Page 51 of Ruby
I will only slow them down, I realize. “You go, I follow. Too slow.”
Ree bites her lip. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Go.”
She moves her chin up and down again, and then moves to Thivoll, vaulting on to his back. He pulls in a long whistling breath and then bounds through the foliage, quickly disappearing from view.
Holding my feet out, I’m grateful to see that the wounds on my legs have healed—not completely, as I can still see the yellow welts but I know that they will turn into scars in a little while.
My people often fall into deep sleep after serious injuries, sometimes for a full week if the wound is severe enough but seeing as I have only been asleep for what seems like a day this must be because of Ree.
I find myself wondering why I’m even still alive; if the hunter had fired at my head, there’s no amount of sleep that would have fixed that. Ani must have protected me somehow; the thought of her fighting with the hunter to keep me safe stirs something within me.
I must find her and return that protection.
I have to find Ani.
Who knows what those hunters could have put her through by now? She is a fighter, at the very least in spirit, and the fact that her smell is mixed up with that of the hunter tells me that she was not able to escape them. I am going to have to get her out of there before those creatures can hurt her or, who knows what else, they could have started torturing her for daring to escape.
These hunters don’t seem very forgiving.
I croon under my breath; my song feels so empty without her beautiful voice to sing along with me. “Ani, be safe.”
I can feel the sense of urgency bubbling up in my chest. I can’t let anything happen to her. I promised her sister I would bring her back safe and sound but honestly, that’s not what is motivating me anymore; I want to save her for my own reasons.
Lowering my form, I allow my sense to lead me through the trail Ani was taken through. If at any point she was able to escape, her scent would separate from the hunter, and if she was harmed in any way, the scent of her blood would not have been completely covered up yet.
The thought of my feisty Red being hurt in any way by her captors sends a strike through my chest that almost hurts physically.
I cannot bear the thought and I try to think of her getting away from the hunter instead. Although I would not put it past her to harm the hunter if she gets a chance to do so, punching into his shapeless body with the most adorable staccato of anger in her voice until he is depleted to nothing.
Joy creeps up on my face at the thought, even though I know it is very unlikely.
If she had tried to fight back, there would surely be evidence of it—a broken branch here and there or bits of blood splashed around. The fact there is none tells me she either didn’t try anything or wasn’t successful. Their scents are still intermingled as I continue, and I do my best to quicken my steps.
The pain from my legs stops me in my tracks and I look behind me to see that I haven’t made that much progress. My slow walking will not get me to Ani quick enough and the more time I waste, the more danger she’s in.
I frantically try to think of how to get to her, then it hits me; I can use my hands as extra support instead of just my legs.
I have four of them and I cannot understand why I did not come to this conclusion sooner. I had used them in a similar way to climb up the tree when I rescued her and when I had to walk through that windstorm but somehow I had not made the connection until just now.
A sense of shame spreads through my entire body but I cannot afford myself the time to sit here and sulk. I must get to her quickly.
Instead of asking myself any more questions, I bend over, fold my fingers inward and once I am sure my weight is evenly distributed between all six limbs, I start moving.
It is a little unsteady at first and I feel like a hatchling learning to walk for the first time. However, I remind myself that I don’t have any time to waste and my pace increases to a light jog and soon I am running.
It feels different to use my hands like this. I never had a reason to run except to do it for fun when I still had my wings and even then, I never had to do it for any long period of time. It almost feels like flying but not quite, as I am still tethered to the ground.
I pick up speed as I barrel through the forest like an enraged beast. Moving this way still hurts, but not in the same way using my legs alone.
I am used to the pain now.
Even if I were not, I would find a way to make it work because Ani deserves it.
She protected me, I’m sure of it. They are vicious creatures who do not just hit once and let go; they hurt to kill you and then torture you some more, like they’re trying to use the pain to bring you back to life.
As I make my way through the trail, I make sure to be as quick as possible because the scent carries on for longer than I expected it to. It enrages me as I think of how much Ani was made to walk.
