Azure
*******
I'd known something was off the moment she left the dining hall.
It was small at first, nothing more than a little tug at the back of my mind. But as time wore on, it became more persistent, more urgent. I'd told myself I was being paranoid. Yes, I didn't entirely trust her with her own safety, but it was the light of day. Surely nothing could go wrong, right?
Even so, that feeling didn't leave. I tried everything to distract myself, even going so far as to explore the west wings. However, nothing worked, and it wasn't long before I was searching the castle for her.
I kept telling myself I was being paranoid, that I was being obsessive, but something just felt so... wrong. When my searches turned up empty, I only became more frantic. Eventually, I'd found myself outside.
By that point, I was torn between my rationality and my instinct. Why the hell was I doing this? Why would Raina even be outside? But my instincts were overwhelming, my heart forcing me forward when my mind begged me to stop. I was distinctly aware of the groups training in the distance, and part of me wondered if I should check there. Knowing Raina, she might have tried to sneak herself in. However, a flash of movement to my left stopped me.
I turned. A cobbled building -- no bigger than my bedroom -- sat in the grounds, no different from any of the other buildings and tents. My eyes wandered, but no one was there. My mind told me to leave it be, but my feet were already moving.
And when I moved into a position to see far enough around the building, my heart dropped.
There she was, lying on the grass, almost ethereal in her white dress. My mind took in the other details slowly, like a slow-spreading fire; the boys standing around her, the blood seeping from the wound in her shoulder, the wolf pinning her down, his teeth hovering just inches above her neck, poised to strike at any moment.
With horror, I realised I was about to watch her die. Raina was going to die while I stood a hopeless two hundred yards away, watching. The urge to kill battled with my hopelessness, and I was frozen. That familiar feeling of failure smothered me; the knowing that someone would die under my watch.
But as I began to cry, I saw something miraculous. Raina's hand lunged for the wolf's throat, wrapping around his neck before throwing him to the side. She wasted no time, using the shock to her advantage. She punched the boy holding her on the left, before rolling over and running away. I couldn't believe it. Raina was...
Fighting.
It was only when I saw the boys pursue her did I start moving. I shifted so fast my muscles twanged, an ache I knew would last for days after, but I didn't care. I couldn't waste this. Raina, by god Raina, was fighting. She wasn't going down with a struggle. She'd given me precious time to save her.
Save her. The words charged me onwards, a renewed vigour to battle the horrific hopelessness of before. I couldn't let her down. I had to fight, too.
Urgency pushed against my skin as two of the boys caught Raina, and I feared the worst again. But Raina did not give up. She thrashed, managing to swipe her claws across a boy's face. He collapsed with a shriek, clutching his eye as blood pooled at his fingers. A quick movement of her arm and the other boy dropped her. She looked like a ray of sunlight as she darted in her wolf form, golden fur billowing in the winds. The other boys quickly shifted into their wolves, but my eyes weren't on them. They were on her.
My heart glimmered as I watched her run. I'd called her a coward, someone not made of warrior material.
I was so wrong.
My blood iced over again, however, as the brown wolf caught up and sent her rolling into the ground. The others quickly swarmed her. She managed to bite one before her head was knocked to the side. I ran faster, but I was still too far, still too slow. The wolf was climbing on top of her, snarling. Sixty yards. I had to make it. I just had to make it.
Raina's golden coat shone beautifully, the red stain leaking from her shoulder like a crimson river winding through gold. Beautiful, so beautiful. So brave. So fragile yet courageous. So small yet strong. She was everything I'd thought her not to be, and in any moment, she would die.
Forty yards.
The boy above her raised his head, as though readying to strike. Raina closed her eyes, then, and I could read it in her face; the acceptance of her death. Part of it almost broke me. How dare I call her coward? How dare I question her courage?
Tears rose to my eyes. She had to live. She had to!
Twenty yards.
Time slowed. His canines glinted like a sword, going straight for her neck. The wind stopped blowing. The trees stopped swaying. The birds stopped singing. It was just me and ten more yards. Ten more damn yards.
The roar that rumbled from my chest was one of utter desperation. It was enough. The boy hesitated, and that was all I needed. His eyes widened as I charged into him, sinking my teeth into his shoulder. His screams and whimpers was music to my ears as we rolled, and when we finally stilled, me pinning him as he'd just pinned Raina, I was ready to kill him. But then I remembered the other boys, still surrounding Raina. Still a threat.
I turned to find their stricken faces. I ran for them, snarling, and they were quick to scatter. I managed to bite ones calf before I returned to the boy that had hurt Raina, his pathetic form crumpled before the treeline. His wide eyes tracked me, glossed with pain. I was about to finish the kill when Raina reached out, her fingertips brushing my arm.
I froze, staring at her. Her pale eyes held mine, tired yet determined. She was back in her human form, her dress only slightly rippled from the transformation.
"Don't... kill him..." she gasped between breaths.
I stared at her, shocked. Why shouldn't I kill him? Hadn't he just tried to kill her?
"Please, Azure..." Raina pleaded, her eyelids fluttering. Her breathing slowed, and it was then that I noticed the severity of the wound on her shoulder. Blood pooled around her, sinking into the earth. I looked to the boy, who froze under my stare, and turned back to Raina. Sending him a look that promised this wasn't over, I reverted to human form and kneeled beside Raina, already feeling the ache of my transformation. I pushed it aside.
I was thankful for the thick cloak covering my naked form. My eyes were immediately on Raina's gaping wound, on the marred flesh and bright red blood. I felt the energy in my own body as I held my hand before her wound, a green glow forming at my fingertips. In that moment, I was so glad to be a healer.
Raina surprised me again by cracking open an eye, sliding it to my hand. She huffed a weak chuckle. "You're healing me? You ought to kill me for everything I've said to you."
"And me to you," I joked back, but I didn't feel the humour. After almost watching her die, and seeing how much blood she'd lost, I couldn't bring myself to laugh. Instead, tears came.
Raina closed her eyes, and an impulse of panic flashed through me as I realised I didn't want her to slip away. Instinctively, I gripped her hand. "Hey, stay with me, alright?"
A smile tugged at those petite lips. "I'll try. That resistance really took it out of me."
I swallowed. "You fought well," I whispered. "Very well. And I..."
The words caught in the knot of my throat, and I focused again on healing the wound. The bleeding had stopped, and sinew was already beginning to knit itself back together. Raina, ever graceful, just nodded her head in thanks before falling back completely. Before long, her breaths had evened out, and I was glad she'd be spared this pain for a little while.
By the time I was done, her skin was smooth as though it'd never been marred in the first place. My hand was still in hers, and when I took it away, part of me ached to put it back. I'd come so close to losing her today. Holding her, touching her, was the reminder I needed to know that she was still here. That she was okay.
As I scooped up Raina and carried her to the palace, I tried to recall the boys' faces for later vengeance, but I couldn't remember a single detail.
Because all I could remember was her, and how she'd fought like a warrior.