Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Chapter 46

He threw himself at Ingrid like a wild animal who had no control of his body anymore. Weakened and bleeding out, Ingrid couldn’t even raise the stone to defend herself. Falcon slammed his full weight into her chest, crashing her hard onto the floor.

The impact knocked what little air she had straight out of her lungs. Before she could recover, Falcon was on top of her, his talons digging into her throat, leaving puncture marks. Maybe it was because he wasn’t himself, his talons didn’t puncture into her very deeply.

"DIE! DIE!" Falcon screamed, pressing down on Ingrid’s neck with everything he had.

’ Warning! Host’s air supply is cut off !’ Lorna’s voice screamed inside her head, panic taking over her mechanical voice. ’ Your windpipe is collapsing! Fight back, Host! You can’t hold out!’

’I... I can’t...’ Ingrid cried out. Her vision started blacking out. She clawed weakly at his wrists, but her arms felt like lead. She couldn’t push him off, she couldn’t breathe.

’I can’t... die like this... not... not like this. I still have a lot to do... A lot of money to spend... and a hot mate... I can’t die.’

Ingrid’s hand blindly dragged across the bloody floor, searching for something, anything that she could use to defend herself. If she could just find a way to injure and get him off her temporarily, she would be able to run out.

As she was searching, Ingrid’s fingers hit something cold, hard, and sharp. It was Hawk’s short blade. With a burst of strength, Ingrid gripped the handle, raised the dagger and shoved the blade straight up into Falcon’s eye socket.

The dagger went deep into Falcon’s eyes, it was practically lodged into his eyeball. Falcon let out a blood-curdling screech, letting go of her neck instantly as he clutched his face. He rolled off her, thrashing wildly on the floor, screaming in agony as blood poured through his fingers.

Ingrid rolled onto her side, coughing violently, as she tried to breathe in air. Her neck was bleeding badly and it felt like the more she was trying to breathe, the harder it was. She could only hope that Falcon’s talons had not punctured something important. Black blood sprayed from her mouth as she dragged herself up on her hands and knees.

"Lysander..." she choked out, her voice barely a whisper. "I have to... get to Lysander." She forced herself up, using the wall for support, and stumbled toward the doorway.

The second she stepped outside, the scene in front of her made her freeze. Lysander’s huge silver serpent form was pinned flat against the dirt. Five harpoons were sunk deep into his body, the chains pulled tight by the panting Gorilla Beastmen. Blood pooled under his scales, turning the dirt into mud. Around him, the villagers held torches and spears, laughing at his state.

Ingrid stared at the giant snake, horror tearing through her chest. "N-no... Ly... Lysander!"

At the sound of her weak voice, the giant serpent twitched. Lysander’s snake head snapped toward her, his purple eyes tracking her battered body. Catching the scent of her blood, a loud, heartbroken hiss burst from his throat.

"Lysander..." Ingrid called out softly, her knees buckling. She collapsed into the dirt, her consciousness fading fast.

The moment Lysander saw her body hit the ground, a terrifying, wild roar tore from Lysander’s chest. Ignoring the flesh tearing away from his bones, Lysander slammed his tail down and yanked his body upward with terrifying power.

The iron chains snapped and the gorillas holding them were jerked forward and smashed into one another, their bones cracking instantly.

In a flash of silver, Lysander shifted back into his half-human, half-snake form. His now silver hair was wild, his chest covered in blood, and his glowing purple eyes burned with raw, murderous fury.

He didn’t bother fighting the rest of them, he knew he wouldn’t be able to fight them off. Escaping now was the priority. He had to take Ingrid away!

Lysander lunged forward, scooping Ingrid’s limp body into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest as if she were the only thing that mattered in the world.

"Don’t let them escape!" the Chief screamed. "Catch them!"

Lysander didn’t even glance back. Driven by pure adrenaline, he coiled his massive tail and launched himself forward, leaping right over the heads of the crowd.

Spears flew past his face; an arrow slammed deep into his shoulder, but he didn’t even flinch. He hit the ground and bolted, his snake tail propelling him forward at an insane speed.

The villagers tried to chase him, but as Lysander headed straight toward the pitch-black cliffs of the Whispering Ravine, they skidded to a halt, terror written all over their faces.

"He’s... he’s going into the Ravine!" a villager gasped, backing away. "Nobody comes back out of there at night!"

"Let them go!" the Chief spat, catching his breath as he stared into the dark forest. "The beasts will rip them to pieces before morning anyway!"

Lysander coiled and slithered through the trees as he headed towards a hidden path. He remembered the path he found that day when he was looking for a way out of the Whispering Ravine. That path led to a hidden village.

Since the chief had forbidden people to even go near the extrance of the forest, there was no way they would have known that there was another village that they didn’t know about. That day, they were the ones who helped Lysander figure out a way out of the Ravine.

Blood trailed behind them as he rushed past, air slapping his ears. He couldn’t waste more time. Ingrid was still bleeding heavily and her body was rapidly turning cold.

His body screamed with every movement of his tail, the wounds tearing open anew, but he couldn’t afford to waste another second. He pushed harder, navigating the terrain by pure instinct and memory, until the bushes finally thinned.

Ahead of him, carved into the side of a secluded clearing, sat the quiet outpost of the hidden fox village.

As Lysander slithered past the boundary stone, three figures stepped out from the shadows of the outer huts to investigate the commotion. They were small in stature, sharp-featured, with bright red tails twitching nervously behind them, fox-type beastmen.

The moment their eyes locked onto the towering, blood-soaked figure charging toward them, they froze, terror flashing in their eyes.

Lysander didn’t have the breath to reassure them. With a heavy shudder, his lower half rippled and collapsed, the massive snake tail shifting back into human legs, he was too tired to maintain his beast form.

He hit the ground hard, his arms tightening against Ingrid’s body. "H... Help. " He looked at the foxes, his vision darkening rapidly, "Please, help us."

Lysander’s body tilted forward and the last thing he saw were the foxes surrounding him. Then, the light went dark.