latched unsteadily on her right shoulder and the other hand gripping a staff tightly as he struggled to lift one foot above the rising mud in an effort to keep going.
He had been bitten less than ten minutes ago.
They had fifty minutes until he was full paralyzed. Unable to walk. Unable to eat. Unable to drink. They had to reach safety before then.
He wasn’t giving up and neither was she.
Chapter 7
E very minute that passed was a minute lost in Ezekiel’s life. He didn’t have much time. Just like all of the sufferers of this poisonous creature’s bite. She could feel the energy draining out of Ezekiel as every step he took became harder. Mud clung to their legs, weighing them down, and Ezekiel was wheezing from the exertions. The effort to keep moving forward was taking a lot out of him, even though she bore the majority of his weight all while keeping her armor on.
“Let me go,” he managed to say through heavy breaths.
“No,” she said firmly.
“Sara...” His voice was fading out.
She stopped for a moment, ready to berate him. But the weakness in his voice halted her before sound could pass from her lips. For a moment, she felt compassion. So she softened her voice and counseled, “Catch your breath. We’re almost there.”
He chuckled through coughs. “You don’t know that.”
“I do,” she said in a tone of voice that hinted at the violence she would inflict if he tried to contradict her again.
Ezekiel leaned away so he could turn and stare at her with weary eyes. His paralysis wasn’t traveling the same path as it had the other soldiers struck by the razor-billed dragon. For some strange reason Ezekiel’s paralysis was only affecting the left side of his body. She had originally thought he would be like the others, with his feet showing the symptoms first. She had been told that first the flesh along the soles of the soldier’s feet went numb. The first half dozen to succumb had probably seen the numbness as a boon. No more aching feet. But the numbness hadn’t stopped there. Slowly, the flesh along their ankles and legs had begun to tingle and then lock-up. With each passing step, it would become harder for them to move forward—like it now was for Ezekiel—and eventually the muscles would stop functioning altogether. Preventing movement. Ezekiel’s left leg had begun to lag long before his right leg had been affected in any capacity. She knew that the final step in the creature’s predatory plan hinged on its prey’s vulnerability, which was why Ezekiel’s left side was currently strapped to her right like a three-legged human. The mercenaries had quickly learned that it stalked its prey until they couldn’t move anymore and then swooped in to devour their defenseless forms. Sara wouldn’t let that happen. They had also learned that it was just as formidable as the creature which had surged from the waters like a demonic angel. Its skin was as dense as armor, it was fast as lightning, and it regarded their attempts to kill with an almost contemptuous air.
“Just like everything else in this damned swamp,” Sara said as she used her free arm to wipe sweat away from the corner of her eyes. She knew that creature always struck when the poison did its final work and the victim lay comatose as easy prey. Sara wasn’t about to let that happen. When Ezekiel’s right leg succumbed and he finally couldn’t shuffle forward anymore, Sara planned to beg a fellow soldier to lift Ezekiel in their arms like a babe and carry him. She knew it was a foolish though. Ezekiel wasn’t even a full mercenary, he was a curator drafted into the ranks of the archer because of her insistence. None of them would want to waste their remaining energy on carrying him. She knew they would sooner let him fall behind than kill themselves with the labor or danger of protecting him. But at that moment Sara wasn’t thinking of the logical conclusion of her pleas. She was thinking she would do anything to
He had been bitten less than ten minutes ago.
They had fifty minutes until he was full paralyzed. Unable to walk. Unable to eat. Unable to drink. They had to reach safety before then.
He wasn’t giving up and neither was she.
Chapter 7
E very minute that passed was a minute lost in Ezekiel’s life. He didn’t have much time. Just like all of the sufferers of this poisonous creature’s bite. She could feel the energy draining out of Ezekiel as every step he took became harder. Mud clung to their legs, weighing them down, and Ezekiel was wheezing from the exertions. The effort to keep moving forward was taking a lot out of him, even though she bore the majority of his weight all while keeping her armor on.
“Let me go,” he managed to say through heavy breaths.
“No,” she said firmly.
“Sara...” His voice was fading out.
She stopped for a moment, ready to berate him. But the weakness in his voice halted her before sound could pass from her lips. For a moment, she felt compassion. So she softened her voice and counseled, “Catch your breath. We’re almost there.”
He chuckled through coughs. “You don’t know that.”
“I do,” she said in a tone of voice that hinted at the violence she would inflict if he tried to contradict her again.
Ezekiel leaned away so he could turn and stare at her with weary eyes. His paralysis wasn’t traveling the same path as it had the other soldiers struck by the razor-billed dragon. For some strange reason Ezekiel’s paralysis was only affecting the left side of his body. She had originally thought he would be like the others, with his feet showing the symptoms first. She had been told that first the flesh along the soles of the soldier’s feet went numb. The first half dozen to succumb had probably seen the numbness as a boon. No more aching feet. But the numbness hadn’t stopped there. Slowly, the flesh along their ankles and legs had begun to tingle and then lock-up. With each passing step, it would become harder for them to move forward—like it now was for Ezekiel—and eventually the muscles would stop functioning altogether. Preventing movement. Ezekiel’s left leg had begun to lag long before his right leg had been affected in any capacity. She knew that the final step in the creature’s predatory plan hinged on its prey’s vulnerability, which was why Ezekiel’s left side was currently strapped to her right like a three-legged human. The mercenaries had quickly learned that it stalked its prey until they couldn’t move anymore and then swooped in to devour their defenseless forms. Sara wouldn’t let that happen. They had also learned that it was just as formidable as the creature which had surged from the waters like a demonic angel. Its skin was as dense as armor, it was fast as lightning, and it regarded their attempts to kill with an almost contemptuous air.
“Just like everything else in this damned swamp,” Sara said as she used her free arm to wipe sweat away from the corner of her eyes. She knew that creature always struck when the poison did its final work and the victim lay comatose as easy prey. Sara wasn’t about to let that happen. When Ezekiel’s right leg succumbed and he finally couldn’t shuffle forward anymore, Sara planned to beg a fellow soldier to lift Ezekiel in their arms like a babe and carry him. She knew it was a foolish though. Ezekiel wasn’t even a full mercenary, he was a curator drafted into the ranks of the archer because of her insistence. None of them would want to waste their remaining energy on carrying him. She knew they would sooner let him fall behind than kill themselves with the labor or danger of protecting him. But at that moment Sara wasn’t thinking of the logical conclusion of her pleas. She was thinking she would do anything to
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