It took a time to get him into a position where I might be able to lift him onto a cot. He was heavier than he looked and I was trying to be careful not to hurt him. Not that he would feel it. He had taken more than one crack to the head and was deeply unconscious. I was worried about his ribs, about making things worse. There was a pink blood frothing at his lips as he breathed shallowly. He had taken wounds everywhere and his clothes were drenched in blood. His left arm was broken. I changed my mind about lifting him and instead dragged the mattress off my cot and laid it on the floor, easing him slowly onto it. I tried to make him comfortable. There was nothing else I could do. I stripped his shirt and bound his wounds with care. Some were still bleeding sluggishly. He'd lost a lot of blood. When I had done as best I could I covered him with every blanket in the cell and settled down to watch him.
Tahal was gone. I couldn't believe my stupidity in coming here to rescue him. He had the stone. And Sapphire was dying. I didn't see how things could get worse.
I watched Sapphire. Listened to his ugly breathing. Sometimes he moved in his unnatural sleep, whimpered and lay still. I doubted he'd ever wake.
I wished I could sleep too. I was exhausted, but sleep had never been further away from me. I wondered what they would do with me. Wondered if Kukran would try and Turn me once more or just leave me here to rot. They hadn't brought food or even water. I suspected they would just leave me here to die. Us, I thought; they are going to leave us here to die.
The dogs had become loud in my head, and I had to fight to think through their raucous, relentless baying. They sounded close. Abruptly their tone changed to frenzied rage, ferocious growls mixed in with long ululating yelps and yammering screams chopped off abruptly. They were fighting and dying, being killed. Who would do that? Hope welled up inside me. I knew that the Alendi had retreated to the Eyrie. They must have had reason; the army of the city must threaten them. And that told me who was killing the dogs. It was an army of the city, possibly already outside the walls. My spirit roiled with mixed hope, anticipation and fear. They would win, take the Eyrie. We would be free.
Sapphire choked in his sleep and I hovered over him, watching anxiously as I listened to the dogs fighting and dying.
I just hoped our army would be quick enough. Knowing Sapphire couldn't hear me I told him anyway. “Hold on, Sapphire,” I told him. “Our army is here. Help is on the way.”
Still, there was no guarantee that the enemy would let us live long enough to see freedom.