I do my best to keep pace with him. “The creature—it was as big as the berserkir we see in the Wilds and just as strong.”
“Or perhaps you were weaker,” Father says. “You’ve never confronted a berserkr by yourself. You would’ve been killed countless times if not for me.”
“I’ve saved you a few times too.”
Father barks a laugh. “Have you? I don’t recall.”
“Sure,” I tell him, surprised by his brief moment of levity. Despite waiting for me awhile, he doesn’t seem to be in as foul a mood as I feared. I should be relieved, but I doubt it will last for long. Especially if we don’t track the killer down.
“If it was a wild berserkr, it wouldn’t be able to take human form again,” I point out.
“Who says it did?” Father asks. “You’re making assumptions. If we were on a hunt, what would we do? Follow the tracks and see what story they tell us.”
“Yes, I know.”
“The killer could be a student, I suppose, but how are they able to turn human again after killing? Most berserkir can’t do that once their humanity is lost. Isn’t the more likely explanation that we’re looking in the wrong place?”
I narrow my eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Look where these lead.”
The tracks continue through the berserkr campus—directly to Skallagrim’s wide-open gates.
“How?” I ask. “The gates shouldn’t open for a wild berserkir.”
“Maybe someone let them in. Maybe the gates malfunctioned. Either way, we’ll need to investigate this. It’s time we went back into the Wilds.”
Howls rise in the night air, sending a chill through me.
It’s going to be another long night.
When I return to the infirmary the next afternoon, all I can think of is carrying Edith here last night. Her skin was paler than usual, her breathing shallow, her eyelids fluttering as I held her in my arms. She was going into shock. I’ve seen it happen to hunters before.
Stay with me,I told her.
When I burst through the doors, the infirmary was empty. I laid her on the nearest bed, trying not to focus on the blood streaming down her chin, covering her chest and soaking her clothes. Seeing her like that made it hard to remain clearheaded.
Now the infirmary is full of hunters being treated after training. I stop in the doorway, scanning the room for Edith, but my gaze landson Mother instead. The last time I came here to see her, my lip had been split.The mouth has a rich blood supply,she explained while tending to me,which means it can cause significant bleeding.
Luckily, I still remember everything she did. That was the only reason I knew what to do to help Edith. Why I thought of using the hemostatic powder. Why I knew to use the saline solution to clean the wound after. All thanks to my mother.
There’s no sign of Edith. She must be back in her dorm already.
A pang of longing stabs me in the chest. I lean against the doorway and watch my mother while she smears ointment on a hunter’s injury. Her practiced movement reminds me of Nils and how he touched Edith far more gently than I could.
“There,” Mother says, a small smile spreading across her face. “Give it a few days, and it should be fully healed.” She screws the lid carefully back on the tin and sets it aside, brushing off her skirt as she stands.
As soon as she notices me, her mouth makes an O.
She rushes toward me, grabbing fistfuls of her skirt to keep from tripping. I see so much of Nils in her, and vice versa.
“Amund? Are you hurt?”
The pain in my chest sharpens at the concern in her voice, but I force myself to shake my head. I have more injuries than I can count, none of which I can show her. “I’m fine,” I tell her so she won’t worry about me any more than she probably already does. “I just had a few questions I wanted to ask you.”
“Only if you let me treat you,” Mother insists.
“Fine.” I have a hard time refusing her anything.
