower half of her body.
She stares with a sense of missing, and horror, at where her leg used to be but is now replaced with sticks, vines, and metal. Sturdy, as they had said, but not her leg. Not her flesh and bones.191Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFArVDxEzNp
