Eron
The girl's blood soaked through my tunic as I carried her through the crystal forest, each step sending a jolt of panic through my chest. Her breathing came in shallow, ragged gasps, her skin burning with fever despite its alarming pallor.
"We can't take her to the sanctuary," I said, adjusting my grip to keep her head from lolling back. "If the Wolf King finds out we were in the borderlands—"
"He'll have our hides," Gumi finished, trotting alongside me with all nine tails bristling with tension. "Yours literally, mine figuratively."
Spike zipped ahead, his tiny form darting between crystal branches. "Lady Meridienne's cottage isn't far. She won't immediately turn us in."
"Probably," Gumi muttered.
I nodded, shifting course toward the eastern edge of the sanctuary grounds where
