Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
TYNAN
“Ty! Ty!” The indistinct, muffled sounds grew louder, more insistent, making me want to block everything out. In the peace and tranquility of the black void, I had nothing to worry about. My eyes opened wide and I found myself lying on the ground while Sol leaned over me.
“What are you doing?” I mumbled, noticing the liquid he was pouring on my injured shoulder.
“You need this more than me,” he said.
The unbearably strong, burning sensation overwhelmed everything. I was in agony, on the verge of passing out.
“Where are the others?” I managed to ask.
“They’re fighting. We got almost all of them.” Sol examined my wound and poured more temple water on it, tipping the bottle upside down.
I closed my eyes, fighting another wave of pain.
A moment later an explosion of air hit us both and a crawler dragon dropped out of the sky.
“Sol!” I shouted, but the monster’s teeth already tore into his torso, closing over his body.
With all the strength I had left I got to my feet and took off my knife.
My strength was depleting even after the reviving water that closed up my wound.
I had lost too much blood, and my head was spinning, but I stumbled toward the beast with my dagger ready.
Sol tried to reach his axe, but his arm was now lifelessly dangling by his side.
“I’m gonna fucking kill you,” I hissed, readying my blade.
The dragon closed its jaws around Sol, plunging its teeth deeper.
Sol screamed and that broke something in me.
In all the time I had known him, I have never seen him being weak.
With all I had left, I hit the dragon straight in its temple.
It tried to move away, Sol held on to its head, not letting it move.
I roared, striking it again and again. The wave of a nauseatingly foul smell filled the space between us, making me want to empty my guts.
When the turned dragon was dead, I moved to Sol and lifted the massive head, trying to release him from its jaws.
The moment I moved the body, my eyes landed on the empty space.
Sol’s legs were missing. They were gone, torn from his body.
His internal organs were soiling the ground, thick dark blood gushed from his torso, pooling around him.
“Leave it,” Sol sounded surprisingly clear.
“I’m getting you out.”
“No. There’s nothing you can do for me. Even the sacred water could not save me now,” he said.
“Sol . . .”
“Don’t waste the time that I have left on this land.”
“I need to get help.”
“By the time you get back, I turn.”
“No!” I shook my head.
“I have a favor to ask you . . . I don’t want to turn.” He paused to catch a breath.
“No!”
“Listen, I don’t want to become a crawler. I want to stay human.”
I shook my head.
“You only need —”
“No!” I shouted.
“Ty, you told all of us that you yourself would kill anyone who got infected.”
“That was before the water.”
“Look at me! I’m missing the lower half of my body. No water can fix that!”
“You don’t know that.”
“By the time you get back I will be gone.”
“We have to try.” I was going to get up, but he caught my arm with surprising strength and squeezed.
"Being a leader means making choices that no one else is willing to make."
I only shook my head, hating how cool he sounded, hating that I was considering giving him what he wanted.
Sol reached for my hand and squeezed it. I nodded, watching the shadows painting his face.
“I’m ready.” He closed his eyes.
I could see the pitch-black veins coloring his eyelids.
“Ty! Please. There’s no time. I —”
All of the sudden, he stopped mid-sentence, and his head jerked backwards.
I cried out, plunging the blade into his temple. His head fell back, and the deep, suffocating silence consumed me.