She crawled up to Hunt, pulling her body slowly toward him as he lay on the floor. She pushed his body so he would face her. Emma let out a sigh of relief when she saw the smile on his face. “I think my body is done with this,” Hunt began, speaking silently.
“Yeah,” Emma replied between tears and a laugh. “Yeah, me too.”
Chapter 14 - Hunt
Conan walked up behind Emma, the entire side of his body smoking from where Garret had hit him with a fireball. He looked worse than he normally would, and that was saying something. “What did you do?”
Hunt groaned as he sat up. “Same as before, sent him to the deepest part of the level below us. The closest exit to him is the one that caved in.”
“So we have time to escape,” Emma said, still in pain from the stab wound.
“No, you’re still coming with me,” Conan said to Emma. “I still want my prize.”
Hunt looked up at Conan weakly. He could feel his fingertips sizzling from the burns they had sustained. He had fractured his shin, and was certain he had a few internal injuries that needed healing. Hunt was barely holding on by a thread, and Conan still wanted to take Emma from him.
“I’m not going with you,” Emma said, grunting as she spoke.
Hunt could see that she was still in excruciating pain, and if it came down to a fight against Conan, she was going to lose. They were both spent, and had nothing left to give. Conan bent low so they could see the side of his face. Hunt could hear his skin squelching as it healed itself slowly.
“I lost many men today, just because I wanted you,” Conan continued, speaking in his gruff voice. “I am not going to leave empty-handed. Now, you either come with me, or I’ll make sure Garret will get to you when he comes up here.”
Hunt looked at his fingertips, knowing he had no way of channeling his magic. Even if they weren’t burned, he also didn’t have anything left in the tank. He had used up everything he had, and what was left was working overtime to heal him slowly, keeping him from entering shock, and dying.
“Hunt,” Emma called out weakly, moving away from Conan.
“Conan!” Sly yelled from behind him.
Hunt realized she wasn’t as hurt as the rest of them. Conan turned to her, raising an eyebrow. “What?”
“Please, let them go,” Sly pleaded.
“She is mine, and if you had not interfered…if you had let me do what I had to do…”
“They would be dead, and probably so would you. Garret didn’t care for you, or the fact that you wanted to bring them to him. He wouldn’t have given you ultimate power or anything like that. He’s a selfish man who only cares about himself and that is why these Wyverns are dead.”
Hunt watched the expression on Conan’s face change as he considered what she said. It made sense to him, but somehow he wasn’t willing to come to terms with it. “She is still mine. I had a deal with Caleb…”
“Yeah, I know you did, and that went south. But please, for my sake, just let them go. They’ve been through enough already,” Sly continued, walking up to him.
Hunt didn’t understand what was going on, or why Sly was trying to help. He looked around quickly, trying to figure out what angle she was playing, but nothing came to his mind. Was Sly just helping them out of the goodness of her heart? It didn’t make sense.
“I’ll let you have me instead,” Sly said, dropping to one knee. “I’m the one who caused it, and I know it’s not the same, but please, let them go.”
Conan turned to Hunt, and then to Emma. He ran a hand across her chin gingerly, like a caring lover. He turned to Hunt, shoving the Hunter across the chest. “Take care of her, she will make your world better. I saw it in her eyes, and I want that for myself. But this is not the way fate dictates it to be.”
“Uh, yeah. I will,” Hunt replied, tasting the blood on his lips. “With all my heart, I will.”
***
Hunt wasn’t sure when he had passed out. His last memory was being carried out of a manhole behind a dumpster. But as he opened his eyes, he was in a comfortable chair with a drip attached to his hand. He looked around, seeing nothing but woodland around him. He reached down and saw that his clothes had been changed as well.
“I know how it feels,” came a voice from behind him, “waking up in an unknown place, in someone else’s clothes. It must suck.”
Hunt turned and looked at the man, instantly realizing that he was a paranormal. He didn’t need to be told; from years of fighting them off, he could just tell. “Hey,” Hunt said, hesitantly.
“Relax, take a breath. You’re okay. My name is Levi. I’m a Dragon, you’re in Ridgeshire, and Emma asked me to watch over you until she…” Levi paused, listening to a sound. “There she is.”
Hunt turned around to see Emma walk out of the house behind him. She had done a good job of healing her wounds, and looked almost completely fine. She had a few cuts that were still lingering, but she was doing a lot better than he was. She walked around the chair, smiling at him.