Lon'thul looked at Em'brel in confusion and alarm."What do you mean, 'Jack's being hunted?"

Em'brel shook her head in impatience. "I mean what I said! The guy in charge here is insane! All he cares about is finding someone worth killing, then killing them!"

Lon'thul looked confused. "I'm sure Jack and s'haar can handle him, just like any other raider."

Em'brel looked frustrated that they were taking the time to discuss this. "You don't understand. Everyone in the camp is scared of the new chief. He's known for two things, his swordsmanship and his brutality. If some of the rumors I've overheard are true, he's even killed wolgen on his own, just for the fun of it, and he did it without receiving a single scratch!"

Lon'thul was silent at that. He'd never hunted a wolgen, but his father had. He had a full pack of hunters with him in the stories he told, and he still barely survived the encounter. That's where many of the scars he wore so proudly on his bone plate had come from.

They had to find Jack before this chief did, whoever he is.

Lon'thul wrapped Em'brel in one of the coats after stripping it from the guard. "Are you okay to run on your own? We'll need to move fast in a few moments."

The girl looked up at Lon'thul with a strained expression while she absentmindedly ran a hand over her broken elbow spike. "Even with most of the camp out looking for Jack, there's still plenty of raiders here who will recognize me and stop us from escaping. You won't be able to take them all on..."

Lon'thul grinned with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Pretty soon, you'll be the least of their concerns. The whole camp is about to be stuck out here without any tents to protect them from the chill of the night air in the mountains, forcing them to stay in the low lands where they can be hunted at our leisure!"

Em'brel's confusion started to deepen when a cry went out throughout the camp. At first, it was hard to understand, but as the cry spread closer to them, it became clear. "FIRE! THE TENTS ARE ON FIRE! QUICK, PUT THEM OUT BEFORE IT SPREADS ANY FURTHER!"

Dek'thul grinned at that. "Looks like the others got their job done. Let's move while everyone is distracted!"

As they ran through the camp, it was apparent that the place was in even more chaos than before. People were running to and fro, some trying to save their precious belongings while others tried to keep the fire contained. But it seemed to be a losing battle. It was as if the fire had started in a dozen different locations and now was spreading via wind in unpredictable patterns.

They had almost made it to the edge of the camp when a raider noticed Em'brel. Maybe it was her broken spike, or perhaps it was her face, but his eyes grew wide, and he took a breath to shout. Before he could, Dek'thul was behind the raider. One hand clamped over his mouth while the other drove his knife into the raider's side. With another quick movement of the blade, the light faded from the raider's eyes, and the hunting chief let the man fall to the ground.

Em'brel was shocked at the violence, remembering her own traumas from not so long ago, but Lon'thul grabbed her hand and pulled her along as they fled. The girl didn't put up a fight, but her eyes still looked a little more dazed than usual as they ran.

-

As Jack fell, S'haar could hear the arrival of a group behind her. She ignored them entirely and ran to catch Jack as he fell. Angela spoke up over her headset. "I don't like the way Jack reached for his arm as he fell. S'haar, I need you to check to see if he's breathing!"

S'haar was confused, but Angela clarified. "Lay him on the ground, carefully, tilt his head back, and place your ear near his mouth while watching his chest. If you can see his chest moving, hear the air, or feel it on your face, just say so."

S'haar tilted Jack's head back as instructed. Almost immediately, she could see, hear, and feel the air. "He's breathing!"

Angela continued, sounding far calmer than she felt. "ok, now I need you to check for a pulse."

Once again, the AI clarified. "With two fingers, probe his neck just to the left of the lump in his throat. Look for a soft, hollow area and push firmly. I need to know if you can feel any rhythmic movement and how often you feel it!"

They were interrupted by Lon'thul's exclamation of, "We're too late..." and Em'brel's "Oh gods! His face! What happened?" But S'haar ignored them both, focusing on her assigned task.

It took S'haar a few moments, shifting her fingers back and forth to find what Angela had described, but eventually, she could make out a faint rhythmic pulse coming through his neck. "I found it! I can just barely make it out."

The AI's voice was firm. "I need you to tell me how often you feel the pulse. Just say 'now' every time you feel it."

S'haar had to really focus. The pulse felt weak. "Now... now... ... now..."

Angela sounded as though she was thinking while speaking. "Okay, based on the irregularity and slow speed, it sounds like he's either having a heart attack or he's experiencing SVT. I need you to search for Jack's lower right pants pocket... If I'm right, you and Jack can thank me for being freaking clairvoyant later!"

S'haar pulled out the package Angela mentioned. Unwrapping it, she could see it seemed to consist of one small box connected to two smaller pads via what appeared to be some kind of stiff string.

Angela continued her explanation. "Okay, first, you'll need to open his shirt to expose his bare chest." With the sound of tearing fabric followed by a startled yelp from Em'brel, it was clear the task was done and that Jack was going to be short one shirt if he survived.

Angela continued unabated. "Now, on the machine, you'll see a diagram. Once you peel the protective plastic layer off the pads, place them as close to their positions in the diagram as you can."

As soon as S'haar got the pads in place, Angela explained. "Based on the electrical impulses the pads are picking up, contrary to what you felt, Jack's heart is actually beating too fast. The problem is it's beating so fast it's not able to adequately fill itself with blood to pump out, so it's actually only acting as a pump once every third beat, and even then, it's not a full load. If this goes on too long, his body will start to shut down as though his heart wasn't beating at all. This machine is designed to briefly stop his heart and allow it to restart again, hopefully at a more steady rate."

S'haar hesitated. "Isn't stopping his heart dangerous? Couldn't he die?"

To S'haar's surprise, Angela agreed. "Yes, stopping a person's heart this way is dangerous, but not nearly as dangerous as allowing it to continue failing to pump correctly. Now that the pads are in place take off his headset, back away from him, make sure no one is in physical contact with him, and push the button on the box. Also, if Jack wakes up, try and keep him from taking off the pads. We may need them again."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

S'haar did as instructed. She wasn't sure what she expected, but Jack's reaction wasn't it. He immediately shot up and awake, screaming as he grabbed for the strings on his chest. Remembering what Angela had said, S'haar grabbed hold of Jack's hands and kept him from ripping off the pads.

Jack was wild-eyed and shouting. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

Rather than answer S'haar simply pulled Jack into a hug that was quickly joined by Em'brel on the other side. Jack looked around a moment before speaking. "Not that I mind the company, but could anyone tell me who just hit me in the chest with a sledgehammer?"

S'haar merely shook her head. "Shut up, and just be happy things went so well for once! I swear, if you go and get yourself killed five or six more times, I'm eventually going to stop forgiving you!"

Dek'thul spoke up from the sideline. "Not to interrupt what I'm sure is a very touching moment, but we just got away from a small army that no longer possesses the ability to travel into their home mountains. That means they're probably gonna turn around and look for a place to make camp in the lowlands until the weather gets warmer, and we don't want to be in their way when they do."

Angela spoke up over S'haar's headset. "Jack's not entirely out of the woods yet. Many of the factors that lead to his heart issues are still in play. Until you can get him into the med bay for a full analysis, you should try and keep his heart rate as low as possible. That means not letting him exert himself. If you can make a simple litter for him, that would be ideal."

S'haar looked around in frustration. "You make it sound so easy! how are we going to make something to carry him in a rush?"

Jack perked up at this. "What do we need now?"

S'haar shrugged. "Angela says we shouldn't let you push yourself anymore until we get you back to the med bay. I could carry you, but that would slow us down since I'd have to take a lot more breaks, so it would be best if we could make something to carry you on."

Jack nodded. "Not a problem. Get me two sticks, a bit longer than me, and as thick as you can manage, and the coats of the fallen raiders."

S'haar looked confused but got to work gathering what Jack had asked for. Em'brel sat down in front of Jack and gave him a once over. "We need to do something about your face!"

Jack grinned, only wincing a little from pain as he did so. "Wow, kind of a harsh way to tell a guy he's ugly!"

Em'brel's frown indicated she didn't think Jack was all that funny. She tilted his head to get a better view of the damage. As she did so, Jack grabbed her hand and spoke more somberly. "I didn't get a chance to say anything when you got here, what with me being shocked half to death and all, but it's good to see you again. I was worried... I was worried we'd lost you for good this time. When I saw you getting taken..."

Em'brel shushed him and continued her inspection while she spoke. "I'm not going to say I'm okay or anything, but my issues are less immediate than yours at the moment. Let's focus on getting you back and healed so you can be around to help me through my own traumas for years to come. Besides, seeing what you put yourself through on my behalf is proof enough of your feelings. Even if you are the ugliest person I know!"

Jack grinned, hearing Em'brel throw his own joke back in his face. "Alright, first, you'll need to clean and disinfect the wounds, then dress them to help keep them clean." As he spoke, Jack fished out what was left of his now very used first aid kit.

After many flinches and pained gasps from Jack, S'haar returned and laid out the items he'd had requested. Looking over the coats, Jack set two aside as too severely damaged to be of use. The rest he put around the two sticks lying parallel to each other and fastened them on the underside as though the sticks were wearing the coats, overlapping the coats in the process.

Once complete, the coats made a bed he could lie on while S'haar and Lon'thul carried him using the sticks' ends as handles. Em'brel walked off to the side, making sure Jack ate and drank his fill per Angela's orders.

Jack sighed. When Em'brel gave him a questioning look, he eventually answered her unspoken question. "I just feel so useless, lying here eating while you do all the work. It just doesn't sit well with me..."

Em'brel shook her head in exasperation. "Oh please, right now, you need to get some rest. If you try and push yourself too hard and put yourself at risk again, I'm going to tie you to this thing and not let you up until we get home!"

Lon'thul risked a brief glance over his shoulder. "Wait, is the idiot who went off and waged war against an entire army really complaining that he's not pulling his weight at the moment? S'haar I think your man might be a little touched in the head! He needs to develop at least a modicum of self-preservation!"

Holding the other end of the litter, S'haar was currently staring daggers at Jack. "I agree." Somehow those words held more menace than any threat of violence possibly could have.

For his part, Jack knew when to shut up and go back to eating and drinking under the watchful gazes of S'haar and Em'brel.

-

As the group moved through the forest, the hunters fanned out and scouted ahead for any remaining raiders, but most had pulled back to recover what they could from the remnants of their camp, so there was little in the way of resistance.

While they walked, they passed by several sights of Jack's running battle with the raiders, many of which Jack couldn't remember at all. The sheer brutality evident in the fights made Em'brel shudder. Some even made Lon'thul shake his head. The only one who seemed unaffected was S'haar. Having seen her own share of violence, she was already familiar with the inevitable results of a life and death struggle. Additionally, she was probably the only argu'n who'd realized just how much Jack had been holding back until now.

Passing by one otherwise unambiguous corpse, Jack felt his heart clench in an icy fist. He startled everyone by hopping out of the litter, landing partially on his bad foot and collapsing. When Em'brel reached for him to help, she and everyone else were shocked when he slapped her hand away and crawled shakily toward the body, sobbing incoherently.

There was more confusion when he started punching the corpse right in the middle of its boney plate, yelling something to the effect of, "You weren't supposed to die! You idiot! All you had to do was stay asleep!"

While Lon'thul didn't know what Jack was saying, he got the general gist of what was going on. Looking over Jack's shoulders, he could see the body of a young male. He'd had his throat slit. It was clearly the work of one of the hunters.

Trying to help, Lon'thul put a hand on Jack's shoulder and spoke up. "This one wasn't you. You weren't responsible."

Jack shoved Lon'thul's hand off his shoulder and threw a punch at him with his other hand. S'haar caught Jack's fist before it could make contact with the stunned hunter.

The person who looked most surprised at his assault was Jack himself, who started to mutter something that must have been an apology before his face twisted in pain, and he grabbed at this chest with his right hand while his left hung limp at his side.

Angela spoke up to S'haar. "It's Jack's heart again! Quick, use the defibrillator!"

After pulling Em'brel away and telling Lon'thul to stand back, S'haar grabbed the device, which had dragged behind Jack, and pushed the button again. This resulted in Jack rocketing back onto the ground, where he lay sobbing in pain for a few moments. Though no one was certain if the problem was more physical or emotional at this point.

Eventually, they set the litter beside Jack again, who shakily crawled back on and collapsed, laying in silence with his arm draped over his eyes for a while. After a time, his breathing evened out, and it was clear he'd fallen asleep.

Lon'thul simply looked confused. "Did I say something wrong?"

S'haar shook her head. "Despite everything he's done, Jack is not a violent man by nature. This night is going to leave scars on his soul as well as his body. For now, we need to let him rest, let him process what happened in his own time and way, and be there in case he needs us."

Em'brel reached out a hand and rested it on the litter next to Jack as they walked, unsure of what to say or do.

-

After they traveled a while, Dek'thul came back to meet them. "I'm pretty confident we've passed the raiders at this point. I'm going to leave one of my hunters with you to see to it you get back safely, but the rest and I are going to meet up with the guard and help then hunt down the remnants of this camp, so they don't become a long term problem."

He slapped Lon'thul on the back. "You did well out there, kid! Keep that up, and I might eventually have a rival! My own son no less!"

Lon'thul beamed under the praise. S'haar didn't look pleased to speak to the hunter chief but still nodded her head and expressed her gratitude.

Dek'thul's grin wasn't quite as wide as he responded with a nod of his own. "Of course! All those raiders wandering about with impunity could have been a serious issue in time. I'm always happy to deal with any threat to the village."

Em'brel just looked nervous in the presence of the frightening-looking hunter and let loose a small involuntary squeak when he winked at her.

Dek'thul looked down at Jack a moment before turning and walking away, speaking over his shoulder as he left. "Just get him back home and patched up. It would be a shame to lose the kind of asset he's proven to be."

With those parting words, Dek'thul faded into the underbrush far more quickly than should have been possible for such a large argu'n, leaving the rest to resume their journey back home.