Aethera bit down hard on her tongue, barely muffling a cry of pain, as Hestian pulled tighter on the make-shift splint that was strapped tightly around her foot. She quickly wiped away the tears beginning to trail down her cheeks and squeezed her eyes shut as Hestian shifted her foot again. He stopped for a moment, letting it go limp. “Should I stop?”

Aethera swallowed and tried to muster as much courage as she could. She would much rather have him stop, but if her ankle wasn’t splinted, she probably would injure it even worse.

“Keep going,” she managed to reply.

To her dismay, her voice was nothing more than a meek croak, but if the boy noticed, he paid no attention. Aethera closed her eyes again and clenched the branch tightly as he finished tying his belt around her foot.

It was lucky that Hestian had gotten here when he did. She didn’t know how much longer she could have taken the pain.

Aethera was now certain that she had broken it. Without Hestian, she hadn’t been able to collect the necessary supplies to make the splint. When the boy had finally climbed into their tree, she had instructed him how to tightly wrap her foot with her apron and his belt. She barely had any medical training to begin with, but she desperately hoped that some of her brother’s knowledge had sunk in after the dozens of lessons he had forced her through. Adam had told her that she would need to use it someday. Like always, he was right. She felt her throat tighten. Even thinking about him made her want to curl up in a ball and sob until her tears ran dry.

Aethera watched Hestian as he tugged on the belt again. “I think it’s good,” she whispered.

He nodded and retreated, giving her some space. “Are-are you okay?” His voice was hesitant as he spoke and Aethera sighed and nodded as he gazed at her in concern. She didn’t want him to worry about her. Her ankle still hurt, but it was much better than it had been.

“I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?”

Aethera nodded again. “I wouldn’t be without your help though. Thank you.”

A few moments of silence passed between them and she watched as Hestian’s eyes flickered and he wearily rolled his shoulders back.

“You look awful,” Aethera whispered. “There’s a bag strung on the branch behind you. There should be some nuts left.”

Hestian moved instantly, all signs of drowsiness vanishing at the mention of food. He grabbed at the pack hungrily and dug into it, pulling out the bag of nuts. He stuffed a few in his mouth and mumbled something inaudible, making the edges of Aethera’s lips lift into a small smile.

It had been only three days since she had last seen him, but his face had changed drastically. His cheekbones were sharply defined in his pale face and a deep cut was slashed across the left side of his cheek. His eyes were sunken into his skull and there were large, dark circles beneath them.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your face, who did that?”

Hestian watched her and flinched as she reached out to touch the wound. Aethera glanced at him, and after silently asking for permission, she traced the outline of the scar. “It looks deep. Does it hurt?”

He shook his head, but she didn’t miss how he winced as he moved.

“I cut it on a branch when I was climbing back,” Hestian whispered. “I wasn’t being careful. I-I thought that you had been shot.”

Aethera sighed. They had yet to talk about what happened, but she knew one of them had to bring it up. She grimaced as she leaned backward so she could give the boy more space to sit next to her. Hestian grabbed the pack and moved forward so he wasn’t in danger of falling backward out of the tree anymore. Once he was situated, he glanced at her shyly. “Thea, there’s something you need to know. I-”

“You failed.”

Hestian flinched at her harsh tone and Aethera grimaced. She hadn’t meant to make her voice so sharp, but it was hard to mask the annoyance that she felt towards him at the moment. Guilt surged in her stomach, but she was too tired and angry to acknowledge it.

“I couldn’t do it,” Hestian whispered. “I tried, I really did, but I was scared I would screw it all up. and my powers wouldn’t cooperate.”

“Did you try?”

“Of course! I tried everything...but it wasn’t working. I don’t have the training to do things like that. You know that.”

Aethera sighed. She did know that. It wasn’t fair to blame him, not when the same thing had once happened to her. But, they had lost their only chance to escape. The hunters had acted at the Hestian’s hesitation and started to fire arrows at her, knowing that the boy would come back to protect her. She hadn’t thought that he would, but he stupidly did. And now they were both stuck in this mess.

“I’m sorry,” Hestian muttered.

“Don’t be. You tried your best,” Aethera replied, fighting to keep her voice even. “Besides, we have another plan. We will resort to that.”

“It won’t work.”

Aethera frowned. “Why not?”

“Your foot. You won’t be able to make it like that.”

“Oh. Right.”

She looked at her ankle scornfully and bit her lip. The pain was still fresh in her mind and the joint throbbed with every breath, but she had forgotten to take into account what it meant for her.

“I’m going to die here, aren’t I?”

Her voice finally broke and she looked away, tears starting to brim in her eyes once more. She felt something touch her hand and she glanced at Hestian as he put his hand on top of hers. She bit her lip at the physical contact and moved her hand so it was resting in her lap. Hestian hesitated, his eyes sparkling with sorrow.

“You aren’t going to die,” he whispered. “I made a promise and I intend to keep it, Thea. You’re going to make it out alive.”

Aethera chewed her lip and shook her head. “I won’t make it. I thought that I could before...maybe if it hadn’t been so severe, but there’s nothing anyone can do now.”

“Don’t say that.”

“We both know it’s true. The only thing left for you is to go. You, at least, have a chance at survival. Take it.”

“What do you mean?”

“The contingency,” Aethera reminded him again. “I’ll distract them again and divert their attention while you run.”

“And leave you here? Defenseless?”

She nodded and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse. “It’ll work better than the original plan, anyway. They’ll be willing to let you go without too much of a struggle if they have me.”

“Damn it, Thea. I’m not leaving you here.”

“You have to,” she whispered. “You don’t have a choice.”

“That goes against everything I stand for!”

She sighed. She didn’t want to die. It was hard enough sacrificing her life so that he could get out. But, she had already decided. She would not condemn him to the same fate she had. She wished that she could live, but she knew it wasn’t realistic. Hestian would figure that out too. She just didn’t know if he would figure it out in time to save himself.

“Please, Hestian. It’s your only shot.”

“I can’t, Thea. I won’t.”

“I’d take the chance if I could,” she encouraged. “It wouldn’t be selfish. I don’t care.”

“No! How can you even suggest this? What kind of person do you think I am?”

Aethera flinched at the sudden anger in his emerald irises. “You have to be realistic, Hestian. I’m not going to make it and the one thing you can do is save yourself.”

“Yes, you can make it, I-”

“No, Hestian,” Aethera interrupted gently. “I’m not going to make it. It’ll be better for the both of us if you just accept that.”

“I don’t know if I could live knowing that I let you sacrifice your life for me.”

“Think of it this way, you risked your life to save mine before, this is my way of repaying you.”

“I-I don’t want you to repay me.”

Aethera sighed and threw her hands in the air in frustration. “Then what do you want, Hestian? Because I’m trying to save your life and you’re shooting down every single suggestion!”

“Well, all of your suggestions involve your death! I just want both of us to live!”

“That isn’t possible,” Aethera bit back.

“Then we will die together,” Hestian replied, locking eyes with her. “Nothing you say will change my decision. I’m not leaving you.”

“I can’t believe you're doing this! I’m just a stranger to you!”

“You are much more than that to me,” Hestian replied. “I know I’ve only known you for a month, but I-I don’t know how to explain it. I just can’t go without knowing that you are safe.”

She shook her head. “No. You shouldn’t do that. You shouldn’t care about me. It’s too dangerous. You have no idea who I am or what I’ve done.”

“Everyone has their secrets. I won’t ask what yours is and I trust that you’ll tell me when the time is right.”

She scoffed and let her head fall between her knees, her long hair shielding her face from him. She forced herself to hold back tears, not wanting Hestian to see how deeply this wounded her. She didn't want anyone else to die for her. She didn’t deserve it.

But, Hestian was stubborn. He would stay whether she wanted him to or not.

She ground her teeth in frustration. His decision had many more consequences than she had initially thought about. What feelings did he have that led him to sacrifice himself for her?

She wanted to push back, to force him to go, but deep down it felt nice. It felt nice to have someone that cared about her as much as he did.

But, he shouldn’t. It was too risky to trust someone like her.

“Everyone who cared about me is dead,” Aethera whispered. “I don’t want you to follow down that same path. Please, Hestian. If you really cared about me, you would go.”

He didn’t reply right away and Aethera watched him as his eyes swept over the hunters and his brow furrowed. “There’s another option.”

“And what is that?”

“The hunters. We can make a deal with them.”

“What do you mean?”

“ They can take you to a healer in exchange for my life.”

Aethera shook her head and replied without hesitation. “No.”

“Why? You are so willing to sacrifice yourself for me, why won’t you let me do the same for you?”

“You can’t trust them, Hestian! You don’t know if they will keep their word!”

“But, that isn’t the only reason, is it?” Hestian burst out, his eyes lighting up with frustration. “You think my life is worth more. You think you deserve to die.”

Aethera bit her lip and averted her gaze. She was surprised at the recognition she had for his words. She hesitated and shook her head.“You wouldn’t understand. I’m living on borrowed time as it is.”

“Thea…”

“And I’ve accepted it. I’ve accepted the fact that maybe I’m just not meant to survive this. Every action I take...every word I say...it feels as though I’m already marching towards my death. I can’t shake that feeling so the only thing I can do is embrace it.”

“No, Thea. You can’t give up. You have a future.”

“No, I don’t! I’ve lost everyone!”

“I’m still here,” Hestian replied sincerely. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

Aethera opened her mouth and then closed it again, caught off guard by his words. She hesitated before answering. “No. I-I need you to go.”

“Thea-”

“No, Hestian! Just stop with all this nonsense! I’m not a damsel in distress, waiting for some hero to sacrifice their life for me! This isn’t a fairytale!”

Hestian stared at her. “Is that what you think this is? That I’m staying here to boost my ego?”

“I don’t know, Hestian. I can’t let you care about me. For my own sake, if not yours. What else am I supposed to believe?”

He didn’t answer, instead, he continued to gaze at her. There was something in his eyes that Aethera couldn’t make out. Was it anger? Pity? Fear?

“Believe what you want. Let me be the villain or hero, I don’t care. All I care about is making sure you survive,” Hestian finally whispered.

She glared at him. “I won’t let you do this.”

“I’d like to see you try to stop me.”