They arrived safely at the Ashen border, and he waited until Zee crossed over, before coming to a stop himself, knowing she would pause the moment she realised. He needed to head off any complaints immediately. “Its injured, it’ll be easy for me to track it. Besides, I'm not leaving all our hard work out there’ he explained, knowing she would understand he meant the feathers.
He didn’t mention how he was going to beat it to a bloody pulp and rip out its heart for hurting her, for giving him such a fright. For a moment, as it had landed on top of her, he had thought she was a goner. That fear stuck with him, even now, and he knew the only way to banish it was to rend the tiger to pulp.
‘Get checked out by Luce, just in case” he told her, hoping something to do would keep her from following him. He had already inspected her for injury, but wanted the healer to double check, to ensure he hadn’t missed anything.
Bloodletter
