Chapter 8 Chewing Gum
Chewing Gum
“Jesus, that was so dumb,” a male voice cut through the darkness where I was floating.
“You’re dumb! She wasn’t trained for this,” a female voice joined in.
“I’m not the one who had an indestructible crystal container but chose to put my fragile arm in the mouth of a moon-cursed instead.”
“No, you’re the one who got pinned by a moon-cursed and needed rescuing.”
“Well, sorry for being partially blind in the middle of the cursed day! Not everyone has your human vision!”
“Well, I ain’t the one who couldn’t wait to do this!”
“How was I to know there would be an entire pack of moon-cursed on our territory? Besides, I was smart enough to suggest we hide until darkfall.”
“Stop it, both of you!” a second male voice cut in, firm and authoritative. “I’m entirely to blame, all right? We need to get her to safety. Jasmine? Jasmine, can you hear me?”
Sharp pain in my forearm pulled me out of the numb blackness I was sinking into. My eyes shot open.
Three faces, framed by sunlight, were peering down at me. I was lying on the forest ground, but there was something cushioning the back of my head.
“How do you feel, Jasmine?” Karim asked.
“Like chewing gum that’s been spat out,” I admitted, trying to smile to ease everyone’s tense expressions.
Inside, I wanted to cry. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t lift my head to take a look at my forearm. But not seeing it was probably for the better.
“Chewing what now?” came from Tisvali. His sunglasses were gone now, probably lost in the battle like Karim’s.
Deidre frowned. “How come I don’t know that word?”
“Jasmine’s joking. Comparing herself to saccaba.” The others chuckled, but Karim’s expression remained strained. “Joking is good but I will need you to walk, Jasmine. Can you do that?”
“My arm,” I began, my voice shaky despite my effort to remain strong. “Will I lose it?”
“Nai.” His tone brooked no argument. “I will heal it with basilem, honey, and hvoine once we return home. The dressing I’ve made will do until then.”
“Oh.” So that was what had caused the jab of pain that had brought me back to consciousness. He had bandaged me. “Thank you.” But as my brain started working properly, another terrifying possibility came to mind. “Will I turn? Become one of them?”
That got more chuckles out of Tisvali and Deidre.
“Humans are so unknowing,” said the green-haired elf hovering over my left side. “You don’t get any hairier than this from just a bite.”
Deidre shot him a reprimanding look. “To become one of the moon-cursed, you have to swallow a piece of flesh from the one who bit you, once they return to human form.”
“And Karim chopped up that moon-cursed like a lettuce salad before she could even think about shifting,” Tisvali added proudly.
“And if Karim had been too late,” Deidre specified, “we wouldn’t have let the curse take hold of your immortal soul.” She waved her bloody dagger over me. “One stab through your heart and done!”
“O-kay… I feel… much better now.” I think I’m going to be sick.
Karim’s feathery touch, cool under my chin, drew my gaze to him. “Ignore them. Focus on the fact that you’re alive and will soon be healing safely underground. Come on, let’s get you home.”
I managed a bitter smile through the pain. Home? Make that my prison. So much for my hopes for freedom, as futile as I now knew they had been. I’d never stood a chance.
I had never been on my own while running for my life.
The elves had been moving through the trees above me all along, shooting the werewolves down one by one.
Or chopping them up like a lettuce salad when they got too close to me.
Had I followed Karim’s instructions and not slowed down to leave the edelweiss, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt–
“The edelweiss!” I had forgotten about the poor flower.
I looked down to find it safe and sound in its container, which my left hand was still holding pressed to my chest. That arm had, in fact, gone numb from how tightly I held the crystal.
Tisvali scoffed. “The flower is fine. We couldn’t detach it from your grip even while you were unconscious. I’m surprised you didn’t ask about it, rather than your arm, first thing upon waking.”
My arm… I was looking at it right now. The piece of cloth wrapped around it was from the hem of Karim’s dress, yet the material was nearly black. From my blood.
Nausea hit me, and I laid my head back. I wasn’t built for this!
Apocalypses, monsters, gore… I was a botanist, for heaven’s sake.
The only reason why I had survived thus far was my workplace, surrounded by solid walls and located out of town when the shit had hit the fan, and then the elves taking me.
“Jasmine, stay strong for me.” Karim’s voice, soft and soothing, reached me through my panicked thoughts. “Let go of the container and let me get you to your feet. You did not protect the flower with your very life only to let it wither and die out here, did you?”
That reminder got to me more than anything else.
If the edelweiss died, this horror and pain would have been for nothing.
Also, if I kept lying around, the elves might lose their patience and leave me here to die, taking the flower with them to save it.
Why assist me when I’d be of no help in the gardens, injured as I was?
“Here.” I handed the container over. “But I can still replant it, I’ll show you. I am left-handed, I can still garden. I will just need some assistance, but I’ll–”
“Worry not,” Karim interrupted me, passing the flower to Tisvali. “Come on now. Slowly! You’ve lost a lot of blood… That’s it.”
I stayed seated for a moment, overcome by dizziness from the change in position. I still wasn’t sure how I hadn’t bled to death from that monstrous bite.
As the world around me stopped spinning, I felt nauseous all over again at the sight of human bodies littering the forest ground, arrows sticking out of most of them.
The werewolves. A whole pack of them, as Tisvali had mentioned.
Apparently, death reverted them to human form.
And they were able to go furry during the day, with no moon casting its light in the sky.
Whatever I knew about them from movies clearly did not apply, just as Hollywood had gotten all the other monsters wrong.
What was also wrong was my left foot. As soon as I tried to step on it using my good arm to push myself up, I was greeted by sharp pain in my ankle. I lost my balance before I could transfer my weight to my other foot. I braced myself for the inevitable fall–
And found myself in Karim’s arms. He lowered me down to sit and moved aside to let Deidre take a closer look at my foot.
“Her ankle is starting to swell,” she concluded. “You can’t walk like this, can you, Jasmine?”
I shook my head, heart in my throat. They were going to leave me for sure now. Elves were all about the laws of nature. And in nature, lame animals were left to die.
“Step aside. I’ll do it,” Karim said, the tone of his voice full of resolve.
“Karim, you shouldn’t, it’s–” Deidre started, but a sharp look of his made her close her mouth and step away from me.
“Oh gosh!” They were going to finish me off, and it would be Karim delivering the killing blow.
I should have known that this beautiful elf would be the death of me.
I closed my eyes and braced myself for the end. I wasn’t going to beg for mercy; I still had some dignity left. At least I knew he would make it quick: one swift move of his blade and–
I cried out as pain shot through my wounded arm… which was now pressed against something warm and firm.
I opened my eyes as I felt my body leave the ground. I was in Karim’s arms, nestled against his chest.