44.
— — —
I pushed through the panicking soldiers, their weapons clattering in their trembling grips, and caught sight of mangled corpses scattered among the toppled tents. My stomach twisted in terror. Yet, knowing Varkas could end up in that very state made it impossible to stop.
Before I knew it, I was frantically cutting across the debris-littered campground, trying to close the distance between myself and Varkas, who had already drifted far ahead.
A heavy thud echoed through the air.
Talia turned her head, her face turning deathly pale. Not far away, a Wyvern had landed and was swallowing a soldier whole. Each time the monster’s massive jaws snapped shut, blood poured out in torrents, drenching its jet-black maw.
The sight was so surreal that my fear was replaced by a hollow numbness. Talia staggered backward, her legs trembling. Then, amidst the soldiers rushing forward with spears, she spotted Varkas and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Varkas! Varkas!”
As I sprinted toward him—a desperate child searching for parents in a marketplace—Varkas, who had been shouting orders to his knights, turned. Our gazes locked. His eyes widened momentarily before narrowing into a sharp, icy glare. He was furious that I had ignored his instructions and rushed into the fray.
The coldness in his eyes sent a shiver down my spine, but Talia did not stop. She pushed forward, her mind consumed by a singular, frantic need: to reach Varkas and find safety.
*Don’t fight. Just order your men. Stay by my side.*
These unreasonable, incoherent demands tangled within my ragged breathing. Though he shouldn’t have been able to hear them over the chaos, Varkas began to stride toward me, as if he had understood. Talia reached out a trembling hand.
Suddenly, a shrill scream pierced the air.
“Varkas!”
Varkas’s head snapped back.
Talia followed his gaze and her eyes widened. Aila was standing all alone in the center of the carnage. Separated from her escort, she was wandering in a panicked daze, a dark shadow looming directly over her. Without a second’s hesitation, Varkas threw himself into action.
Talia watched him pull away, her mouth hanging open. A miserable plea caught in her constricted throat.
*Don’t go.*
*Don’t go to her.*
Lava-like sobs erupted, searing her throat.
Varkas rolled across the ground, narrowly escaping death as he scooped Aila into his arms. The monster, having lost its prey, clawed the earth with black talons and let out a savage roar.
Varkas drew his sword, positioning himself to shield Aila. However, the monster did not linger on a failed kill. It sniffed the air, shook its massive head, and turned its predatory gaze toward Talia.
She stood frozen, staring into those glowing red eyes. The monster’s pupils dilated with hungry excitement. The next moment, its massive body launched toward her like a snake striking through water.
The movement was too fast for even a scream. Talia was snatched into the air, her body caught in the hook-like talons.
Looking down as the earth rapidly fell away, Talia rolled her eyes in desperation. The soldiers below dwindled to the size of palms in the blink of an eye.
Overwhelmed by a crushing sense of dread, Talia kicked and thrashed, but the pressure on her chest only increased. It felt as if those sharp claws would pierce her skin and tear her apart at any moment. She looked up at the beast, her eyes wide with terror, and shrieked.
“H-help me…! Someone, please…!”
The voice sounded faint, even to her own ears. She gasped for air, struggling to scream again.
Just then, a flash flickered in the bluish darkness, followed by a gust of intense heat that brushed her face. Talia let out a cry. The monster holding her let out a shrill, alien shriek and began to thrash violently.
The pressure on her waist reached a breaking point, and her vision went white. Overwhelmed by a sudden, violent exhaustion, her limbs went limp. Her body drifted into the void before plummeting toward the earth.
A few seconds later, a bone-jarring impact slammed into her, and everything faded into darkness.
She couldn’t tell if she was awake or unconscious. She thought she might be dead. But then, as if to deny the release of death, a wave of immense pain surged over her. Talia groaned, gasping like livestock waiting for the slaughter.
It hurt. It hurt so much. She couldn’t even identify the source.
“Hic… Hicc…”
Unconsciously, she crawled along the ground, trying to escape whatever was pinning her down. Unable to bear the agony, she buried her forehead into the cold, damp dirt. Then, catching a pungent, acrid smell, she forced her head up.
Her vision, now adjusted to the gloom, caught the limp carcass of the Wyvern. Talia, who had been sobbing in terror, blinked in confusion; the monster was dead.
It looked as though it had been consumed by fire. Half of its wings were charred and shriveled, and its massive hind legs, stripped of scales, still smoldered with reddish embers.
She stared blankly before placing her palms on the dirt, struggling to push her upper body up.
Then, she saw it: a large rock and a pile of debris pinning one of her legs. She must have rolled down a slope during the fall.
*I have to get out of here…*
Talia twisted her body, trying to pull her lower half from beneath the weight of the rocks, but she went limp, unable to withstand the blinding pain. From her crushed leg to her chest, shoulders, and arms—there wasn’t a single part of her that didn’t ache.
Had every bone in her body shattered?
It was possible. She didn’t know how she was even alive. Or perhaps she was dying, and this was the end.
She looked around with fearful eyes.
A deep darkness had descended. Is this what it felt like to be buried alive? It was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. She would have preferred to lose consciousness, but her senses only sharpened. Unable to endure, Talia scraped the earth with mangled fingernails. Tears streamed down her face.
“It hurts… It hurts so much… Varkas…”
She didn’t know why she whispered that name. She recalled his figure, the way he had turned his back on her to run toward Aila.
She could never be important to Varkas. The ones he protected would always be Aila and Gareth.
Hot tears soaked her cheeks.
“No… Even so… he will come to look for me.”
She murmured the words, trying to persuade her own heart. *I am the Emperor’s daughter. He is a man of honor; he will at least try to find my body. He wouldn’t just leave me here.*
Clinging to that thought, she stared into the deepening night.
Before long, the embers on the monster’s skin died out, and the world was plunged into total darkness.
When no one came, she squeezed her parched, cracked throat and tried to murmur, louder this time.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. He’ll come soon. Soon…”
But her voice was swallowed by the sobs that burst forth. Talia bit her lip, covering her mouth with trembling hands. *I don’t want to cry.*
*If I cry, I admit it. That no one is coming.*
She forced the bitter, stinging wails deep down into her gut, muffling her despair. She repeated the mantra over and over.
*If I wait just a little longer, Varkas will come. Just like he pulled me from the mud, he will help me.*
*He will. He definitely will…*