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Rhydian had been missing for almost two days now, and Maddy was furious. He’d already left her once and now he’d up and left without even saying anything to her?
‘He wouldn’t just leave you, Maddy,’ Shannon said, as they trudged over the moors in search for him. ‘He came back to us, remember?’
Maddy knew this, but was hurt and upset and wanted to be angry at something. He was the easiest target.
And she also didn’t want to consider the alternative.
They searched until nightfall, not finding any trace or scent of him.
‘I think we should go back, Mads. We’re not going to find anything in the dark. Plus, we have an exam tomorrow.’
Maddy glared into the darkness, then sighed. ‘You go. I’ll catch up to you in a second.’
‘You sure, Mads?’ Shannon said uncertainly.
‘I know these woods like the back of my hand. I’ll catch up soon, I promise.’
Shannon frowned, but turned to leave.
Maddy let out a shuddering exhale, finally letting herself face the possibility that he’d been taken, or hurt in some way. She covered her mouth to mute her breathing, hoping Shannon couldn’t hear the little whimpers she couldn’t stifle. Maybe she didn’t try to stifle them, in case he could hear her.
She should catch up to Shannon soon. She’d be getting worried. Just a little longer.
Maddy took a deep breath, calming herself down, and stood up. Shaking herself, she put on a brave face and started in the direction of home.
Then some arms grabbed her from behind.
Maddy opened her mouth to scream, but couldn’t get any air in her lungs. She thrashed around, clawing at the strong arms around her chest, kicking her legs to hopefully trip her captor as they ran.
A low voice growled in her ear, but she couldn’t hear the words. Her ears felt like they were full of water, the pounding of her heart the only sound cutting through.
Her throat started to hurt. She must’ve found her voice somewhere along the way.
Hope escaped her the longer they fled. No one was coming. She was too far away from Shannon now. She was too far away from anyone.
‘ALRIC!’
A sweet, familiar, slightly coarse voice cut through the thunder in her head. Relief flooded her, even though she couldn’t quite place it yet.
Her captor stopped so abruptly her thrashing knocked them both over, causing him to let go of her. She scrambled away from him as fast as she could, tripping over tree roots, almost blind from the panic.
She hit a tree and she held tight to it, willing her sight and hearing to return to normal.
‘…but you…’
‘That’s right. I’m still here. Going to take a lot more to get rid of me.’
Maddy stared at Alric, rendered speechless. He looked pathetic and pale, as if he’d seen a ghost.
‘You stole my Jana-’ he started, trying to regain his standing.
‘That is not an excuse to hurt my friends, ever. How dare you! Get out of here! NOW!’
Maddy’s heart leapt when it finally sunk in who had saved her.
She heard Alric run off, but she couldn’t take her eyes off her rescuer, slack-jawed and wide eyed. Relief overcame her and smile just started to break free when she saw him grimace and collapse, moaning softly.
‘Rhydian!’ she screamed, rushing towards him. He lay still on the ground, panting.
‘Hey, Maddy,’ he said brokenly, showing her a pained smile.
‘Rhydian!’ she cried again, taking hand and cradling his head. ‘What happened?’
He hissed softly as she moved him, and she let go, terrified of hurting him.
‘No,’ he said, holding out his hand to her, ‘it’s okay. It’s nice.’
Slowly, making eye contact every few seconds to make sure he was okay, she coaxed him into her lap and held his hand. He was completely dirty, his clothes ripped and caked with mud, his hair wet and matted, and bruises littered his skin. Maddy was sure he was probably bleeding somewhere too, given his state, and might even have more than a few broken bones. It made her feel sick.
‘What happened?’ she repeated, whispering to keep her emotions in check.
‘Alric,’ he breathed. ‘Mad about…Jana.’
‘And he took it out on you?’ She was more horrified by the second.
Rhydian tried to shrug but regretted it immediately. ‘He hates me. Left me…for dead. That’s why…’ He paused to catch his breath. ‘…he was…surprised. Heard…you. Had to…move to…find you.’
Maddy was furious. But she couldn’t deal with that now. She had to get Rhydian back home, give him food, water, clean him up, help him heal.
‘I can’t carry you like this. Can you walk?’
‘It’s…okay. I can…wait…‘til morning.’
‘No way am I leaving you here.’
Rhydian let out a breath that sounded like a wheezy chuckle. ‘Same old…Mads.’
‘Can you transform?’
Rhydian frowned. ‘Maybe… Might hurt.’
Maddy looked around desperately for another solution.
‘Maddy!’
Maddy almost laughed at her timing. ‘Shannon!’
‘Rhydian!’ she gasped. ‘What happened?’
‘Later,’ Maddy said. ‘We need to help him get back to mine.’ She turned back to him. ‘If we both support you could you walk?’
‘Should be….’
Shannon immediately got to work leaning him on her shoulder. Maddy followed suit. Slowly, and with more than a few expletives, they got Rhydian upright. Tears streamed out his eyes and he was as white as the moon, but together, one step at a time, they made their way back to safety.