Page 107 of Forged in Fading

“BODEN!”

The man hobbled toward her, but she held her ground. He lunged for her chest, and she stepped away, pivoting her body and stabbing her spear into his side. He howled and slashed his axe across her shield, splinters flying as she staggered under the immense strength of his blow.

Her shield.

The man bellowed and swung again, but Alvara crouched and let his axe reach over her wooden shield. With a quick motion, she hooked his weapon and pulled as hard as she could. His axe slipped out of his grasp, and he tumbled onto his side into the sand at her feet.

Alvara tightened her fingers and thrust her spear into the man’s lower ribs.

This time, she watched as his body jerked back and forth before falling utterly still. Alvara removed her weapon, and it trembled above the man’s body, dripping blood into the crimson pool spreading from his side.

Alive. She was alive.

Alvara pinched her eyes shut and inhaled through her nose. A gentle hand grazed her arm, and her heart lurched into her throat. She swung blindly, a quiet curse the only confirmation she had struck her target. Yet it invited no further violence, only a voice that sank her to her knees.

“It’s me.” Boden tugged her fingers open, and her spear thudded into the sand. “Rav is here too, I found him on the way. I wasn’t sure how much help you might need.”

Was she dreaming? “You came,” Alvara rasped.

His warm eyes met hers, and she held back a flinch as his fingers caressed a cut on her face. “Always.” Boden glanced at the bodies scattered around them. “Though it seems like you handled it quite well on your own.”

A laugh should have left her throat, but instead a strangled sob broke free, and the world trembled.

A nightmare. That’s what it was. It couldn’t be real—the blood, the bodies. None of it.

The air thinned. Alvara’s breaths quickened. Her frenzied heartbeat drowned out every other noise. She doubled over and wrapped her arms around her sides.

How did she get here? And gods, why couldn’t she get a damn breath in?

A warm weight moved in smooth circles in the center of her back. “You’re safe. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Safe. Her mind clung to Boden’s touch. She was safe.

One of the humans groaned. She slid to the ground and dug for her dagger, a rock, anything to smash into the man’s head.

“Rav, take care of him.” Boden placed his hands over hers, halting her frantic movements.

Thump.

She stilled. What if that was Rav, and the human had overtaken him? What if she was next?

Alvara grabbed a pitiful handful of sand and waited for a blow that never came.

“They won’t hurt you anymore. I promise,” Boden whispered.

Hurt?

Those men had hurt her. Tried to kill her.

Alvara shook her head and leaned forward to bury her face in the sand, but she collided with Boden’s shoulder instead. She gripped fistfuls of his shirt and reveled in the quiet darkness that blanketed her senses as he cradled her in his arms. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt her.

Breath after breath, his familiar scent calmed her shaking body, her hammering heart. She wanted to stay here forever. But when terror finally removed its claws from her spine, she pulled back. Boden’s gaze remained fixed on her neck, and she swallowed. It felt like burning sand had been shoved into her throat.

“Are you comfortable with me checking for injuries?”

Alvara opened her mouth, and no sound left her lips. Any other day, she would have thoroughly enjoyed the excuse not to speak, but not today. She had so much she needed to say. Instead, she nodded.

With a whisper of a touch, he examined each of her wounds, letting loose a rumble each time he discovered a new one. “None of it is terribly deep, but we should have a healer look at everything to be safe.” His jaw tensed, and he spoke through tight lips. “Did they…hurt you in other ways?”