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I moved.

"Jade, stop."

Corian's command hit behind me.

I kept going.

Only two steps.

Maybe three.

"They're injured."

"Stop."

His hand opened and closed once at his side, then stilled, and something about that finally cut through the urgency enough to make me halt. That was the second time his hand had done that today. He never seemed to notice it himself, but I was starting to.

"They're right there."

"I heard you."

"You don't understand."

His expression hardened. "Stay where you are."

The pain came again. I could feel the tissue tearing. Every instinct I possessed told me the distance between myself and those animals was the only relevant problem.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking the route."

"They're dying while you're checking the route."

"That doesn't make the route safe."

"I can heal them."

"If you reach them."

My temper snapped before judgment managed to interfere.

"I know how to walk through a jungle, Favaris."

Corian's face changed.

Not much but enough.

"Then start acting like it."

The answer stopped me more effectively than the order had and silence spread through the group.

Corian stepped past me.

"Halver, perimeter. Nykos, check the left side. Everyone else stays on the trail."

I stood exactly where he'd told me to stand, furious enough that I could hear my pulse while another wave of pain traveled through the nearest trapped animal.

Corian moved slowly toward the ferns.