“We need to cool this burn,” she said quietly.
“I’m fine,” Jason replied shortly, but a slight tremor ran up his fingers. He had to be in extreme pain but was far too proud to admit it.
“Fine, but I’m not,” Allyra said, holding up her burned left hand for him to see. “If I remember correctly, the map said that there’s a stream about a kilometer or so northeast of us.”
“We don’t have time to waste,” Jason said stubbornly. “I want to get out of this godforsaken forest.”
“As do I, but we’re heading north anyway, and I’d prefer my flesh to stop cooking.”
It was probably testament to just how much pain he was in that he gave in and nodded reluctantly, gesturing for her to lead the way.
The stream was shallow, and the water was crystal clear, running over slick, moss-covered rocks. Allyra dunked her throbbing hand into the stream and let out a low hiss as the cold water soothed and cooled the burn.
Jason had followed her through the forest like a zombie, his mind still consumed by whatever horror he’d seen in the wildfire. She sighed in exasperation and pulled him to the stream, scooping up the water with her hands and allowing it to run over his burned arm. He tensed and clenched his jaw but otherwise made no sign of the pain he was suffering. It was a little disconcerting to see him be so cooperative and pliant, but Allyra used the opportunity to assess his burn more closely.
It was a mess.
The black material of what used to be his jacket had melted into his flesh forming little islands of black against the blistered red flesh.
Her mind fumbled for first aid knowledge. First, cool the burn to make sure that it doesn’t continue to burn out of sight below the skin.
Check. Allyra poured a few more handfuls of water over his arm for good measure.
Second, bandage with sterile bandages.
This posed a bit of a problem—she didn’t have any bandages, sterile or otherwise. But his arm had to be protected. She judged that they still had ten or so kilometers to go until they were back at the Arena of the Terra College, giving him ample opportunity to get his arm even more mangled.
Allyra unzipped her jacket and peeled it off, careful not to catch the burn on her own hand. Then she hesitated, shooting a glance at Jason, but he watched her evenly, as if daring her to continue. She pulled the T-shirt over the top of her head.
Jason raised his eyebrows.
“As much as I appreciate the show, I’m not sure that this is either the time or place for it,” he said sarcastically.
Allyra didn’t dignify his comment with a reply, but it was reassuring to hear a return of his snarky remarks—she’d started to worry that whatever the fire was it had affected him far more deeply than he cared to admit.
She slipped her jacket back over her bra and zipped it up tightly. Next, she started to tear her T-shirt into long strips of cloth. Soaking her makeshift bandages in the stream, she bandaged up Jason’s arm.
“Thanks,” he said shortly when she was done.
Allyra nodded and got to her feet.
“Wait,” Jason said, “your turn.”
He picked up the remaining scraps of her T-shirt, soaked it in the stream, and held out his hand for hers. He bandaged it neatly with quick, deft fingers though she couldn’t help but notice that his hands were still uncharacteristically shaky.
Their eyes met when he was finished, and for a moment, they stared at each other. There was no mistaking the raw pain in his eyes, and briefly she caught a glimpse of a memory—at least a memory of an emotion. It was beyond her to put a word to it—it was old and so very dark. Bitter and terrible, it was like a strange mixture of vengeance, fury, and regret. She flinched under the weight of it, and he turned away, more vulnerable than she’d ever seen.
An apology died on her lips as she searched for the right words. Perhaps there wasn’t anything that could be said to wash away so terrible an emotion.
Chapter 12 – Allyra
Allyra collapsed into the seat next to Chi and groaned. “Please tell me it gets easier from here.”
She and Jason had managed to get out of the forest without much more trouble, but with the time they’d wasted trying to confront their fears, as well as the detour to the stream, they’d emerged as the fourteenth pair through. Only one other pair stood between them and the dubious honor of being last.
Chi shot her an amused look. “That bad, huh?”
She gave him a sidelong glance. “It was terrible. How are you so unaffected?”
“Mind over matter,” he said with a smug smile, or at least what Allyra assumed to be Chi’s version of a smug smile. Smugness was not a sentiment that came naturally to Chi. “I just told myself that none of it was real.”
Allyra held up her bandaged left hand though the bandage was now a sterile white one, professionally applied by a nurse. “The fire raging through the forest felt pretty real to me.”
“Yeah, we got chased through the forest by a pack of wolves that Jeong managed to dream up.”
“Jeong?”
“Jeong Lee. Haven’t I told you that he was my partner?”
Allyra shook her head. She was a poor friend—preoccupied with dealing with Jason,
