Chương 126: Found him in the wreckage.
The hooves of the garrons hammered against the dirt road, drowning out the howling wind that swept across the empty grasslands. The lone trail ahead stretched endlessly, the only path out of this desolation.
"A wrecked carriage," one of the soldiers muttered, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade.
Their pace quickened. The scene that greeted them froze the air in their lungs. Bodies lay scattered, twisted in unnatural poses, their flesh rotting in the suffocating stench of death.
Mina's stomach churned. She leapt off her garron and stumbled toward the lifeless forms, her breaths shallow and uneven. Her eyes locked onto familiar faces, recognition hitting her like a thunderclap.
"These… these are Master's men," she stammered, her voice trembling. Two of Erebus's most loyal guards lay slaughtered, their blood soaking into the earth.
Her gaze snapped to the shattered remnants of the carriage. Movement. Someone was alive. She pushed forward, her heart pounding in her chest.
"There's someone still breathing!" she shouted.
The soldiers dismounted in an instant, tethering their garrons to a skeletal tree. Together, they peered into the wreckage.
"Blue hair…" one whispered, awe and dread mingling in his voice.
Mina's blood turned cold. "It's him," she breathed. "It's milady's brother."
"Cornelius?" she recalled his name.
The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances, then moved to extract the wounded man. The wreckage groaned under their efforts, splinters biting into their hands as they dragged him free.
His body was battered and bloodied, a jagged shard of wood embedded deep in his shoulder. His breaths were shallow, labored.
"Lord Cornelius," Mina whispered, dropping to her knees beside him. "My lord, can you hear me?"
His eyes flickered open, glassy with pain. Recognition struggled to surface. "Mina…?" His voice was barely a rasp. "Her Highness's maid… what are you—" His words twisted into a pained groan as agony ripped through him.
The soldiers didn't hesitate. One held him steady while the other gripped the shard. With a single brutal pull, it came free. Cornelius cried out, blood spurting from the open wound. It was not a preferred way but they had no choice.
Mina's hands moved instinctively, her training overriding her panic. She cleaned the wound with water from a wooden flask, her fingers trembling but precise.
"Take off his clothes," she ordered sharply.
The soldiers obeyed, revealing the full extent of his injuries. Mina worked quickly, binding the wound with scraps of clean fabric, her focus unwavering despite the chaos around her.
"He's alive, but barely," she murmured, brushing sweat-dampened hair from Cornelius's pale face with a clean wet cloth.
Another soldier crouched by his legs, examining them. "No breaks. He can still move, but he's too weak to walk."
Mina glanced at the desolate road ahead. "We can't leave him here. Someone must pass through eventually. We'll stop them."
The soldiers nodded grimly. The air hung heavy with uncertainty as they set up a crude camp beside the road by nightfall. Flames from the fire cast flickering shadows, their warmth doing little to chase away the chill of death still lingering in the air.
They roasted a bison leg over the fire, the scent mingling with the acrid stench of decay. Mina prepared a thin soup for Cornelius, but he turned his head away, his appetite swallowed by his thoughts.
Luciana. Octavius. Their fates gnawed at him like a blade twisting in his gut. He clenched his jaw, staring at the night sky as if answers might be written among the stars.
One of the soldiers, tearing into the roasted meat, smirked. "Imagine refusing a woman's care after being beaten half to death. Couldn't be me."
Mina's glare was sharp enough to silence him.
Cornelius didn't react, his thoughts far away. His body throbbed with pain, but it was the uncertainty—Luciana, Erebus, Amanécer—that tore at him most.
"What was Fuhrer Callum thinking?" another soldier muttered, his voice heavy with frustration. "Sending us all this way? For what?"
"Orders are orders. Someone important needed protection," the other replied grimly, casting a glance at Mina, who sat in silence, her eyes fixed on the flames.
The distant creak of wheels shattered the quiet.
"Someone's coming!" A soldier jumped to his feet, pointing toward the road.
A wagon emerged from the darkness, pulled by two sturdy garrons. Its driver, a grizzled man with sunken eyes, slowed as he approached the camp.
"What's this?" he called, his voice roughened by years of hardship.
One soldier stepped forward, raising a hand in greeting. "Where are you headed, old man?"
"Anywhere but the Capital," the driver said grimly. His words dripped with foreboding. "The place is gone. A sea of flames. You lot better get moving before it swallows the rest."
The soldiers froze, their blood running cold.
"Armageddon," Cornelius muttered under his breath, his voice a hoarse whisper.
Mina's head snapped toward the horizon, as if searching for confirmation of the driver's words. The sky remained dark, but the weight of his warning pressed on her like a physical force.
"Please," she said, stepping forward. "We have an injured man. Can you take him to the next town?"
The driver hesitated, then nodded. "Load him up."
The soldiers worked quickly, lifting Cornelius onto the wagon. Mina climbed in beside him, her heart pounding with anxiety. The soldiers mounted their garrons, the group moving swiftly into the night.
Mina clenched her hands in silent prayer. "Please, let milady be safe," she whispered to herself.
Cornelius closed his eyes despite knowing the rough ride ahead.
He willed for everything to end soon but deep down he knew it was just the beginning.
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