Page 91 of The Healing Dragon
“Dammit, stop talking, Oli,” I yell. “Save every breath to fight for your life.”
Please.
His body begins to feel limp in my arms, but I refuse to think about anything other than pushing forward. I don’t look down at him as I keep going. The burn in my calves intensifies as my breaths become shorter.
I can see the castle walls through the tree branches. The clinic must have something to fix him. Out of all the herbs that I transported and helped grow with my own hands, one of them is damned to help him stay alive.
My shoes slip on the muddy ground, and I fall backwards. I grunt at the impact but get up in the same breath. I resume my position and begin pulling again.
Please.I plead with the Fates.Don’t take him away.
This forsaken forest in the middle of nowhere is not where Oliver will find his end.
The grunting coming from Oliver gets softer and softer until only a few murmurs remain. The Black Castle comes into full view, but far too slowly.
“Please!” I yell to the sky, the Fates, to the unfair strings that have paved the road for this.
I look down at his chest. Oliver has started to bleed from his mouth. Every time he spoke, more and more blood spread across his chin and down his shirt. I’m running out of time. His breathing becomes more shallow to the point I no longer see the rise and fall of his chest.
“No!”
No, please, not him.
I finally stop and kneel at his side.
“They are coming soon,” he breathes.
“Let them come.”
I hunch over Oli’s chest and hold him as his lungs pushquick shallow gasps. I lay there with my ear pressed to his chest and count every shallow breath.One, two, three, four, five…
My tears fall when the sixth never comes.
I wait for it. I couldn’t move even if I tried. My limbs are glued to the ground, frozen in place, holding on. The moment I look at him I would have to accept the fact that I’m in a world where Oli no longer exists.
I don’t know how long I stay there, but the sun sets between the trees and the forest floor grows dark. After my skin chills, the only thing left to do is to make sure he doesn’t spend the night alone here in the open. I can’t think of him being cold while his skin is still warm to the touch.
I get up with little to no sensation in my arms and legs. My mind is tucked in somewhere deep and my body is going through the motions. I hook Oli’s arms over mine and start pulling again. Every step feels like a heavy stone dropping. I don’t look behind me, instead I just follow the path. My mind disconnects from the actions.
My limbs finally collapse when my body reaches the shield around the castle. The additional tension and weight of the shield is almost too much. I crawl to Oli’s side once again and hold him.
“Oli,” I try to say, but all that comes out is a whine between sobs.
Soldiers walk out of the shield and surround us on all sides. They’re not facing us, instead their eyes are trained on the forest as if waiting for whatever lurks there.
“We need to prepare for a burial,” Roman says somewhere behind me.
Footsteps announce even more people joining in.
“Janelle.” Roman reaches his hand to me, but one glarefrom me stops him in place. “We need to transport him inside the shield.”
“I will do it,” I say, wiping at my face.
“You don’t have to do it alone.” Roman stretches his hand to me.
I push it away. “I don’t want nor do I care for your sympathy.” The words come with venom. “I will bury him on my own.”
It’s the least I can do to him after I failed him. Oh, how I failed him. Oli deserved so much better than this.
