Chapter 18

Traze dove into the pond, his eyes wide open, desperate to find the shuraa he killed.

He still had his fears about injecting Veda with the Living Sands, but like she had said, it was her one and only hope. And he would not watch her die. He couldn't.

Traze had never felt as much fear as he did the moment he realized Veda had been bitten by the shuraa.

It was unlike any emotion he'd ever felt before. He was overwhelmed with the need to protect her. He could not imagine a life without her.

Veda had invaded his soul. That was what it felt like. She had already become a part of him, a part of his life, a part of his plans for the future.

And he had failed her. He felt very strongly about that. It was his job to protect her, and he had failed to keep her from the shuraa. But he would find the shuraa now to save her. It was the one thing left that he could still do.

Traze, in his hurry, kept muddying the waters with his fast movements. He could hardly see anything and kept needing to come up for air. It was frustrating him greatly because he needed this snake to have any hope of helping Veda.

"Aldohr, come search with me," Traze insisted.

Aldohr was on the pond edge with Traze. The Ateran warriors had been instructed to guard Veda while Traze searched for the shuraa. Traze's lawe was also by Veda's side. He would not leave her. It seemed as though he had already bonded to her.

"There is no point, the shuraa is likely buried by now," Aldohr said casually.

Traze looked at him in confusion. "Why would you say that? It has not even been very long since I defeated the creature."

Traze could not help but notice that Aldohr seemed to be looking for obstacles. Every single thing that might have helped Veda, he had something to say against it. At least initially it seemed that Aldohr was only trying to apply logic to the situation where he could.

But now he was not even being logical, just difficult.

Traze did not have time to question him more, though. The clock was ticking. He didn't know how long he had to save Veda. She could go unconscious at any moment, and if she did, he would not know how to inject her without instructions.

But in order to get to Veda as quickly as possible, Traze would need to slow down considerably. It seemed counterintuitive, but his rushing was only making the pond more difficult to sift through.

So Traze stood there for a moment, staying very still. He steadied his breath, and when he saw the water appear clearer, he very slowly entered it, making as little movement as he possibly could.

To Traze's relief, this worked. It took a moment for him to see the shuraa, but when a neon orange color popped into his eyeline, he reached down and grabbed the snake. It had been partially buried by that point, so Traze forcefully pulled it up from the sand and dragged its heavy body out.

He opened its mouth and grabbed hold of one of the fangs, ripping it out carefully to make sure the entire fang came out in one piece. He grinned when he finally had it in his hand. He might still save Veda yet.

"Come on!" Traze yelled to Aldohr, who seemed genuinely surprised that Traze found the shuraa.

Traze rushed back to Veda, who, to his horror, seemed to be fading fast. When he'd left to find the shuraa, she had been alert, analytical, and able to come up with her own solution.

But now, her eyes seemed droopy, and her head was tilting down. She was barely there. Traze's lawe seemed extremely worried and was rubbing up against her rapidly as if he was trying to rouse her.

Traze rushed to her side, shaking her a bit.

"Veda! Veda, I'm here! I have the fang."

Veda seemed to come to for a moment and nodded.

"Okay… okay, hand me that rope." She nodded toward the emergency kit.

Traze grabbed it and handed it to her. She tried wrapping it around her upper arm, but she was far too weak.

"Okay, uh, you're going to have to do this. Listen to my instructions closely. Okay? I don't know how long I'll be alert, and even if I pass out, you have to do this. It's my only hope."

Traze nodded impatiently and waited for what she'd say next.

"Wrap this rope right here in the middle of my arm very tightly. You should be pulling on the skin. After you do that, it's going to make my veins bulge a bit and make it easier to insert the fang." She took one hand and pointed to the middle of a dark blue line going down her arm. "This is it. This is my most prominent vein, and that is where you're going to need to insert the fang after you fill it with the healing sands. It has to be in that vein, not in the skin next to it. Insert it directly. Do you understand?"

"I do, Veda."

"Good." She put a gentle hand on his cheek. "I hope I'll be seeing you again soon."

"You will," Traze assured her, though he was not at all certain.

Veda nodded, and slowly, she began to fall away into unconsciousness.

Traze gulped as he looked around at the warriors, all looking as worried as he was. Only Aldohr seemed oddly calm.

Traze took a deep breath and tied the rope as tightly as he could based on Veda's instructions. At first, he did not notice the vein bulging, but a few seconds later, he could see it become more prominent. It was sticking out of her skin, and Traze thought it shouldn't be too hard to inject her. He would need a steady hand, though, and his were shaking profusely.

He tried to calm himself as he took the fang and packed it tightly with healing sands. He kept his breath steady as he held her arm taut, slowly pushing the fang into her arm.

It seemed to work. He believed he had penetrated the vein, so he watched from the top of the fang as the healing sands depleted. He didn't remove the fang until it looked completely empty.

And then… then he could only wait.

It was a horrifying moment for Traze. He did not know if he had just saved Veda or ended her life.

He waited with bated breath, taking her hand tightly in his and willing her to wake again. She had to. She just had to because Traze could not imagine a world without Veda in it.

Before Veda had come along, Traze's only loyalty was to his tribe. Some small part of him still cared about being a good leader, but it was nothing compared to the part of him that wanted to protect Veda. She was the only thing he wanted in his life.

And if she was gone, he wouldn't care about the healing sands. He wouldn't care about being a great leader. Traze would be empty without her.

Najol could see his concern and spoke up from behind him.

"You should pull her out of the water to observe her bite. Perhaps it will give some clue as to whether she is improving."

"Right, yes, of course." Traze didn't know why he didn't think of that already.

He lifted her gently from the healing sands and pulled her limp body into the grass. To Traze's dismay, her leg was entirely purple. This wouldn't have been an abnormal color for an Ateran, but he knew for a human, it likely was not good. He had never seen any purple on any of the other human women.

And her leg, where she had been bitten, looked significantly bigger than the other.

He was beginning to fear he would truly lose her. His breath quickened as he started to hyperventilate. He had never panicked like this before, and he was unsure of what was happening to him. He could not get his breathing to calm.

That was, until Najol yelled at him to look at her leg again.

"It's getting better! Look, it's returning to its regular color!" he shouted.

Traze looked down at Veda's leg, and sure enough, the purple was fading quickly. It was working! The healing sands were working!

But she still had not opened her eyes. Traze got close to her, lifted her head with his hands, and stared deeply into her closed eyes. He willed them to open.

And, slowly, they began to. Veda blinked rapidly, looking up at Traze with confusion.

"Is it… working?" she asked.

Traze laughed wildly and pulled her up into a hug. "Yes, yes, it is working! You are healing, Veda! You are healing!"

"Whoa, there… If you squeeze too tightly, I might just faint again," Veda teased.

Traze let go of her a little and kissed the top of her head.

Then she seemed suddenly excited. "You know what this means. Don't you?" she asked.

"What?" Traze wasn't sure what she was referring to.

"The healing sands… They can be injected! You don't need to soak people in them. You'll be able to heal people so much more effectively this way."

She looked like a proud scientist, eager to have discovered something new.

But, frankly, Traze couldn't have cared less about the most effective way to deliver the healing sands right now. All he cared about was that Veda was okay.

He breathed out a sigh of relief. "We will rest here for another night to be sure that you are okay," he said, knowing the rest of the warriors would hear him as well and know the new plan.

And only one protested this change in plans.

"What? Why? Why should we allow this delay? She looks fine," Aldohr complained.

Traze began to growl at him. "Do not question me once more today, Aldohr! Not one more time!"

This seemed to strike fear in Aldohr, and though he still looked mad, he shut up and backed away.

Traze turned his attention back to Veda. "I will not let anything else happen to you on this expedition, I give you my word. I will be by your side every moment."

Veda said nothing as she simply leaned into him and held him tightly.