After the tenth, the Ash Beast finally fell, collapsing on the forest floor, just as the last of the day’s light vanished.
“W-we did it?” Vason asked, stupefied.
“Never doubted it!” Tia exclaimed. Vir couldn’t hear them. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as the pain faded and blissful nothingness enveloped him with open arms.
Vir slumped off the Matron’s back and crumpled next to the dead beast. Not dead. But not quite alive, either.
He did not hear the cries of the hunter-gatherers all around them. They were the wails of children who’d just lost their mother. Children who were out for blood.
32THE PRINCESS AND THE RAVAGER
“Vason!” Tia cried, intercepting the nearest hunter-gatherer who’d swarmed upon them. The beasts raged like they’d gone mad. She suspected they might actually have. Their behavior seemed less like addled fury and more like they’d broken down. Without the Matron commanding them, Tia could see why.
That made things both easier and harder for Spear’s Edge. No longer did they have to worry about ambushes or even about hunters grouping together to attack, but the Ash Beasts attacked them with reckless abandon. Seemingly with no regard for their own self-preservation.
“On it!” Vason replied, bashing a hunter with his shield before rushing to Apramor’s position. Haymi and Tia joined him, forming an encirclement around their downed friend.
“Can you carry him?” Tia asked, firing an Ember spell into a hunter’s face, which caused it to run around blindly and crash into its brothers.
“Sure, but we oughta grab those first,” he said, pointing to the Matron’s severed limbs. “Brotherhood will be wanting proof, yeah?”
Tia nodded. “Grab them. We’ll hold them off until you’re back.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Vason darted off to the Matron. Whether out of deference or fear, the hunters maintained some distance from their fallen mother, allowing Vason to gather the bladed limbs and place them into his rucksack. He needed Bulwark for that act, due to how sharp the limbs were.
“Even in death, you’re still a threat to us, aren’t you?” Vason muttered as he did the deed and slung his rucksack across his back.
He lost no time in returning to Tia, bashing another hunter from behind. Haymi used the opportunity to fire an Arc spell right into its maw, making it spasm.
Vason Leaped to their unconscious friend, scooped him up, and threw him on his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“Sorry, bud, but this is the best I can do,” he said.
“Alright! Combat retreat!” Tia ordered. “Haymi at the rear. Vason in the middle. I’ll take the front.”
Working efficiently, they took their positions, with Haymi firing Lightning and Water spells to keep their foes at bay while Tia hacked through foliage in search of their nearest base.
“You think we can lose them?” Vason asked.
“Think so,” Tia replied, furiously hacking at shrubs and fronds with Empowered slashes. “Without the Matron, I doubt they’ll be able to mount an organized search. We’re already gaining on them.”
While the vegetation’s density slowed their retreat, it slowed their large pursuers even more. The sounds of addled screeches slowly began to dissipate, and a terse half hour later, they found themselves once more in a silent forest.
“Let’s stop here,” Haymi said. “I need to treat Apramor. And you, too, princess.”
“We’re not that far away from our nearest encampment. I’d feel a lot better if we stopped there. And I told you not to call me that.”
The welcome sight of palisades came into view just moments later, and it was with a collective sigh that they each entered, locking the gate behind them. The wooden logs wouldn’t stop a horde of hunters, but Tia doubted they’d have to worry about that now. They’d won.
Haymi checked over their injured friend the moment Vason laid him on the ground. She worked quickly to strip away his leg armor and clothing while Tia and Vason kept watch for incoming enemies.
“How bad?” Tia called from the entrance of the encampment.
“Not good. But nothing I can’t handle,” Haymi said, regarding the mutilated flesh with a concerned expression.
After probing various points along his leg, she set her B Grade Set Bone orb to work.
Once the bones were healed, she activated her Mend Skin orb… and gasped.
“What’s wrong? Is everything alright?” Tia called.
“N-No. It’s fine,” Haymi replied, turning pale as she witnessed skin reform before her very eyes. Gray skin.
Haymi gawked for a moment longer, then jolted herself into action. Before anyone could see, she hurriedly wrapped his skin with fresh bandages.
“You sure? Vason, I think something’s wrong. Go take a look,” she heard Tia say. “I’ll keep watch.”
There was no time. Nothing she could do. She hadn’t been fast enough.
The warrior walked in, his eyes taking in Vir’s Ashborn skin. His eyes flicked to Haymi.
“Vason, I—” she began, but the warrior held up a palm, nodding once before turning around.
“Everything’s fine,” Vason called back to Tia. “She’s almost done.” He lowered his voice. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t see. But hurry it up.”
Haymi’s mouth opened and closed several times before she nodded back, returning to her work once the warrior rejoined Tia.
“We should let her finish in peace. I hear some sounds from the forest. It’s too early to relax.”
“I know,” Tia replied, gazing intently for any sign of pursuers.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Haymi moved on to the back of his head, and finally his arms, which had taken the brunt of the damage.
In all cases, gray skin reformed in place of healthy tan.
Haymi’s heart pounded, her thoughts rampant and chaotic. Her hands worked on their own, guided by her wealth of past experience.
“How’s it look?” Tia asked, finally returning once Haymi had finished.
The mejai gazed at Tia blankly before pursing her lips.
“Princess. Your arm. Now,” Haymi said, bringing out her B Grade Set Bone orb, along with her Mend Skin orbs. “He’s worse off than you, but he’ll come through.”
“Tch,” Tia clucked. “You really shouldn’t call me that. Maybe Apramor’s only pretending to be asleep?”
Haymi said nothing as she got to work, but Vason wasn’t so considerate. After gently placing his injured friend on the ground, he marched up to Tia.
“What is it, Vason?”
“Haymi’s right, princess. I’d held my tongue in front of Apramor, but I can remain quiet no longer. Not only have you endangered your own life—a life that, need I remind you, is far more precious than all of ours combined—but you even put Apramor in danger! What were you thinking, accepting a quest like this?”
Tia averted her eyes. “I mean… it sounded lucrative?”
Haymi scowled, irritated at the princess’ recklessness. “Tia, money never has been, nor ever will be, a concern for you. You did this purely for your own selfish enjoyment, the same as always. The same reason you invited a stranger to our party. I agree with Vason. As your bodyguards, we can only do so much. If you wish to commit suicide, I’m afraid even our lives will not be enough to save you.”
“Haymi, c’mon, that’s not fair. You know I care about you two! More than my own life, even!”
“Then please comport yourself as one befitting your position.”
Tia snorted. “That ship sailed a long time ago, don’t you think?”
“Princess Tiyana, you are royalty! And not some second or third princess, either!”