The battalion dissipated.
Not fast enough.
A few unlucky souls stumbled to their feet.
One fell back down.
At the last moment, I recognized the young face, contorted with terror.
The blond hair sticking from the sides of the oversized helmet.
The wide eyes, which had never been so frightened before.
The shield I’d given him before his first training session.
I rushed forward like I never had before.
I forced my body to my limits.
I wasn’t fast enough.
Geryll opened his mouth to yell as the snake descended upon him.
No scream came.
Only a sickening crunch that broke me.
Chapter 57
Ryker
My knees had hit the ground so long ago, they no longer felt like they belonged to me.
I didn’t feel anything.
Couldn’t hear the battlefield.
I couldn’t smell the blood.
I rocked.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
Something lay in my arms.
No.
Someone.
Someone…someone I’d carried before.
Geryll.
My arms shook so hard, he almost slipped. I gripped his body like I’d never let him go.
I couldn’t let him fall into the bloody mud.
