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“Elias.” My eyes suddenly widened as I remembered everything that happened. “Elias, there was a beast. They were screaming. The bandits. Did you see it? Did it hurt you?” I leaned forward as if getting ready to stand, but my head had already begun to spin. Elias rushed over with his pack and gently laid me back against the tree.

“Shh,” he hushed me. “You’re alright. There’s no beast. You’re safe now.” He reached into his pack, pulling out a handful of rags, bandages, and elixirs. I recognized them as the medicinal supplies he bought in Monuvia.

“But…” I began, but trailed off. I tried to piece together the sounds I had heard at the bandit camp, and the things I thought I had seen through my heavily blurred vision. I had seen a giant black mass jump onto Vick. Maybe it was only Elias, his size only appearing distorted. Or maybe most of what I saw and heard was all in my head. Just hallucinations brought on by my repeated head injury, like how the wolf at Rebellia River was a dream triggered by me going unconscious.

Hallucination or not, I remembered seeing the black mass head towards me. Then it wasn’t a black mass with glowing yellow eyes.It was Elias. Elias was the one who rescued me. And he brought me…here. Where was here? I looked around, but saw nothing but trees. We were still in the forest, and that’s all I knew.

Elias placed the medical supplies on the ground next to me, then put his hand on mine, energy pulsating through his touch. For a moment, I swore the splitting pain in my head numbed.

“There was no beast. Only me,” he repeated delicately. We maintained eye contact for a moment before he finally pulled his hand away, the pain rushing back to my temple. He picked up a rag and a small, bottled elixir off the ground. He pulled the cork lid from the elixir, then poured some of the liquid onto the rag. Slowly, he brought his hand up and began to dab the wet cloth onto the aching wound on my temple. A stinging pain shot through the injury, and I winced.

“I’m sorry, I know this hurts. But it will help,” Elias said tenderly.

“You…you rescued me,” I breathed.

His eyes darkened. “I should have never left you in the first place.” Anger and guilt revealed themselves through his tone.

“You had every right,” I replied. “I shouldn’t have put you in such an awkward position.”

He put his free hand up to silence me. “You never have to apologize for being honest,” he spoke softly.

I closed my eyes, feeling only relief that he was back. We were only apart for one full day, which was more than enough to have me craving his presence. Or was it more than one day? I realized I wasn’t sure how long I had been unconscious.

While Elias gently pressed the medicine into my wound, I began reliving the last moments again before I had blacked out. The giant mass. The bandits’ screams.

My eyes shot open as a sudden realization hit me. “Did you kill them?” It came out as a hushed whisper.

Elias’s whole body stiffened. He remained silent and still as I waited for his answer. Then he let out a breath.

“Yes.”

My throat tightened for a moment. Elias lowered his hands from my wound and looked me in my eyes. “Does that bother you?” he asked, his voice still gentle, and yet I couldn’t stop the shiver running down my spine.

I held his gaze, getting lost in his honey irises. I couldn’t break away, even if I wanted to. “No,” I whispered.

A look flashed on his face that I could not discern. At first I thought it could have been relief, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

“Good,” was all he said before continuing to tend to my head injury. He pulled away the rag, now covered in splotches of my blood, which seemed to be mostly dried. Then he moved down to my neck and started dabbing away the blood there.

“Most of the blood probably isn’t mine,” I told him, welcoming the chance to change the subject. I remembered Vick’s broken nose and how he grabbed at my neck with his blood-soaked hands. I was probably covered in it, and likely looked much worse off than I actually was. I didn’t want Elias to waste the medicine.

Elias’s brow rose. “You were tied to a tree,” he remarked.

“That doesn’t mean I didn’t give them one hell of a fight.”

He smirked. “I have no doubt.”

He reached over to pull his pack closer and grab another cloth, when I noticed him wince. My eyes followed his free hand, which he pressed against his ribs. As he pulled his hand away, I saw the bright red blood that covered his fingers.

Fresh blood.Hisblood.

He stared at his hand with a confused expression.

“Elias!” I shouted, pushing myself forward. “You’re hurt!”

I hadn’t even noticed. And apparently neither did he, by the lookof confusion on his face. I looked at where he had pressed his hands. His tunic was dark in color, and his leather vest was a deep brown, so it was hard to see the red of his blood. But as I focused on his torso, I could see the large wet stain on his side that soaked through even the leather. I now knew it was blood, and it was a decent amount.

Elias turned to me. “I’m fine,” he said.