Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Chapter 50

"Are you all ready?!" Ingrid yelled, her voice echoing throughout the fox settlement. Almost immediately, all the foxes came out, little cloth bags on their shoulders. They were quick on their feet which Ingrid liked.

The two adults foxes brought out the cart they had helped build. Ingrid glanced at them with a grateful smile and pushed it into the small hut where Lysander was seated.

By the time she got inside, Lysander was already dressed. The crutches they also prepared for him were in his arms. Ingrid only hoped that during this, his wounds won’t bleed again.

"Ingrid." Lysander called out.

"Hm?" Ingrid looked at Lysander, "What’s up?"

"I heal better when I’m in my snake form." Lysander explained, his eyes lingering on her face for a second before glancing outside, "If I could get smaller, I would have wrapped myself around you but I can’t. My snake form, even in a smaller form is bigger than that. But I don’t want the foxes to get scared."

"You really don’t have to worry about that." The silver-tailed fox interrupted, stepping into the hut with a gentle smile. He glanced at Lysander before looking at the cart. "We already saw your snake form when you first arrived here. During the time you were unconscious, we watched you change from snake to human form multiple times. It was surprising at first, but we’ve gotten used to it." He walked closer, his expression remaining friendly, "Besides, it will be much easier to carry you and won’t put too much strain on Ingrid."

"Exactly," Ingrid agreed, looking at Lysander with an encouraging smile. "You heard him, so stop worrying about frightening everyone and change already. We have a long journey ahead of us."

Lysander finally nodded and began to change, his human features gradually disappearing as his body lengthened and his silver scales emerged. Within moments, the injured man had been replaced by a big sized silver snake m.

The silver-tailed fox immediately moved to help Ingrid guide Lysander into the cart, taking care not to put pressure on his injured body. Even with the cart they had built, fitting such a large snake inside was not an easy task, but they managed by carefully arranging his coils and leaving enough room for him to settle comfortably.

Ingrid kept a close eye on his wounds throughout the process, her heart tightening whenever she noticed the bandages wrapped around his body. Lysander, however, remained remarkably still and allowed them to help him without complaint, although his head followed Ingrid’s movements whenever she stepped away from him.

"Is that comfortable enough?" Ingrid asked once they had finished arranging him inside the cart. She leaned over the side to examine his position, checking that none of his coils were pressed awkwardly against the wooden edges.

"If anything hurts, you need to tell me immediately." Lysander lowered his head toward her, his purple eyes watching her with an almost amused expression, and Ingrid could practically feel him telling her that she was worrying too much.

She reached out before she could stop herself and gently caressed the silver scales along the side of his head. They were cooler than she expected, smooth beneath her fingertips, and she found herself rubbing them for another second before remembering that the others were waiting outside.

Lysander seemed to enjoy the attention as he leaned slightly into her hand instead of pulling away, making her lips curve into a small smile.

"You’d better behave yourself in there," she murmured, giving his scales one final stroke before straightening up and taking hold of the cart’s handles.

Once she pushed the cart outside, the waiting foxes gathered around them, their small bags still hanging from their shoulders. Ingrid glanced at the available space beside Lysander and realized they could fit several more things inside without making him uncomfortable.

"All right, everyone, bring your bags over here and put them inside the cart if you can fit them into the empty spaces," she instructed, pointing toward the room beside Lysander’s coils. "The smaller ones can climb in first, but be careful not to step on him."

Ingrid watched the foxes for a moment, relieved that everyone was cooperating, before lifting her gaze toward the sky. The change in the weather was impossible to ignore. The clouds had gathered into a thick, gloomy mass that blocked out most of the sunlight. Even though there was no heavy rain yet, the air had grown strangely cold, and the whole place seemed quiet beneath the darkening sky. The sight made her uneasy, it was as if the sky knew what was about to happen.

Her fingers tightened around the cart’s handles as she looked up at the clouds, wondering how much time they had left since they could barely tell what time it was.

’Lorna, are you there?’ Ingrid called silently in her mind, hoping for even the smallest response. ’Lorna? Can you hear me?’

She waited for a few seconds, keeping her eyes on the foxes as they finished loading their bags, but the familiar voice that usually answered her remained silent.

Ever since Lorna had warned her to dodge when Falcon wanted to kill her, the system had stopped responding. She had tried reaching out the moment she woke up, but each attempt had ended the same way, there was no answer and no explanation for why Lorna had suddenly stopped responding.

Ingrid lowered her gaze, pressing her lips together as she fought to keep her growing worry from showing on her face. All her food and stocks were all inside the space. Apart from getting Lorna’s guidance, if they stayed too long without eating, she was worried about what would happen.

"Miss Ingrid?" The Silver tailed fox called out. She looked up, they were all ready.

Her gaze swept over each of them carefully, from the silver tailed fox, to the mute red tailed and the little ones. They had trusted her unconditionally even though they barely knew her.

But no matter what, to repay their kindness in saving them despite their fear, she would do everything to take care of them, no matter what.

"Alright people. Let’s move! We have a long day ahead of us!"