Wild Tiger Chase | Book #2 (Complete)

4: are you cold?

— Léon —

He didn't know what was happening or what he did to get to that point.

Léon saw himself in the center of a hurricane that destroyed everything in its path with raging fury. All around him, a thunderstorm raged, but he safe in its center as if the windy walls of ruin were his shield, even if he couldn't control it. The ferocious windstorm uprooted trees and destroyed houses and watch posts, milling everything like a grinder.

What the fuck was going on?

He didn't recognize his surroundings. The flowers, mountains, and even the sight of the beach were distant memories he couldn't quite grasp. He tried to keep still, but something wouldn't let him. The pressure of the cold winds at his back made his legs move on their own and walk forward towards the distant shapes that waited for him.

As he drew closer, through the blurring wall of shredding wind, he saw them.

"Pipo, stay away!" he shouted—but not even his voice managed to escape the eye of the hurricane. Beside Pipo, his mom, Satina, Mary, and Roberto waited. A little distance from them, another someone waited. A face, distorted and evil.

"You can't control it, can you?" asked the figure. At each word they said, the windy walls closed in around Léon. "You're not deserving of what you have, so I'll take it from you. I'll take everything from you!"

With that last shout, the hurricane crumbled. Lashes and violent waves of wind crashed on Léon, stealing the air from his lungs.

***

He opened his eyes and gasped for air. Violent coughs pumped the foul-tasting water out of him while his head pulsated with pain. Léon looked around, and as his vision cleared, he met Modraniht's scared eyes. The older man cleaned his lips with the back of his hand, then closed his big fingers on Léon's t-shirt and pulled him closer, wrapping him in a fatherly hug.

"It's okay, kid. You're alive." Modraniht gave Léon's shoulders a solid squeeze and helped him sit up. "You scared me." He rested a wet, warm hand on his cheek and turned Léon's face to him. "Can you breathe? Are you cold?"

That was a weird question, Léon thought. He looked around while some cold wetness washed over his feet. He was sitting on a beach with moss-colored sand peppered with pointy rocks that would probably prick his ass once he decided to get up. The water was dark and dense, the air smelled like burnt grass and chemicals, and an orangish light came from the flaming debris of Modraniht's airNAV. So no, with all those fires around, he shouldn't be cold.

Still, his whole body was quivering.

"A little, yes." Only shreds of sound came out of Léon's lips. It was weird to notice how ragged his voice was. When Léon cleared his throat, a strong taste of copper covered his tongue. He tried to gulp down the saliva in his mouth, but his throat rejected it. With a gag reflex, he coughed and spat it aside. It was mostly blood.

"Don't do that," Modraniht said, closing a warm hand around Léon's neck. He patted it and got up. "You drunk a lot of this corrosive water." He pointed at the ocean, walking around and searching through the debris. "Try your best to save your vocal cords and your throat, all right? You don't want the damage to be permanent." With a long sigh, Modraniht rested his big hands on his waist. "I can't seem to find your things," he whispered. "Welp." He took off his jacket and walked back to Léon. "It's a bit wet here and there cause I had to haul you from the ocean, but it should warm you from now."

As Modraniht placed his jacket around Léon's shoulder, Léon reached for the bump in his chest pocket. He fished for the triangular shape inside it and took the amethyst out. The gem Rob had given him seemed to shine even brighter now. He wasn't sure if he had the fire or Old Continent to blame for that, but it somehow made him calmer. He tightened his fingers around it and pressed it against his chest.