Eli
Everything hurts.
My ribs scream the second I draw breath, and the snow burns against my skin, wet through my shirt and crusted with my own dried blood.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been out. An hour? A day? The light filtering through the trees is gray and wan, bleeding into dusk. At least the bond is mercifully quiet.
I’m cold. So cold. And yet sweat clings to my skin like oil.
I try to sit up and my muscles seize. A strangled noise escapes me before I bite it back and blink through the blur.
The forest surrounding me is too quiet. Like something large and threatening is hanging around, disturbing the normal order of things.
No. I have to stop summoning bad omens. He’s not here. If he was, I’d be halfway back to camp by now. Or dead.
I dig my hands into the frozen earth and
