Haiden:
Seeing Fauna collapse like that made every beat of my heart pound louder.
I did not know what was worse, that she was taking her last breaths in my arms or that Mathias had nothing to do with her.
"Haiden" Fauna barely able to whisper, her mouth open in shock too.
I started to touch her cheeks.
I could not even hold her in a way that would move the dagger inside her.
Fauna did not even know him. It was unfair, and I knew it, but what could we do?
Mathias had taken her from me without a second thought.
"Fauna," I cried, tears falling onto her face.
The dagger was still lodged in her back.
Every time I tried to pull it out, she gestured for me to stop, the pain too much to bear.
He had driven the silver dagger in so deeply that blood kept pouring out of her body.
At least Yorick had already attacked Mathias and killed him, because if he had stayed alive, I would have pulled his head off his neck and played football with it.
I would have made him suffer so badly that my entire life would have been only for revenge, and I would have shown him how perfect revenge is taken.
"We need to go now," Yorick said, stepping toward us.
"No, I cannot leave her," I told him.
Yorick shook his head.
"I am not asking you to leave her here," he said, then looked at Mariana, who was holding her sister’s hand and crying.
She could barely breathe properly.
"We need to use the stone here. We have already wasted too much time. Even if we head to the woods, it will take time. If we use the stone now, you can take her to the mainland," Yorick suggested.
"What do you mean?" Mariana asked, curious, trying to understand what magical way he had found to save Fauna.
"All I am saying is we should go and quickly bury the stone. Hours have already passed. Then once our task is done, and the mainland gets detached from the north, you should hurry and leave. If you leave, Fauna will be fine on the mainland. She’ll get the help that she needs," Yorick tried to make us understand, and my grip tightened around Fauna’s fragile little fingers.
We all looked at each other. A sudden ray of hope ran through me.
"Yes, but she can transition here. It will be better. She is losing blood too fast," Mariana said.
Again, we exchanged glances.
"I do not think that is possible. If she transitions here, the monsters will come," Yorick replied.
"Right now, she does not need to fear monsters. She needs to transition so she can heal," Mariana argued.
I understood Yorick’s concern, but I agreed with Mariana. I was scared for Fauna.
"It is okay. We will take her to the woods, and she can transition there. She is a werewolf. She is not going to die so quickly, right?" I asked Yorick, my lips trembling.
I do not know why I felt like this. Even when my own life had been at risk, I had never felt this way. It was as if my world was slowing down.
"Okay, fine, but we have to move quickly," Yorick said and I nodded."Don’t move me, it hurts." Fauna instantly let us know that every time we moved her, she was in pain.
"But baby, if I don’t move you, you will die here. We have to take care of you. We have to move you," I whispered to her, trying to make her understand.
She tightened her grip around mine and closed her eyes as if swallowing hard.
"Now please, let’s take you out of here first, okay?" I said to her, cupping her cheek in my hand.
And then I did what I had to do.
There was no other option.
I had to carry her.
We carefully lifted Fauna, making sure the dagger in her back was not disturbed.
Then we rushed out of the mall.
As soon as we stepped outside, another fear hit us. The slaughs had arrived.
They had come because fear had spread among us."Oh shit, these things are even uglier than I had imagined," Mariana commented, her eyes widening at the slaughs.
I mean, they were right, these things were really ugly. Every monster here was.
Fauna’s fingers curled around my shirt, hinting at the fact that she was scared of what she was seeing.
"We need to hurry," Mariana said, and we all ran.
We heard the flapping of their wings, but thankfully, we were far enough before they could reach us.
A strange scream echoed from behind us, but we kept running.
Yorick held Mariana’s hand tightly, and I carried Fauna in my arms.
"Look, sister, those things are far behind. They’re not gonna hurt us," Mariana caught up with me, just to gently touch her sister’s head to let her know that she should not be afraid of any monster anymore, that everything was fine.
"Please stay with me. I will save you. I will not let anything happen to you," I said to Fauna, trying to keep her awake.
After nearly two hours of running, we finally reached the woods. We had no time to stop.
There were moments when I had to slow down because Fauna complained of too much pain, and I had to set her down.
There were also times when we saw strange, thin, skeletal creatures gathered in groups, searching for something to eat or drink.
We had never encountered anything like them before.
It only proved how much of this darkness existed.
It made me wonder how the North would ever be cleansed. It would not be easy.
"The tremors are not stopping. That means we are late. We have to bury the stone now," Yorick explained as we reached deeper into the woods.
I gently placed Fauna down.
"Yes, hurry," Mariana said, already digging a hole.
"Fauna, can you transition?" I asked.
She looked at me and nodded, but after a few seconds, even minutes, she did not move.
She tried, but only a weak whimper escaped her lips.
"Something is stopping me from transitioning here," Fauna said, her voice trembling.
We all looked at each other.
"She is badly injured, and the North is too negative for a wolf to survive like this. You have to take her to the mainland," Yorick said.
His words sent a chill through my body.
"But we are staying here," I said.
Yorick gave me a tired look.
"No. You are not staying here. You are being stubborn. Someone has to leave. This place is too dangerous for Fauna. Why can you not understand that?" Mariana said, scolding me.
I nodded. Honestly, I did not want to stay either.
I wanted to leave as soon as possible so Fauna could heal.
I could not bear losing her. There was a fire inside me, and I was afraid that if I stayed here any longer, I would burn the entire North down.
"Finish this quickly," I told Yorick as I lifted Fauna back into my arms.
"Yes, but after that, you have to leave immediately. You know the North is going to disappear," Mariana said, her eyes resting on her sister.
I know for a fact it was not easy for any of us to think about leaving each other behind, but at that moment, it seemed as if this was what the moon goddess had decided for us.
Otherwise, Fauna getting attacked at that moment would have never happened.
My steps slowed as I turned to look at Yorick and Mariana. Emotions filled my eyes.
Yorick quickly took over, carrying Fauna, while I stood there for a moment.
Then we all ran toward the station. It was about ten minutes away.
When we reached the platform, we looked around.
"How is the train going to come?" I said, watching Yorick place Fauna gently on the bench.
Yorick stared for a moment before pulling out a card from his pocket. Mariana and I watched him.
"Do you see that?" Yorick pointed toward a wall.
There was a strange scanner attached to it.
Yorick rushed over and scanned the card without wasting time.
As soon as he did, a series of beeps echoed through the station.
It was not the train yet, but it sounded like a signal that it was on its way.
"How did you know that would work?" I asked Yorick.
As I returned to Fauna, I sat down on the bench and carefully placed her head in my lap.
I adjusted her position to keep her back safe.
I still did not remove the dagger.
"I just guessed. It worked before when it brought me here from the mainland," Yorick replied, shaking the card in his hand before slipping it back into his pocket.
He and Mariana came over to us. Mariana sat near Fauna’s feet.
"You are going back. I am going to miss you so much," Mariana said, her voice breaking.
She then broke down, and Fauna began to whimper.