Lost Identity: Eloria Series Book 1 | ✓

14: Nightfall

7/5/3028

Martin let out a feeble groan when he touched the spot on his stomach where the branch once was. "How long have I been out?"

"A couple hours," I said, brushing aside the strands of hair that were on his sweaty brow. "How do you feel?"

"Sore." Martin craned his neck to the right, straining with every motion, before looking left where he spotted Elossai unconscious on the ground. "Whoa, why is she gray?"

"I'm not sure why she's gray, all I've been told is that she took on your injury," I said.

"Is she okay?"

Keiran and Ilta exchanged a grim glance with Stanjah. "We need to get to Ien as soon as possible," Keiran said, disregarding Martin's question altogether.

This was bad.

"Are you well enough to sit up?" Ilta offered.

"Yeah," Martin croaked as he sat up with Ilta's help.

Ilta kept looking up into the sky, noting the sun's position with her sharply pointed nose. "It should be nightfall in about an hour."

Nightfall. I remembered Elossai making a remark about how fortunate we were to be in the valley during the day.

"Don't we want to be out of here before then?" I asked.

"We do," Stanjah said with a solemn expression.

***

With two horses dead, we all had to ride two up, with the exception of Stanjah. I was with Keiran, Martin rode with Ilta, and Jarek rode with Elossai cradled on his lap.

"Keiran, will Elossai wake up soon?" I asked.

"She's absorbed Martin's critical injuries along with the ones she's sustained right before that. The injuries are far too extensive for her to self-heal. The combination of which would without a doubt be fatal, even for an Elos," said Keiran.

"We've got to do something!" I pleaded.

"There isn't much we can do now. We will see what can be done as soon as we arrive in Ien. You have my word."

I glanced back at Elossai who was leaned up against Jarek's chest. In my mind I felt every bit of the weight of her decision to save Martin's life.

"Why did Martin jump over that log?" Keiran asked.

"I told him not to, but he wouldn't listen. I knew something bad was going to happen."

"How could you know something awful was about to happen?"

"I had a panic attack before the incident."

"You experienced anxiety because you felt that something terrible was about to occur?"

"It was more than just a bad feeling—I literally felt sick to my stomach."

"How is that possible?" Keiran pulled the reins to the left, dodging a large stump in our path.

I slipped to the side but quickly shifted into a comfortable position again. "I don't know. Do you think I was predicting the future? Like, a form of magic?"

"How?"

"Maybe I have some form of magic... or natural ability, like Elossai told me about."

"Magic doesn't exist, and no one has the power to see the future. Not even corin can help you do that."

"Oh," I uttered, feeling kind of silly for suggesting magic.

"Perhaps the environment made you feel nervous," Keiran guessed.