Zoel groaned as something scraped down her back. Her arm burned, and her body felt heavy.

The scraping came again and then again. Her mind felt foggy, thick and cloudy.

A thought of sharpness cut through the fog. Her mind thinned and blossomed with pain.

Her teeth ground together, and the pain cut and parted the fog. She remembered where she was and what had happened.

Her eyes opened to the sky and a towering figure. She was on her back. Pain erupted again.

"Nearly there, Zeol. Hold still."

The third time, she was expecting it. When it came, she gritted her teeth again, and her eyes squeezed. Knowing it was coming didn't help. Zeol listened as Jung continued to whisper but couldn't focus on the words.

She opened her eyes, limply rolled onto her good side, and propped herself up. Jung had dragged her into the cover. Laying down beside her was an unconscious Nami.

Her Kiko had been unclasped from her arm, and her gambeson peeled away. Her flopped bare, covered only by the dressing Jung had applied to her wound. It was clean, but other rags strewn about were damp and red.

Nami held a finger to her lips and pointed above the edge of the hollow they were hidden in.

It took her some effort, but zoel forced herself up and above enough to see.

Hanju was holding the attention of the Gybtah alone. The others she couldn't see. Her chest tightened at the thought.

Hanju was doing well, keeping it off-balance and flat-footed, but surely he couldn't keep it up for long. No doubt he was as fatigued as the rest of them. Nothing but momentum and adrenaline keeping him going.

Movement caught her eye. Something among the trees. Hanju couldn't see it with his back turned to the forest. It could be more Agmagon or, heavens forbid, another Gybtah. She had to warn him.

She risked gaining the attention of the Gybtah herself, but it had to be done. She mustered all the energy she could to scramble out of the hollow.

With her good arm, she grabbed a branch of the old tree and pulled herself up. Her other arm dragged in the gravel beside her. Before she could call out, from amongst the trees, a figure crashed out onto the river's bank.

She looked, looked away and looked back again; the sight was still the same. Standing at the edge of the forest was the unit leader. His body steamed as the river mist boiled away from his skin.

Turning up at the last moment was an understatement. In his arms hung an unconscious woman. She couldn't make out who. Her body was wrapped in a blanket, and her face bandaged and buried into his chest.

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Hanju baulked at the sudden arrival, but so did the Gybtah. It turned, faced the new arrival, snorted, and booked its head. Its razor antlers whistled as they slashed through the air.

The unit leader lowered and propped the injured up against a tree. He beckoned towards her with a glance and strode towards the beast, each unhindered step an assertion of his domain.

Maybe from carrying the injured, perhaps just a concession for speed; either way, the unit leader had arrived unarmed. Despite this, Zoel felt a weight lift; the tension in her body dissipated, and for a moment, she closed her eyes and just breathed.

The unit leader had the beast's entire focus. Even weaponless, she knew he was far from incapable; right now, he radiated an aura of danger. From how the Gybtah twitched and cocked its head, it could feel it too.

With the beast's attention drawn away from her, she moved. With her one good arm, she dragged herself up and out of the depression and over the old tree.

"Slow down, Zoel, you're seriously injured."

Her heart fluttered, and she almost jumped. Jung was crouched low, trailing just behind her silently. Slung over one shoulder was her pack. Her pack, the one containing the medical supplies.

Zeol continued on anyway. Only when she got closer did she realise who she was looking at.

"Sul'Gretta!"

She stirred slightly when Jung all but shouted her name. Sul'Gretta had been one of the cooks at the camp where the unit had split. She'd been the one to relegate Zoel to dishwashing. She'd also been the one to set aside her breakfast too.

Zeol reaminaed silent. Sul'Gretta's injuries seemed similar to Yol'Namis. Dried blood left streaks down her face from her ears and the corner of her eyes. She had never imagined this hunt would have turned out so badly; it had started as nothing more than an ordinary expedition.

"To injure a Sul, she must have been so close to the impact. I have a bad feeling about this, Zoel. I hope the others are okay."

Zeol wasn't sure. She felt guilty thinking it, but if someone at the Sul level was injured, the outlook for the others didn't look good.

The leader's slow approach towards the Gybtah continued until he passed some imaginary threshold. It brought its head down until its blade-like antlers paralleled the ground. It stilled for a moment, then jerked forward suddenly and quickly, its pace increasing rapidly.

The unit leader was calm, moving forward slowly and undeterred even as the Gybtah barreled towards him. It reached him, gaining every last modicum of speed it could muster.

Narrowly avoiding its wicked antlers, He stepped to the side, his body coiling like a taut rope. His body untwisted and released a hooked strike aside its flank. Zoel felt the impact in her bones.

Gybtah's trajectory instantly changed, careering away towards the river bank. The beast was moving too fast to slow its momentum and was now completely unbalanced.

It lost its footing and, in a moment, no longer has its feet beneath it. Zeol watched as it hit the ground. Its antlers gouged a furrowing into the gravel before breaking, splintering, snapping off and skittering away.

It careered onward and, with a guttural wail, disappeared down the banking and out of site.

A silence descended on the group; only the white noise of the river roaring below disturbed it. Zoel was stunned. The unit leader was extraordinary.

The beast had caused them so much trouble yet was so easily routed by him. Zoel wanted to convey her thanks, the fortune of his arrival, and the relief she felt, yet her words failed her.

A feeling of complete subservience washed over her, so thick it could have almost been tangible. It was like the unit leader had an aura radiating from him, turning the air thick like honey. When he turned his gaze to her, Sentences collapsed, and words failed, turning into garbled nonsense.

She reasserted herself and spoke again. She stuttered, but this time, at least had some modicum of articulation. "Unit leader Swum'Janhua, I... I need to report."