It wasn't an idle threat, and I almost thought I'd have to follow through with it, because at first Gunny refused to move. Then finally she allowed me to loop my arm more firmly around her waist, and Eli took her other arm.

Together, staggering through the woods in the middle of flashes of orange flame and the wavering spotlight, we were far too noticeable for my liking. We may as well have targets on our backs. The three of us were spread so wide, moving so slowly. But walking faster wasn't an option, Gunny stumbled every few steps as it was.

Guilt bit at my stomach. I never should have let Charlotte cast that spell on her. If Gunny felt pain she wouldn't be pushing herself like this.

"Back to the boat." I said, and I had to raise my voice between the sound of bullets because my ears were ringing so loudly. Shouts and screams punctuated any spare second of quiet, though there weren't many. "But first...Eli, your hiding place."

I had to check it. Even if it meant going a few minutes out of our way, even if Gunny did look ready to drop. Fiske was here somewhere, and if I were him I would have gone back to Eli's old hideout and hidden there. Of course, when he'd heard the gunfire he could have come out and be god-knows-where now, but I wouldn't be satisfied until I'd at least checked.

Eli nodded, jerking his head to the left. We steered Gunny that way between us, stumbling onwards, going so slowly my palms fairly itched with impatience, and my mouth was sour with fear. If one of us got shot, this was over. Neither me, nor Eli could drag anyone else with us. Not two people to one.

We stumbled through the trees for what seemed like hours, weaving our way through the chaos, stumbling past bloody soldiers, some of them lying prone, strewn through the forest like broken dolls, limbs shattered and askew. There were so many of them, it turned my stomach to see our army being laid out like that.

And there weren't as many soldiers in the black uniform of the compound, not that I could see. Did that mean they were winning? Or maybe it just meant they were cowards, holed up in their drab gray building shooting at us out of windows and doors, not coming out to fight us because they knew they'd lose. There were more of us than them, and we had magic.

"There." Eli's voice jerked me out of my thoughts. He was pointing to a slight furrow in the ground, a pile of wet leaves that had accumulated at the base of a big oak tree directly in front of us.

Even in the dark I recognized his hideout, and my heart skipped a beat.

Let him be there. Let him be there.

It was a chant in my head the entire time we approached. Our footsteps sounded loud, crunching over sticks and half dried leaves. And then another volley of automatic fire blocked out everything else and made us duck, hunching over in our panic, scurrying forward to the hole in the ground.

Eli went first, sliding in with ease of long familiarity, disappearing into the darkness, I pushed Gunny in gently afterword, helping to lower her down with one hand, glancing back over my shoulder with my heart in my throat the entire time. Finally I slid down into the darkness, feeling sticks and stones dig into my back, shirt riding up as I slid down the dirt tunnel. I hit the dirt floor and landed hard on my tailbone, sending pain shooting up my spine.

In spite of the jarring landing, it was instantly cooler down here, and the noise of the war on the surface became muffled. It was a relief to be underground and hidden away. If I had the option, I'd stay here to wait things out.

It was pitch black inside, and I stretched out one hand. "Eli?"

Light flared suddenly, casting shaky orange and black patterns across the dirt walls. Gunny was sitting up, her back against the wall, blinking around in surprise. Her face was white, but her eyes were wide open. She had a tiny flame flickering in the center of her palm, which was lighting up most of the tunnel.

Eli was pressed against the wall opposite Gunny. There was no one else there.

My heart sunk.

Against the far wall, a clump of branches had been arranged in a kind of bed, and when Eli spotted it he crept forward. "This is new."

My stomach lurched, and I moved to join him, staring down at the branches in the dim light that Gunny's flame offered. They were fir branches it looked like, probably stripped from the trees nearby, and they were thick on the ground. Definitely arranged to make a bed.

My heart started to lift, but then something glistened in the light of the flame, something wet and red that coated the branches.

Blood.

"Fiske." I lifted trembling fingers to my lips, and Eli grabbed my hand.

"He could be okay. Shallow wounds can bleed a lot until they coagulate. He could be out in the forest right now looking for us."

"Let's go then."

I whirled around, as much as I could in the cramped space, and gripped Gunny's shoulder. "You can stay here, alright? This is the perfect place to stay out of the way of all this until it's over. It's quiet and dark and no one will even know you're here. We'll come get you after all this is over."

"But...Bolthur." Gunny's head tilted almost drunkenly as she spoke, and her eyelids fluttered. I swore under my breath as the flame in her palm began to flicker.

"I'll get him for you, I swear." I wasn't sure if it was a promise I could keep, but I would definitely try. I pulled Gunny's jacket closed more tightly, a futile gesture, as if I was tucking her in somehow, keeping her safe.

But I couldn't keep her safe from her wound. I might very well have killed her, letting Charlotte put the spell on her. The realization sunk in, and it made me want to collapse right there on the dirt floor and dissolve into tears. How many more people would I end up leaving behind me? I was already going to see Kalda and Fiske every time I closed my eyes, I couldn't add Gunny to the list.

"Hey. Stay awake." I tapped her on the cheek, gently, and her eyes flickered open again. "You have to stay awake."

Eli had been scrabbling around in the back of the cave area for something, and now he sat up with a triumph, "Hah!" and light flickered to life, stronger than Gunny's flame. I half turned, still holding her arms, to see Eli holding up a dirty glass lantern.

"I knew I had that in here somewhere. The candle is slow burning. It should last for a few hours."

"Hopefully that's enough time." I frowned. "Eli, I need to ask you a big favor."

His brows furrowed. He could tell what I was going to ask him and he didn't like it. "I don't think—"

"If someone doesn't stay here and make sure she stays awake, she could go to sleep at not wake up." I gripped his shoulder. "Please. I need you here. I can't lose someone else."

My throat closed up with tears, but Eli, god's bless him, was already nodding, albeit reluctantly. "But my brother is still out there, and grandfather. I don't want you running into them."

"They better hope they don't run into me." My voice was grim, and I stood up and dusted myself off, more a nervous gesture than anything. "Look, I'm perfectly safe out there. More than you'll ever be. I can sense if anyone gets close, and if I run into your brother, no offense, but I'm ripping his stomach out through his throat."

Eli winced, but he only nodded and turned back to Gunny, slapping her gently on the cheek the minute she started to close her eyes again. "Stay awake."

Her eyes snapped open and she blinked at him. Her voice was a husky mumble, so low that I couldn't make it out. Confusion had set in.

"Gunny, do you know why you're here?"

She just blinked at me, and I cursed under my breath. I needed something to bring the fever down, or I really would lose her. I could hunt for Fiske at the same time.

"I'm going to get something for her, something to help her fever. I'll be right back."

Eli muttered something, but I wasn't paying attention anymore, already hauling myself up the dirt tunnel into the open air. There were a few different plants I could find that would disinfect the wound and help bring the fever down to a manageable level, if our own army hadn't burned the forest down yet...

I surfaced gradually, peeking up over the dirt lip of the tunnel, not wanting to get caught in a hail of bullets or a cloud of fire. For now, this section of the forest was empty, though the sound of gunfire wasn't far off, and I could still see the flicker of fire through the trees. An oak tree a few feet away had been blasted with frost, in the moonlight that slipped through the trees I could see a thick white sheet of ice on its trunk. So it had been a battle zone a short while ago, but it looked safe now.

Relatively safe.