The Glorious Flame (#2)

Chapter 43

Rouhem

     He had hope surging through his veins as  Rouhem and his pixie walked their way toward a possible cure or answer of some sort. She was walking at a quicker pace with the kind of energy he had really missed seeing in her.

     Everyone seemed to be surprised by her sudden boost in mood, but Inferno was never one to feel the need to give anyone an explanation. Rouhem couldn't feel more  pride for his warrior if he tried.

     "Get that stupid grin off your face," she instructed him, "you couldn't be anymore obvious if you wore a sign that said 'I just lost my v-card'."

     One of his brows rose up on instinct. "Says the woman who is practically skipping. Which shouldn't be possible at this point, since I was aiming to have you weak at the knees by the time I was done with you."

     Inferno smiled at him, clearly dead set on stealing his breath unrelentingly. "Shut up! You've done no such thing!"

     "If that's an invitation to try again, count me in." He winked at her, giving her his most charming smile.

     "You have sex with a man a couple dozen of times and it goes straight to his head," she muttered, targeting a glare his way, but it had a different kind of heat to it this time around. This one he fancied far more.

    "Which head are we referring to exactly?"

    "Rouhem!"

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    A couple more hours of trekking had passed, and to Rouhem's dismay, her energy had depleted at an alarming rate. As quickly as the energy had rejuvenated her entire body, she came quickly falling down to an all-time low. If anything, she appeared to be worse than when they had initially began this journey up the mountain.

    Everyone could hear as she wheezed with each breath, like there was liquid bubbling in her lungs. Her shoulders were slumped and her hair lay flat and unmoving, although it was hard to notice under the hood that was pulled over her head.

    "Inferno," he whispered urgently, placing a light hand on her shoulder.

    He could tell that she wanted to shake him off but didn't have the energy to. "I'm fine. I can do it."

    He shook his head. "Don't be stubborn."

    She had a quiet, dry laugh. "Mine as well tell me to stop breathing."

    "Then we take a break at least."

    He knew she was getting ready to refuse, but the reply died in her throat. He watched in slow motion as her entire back arched into a bow. She leaned her head back and the pain that was revealed on her features was world-shattering.

    "Inferno, no!" He shouted, catching her as her knees crashed into the snow. She let out another scream, one that was swallowed up into the sky, echoing like a siren of death. The hope in his heart was beaten down to a pulp by reality, her reality.

    "Don't touch her!" He snarled as everyone began to circle around them. She was squirming in his arms, trying her damndest to reel in her shouts of pain.

    Micah and Jones were the closest. "Pick her up!" Micah commanded, "she doesn't have as much time as I thought." The worried look in his eyes said it all.

    His heart stopped. "Why? It could be just another episode," Rouhem tried to reason. He looked down at her and thought he would burst into nothing. Watching the woman he loved suffer without be able to do anything to stop it was the worst kind of torture.