Olivia's body went limp the instant her sentence ended. Her eyes rolled back, her breath hitched, and she dropped forward like a puppet with its strings cut.
Azreal barely caught her before she hit the snow.
He called to her, "Liv? Olivia!" but got no answer—just the weak rise and fall of her chest against his arms.
Her skin was cold. Weirdly, it was the coldest it had been since they had gotten to the dungeon.
Azrael swallowed, his heart pounding in his chest. He pulled her closer, trying to keep the panic from clawing up his throat.
"Hey. Liv. Come on. You can't just… You can't just pass out after just putting back on your own arm like that."
Still nothing.
Her platinum-white hair fell across her face, messy and damp with melted snow.
Azreal brushed the hair aside and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.
Cold.
No fever.
Maybe she just lost too much blood, and she would just wake up a little from now.
But in the meantime, he had to protect her.
GGRRRLL
Azreal froze.
For a heartbeat, he thought it was another mana beast he had to beat to death while carrying her unconscious body.
But maybe he would have preferred it to be a mana beast; after all, he was getting hungry, and she would probably want something to drink once she woke up.
Then his own stomach spoke once again as if to confirm his thoughts.
GGRRRRMMM
He stared down at himself, deadpan.
"… Seriously, that ungodly sound is coming from me?"
Olivia was unconscious in his arms, her body cold and limp.
And his stomach chose now to complain. Azreal let out a long breath, rose to his feet, and began moving.
"Alright. Fine," he muttered, adjusting his hold around her, putting her onto his back. "Food first. Shelter second. Then you wake up and explain what the hell you just did."
Olivia again didn't answer.
Her head simply rested against his neck, her hair brushing his chin with every slow, steady breath she took.
He looked out across the frozen clearing.
The dead warden in the snow, half-flattened under the gravity he subjected his body to.
He tightened his grip around her, lifting her more securely in his arms.
"Let me guess," he said to the unconscious girl. "You're going to be out a while, aren't you?"
Once again, no response.
Only another soft exhale against his collarbone.
Azreal sighed.
"Great. And I get to carry you. Again."
A pause.
"… Don't worry. I'm not letting you freeze out here."
He stepped forward, feet sinking into the snow slowly until he broke out into a full sprint.
Using the little mana he had left, he took hold of his discarded spear with gravity, pulling it from within the snow and into his waiting hand as he ran.
Scanning the area for any leftover rabbits, he couldn't eat the warden because of how mutilated he had left its body, and he couldn't eat any of the other rabbits they had killed, as by now they would be short on blood.
His eyes flicked left toward the faint outline of a cave carved into the ice a few dunes away. A perfect shelter. He was about to head for it when
GRRRMMM
His stomach answered the decision for him.
Azreal dragged a hand down his face.
Fine. Food first.
He shot a look over his shoulder at Olivia.
He tightened his grip on her thighs, lowering his stance.
Then he sprinted.
Snow exploded behind him as he closed the distance between himself and a lone rabbit. It heard him too late. It darted sideways, kicking up frost.
Azreal flicked his wrist, throwing the spear forward.
The spear snapped upward, and the rabbit froze mid-leap, impaled straight onto the blade.
One down.
Another darted from behind a snow mound.
Azreal twisted, grabbing the spear between two fingers, and flicked it through the air, launching it like it weighed nothing.
Two.
He exhaled hard through the cold air.
"That should keep us alive."
He crouched, gathered the limp rabbits by their ears, and slung them over one arm.
Then he turned toward the cave.
"Now shelter," he muttered, snow crunching as he walked. "And maybe I can stop my stomach from sounding like a dying dragon."
The wind whipped his coat as he trekked across the snowfield. Olivia's head bumped gently against the side of his neck with his steps. She didn't stir. Didn't even twitch.
Just breathed.
Azreal's jaw tightened.
The cave entrance grew larger as he approached—a hollow in the cliff wall, dark and deep, with warmer air drifting faintly from within.
He stepped inside, letting the outside wind disappear behind him
Finally.
Shelter.
Food in hand.
Olivia is safe on his back—for now.
Azreal crouched down and carefully eased her off his shoulders, lowering her onto a patch of flat stone near the back of the cave.
Her hair spilled across the ground like moonlight.
Her chest rose, fell, and rose.
Barely.
Azreal reached out, brushing her cheek with the back of his fingers.
He set the rabbits beside him and pulled his spear from the ground.
"Alright then…"
A slow breath fogged the cave air.
"… Let's get you warm. Then maybe tomorrow you can scare the hell out of me again."
"…Right," he muttered, leaning back on one knee. "…Of course."
He stared at Olivia.
She was still lying there, pale and limp, hair fanned across the stone like frost. Her chest rose in shallow, uneven breaths. The sight should have comforted him. It didn't.
"What am I supposed to do here?" he whispered to himself. "You're… you're the one with fire, and I…" He let the sentence trail off. He had a half-formed thought: I don't know how to make fire. Not really. Not the kind that would actually cook food or warm someone up.
He kicked a small stone toward the cave wall. It clattered and bounced uselessly. His mind raced. Ice and snow outside, freezing stone beneath them, and Olivia, his Olivia was unconscious and cold in his arms for what felt like hours.
"…Great. Just great," he muttered, dragging a hand down his face. "Can't eat, can't start a fire, and can barely… Ugh!"
A soft, almost inaudible noise caught his attention.
A twitch.
Her fingers, pale and trembling, flexed slightly. Her eyelids fluttered.
Azrael's eyes snapped to her face.
"…Liv?" he breathed. He reached out instinctively, brushing a stray lock of platinum hair away from her forehead.
Her lips parted in a half-conscious murmur.
The faintest whiff of warmth teased the edge of his perception, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. She exhaled softly through her nose, slow and uncertain.
Azrael's heart kicked up in his chest. He lowered himself carefully to sit beside her. "Hey. You're okay. Just… just breathe."
Her eyelids twitched again. Slowly. Lazily. A half-smile ghosted across her lips as if she were dreaming of something pleasant. Her fingers twitched, brushing his hand in a fleeting, almost unconscious gesture.
Azrael exhaled, a mixture of relief and worry. "Dammit, Liv… wake up already. You can't leave me to figure out the fire on my own.
He glanced back toward the rabbits. Raw, cold, useless for the moment. Then back to her.
She stirred again, deeper this time. One of her pale arms shifted slightly, brushing against his chest. Her breathing deepened, a slow rhythm returning.