Page 116 of The Freedom You Seek

Finally, I reached the redhead and helped him to his knees until he’d be able to move in at least some fashion. “Come, we need to get you to safety.”

Slowly, and with my aid, he crawled more than anything else while I shielded his body with mine. After all, I wore armor, and he didn’t.

Once we’d covered a short distance, Ireas suddenly shouted in alarm. My head swung around, my eyes widened in horror because all I could see was the massive scorpion tail of the Wailos that Dion had warned me about, and it was swinging directly at me.

Dodging was out of the question because of Thain, and so I braced myself, twisting my body so it’d be my back that would take the brunt of the attack. On impact, the blow vibrated through my spine, leaving burning torture in its wake, and as the agony spread from there to my limbs, I was catapulted into oblivion.

“So stupid.”—“Stubborn little thing.”—“One day, you’ll be the death of me.”

A groan left my throat. Sleeping was difficult when Dion was constantly mumbling curses in my ear.

“Shut up.”

I couldn’t tell if he didn’t hear me or if he just disregarded my words as he mumbled on.

“Next time, I’ll restrain you somewhere far away.”—“Irresponsible tiny woman.”—“Come on, open your eyes.”

I didn’t want to wake up. Instead, I wished to go back to sleep.

I must have drifted off for another moment because the next time when I woke up, Dion hadstopped insulting me. Instead, he was tenderly stroking my hair, which I enjoyed even in my half-asleep state.

But my bliss didn’t last too long, as the physical discomfort turned into something sharper, and I realized I was in pain, something that had become my default state far too often lately. Suddenly, the recent events were catapulted back into my memory, and I opened my eyes.

“The monster?” I said, trying to focus my gaze on Dion, who had my head in his lap and was crouched over me, one hand still in my hair.

“Dead.”

“The others?”

“Mostly fine. Fig has a few scratches, and Thain’s arm will need some time to heal, but no one suffered any permanent damage.”

I let out a relieved sigh.

“Butyouare in so much trouble.”

“What?”

“I told you to stay away, you stubborn thing. Instead, you ran into the fight and got smacked around by the one thing I ordered you to avoid at all costs. If that tail had pierced your defenses, all we could have done was watch you die a horrible death, Naya. There’s no antidote to the potent poison of a Wailos.”

Dion’s broad chest heaved, and he glared at me as angrily as he sounded. The usual muscle in his jaw ticked again and again. There was also worry in his expression, but the fury resided much closer to the surface.

Groaning, I tried to sit up, but Dion held me down. “Don’t expect me to do nothing when my friends are in danger or wounded.”

“That’s exactly what I expect!”

“I’m not arguing about morals with you of all people.”

Finally, I managed to sit up. My whole back felt like a giant bruise, and I guessed I wasn’t too far off about that.

“This can’t happen again, Nayana.”

“It won’t happen again because next time I simply won’t get hurt.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“I already told you that I don’t want to discuss this.” I gritted my teeth as I heaved myself to my feet. Even though I understood Dion was angry at me for putting myself in harm’s way—and not for the first time—he also had to understand I wasn’t going to stand by and watch people I cared about get butchered.

“Where are the others?” The surrounding area was abandoned, and except for our massive horse, nothing alive was in sight.