Dark Prince & the Doe

Chapter 89: The Pain of Betrayal

Chapter 89: The Pain of Betrayal

Anne

A whimper escaped Anne's lips, everything hurt. Her eyes blurred with unshed tears. Stinging pain laced across her back. An ache built in her chest as if she'd been shot with an arrow again. As the pain grew, every breath grew shorter and shallower.

Where was she? A hum of babbling voices and shouts surrounded her, but she couldn't make out what was being said. Footsteps, and chanting, and the squeaking of table legs joined the chaotic cacophony. Air whined from her nose. She wanted to scream, but the little sob that parted her lips made the pain worse.

"Should we...lift the Overlander?" a gruff voice asked.

"You're not going to be doing anything," another gruff voice quipped back.

"She healed my leg. I will not be indebted to an...Atrezin." The man grunted as if an Atrezin was akin to an embarrassing disease. "I will pay her back. Now."

"You will both be staying away from her!" Daniel shouted. She scraped her nails along the tiles, reaching out for help. If Daniel was here, she'd be alright. Prying her eyes open, Anne was greeted by two pairs of bloody feet. They were abnormally large. Bloody craters stood out under the black leg hair on one man's calf.

Straining her mind to remember, she found only fuzzy recollections. She'd been protecting someone and something bad happened, something really bad.

"She's waking up."

Anne peeked up through a curtain of messy hair. The two men were as bloody and bruised as she felt. The larger of the two had a head of wild hair and a pair of black horns curving from his forehead. He was familiar but she couldn't place his face.

"I will fetch a healer," the horned man grumbled. Lodon. Lodon Undra. That was his name.

"Cezanne," the other man said, "you're going to be alright. You fought bravely. The other shifters are under control now. You can relax. The fighting is done."

Other shifters? What did...oh! She'd shifted! That was why her mind was lost in a moonlit fog. Shifting always left her head spinning. Her memories as an animal were emotion and sensation: fear, pain, and desperation. Recent human memories bubbled to the surface, then everything clicked into place. They'd been challenged, and Calden...Calden!

"Cal?"

"He's alright," the man said gently. "Thanks to you. You saved his life. Mine too. All our lives. Calden is being taken to the Healer's Hall as we speak. The healers already took Marl out on a stretcher. I think they'll pull through." The man knelt beside her. His bloodshot eyes glimmered within all the swelling of his bruised face. She hadn't recognized him without his charming smile.

"Gale?" she whispered. He nodded and tried to smile for her, but his bruised lips wouldn't let the expression take shape.

"You're going to be alright. I'll look after you."

If anything, someone should have been looking after him! His poor face! He was beaten so badly. He needed healing, but she'd struggle to sing a single word in her current state. She could barely breath, but she had to try.

"I'm...I'm alright. I can help," she insisted, trying to push herself upright. "I know some healing –"

"You've already helped, you were very brave," Gale said in a calming tone, like she was a toddler who'd scraped her knee and was on the verge of tears. "Come on, let's get you to the healers." He placed his hand on her shoulder.