Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Lysander had never been good at pretending that he was calm when something mattered to him, but he had always been able to force his fear into submission whenever his life depended on it.

He could remember standing in front of Beast Zombies with blood running down his arms and still keeping his head clear enough to decide where to strike, and he could remember facing Beastmen twice his age without allowing them to see even the smallest crack in his confidence.

Yet none of that strength seemed useful now as he sat beside Ingrid’s unconscious body and pressed the back of his hand against her forehead.

The heat that met his skin made his stomach twist. Ingrid was burning so badly that it frightened him, and no matter how many times he touched her forehead, her fever remained just as high. She had been unconscious for hours, and although her breathing was steady enough to keep him from completely losing his mind, he hated the fact that he had no idea what was wrong with her.

He gently moved some damp strands of hair away from her face and studied her expression, but Ingrid remained completely still except for the occasional movement of her chest.

She looked strangely fragile lying there, and that sight bothered him more than he wanted to admit. The Ingrid he has known for almost three days was not someone he associated with fragility, no matter how sick or exhausted she became. She was stubborn, loud when she wanted to be, frighteningly fearless when she had been pushed too far, so seeing her reduced to this state made something inside his chest feel tight.

If he had access to the Star Glow Herb, maybe he would have been able to do something, but he has no idea how to get a hold of it. They also had no healer in the village now as well as the fact that he has no idea if those people are going to come back for some kind of revenge. He couldn’t leave Ingrid all here alone.

Lysander reached for the cold cloth again and pressed it against her forehead, but before he could say anything else, Ingrid’s body suddenly jerked beneath the blanket. Lysander froze for half a second before leaning closer, his entire attention immediately fixed on her as a strained groan escaped her throat.

"Ingrid?" he called, and when she suddenly coughed, he threw the cloth aside and reached for her without hesitation.

The cough quickly became violent enough to shake her entire body, and Lysander’s heart slammed against his ribs when he saw something dark spill from the corner of her mouth. He caught her shoulders and immediately pulled her upright, and the moment he saw the thick black liquid running down her chin, every thought in his head disappeared except the desperate need to help her breathe.

"Cough it out," he urged while supporting her weight against his chest, his voice becoming increasingly frantic as another violent cough tore through her. "Do not swallow it, Ingrid, just get it out of your throat and breathe." She coughed again, and a thick clot of nearly black blood landed on the floor, followed by another mouthful that carried a disgusting, rotten smell. He had seen blood many times before, but the foul smell told him that whatever was happening inside her was far more serious than a simple fever.

Ingrid coughed again, and this time even more black blood poured from her mouth before she slumped weakly against him. Lysander stared at the blood covering the floor with widening eyes, and the fear he had been desperately trying to suppress finally broke.

There were clots among the blood, some of them disturbingly large, this wasn’t something he could simply wait out. He gently lowered Ingrid back onto the bed, wiped her mouth with a clean cloth, and then stood so quickly that the chair beside him nearly fell over.

He needed to get help, staying here like this would accomplish nothing, and if he had to search every corner of the forest himself to find Star Glow Herb, then that was exactly what he would do. He couldn’t let Ingrid die, at least, not like this.

He opened the door and stepped outside, already preparing himself to move as quickly as possible toward the forest, but he stopped almost immediately when he heard voices coming from the path leading toward his house. The voices were loud and angry, and there were enough of them that Lysander immediately understood he was not dealing with one or two curious villagers. His eyes narrowed as he looked toward the approaching group, and the irritation that had been growing inside him all morning hardened into something much colder.

Falcon was among them.

His arm was tightly wrapped in bandages, and the same was true for several of the other Beastmen Lysander had fought earlier. They were not alone either as several villagers followed them, and standing at the center of the group was the village Chief, whose expression was so stern that it was obvious they had not come here to check on Ingrid’s health.

Lysander’s gaze moved slowly across the crowd until it settled on the Chief. Ingrid was unconscious inside his house, sick, and somehow these people had decided that now was the appropriate time to drag themselves to his doorstep. He felt his patience thinning with every passing second, and by the time the Chief stepped forward, Lysander had already decided that he was not going to entertain whatever nonsense they had brought with them.

"Where is Ingrid?" the Chief demanded, his voice carrying across the yard.

Lysander looked at him with an expression that gave away nothing. "If you came here to see her, you’ll have to come back tomorrow. She’s not in the position to see anyone right now."

The Chief’s eyebrows immediately drew together. Falcon stepped forward before the Chief could respond, and the smug expression on his face immediately irritated Lysander.

"Bring her outside," Falcon said, raising his bandaged arm as though displaying the injury was supposed to intimidate Lysander. "Didn’t she say that if I brought anyone with me, she would break their legs, or was she only brave earlier because she had you with her and I had no one with me? Now that I brought everyone here, show me how you’ll break their legs!"