Sheflailed and tossed, slamming into the machinery.She lurched.She fell.Sherose again, the flames eating into her muscle.With a final cry, the bunnyflung herself forward, blinded by fire, attempting to gut Isaac with a slash ofher sword.
He didnot move.
TheBlack Eye missed.
Shelurched again, lost her footing, and fell bodily over the edge.
Sorenfell to the earth like a comet of fire, her raspy scream echoing the entire waydown the obelisk.When the screaming stopped, Isaac could still see a speck oforange at the dark bottom of the obelisk, shining like a star in the sky.
It didnot move again.
All atonce, the souls receded from his skin, exhaling from his body like mist beforethe dawn.As they left, the pain returned, and Isaac gasped with its arrival,barely managing not to teeter over the edge.He fell heavily onto his rear.
“Isaac.”
Zariawas dragging herself up the edge of the pipework.He saw, for the first time,that one of her hands had nearly been cleaved apart, the flesh seeming to flexin different directions, like rips in a fabric.He stumbled her way as shemanaged to fling herself back to safety.When they met, she pushed him roughlyto the floor.
“Holdstill.”
“Z, areyou—”
“Shutup!”
Shechecked his injuries, prodding at the knives in his arm and chest.Isaac couldonly stare dumbly at the knife sticking from her eye.He could see vitreousfluid leaking down her furry cheek, mingling with the blood.He had never seenthe translucent fluid anywhere but a dissected corpse.
“Youcoughing blood?”she asked.
“Areyou okay?”he replied.
“Isaac!Are you coughing blood?”
“No!”He coughed, just to make sure.“No, I’m not.”
“Good.”She dug through her pack, ripping apart a white shawl with her teeth.“Gotta puta tourniquet on.My hand’s fucked, so you need to hold some parts for me.You’ll need a sling, as well, so you don’t open it no fuckin’ wider.”
“I haveto be able to cast—”
“You’rebleedin’ half to death, you stupid cunt!”
It wasonly now, when the immediate danger had passed, that he noticed how wet andheavy his robes had grown.Blood flowed all the way down his arm, dripping intothick streams at his wrist.As the rush of combat faded away, the pain suddenlyrose to new heights, smothering all his thoughts.
Zariaretrieved a torch from her pack, smashing it to splinters on her knee.Shestuck the largest piece between her teeth, beginning to wrap the ripped clotharound his upper arm.“Help me tie the knot.”
He didhis best to aid her in applying the tourniquet.She slipped the splinter oftorch into the cloth, tied the improvised windlass down, warned him that it wasgoing to hurt, and twisted the wood in circles.He yelled until his throat washoarse.When the tourniquet was viciously tight around his arm, she fashioned asling from another ripped section of fabric, cradling his arm close to hischest.
“Don’tmove it,” she said, “and don’t take the blades out, neither.You’ll be dead inminutes if you do.”
“Areyou okay?”he asked again.
Sheraised her cleaved-open hand.The sight of it seemed to hurt her even more.“Better than most who’ve crossed the Black Eye.”She took a strained breath.“Still, I could dearly use more of that magic poultice.Gonna be laid out, atthis rate.”
“Ican’t make anymore.”
“What?”
“I usedmost of my reagents the last time I healed you.I can’t make anymore.”
She letout a sharp breath.“You shoulda said so.I woulda told you not to waste it.Ifyou had kept it, just for this....”
