25. Red Hearts
Abigail watched Baric. Eyes following him as he paced about. Circling his kill like some bird of prey. His eyes never leaving the hole he had made in Argor's back. As if he was searching it for something. Making sure that the dead elf was really dead.
He was.
She was sure of it. She could see the lifelessness in his eyes. Saw the spark go out when the spear hit his spine.
Argor was dead.
Still Baric circled. Once, twice, three more times before he came to a stop. Standing over the deceased bandit's head, casting his corpse in shadow, and pulling something out his pocket.
It was a tube, red as blood, and ornamented with red hearts. Baric pulled a string hanging from the bottom of it and pointed the tube skyward. A ball of light firing out of it half a second after. Spiraling upwards till it reached near the roof of the cavern.
Then it exploded. Expanded into embers. Taking on an undeniably red hue and shaped like little hearts.
From somewhere past the camp, a second beacon followed suit. Bursting into another cloud of red hearts. And before the signal could fade away, Baric grabbed her. His hands wrapping around her wrists as he lifted her onto his back and ran.
Wind carrying the both of them away. Over the rock river and into a nearby cave.
And the whole way there, Abigail was far too aware of how big she was. How her breasts rested on his head. Each one larger than his skull. How her legs, wrapped around him, were astonishingly massive in comparison to his waist. Each tree trunk thigh burying his sides in their squishiness.
Then they were in the cave. And Baric sat her down against the far wall, ending their brief moment of contact. Despite that, it was all Abigail could think about. Her mind swimming with the sudden realization of how big she was.
The size of her body. Of her... Her curves. And how much bigger they were than they used to be.
It was a little jarring. Eye opening, even.
But the way Baric was moving about the cave, pacing, eyes constantly darting back to the entrance, it drew her.
"What is it?" She asked.
"A signal." He answered.
And Abigail shook her head. "No, what are you worried about?"
Baric stopped, turned to face her, and frowned. "I'm not worried about anything. Just waiting."
"For Sarill?"
"For Sarill." He confirmed. "The response beacon was... Close. Closer than I expected. So he'll probably be here soon."
Abigail grunted in response. Unsurprised that the snake had followed them. Which was both comforting and a little worrying.
"How close?" She asked. Breaking the silence for a second time.
Baric had resumed his pacing. "At best, an hour away. But more than likely two." He said and they both fell silent.
After that, Abigail turned to her own wounds. To the pain that slithered through her arms. How it left them paralyzed, too weak to move. A feeling that wasn't entirely new to her. It was disturbingly familiar to a time she had sprained her ankle walking down some stairs.
The memory was still fresh in her mind. She could even remember the seconds, hours, and minutes she spent sitting in her room waiting for the pain to go away.
She figured this would be more of the same. Worse even. More time spent not doing what she needed to. Time spent sitting and waiting to heal while Esbern suffered.
It was something she wouldn't stand for. So, maybe against her own better judgement, Abigail tried to will herself better. Stirring her Ardin through her blood, getting it to latch onto her bones and willing it to put them back together.
And for a second it worked.
Her arms, both fractured somewhere near her elbow, were made whole. The damage undone. But only for a moment.
Then, they went back to how they were. Fracturing, breaking for a second time. The pain sudden. Too fast to prepare for. And despite herself, she hissed in pain. Teeth biting into her lip as she rode it out, watching as Baric cast a curious glance her way before resuming his pacing.
"Don't do that." He said. Too late. "It'll only make it worse."
And Abigail didn't hold back her tongue. "Then what should I do? Sit here, wait for my arms to recover, all while Esb- my mentor is being tortured or something, or worse? I can't not do anything!"
"Yeah. Well doing that is just going to make the breaks worse. Maybe even impossible to recover. Trust me."
She didn't want to.
But she did.
"Then what should I do?"
Baric reached a hand into his pocket. "I've got a restoration pill. You can-"
The blaring of horns. A rumble running through the ground. Shouts. War cries.
Sarill was here.
"You can have it later." Baric finished.
Abigail nodded. Eyes locked onto the army approaching the camp. The bandits that made up the Red hearts far more numerous than she had thought. Maybe numbering over a hundred. Maybe even two.
And if things went how she thought they were going to, they were about to swell even larger.
But that wasn't her problem. Her problem was getting up. The effort it took to stand without using her arms. To bend her legs, thick as her torso, into the right position and use them to pull herself up. It took three tries. The first two thwarted by the mass of her rump practically gluing her to the ground.
On the third, she was up. Arms hanging at her side as she walked out the cave. Baric behind her as she slowly crossed the rock river and started toward the camp.
It didn't take long to reach it. Where she stopped at it's edges, watching as Sarill's men did their work. Their faces hidden behind red masks. Hunting down what was left of the Rock river gang in groups of two. Each chase ending with them bringing their prey to the center of the camp.
Abigail followed. Winding through and around the empty tents till she reached its heart. Right where the bonfire had burned a night ago.
It's fire now put out. Embers all that remained. Flickering behind Sarill as he stood tall addressing his men.
All under the embrace of his shadow. Smiling. Grins almost glowing as they drank up his words. And slowly, after a minute or two, their prisoners started to smile too. The fear that might've been in their eyes replaced with a terrifying glint of greed and ambition.
There was something else there too. Unfamiliar to her, but just as fervent as the rest. Dangerous, she was sure. She just didn't know how.
Her first reaction? It was to run. Her second was to get ready for a fight. Muscles tensing as she did a quick head count, starting with those closest.
But she calmed. Body going loose when she felt Baric place a hand on her shoulder. The restoration pill in his outstretched hand. Offering it to her.
Later was now, and he brought it to her mouth. The pill vanishing between her teeth.
It tasted like dirt. But she immediately felt it's effects.
A soothing presence on her mind. A warmth that tingled beneath her skin, slithering down to her toes. Stirring up Ardin and blood. Encouraging it to work in small, imperceptible ways that made the throbbing pain a little less worse.
She couldn't stop the yawn that escaped her. Or the sudden drowsiness that came with it. The effort to even try taking all her strength.
And then she blinked. Eyes fluttering for half a second. World going black, and returning again. This time with Sarill standing right in front of her, talking to Baric about...
About something. She wasn't sure what. Couldn't bring herself to care. The threat of sleep to great. Subsiding for a moment only when Sarill turned his eyes on her. Red little things, boring into her own blue. Examining her. Searching for...
And she blinked again.
"It seems I was right to make dealings with you." The serpent flattered.
Abigail teetered. The world going slant.
And the serpent grinned. His voice a slithering thing. "By the morrow, I shall set to work upholding my end of our bargain."
She blinked again.