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Blood spattered the stone tiles beneath him, dripping from a wound to his right arm, and Tighnari kept an arrow focused on the men in front of him.
His bow sat heavy in his grasp. The arrow was aimed. If he wanted to shoot, he would just need to draw back. Loose the arrow. He could shoot to kill. He’d done it before. Mostly on the beasts trawling through Avidya’s shadows where he had to sacrifice them or an adventurer. Occasionally on poachers attacking him and the other rangers. If he had the choice, he wouldn’t, but—still.
Behind him, the metallic reek of blood hung heavy in the air. Alhaitham’s head wound had rendered him unconscious. The lacerations he and Cyno had were bleeding badly. Kaveh’s breathing was wrong. He wasn’t standing right, either, barely upright as he braced himself between Cyno and Alhaitham and the others. Carnelian-red eyes darted to Tighnari. They were hazy. Blood loss.
We need to get this handled fast. Tighnari turned back to face the men in front of him. They weren’t poachers. Poachers, Tighnari could understand. Most of them were doing it for quick money. He would still protect his forest. Still, he could work with people desperate for Mora. Offering jobs around the Ville or in Sumeru City—Archons knew the Akademiya was always hiring, especially now that the Akasha system was down. But these men weren’t poachers, they weren’t mercenaries, and he couldn’t pay them off. These were—they were something else. He didn’t know what, but they had attacked him and the others out of nowhere.
Shaking, Tighnari gritted his teeth. An arrow shot towards him. He moved to stop it—
A second arrow struck him in the right shoulder.
Sucking in a breath, he glanced at the men. One of them managed a grin, arrogant and sharp. “Did that hurt, foxy?” Growling, he grabbed his bow tighter. Okay, Tighnari. They’re not going to let us go.
“Kaveh, keep your sword up. Try not to die.” Tighnari cautioned. Without looking over his shoulder, he added, “And don’t jump into the fight.”
“What?” Kaveh’s voice pitched up in a panic. “Tighnari—”
Tighnari sprang forward, arrow at the ready.
Slamming his bow (thank the Archons he had decided to reinforce the thing) into one man’s jaw, Tighnari twisted. He pulled a dagger from his boot, slashing backwards. His blade found a man’s thigh. Blood split the air. He threw an elbow into another’s stomach, moving to stab him in the shoulder. Turning, he dodged a punch. Slashed a third man’s stomach. Drawing an arrow, he fired and hit another guy as he went for Kaveh and the others.
A punch landed on his face. Staggering, Tighnari twisted. He stabbed another man in the stomach. Pain slashed along his spine. A man wrapped an arm around his throat. With a snarl, Tighnari stomped on his foot. The man howled in pain. A woman lunged for him. She slashed for his eyes. Tighnari yanked his head to the side.
Pain ripped along his face, slicing through his left cheek. Tighnari grabbed the woman’s wrist. Twisting it to the side, he gripped. Hard. Bones cracked under his hand. Crying out, the woman aimed a sloppy punch for his face. He dodged. Grabbing her knife and ripping it from her hand, he threw it and managed to lodge it in the neck of another woman. This one was going for Alhaitham.
Don’t let them touch the others. He didn’t quite remember anything. There were bursts of pain. Honestly, he ignored them. He had to keep the others safe.
A whip wrapped around his neck and he was yanked to the ground. His bow clattered on the floor, disappearing. Kicking, he slammed his heel into a woman’s jaw. When he twisted, he snarled. One of the men yanked back with a cry. Clawing at the whip, he dug his claws in. His gloves had come off at some point. He didn’t remember when, they must have been lost beforehand. It didn’t matter much. His own claws dug into his skin. Stinging, sharp sparks of pain fired off across his neck, down his chest. Shaking himself, he grabbed at the loop around his neck and pulled.
Sharp razors dug into his palm, the underside of his fingers. Scrabbling for the rest of the whip, he managed to grab it. A twist of his hand, and it was locked around his fingers. The woman holding it froze. He managed to rip the whip free.
Everything blurred after then. Things started getting spotty—black swarmed the edges of his vision. Gasping, Tighnari staggered. He shook his head, grabbed for his bow.
He might have shouted. Might have screamed. Either way, one moment he was standing in the middle of their attackers, bloodied hands and stinging injuries. The next, he was standing in front of Kaveh and the others again, bow in hand and shaking. The—he was just going to call them mercenaries, it made sense—attackers were gone, thankfully. The ground was spattered with blood.
Panting, gritting his teeth, Tighnari turned around. His eyes landed on Kaveh, Cyno, and Alhaitham. Thankfully, they seemed uninjured. Tighnari stumbled towards them. Kaveh looked up, eyes wide.
“Nari—you’re hurt.”
Tighnari glanced down. There were new lacerations on his side, tearing through the thick fabric of his hoodie and tunic. The pale skin beneath was stained red. Looking back up, he replied, “I’ll survive. We need to get you all out of here.” His voice sounded raspy. Weirdly raspy. That whip must have done more damage than I thought.
“What? No, you need—we should call someone, I can send Mehrak. How are you even on your feet?” Kaveh tried to stumble to his own feet. When he did, pain split his face. The deep cuts on his left leg bled more. The one that nearly sliced his Achilles tendon sent him back down to the stone floor.
Shaking his head, Tighnari ducked forward and caught his arm, helping him the rest of the way. “We need to get you back. I—I think I might be able to take Cyno. I hate to make Alhaitham carry you with a concussion, but—”
“But you can’t carry me and Cyno.” Kaveh finished. Nodding, Tighnari looked at him. Pain radiated through his back. Lifting Cyno was going to be awful, but with that broken left leg of his…well, Cyno wasn’t going to be walking anywhere anytime soon. Tighnari was going to have to carry him. With a sigh, Kaveh turned and glanced at their two idiots. “Alright, Tighnari. I can’t say that I like the idea, but…you have a point. But, but but but—you need to let me know if you need a break. I can see that blood on your shoulder and back.”
Looking him in the eyes, hoisting Cyno over his shoulder, Tighnari lied, “I will.”
Kaveh stared at him like he didn’t believe a word he said.
Kaveh was right.
He should have been taking breaks.
As he and Kaveh stumbled through the desert, Tighnari clutching Kaveh’s hand as leading him as the man started getting hit with his own blood loss, he found himself gasping. It was quiet. Kaveh wouldn’t be able to hear it. Still, he bit the inside of his cheek anyways. The sun beat down on his back, he could taste blood in his mouth. If Kaveh had glanced at him, he’d have something to say. But Kaveh couldn’t see him. He had to focus on carrying Alhaitham, on stumbling along. The harsh, rasping breaths behind him—Alhaitham’s, Cyno’s, even Kaveh’s—were sharp in his ears. Try as he might, Tighnari couldn’t ignore it. He couldn’t even try.
Carefully, Tighnari pulled Kaveh over the edge of a ridge. Their feet, slick with blood and slipping in it, skidded. “Careful, careful,” Tighnari said over his shoulder.
“Right, right,” Glancing partly to the side, Tighnari peered at him. Kaveh was pale. Too pale. His limp had grown worse and worse. There was blood running down his legs. There was also some running down his shoulders and neck, coming from Alhaitham’s head wound and the wounds to his back and shoulders.
“Almost there, Kaveh. I promise, we’re almost there.” He knew he was almost there. He knew they were almost there. They were so close to Candace’s village. They were so close…
Staggering, Tighnari continued to stumble along the desert ground. His ribs ached. There was a burning stitch in his side, digging deeper and deeper into his chest. The stab wound to his shoulder scraped at his veins with claws. Panting, he turned back ahead. He could see the village. He knew it was the village. It had to be the village. It had to be!
With another stagger, Tighnari pulled a bit too hard on Kaveh’s arm.
With a pained gasp, Kaveh followed him. “Sorry, sorry. I’m sorry.” He rasped. There was blood still filling his mouth. As he continued on, he glanced back again. On his back, Cyno let out a huffing groan. There was blood dripping onto Tighnari’s own shoulder, his own neck. Please just be a bitten tongue. Please don’t let it be broken ribs. Please don’t let one of his ribs have pierced his lungs.
Alhaitham didn’t sound much better, but that was because even Tighnari could barely hear him.
The air was cold. He didn’t know why. It shouldn’t be cold. Shivering, Tighnari glanced back at Kaveh again. His eyes were dulled, a tone of red they should never be. “We’re so close.” He murmured again. “We’ll be right there, Kaveh, I promise.”
At some point, Kaveh collapsed.
Tighnari stared at him in horror. He’d not even heard Kaveh begin to collapse. He should have heard Kaveh collapse. Shaking, he stepped back to him. “Kaveh—”
Lying on the desert ground, Kaveh shuddered as well. Alhaitham lay right beside him. Glancing at the village, Tighnari swallowed. Okay, Nari. Okay. You have to get him inside. We have to get them to the village.
Grabbing Kaveh’s arm, Tighnari hoisted him onto his back as best he could. Beside Cyno. Terrible way of managing it, but whatever. He could carry…he needed to carry Kaveh and Cyno. He could lift Alhaitham? Maybe?
He didn’t remember how he figured it out. He just…he did. Staggering along the desert, he raised his head. There were blurs looking at him, moving around. Red and blue-purple and two different shades of brown. Multiple shades of brown, dark enough to almost me black and then two lighter but still rich shades of brown. Stumbling, Tighnari dropped forwards. Arms landed on his shoulders. Someone cupped his face. Looking up, meeting a sky-blue gaze, Tighnari rasped out, “Dehya—”
The world blacked out.
He woke up lying on his side, someone brushing his hair out of his face.
The pain hit him first. Gasping, eyes snapping open, Tighnari moved to throw himself upright. When he did, someone pushed down. Too late. Shouting, he dropped back to the mattress. Pain shot across his side.
When the black spots left his vision, he was looking up at Cyno. A Cyno with bandages and stitches, but a Cyno nonetheless. “Cyno.” He rasped. Another shudder passed through him. Gasping, Tighnari curled in on himself. Lightning-like strikes of pain rocketed over his arms, across his ribs, on his leg and his face. His back ached. His throat hurt. “What—”
“You’re okay, you’re alright. Kaveh and Alhaitham are fine, too. Alhaitham’s still sleeping. Not unconscious. Sleeping. That’s the important thing.” Cyno explained quickly. Reaching up, he brushed Tighnari’s hair from his face again. “You’re going to have another scar, love.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s hot.” Snorting, then wincing, Tighnari shoved at Cyno’s shoulder. It didn’t quite work. Mostly because the pain was so bad, he could see multiple Cynos.
“Shut up.”
“Totally. I’ll just…” Cyno raised a water that clearly had painkillers dissolved in it, “drink you in while you have your moment.”
“Shut up.” Tighnari mumbled, shivering. When he reached for it, Cyno shook his head. Then, he held the cup to Tighnari’s mouth for him, let him drink that way. Swallowing, leaning back, he rasped, “Feels like I’ve been struck by lightning. Join me?”
“In the bed? I thought you wanted me to shu—okay,” Cyno laughed as Tighnari dragged him into the bed. “I feel like this has happened before.”
Ignoring him, Tighnari mashed his face into Cyno’s chest, curling his aching fingers in his shirt as he shivered. Warm arms wrapped around him. Mmm. This is nice, he thought. I like this.
He drifted off again before the painkillers kicked in.
Cyno was a better painkiller, anyways.