For a moment, Geral stood frozen in place, looking at Noviel. He did that with different eyes: as if he had been freed and a veil lifted from him.

He took her pulse.

Obviously, those wolshi had been poisonous, and the poison continued to numb her even more, minute by minute. What was even worse was that he was also starting to feel the poison's effects.

His time to act was limited. How long would he last? He did not know. Would he be able to beat the poison by himself? Would he also lose his conscience? Then what? He looked again at the girl. Would she survive?

His heart ached, and he knew Anabella's heart felt the ache too. Poor Anabella!

The only solution he could think of was bringing Noviel home to Anabella. But it was a long way, and he did not know how much time he still had. What if he lost his conscience on the way?

He put on his trousers in a hurry. His hair raised on the back of his head, but he kept his movements fast and precise. Not a second was wasted. He strapped his boots as tight as possible.

He looked again at the girl: her muscles were having spasms from time to time as if somebody would randomly put them under an electrical current.

Self-incriminating thoughts flooded his brain: He had utterly misunderstood her submissiveness. She was dying in his arms, and he was focused only on his damn sexual obsession. How could he not see what was happening? How could he have misunderstood everything so badly? He would knock himself unconscious if he did not have to hurry to save her.

His heart beatings accelerated even more. He buckled his belt and looked at his trembling fingers.

Not now! He ground his teeth, chasing the thoughts away: not now! He will have plenty of time to think things through when and if he saves her. Now there was room for only one thought: save her.

He took a deep breath and concentrated on what he was doing.

Putting on the rest of the armour was irrelevant; maybe it would even worsen things. The wolshi would slip under it, and it would be more difficult to remove them. At least his boots and trousers have almost completely spared him from the beasts.

He raised her in his arms. She was so light!

His heart ached again, feeling her burning body against his skin and his heart beating accelerated even more. He felt pity, panic and a burning worry. He started running down the stairs with the naked girl in his arms, trying to step as fast as his heart beatings went.

He stopped for a moment to look at the sea of wolshi through a window in front of the last door. He took a deep breath, kicked the door, and started running through the dark mass. His boots sank as if he would be stepping in quicksand, and he struggled to keep his balance. Falling now would be a catastrophe.

He continued walking as fast as he could, trying to shake the beasts from his legs. He placed Noviel on a shoulder and shook down the fastest climbing beasts with the other hand. Maybe he should have wrapped her in his sleeping bag. He ground his teeth again. Now it was too late to think about it, and anyhow the beasts would have found a way. He needs to protect her!

Run faster!

He knew the direction, he knew where Anabella was, but she was so far away! Will he be able to reach her? Will he save Noviel? If not, he will die trying.

He felt some wolshi biting at his flesh and wiped them away with his free hand.

Each step was a challenge, each step a dare. He could not see what was hidden under the mass of beasts.

He did not know how long it took him to get where he was. It was like a dream where he had seen the same house again and again, but when he got closer, he found out that it was not the right house, not his house.

Deep in his heart, he knew the direction. That knowledge kept him going. He knew where to go, and he ran in that direction. He knew he had to make it to the end. There was no other option. He growled and yelled, running further.

How long would he run? An eternity if need be.

He knew he was in hell. He grinned, finally understanding!

Yes, this was the right punishment for his sins: to carry her naked body through a mass of flesh-eating worms and keep them away from her.

He grinned: he will never let them have her!

He was out of the wolshi zone for some time, but he had not realized it. In his mind, he still saw them slithering everywhere, and he felt them biting his back.

When he entered their house, he was no longer discerning between dream and reality. He yelled at an imaginary Anabella to come help her, even if Anabella was there, still confined to a chair.

Little Zera screamed when she saw the wolshi hanging on his back, but he could not see who was crying. He saw a charred zombie on the floor and thought he was in a dream. Was this his house? He shook his head and tried to look around. His body was an open wound, blood dripping over his trousers.

He fell on his knees, placed the naked Noviel as gently as he could on the floor, moaned something to the imaginary Anabella, and then fell beside Noviel, head first. A couple of helping hands did not let him hit the floor hard. His body started to shake uncontrollably as he completely lost his conscience.