Unedited.

∦ Chapter 16: Flaming wounds. ∦

I stared up at the greying skies, my fingers curling into the sand. My breathing rattled too loud above the babble of the river and my skin a bluish color among the drab grey of stone. 

Panic blared inside of me, a wailing alarm as I heard the dim murmur of men's voices, their gruff voices rising and falling through the din in my mind. There was no way I could fight or escape, and it left me feeling an animal trapped in the path of a predator.

Footsteps approached me, those voices level and content. I wondered if they could spot me among the sand and rocks, my bloodied and broken body sprawled like a piece of driftwood.

"...should fill our water-skins..." a gruff, mildly annoyed voice said.

My breath caught faster in my throat and I inched my head to the side, biting down hard on my lip when the mere movement seared through me. I could see the shapes of males from the corner of my eyes, over the rise of a wet rock. There were three of them and they were clothed against the weather, tall and imposing shapes in my peripheral.

"Please do not see me."

They talked amongst each other, confident in their herd mentality. I kept digging my fingers into the sand, subtly trying to shift my body to keep the dimness from slipping into my vision. If these men were going to spot me and do what I assumed they would do when presented with a victim who couldn't run, I didn't want to be unconscious. I wanted every opportunity to fight, to see a way to get back at them.

"I want to get out of this weather," A rough voice grumbled. "I am sick of the rain and then...wait!"

Stones scuttled under boots, a ragged breath sounding above the water. "Is this a woman's boot?"

I tried to hold my breath and tried to sink into the sand as if it would wash over me and hide me until they left. The weapons on my hip were useless when I couldn't even lift my arms.

"Could be?" Another male voice grunted. "It was most likely washed down by the river."

"Hmm," the original man was unconvinced. "I suppose."

Distantly, another voice called out. My teeth gritted, unbidden tears forming on my lashes as I wondered exactly how many of them there were. I hated feeling this helpless, especially when I had spent the last five years reclaiming my confidence, reclaiming my strength. I had flaunted it, but had I truly ever been strong when in a situation like this, I was unravelling.

I heard them moving around for what seemed like an age, before the footsteps started back to where I could dimply here horses and other men talking.

I released a rattling, relieved breath as my chest burned and the sound pitched like a high whistle. Teeth gritting, I could only think of one word. 'Shite'

"Wait!" A man called out aggressively. "Did you hear that?"

"No? We need to go A—"

The heavy tread of boots came closer, sand and stone crunching under the weight of this male. I saw a shadow loom over me, and my hands were like claws in the sand now as I tried to glare up at them as if my bruised, broken body was in any way intimidating.

"By the ---"

The shadow fell as the man dropped to his knees beside me, the shout of his shock ringing back to the others. He loomed over him and I peeked at him, teeth bared. At first, I saw only the thunderous brow smoothing into concern and the broad line of thick shoulders.

Then, I saw the familiar cognac warmth of those eyes as they looked down at me, examining me from head to foot.

"A...A...Ash" Agony seared through my ribs, a copper taste on my tongue.

He fell to his knees beside me. A hand slipped under my head gently, looking over me with panicked surprise. "Come here...its Blue!"

I was fixed on the warm cognac of his eyes, convinced this was what death looked like. I tried to put a hand on him, to feel the warmth of his skin.

"You look horrendous, Blue." He laced his fingers with mine.

He was so warm – but as I shakily looked to where my fingers were laced with his, my fingers were a shocking shade of mottled blue and purple.

"I th-think I am dying Ash."

His grip on me tightened. "Nonsense, Blue. It would be too bothersome to find someone else to fill your boots."

"No one could fill my boots," I frowned at him. "I'm cold."

Shadows fell over me, and I blinked as Ash suddenly looked away from me to the men surrounding us.

"Always a dramatic entrance, I see." A voice echoed, one made of smoke and honey. One I recognised instantly; always to contained and mysterious, but able to work magic on a stubborn mind with a few honeyed words.

A body knelt beside me, and the smell of spice wafted towards me. Rich, warm eyes of gold-speckled green stared down at me. His mouth was pressed into a thin line as Ash shifted, pulling off his cloak to settle it over my freezing body.

I stirred at the sight of him, my teeth gritting as the pain lulled and then struck again like a wave steadily breaking down a cliff. If the cliff was made of parchment instead of stone. My eyes were slitted against the light above, my breathing ragged as if stones were being rattled inside my lungs.

Someone knelt by my head, a hand weaving with mine. "Blue? It is Beryl."

Beryl.

The name roused image of a kind older man, who always was there to answer my questions. The one who sat by the fire and regaled us with tales of different days, and played music that we grumbled at, only to dance and drink until we stumbled into our tents, drunk.

"How did you get here?" Another body, another recognizable voice. Grey.

"I – I jumped off a cliff."

Ash's smile was like a break in the stormy clouds, his laughter a warm rumble even as Beryl shot him a dirty look for finding any of this amusing. "Why did you jump off a cliff, Lilia?"

A cry broke through clenched teeth when Sage touched my side. He was patting me down gently, and I knew it was to find broken bones and lesions on my body. I looked back to Ash with my jaw gritted.

"I thought it would be fun."

Hands gripped me under my knees and my shoulder, and gently, oh so gently, Sage lifted me. I wondered briefly what his dissenters would say; if the criminal underworld could see The Sage lifting one of his people when he had others to do the work for him.

I couldn't help but cry out at the movement, ragged whimpering tearing from my throat at the mere brush of contact.

"Sage..." A voice whispered behind us. "What are we going to do? We need to get her to a healer."

"We will save her." The Sage said softly. "We will."

"Her skin is blue, Sage. Someone did this to her." Beryl whispered.

"We will save her. Until then, we do nothing." Sage snapped, his voice a snarl.

My head rolled into his chest, my fingers curling at the lapels of his coat. "How are ye h-here?"

His smile was serene, a press of dimple appearing. Nothing more was said as we walked, my consciousness flickering by the lulling of Sage's walk.

"We'll keep you safe, Blue." A hand touched my hair, brushing bloodied hair away from my forehead. "Then there are questions to be answered."

"I feel threatened," I murmured against Sage's coat. I kept my face buried into his chest, uncaring of the blood most likely seeping into his clothes. Now, I could relax.

∦ ∦ ∦

Bashkar sauntered into my dreams like he owned them.

His gait was confident, his aura oppressive. Dark eyes took me in, the curl of his sensual mouth widening as he observed my mud-stained boots, my weapons. As always, I was sitting when he entered. He never needed to tie me down or bind my hands. I had come of my own choosing and endured what he inflicted upon me willingly.

He picked up a curl delicately, observing it's gleam under the candle-light. It was feather-light and gentle, his attention wholly focused on that strand before he released it.

"You look beautiful, Lilia."

He gripped my chin, holding my face up to his. That's when I felt the breeze on my skin, my stomach coiling in horror when I realized that I sat now in nothing, my body exposed to the blades that he would unravel. Fingers skimmed the scars along my neck, a heady breath expelling from his broad chest.

So gentle – always so gentle in the beginning. "You are ..."

That hand dropped to the scars along my shoulders, carved by his sword. Ones that laced down my back, my thighs like a permanent ink of his touch.

"...so beautiful."

I didn't speak. I let him prowl around me and admire the wonders of his work upon my skin. His artwork was mapped on my skin and only would vanish when I died, and I was nothing but bone and dust.

The blade gleamed in the candle light like a vicious grin when he picked it up. I felt its cool touch along the outside of my thigh. Dark eyes held mine.

"Who do you belong to, my dear?"

My voice was not my own. Level and dead, absent of any emotion. If I let it in, my fear would swallow me whole.

"I am yours, my dear."

∦ ∦ ∦

When I woke, I was encased in warmth.

The familiar scent of Sage's herbs, the incense he burned in his tent making the air smell of salts and lavender, a strange scent that I wanted to know why he bothered to burn both together. Teeth gritting as consciousness returned to me, my hands flittered down my sides to examine the bandages that had been woven on my body.

I had been changed from my clothes, but my undergarments were still on. That didn't bother me- I trusted the Rainier thieves and letting them sew my wounds and bandage my body while I was unconscious didn't bother me like society had taught me, I should be.

By the finery I was wearing, this was one of Sage's tunic draped on my body. Broader shoulders meant that it sagged at my own, hanging down past my wrists. Someone had taken the time to wash my hair and weave it in an embarrassingly sloppy braid.

I bet that Red had tried to braid my hair.

As I propped myself up, I noticed the male reclining in the corner. I had been encased in Sage's tent which was understandable; it was the biggest but to find him watching over me was shocking. Fingers curled on the bedroll beneath me, my arms shaking and burning with the effort that it took my body to prop itself up.

Sage had a hand against his face but lowered it as he heard my movement. I immediately noted the heavy circles under his eyes, the wrinkles of stress at the corners of his eyes. His own tunic was rumpled and stained, bloodied from yours truly, I could only guess.

"You're awake." He breathed, eyes lighting in relief. "Thank the gods, Blue, you're awake."

He moved swiftly, coming to kneel beside me. Long, elegant fingers captured my face before he probed my skull and wagged his finger in front of my eyes. I followed it obediently, my lips pressing into a contained smile.

I gazed up at Sage's face, half in wonder. As consciousness gripped me, realization was dawning on me. He was here – he was here! Those gold-speckled green eyes looked so tired, his angular face severe and drawn-down. I gripped his wrist as tightly as I could, a sudden swell of emotion bursting in my throat.

"I can't believe I found you all."

Sage drew back, sitting on his haunches. He gripped that hand tight as a shudder ran through me; all that emotion, all that confusion when I entered that destroyed camp swelled inside of me all at once. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, my limbs shaking.

Outside the tent, I could hear the others laughing rambunctiously. Red's voice swelled above it all, his voice like the clap of thunder as opposed to the others. Hearing them, all their voices together nailed it home. They were alive; I was here.

"You can cry." Sage told me quietly. "I promise I won't say anything."

I struggled to sit up further. The bond in my mind was sealed, the emptiness echoing like wind howling down through a cavern. "Where is Seren?"

A hand eased under my arm and Sage was a steady balance as I stood up. My body wanted to crumble, curl in on itself up I just moved my hand to grip Sage's shoulder.

"She is out hunting. For you."

There was bowl of water in his tent; where Sage would wash his face. I peered into it, wincing at the distorted image of my bruised face. "I'll be the only prey that alludes her."

Sage laughed and helped me hobble to the entrance of the tent. "You may get your strength up, Blue. She is going to kill you for abandoning her."

"You will need to protect me." I laughed.

He reached past me to open the entrance of his tent and I blinked at the sudden light, my ribs crackling at the effort it took to suck in a crisp, lungful of air. I blinked out at the expanse of the camp, well set up for the long-haul. Already, they begun building a makeshift canopy above the camp between the trees we were settled amongst.

The babble of voices, the set up was so familiar that I couldn't help the smile blooming across my face and causing my cheeks to ache.

"Blue!"

The male tending fruitlessly to the lump of wood and leaves, straightened. Ash, my partner in crime, my good conscience turned towards me. He had forgone his heavier clothing, and wore a tunic soaked in sweat. Beside him, I realized was the pile that was going into making the canopy.

"Ash," I inched towards him, conscious that Sage was effectively holding up the majority of my weight. "It's good to see you."

Teeth gleamed with the width of his smile. "You worried us, Blue."

A hand skimmed over Ash's arm, as if feeling to see if he was truly here. He just glanced at Sage, as the others herded in, calling out to me.

"Blue! Should you be out of bed?" Beryl asked worriedly, reaching to examine my skull.

Red brushed past him. "Don't cluck a' her like a hen, Beryl."

The most outwardly angriest of us all, Red clasped my bruised face gently, thick fingers cumbersome and almost painful despite his efforts to be gentle. I bit the inside of my cheek and said nothing.

"Who do I need to deal with, Blue? Unless you dealt with them first?" Brows cocked, he withdrew to wait for my answer.

I looked at them warmly, my smile blooming like the sun rising over the horizon. I only had to say the words and my brothers would take to the roads to hunt down whoever I pointed out to them as having kept me from them. A shudder of emotion ran through me, balling in my throat as I examined their faces; that fear that had lain under my skin like a slumbering beast, nipping and scratching at my resolve that something had happened to them, was now gone.

Tears collected along my lashes, a gasp chasing its way up my throat. The world became blurry with my relief – they were alive. All was good in my world. All was right.

But even as I thought that, the bite mark along my neck seemed to burn as if to remind me of the Lycan who claimed that my soul had been split not in two, but in three. 

"Oh don't cry..." Red begged. "Yer going to make me blubber!"

Gingerly, he tried to draw me into a sideways hug. It only aggravated barely healed wounds, but I bit down my wince and held in that yelp of pain because I knew he was trying to be gentle. And for this little family, being so gentle was a foreign concept.

Sage shifted but kept a firm grip on my elbow encase I faltered. His attention flickered from me, to the campsite and beyond intermittedly. Even though I was battered and bruised, life felt almost certain at this moment. All I needed was for Seren to return.

"We should get you back to bed." Sage murmured.

He caught the hesitation that flickered across my face, and Beryl clucked as he examined a storm-cloud bruises blooming along my cheekbone, mottling that tanned skin. The others pivoted around me like guardians and the thought of being left by myself was jarring. Too often good things lasted for only the blink of an eye.

"You need to heal." Sage said, and that tone allowed for no argument. "We will be here, Blue. By your side."

∦ ∦ ∦

By my side, they stayed.

I fell in and out of sleep constantly for the next few days, encased in comfort within Sage's tent. When I woke, there was always someone watching over me who was ready to feed me one of Beryl's concoction or to give me a sip of water for my parched throat.

I was regaled with stories of their escapades during my time away from them, and they refrained from asking me where I had been. That was under Sage's orders of course. Curiosity was eating away at them, but I wasn't ready to tell them yet what I had experienced. They knew of Luca, and they knew of my heartbreak over his abandonment but if they were to learn of the Lycan...

Then, on the seventh day, I woke alone.

Something had been tickling at my consciousness as I roused, gingerly stretching my body and testing it to see how it reacted to pain.

It took me only a second to realize what had changed. The cold, gaping emptiness of the bond forged with fire and water was warm, pulsating with a regular beat, almost as if it had a heart of its own. I sucked in a breath, wincing as I struggled up onto my elbows.

I brushed against it, and even though there was no reaction from the other side, I felt her. Struggling slightly, I rose and yanked on my socks and boots before throwing a coat around my shoulders. I could hear no noise from the camp as I hobbled to the entrance of the tent and pushed outwards into the crisp, morning air.

My lips pressed into a tight line as my blood roared in my ears.

She sat like a sentinel in the dawn's light, facing away from the camp. Long, beautiful wings were folded against her back, and her face was tipped up to catch the golden touch of dawn. Only inches from where her claws cut into the earth, the river churned. I stared at her stricken, drinking in the sight of her like a woman who had been starving would when placed before a feast. A desperation churned inside of me, a lump rising in my throat.

I blinked hard, wondering if she was a vision.

I had thought about this moment every day since I found the camp burned into the earth. Of my brothers faces and the gleam in Seren's eyes. They were what tethered me to this world.

She turned as I took another step forward. That body, so toned and large moved with frightening quietness. My hands were shaking as those large eyes took me in, slitting as a growl rumbled deep in her throat.

"Seren..."

Intelligent, dark eyes looked down at me and I felt the same emotion that coursed through me, rushing through her like a tidal wave.

"Lilia."

It took all my strength to walk the distance to her. I felt the heat of her body, the contented feeling that flowed through me like honey dripping down through my ribs.

I pressed my lips tight. "You found me."

Seren lowered her head, turning it slightly so she could look at me with one giant eye. Her muzzle peeked open, flashing long and wicked teeth that could pierce through a man twice my size with ease. "You found us, Lilia. Though, falling into a river during a storm was very unwise."

I smiled wide. "I missed you."

Seren pressed herself lower to the ground. I felt the heat that pulsated from her body, encased in scales of dark blue. Gently, I traced the ridge of her snout and down along the path of her horned jaw.

"Of course, you missed me." She tutted.

The bond between us was golden, interlaced with the steady lull of the river behind us. Seren inched forward again, her muzzle twisting into a snarl. Her teeth snapped with an audible click.

"If you ever do something like that again, when we find each other again, I will eat you! Or sit on you."

"Both are equally as treacherous." I pointed out. "You aren't exactly light. Eating me would be a quicker death."

Her muzzle pulled back into a wide, macabre smile. "Oh, how I missed you too."

∦ ∦ ∦