Ambrose leans against the chair, brushing Anastasia’s hair away from her face. She looks peaceful in the moment, murmuring slightly at her touch. Sunfa is huddled in a corner, having gone completely unresponsive to them. She continues to drone on, her eyes boring a hole into the wall.

“You should sleep too.” Bunny says, her hands adjusting Meize’s bandaging. Ambrose observes her, before looking down at Meize.

“He’s even more pale.” Ambrose says softly.

“Unfortunately.” Bunny sighs. “But he’s stable. I just…I don’t think his wounds are going to recover.” She looks down at the mauled flesh carved across his left side. His wounds were stabilising, having long closed up and turned to scarring, but his body wasn’t regrowing. In the end their healing wasn’t a miracle.

“I see.” Ambrose stares at him. “You’re right. I’ll sleep.” She stands up and walks over to the bed, getting under the covers to the other side of Meize. The bed is a tight fit with three, but Ambrose made it work.

“Together?” Bunny asks, her eyebrow raised.

“It’s safer.” Ambrose answers as she closes her eyes.

“Fair enough.” Bunny laughs. “I’ll stay here then and keep watch.”

“Okay.” Ambrose accents, and the room turns silent. After a few minutes her breathing softens, and she enters a light sleep. Bunny watches them resting on the bed. After a moment she gets up and disappears, quickly returning with the supply of oil, cloth and wood. Bunny quietly works on making the torches.

Time passes as the moon maintains its pale light, bearing down on them. Ambrose begins to stir, her eyes snapping open as they stare up at the roof. She sinks into the feeling of relief for a moment, her body renewed from the sleep, before turning away from the bed and planting her feet onto the ground. She looks over, seeing the other two still asleep, before facing Bunny.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Seven makeshift torches rest next to her as she leans back on her chair. Seeing Ambrose awake, she puts a finger to her lips and motions to Anastasia and Meize who are still sleeping. Ambrose nods, moving to the chair next to Anastasia and watches them quietly.

It doesn’t take long for Anastasia to stir, and a small smile forms on her lips when she sees Ambrose next to her. Before she can open her mouth, Meize too moves beside her. A heavy groan escapes his mouth and they all turn to look at him.

“How are you feeling?” Anastasia asks urgently as she props herself up. She moves his bandages, checking the wounds, as Meize’s bleary eyes look around.

“I’m…alive?” Meize asks. He looks down at himself and goes into a daze. “I’m crippled.” He whispers. The room goes silent.

“It’s just your arm.” Anastasia breaches the silence carefully, retying his bandages after confirming they’re fine.

“I can’t feel anything.” Meize says quietly. His body shakes. Then with a heavy grip his right hand grabs the arm post and pulls himself out of bed. Almost immediately he tilts to his right side, his left leg barely able to hold his weight, and he leans heavily against the wall. He grits his teeth and glares at his wounds. “I can’t feel a damn thing.”

“…You saved all of us.” Bunny speaks up after a moment. She walks over and hugs him gently. “We’re only still here because of you.” Meize laughs. A laugh without mirth, broken and cold.

“I did what I had to.” He says, closing his eyes. “I just want to survive. Tell me this hunt is nearly over.”

“…This fight should be the last.” Ambrose says softly, looking at each of them. “I believe if we find Talin, we find the Arthreeki we hunt. The shrine is our final battle.”

“Talin?” Meize looks confused. His disorientation has lessened at this point, and he realises that someone is muttering nearby. Turning to find a strange creature huddled in the corner. Meize blanches, and rears up only to be forced to lean back against the wall as he almost falls over. “The hell is that?!” Meize asks.

“Let me explain.” Ambrose sighs. She goes into her second round of explanation as Meize shakily sits back down on the bed. It doesn’t take long to brief them, and soon even stranger looks turn to Sunfa.

“So find the child.” Meize mutters. “Nothing’s made sense since we got here. How do we know this will work?” Ambrose goes quiet.

“We have no choice.” She forces out after a long moment. “The shrine is our last stand. You all know as well as I…we can’t keep this up.” She looks at each of them directly in the eyes. “If this goes on we will all die.”