Extra To Protagonist
Chapter 154 154: Injuries

The girl ran beside him.

The world narrowed. Dirt. Bark. Blood in the corners of his vision. His leg didn't stop hurting, it just moved through the pain like a horse dragging something broken.

'Just a few more seconds. Just a few more steps.'

Something crashed through the woods behind them.

Not quiet now.

Big.

The older boy glanced back and screamed.

The sound split too fast.

Merlin turned.

A figure, armor again. Taller than the last ones. Holding a glaive longer than he was tall.

The boy tried to duck.

Didn't matter.

The glaive took him from shoulder to hip.

The other boy tripped and fell, rolling. Screamed once.

Merlin didn't stop.

The girl didn't stop.

They couldn't.

The world went red behind them. Not fire. Not blood. Just light that hurt to look at.

They broke into a clearing. Merlin saw a rise, just a dip in the ground, half-covered with moss. Might've been a shell crater once. Now it was just a hole.

He grabbed the girl's arm, yanked her down into it.

They hit the ground together.

She didn't make a sound. Just curled up tight, hands over her head.

Merlin lay on top of her. Not heavy. Just enough to cover.

He kept his breath shallow.

The noise behind them kept coming. But slower now. Like something sniffing.

Hunting.

He reached for the shard of blade again.

Still in his belt.

'Not enough. But I'll use it.'

The wind shifted.

The smell came first. Ash. Metal. Sweat.

Boots crunched just past the edge of the dip.

Merlin didn't move.

The girl trembled.

One breath. Two.

Then the steps moved on.

Not far. But not right over them.

A voice. Rough. Male. Unfamiliar language.

Another reply.

Closer.

Then laughter.

Short. Wrong.

Like someone who didn't laugh often, and didn't need a reason.

The boots walked on.

Merlin didn't move for five more minutes.

Then he turned his head slightly. "You okay?"

The girl nodded once.

He rolled off her.

The clearing was empty now.

But the boys were gone too.

Only one set of blood tracks led into the trees.

Merlin stood slowly.

His legs shook.

"Let's find Cas," he muttered.

The girl didn't ask how.

She just followed.

Because asking meant there was still time.

And Merlin didn't believe that anymore.

—

They moved fast but low, steps angled around roots and old ash patches. The girl, he was still going to call her that until someone told him otherwise, stuck close without clinging. Smart. Merlin appreciated it more than he said.

The smell of sweat and moss and burned leaves hung heavy in the air. Not just theirs. The forest stank of it now. Like the ground itself had been sweating fear for hours.

Up ahead, a low whistle. Too short to be wind. Too regular.

Merlin froze.

'Cas.'

He raised two fingers, the same way she'd taught them three days ago.

The girl copied the motion, eyes wide.

Another whistle, this time closer, then a crack of brush.

Cas appeared like she'd grown out of the dark, mud-caked, left arm bandaged in someone's old shirt, blood along her cheekbone, not fresh.

She didn't shout. Didn't smile. Just walked straight up and grabbed Merlin by the collar, dragging him forward with one hand.

"You look like shit," she muttered.

Merlin didn't argue. Just let himself be pulled.

The girl got a nod. That was enough.

They ducked into a hollow behind a bent tree. A cluster of bodies, still breathing, waited inside.

Six people. One of them unconscious. One puking quietly into the dirt. One rocking back and forth, arms clutched around his knees.

'We're down to single digits,' Merlin thought. 'Out of what, thirty? Forty?'

No one counted anymore.

Cas dropped into a crouch and started picking at a blood-clotted tear in her sleeve.

Merlin sat down hard.

The girl eased down next to him, rubbing her ankle with both hands like she could will the pain out.

"Who'd you lose?" Cas asked without looking up.

"Two boys," Merlin said. "One got cut in half."

"Which one?"

"I don't know. Didn't ask his name."

Cas grunted. "He was fast."

"He screamed," Merlin added.

"Doesn't mean he was slow."

Merlin pulled his knees in. His ribs ached. Not cracked, just overused. He could feel how his body had dipped into emergency mode. Adrenaline was gone now. Left behind nothing but a headache and the taste of copper behind his teeth.

Someone moaned near the back. The rocking guy. He was muttering to himself.

Merlin didn't listen to the words.

"Got water?" the girl asked.

Cas tossed her a dented flask. "Sip. Spit. Don't swallow unless your gut's steady."

She did as told.

Merlin didn't ask for any.

Cas looked at him sideways. "You feel it yet?"

"What?"

"The silence."

He nodded.

It was there. Everywhere.

No birds. No bugs. No wind.

Like the forest had emptied itself to watch them die.

"Any more of us coming?" he asked.

"No," Cas said. "This is it."

He nodded again.

Not surprised.

Just tired.

Someone behind him whispered, "This isn't training anymore."

Cas snorted. "Welcome to the lesson."

The others didn't respond.

A twig snapped far off in the trees.

They all froze.

Cas stood. So did Merlin.

But the sound didn't return.

The forest settled again.

Cas leaned against a branch. "We're resting here. Fifteen minutes. Then we move again."

"To where?"

"South ridge," she said. "Heard someone say there's evac being set up."

"By who?"

"No one that matters," she said. "But I'd rather die running toward it than sit still waiting to be tracked."

Merlin looked at her.

She looked back.

"You're not in charge," he said.

Cas shrugged. "I'm the only one giving orders."

He didn't argue.

She wasn't wrong.

Someone sobbed quietly behind them.

Merlin shut his eyes.

He didn't want to remember this part. Not when he woke up. Not when the memory ended. Not when it was his turn again.

But he knew he would.

Because hell didn't care if you agreed with it.

It only asked if you remembered.

—

Nathan's arms were sore, but he didn't shift Merlin's weight.

Not because it wasn't heavy. It was.

But because the idea of letting go, of even adjusting, felt wrong. Like if he moved too much, Merlin would slip further away. And he wasn't sure there was any further left to go.

They'd wrapped him in Mae's coat, the cleanest one they had. His face was still exposed though. Pale. Not cold. But still.

Elara walked just ahead. Quiet. Focused. She hadn't said a word since they lifted him from the seal room.

Dion kept looking over his shoulder. Not at the forest. At Merlin.

Nathan didn't blame him.

'He doesn't look dead. Just gone.'

He kept checking, every few minutes. Not obviously. Not in a panic. Just small things. A flick of the fingers near the neck. A press of the thumb under the jaw. Nothing ever changed.

Still no pulse.

Still no breath.

Still… warm.

The trail was uneven. Rocks in weird places. The underbrush too thick in some stretches, too bare in others. Like something had cleared the land half-heartedly, then given up.

Mae pushed forward up a slope, her voice breaking the silence for the first time in an hour. "We should rest."

"No," Elara said.

Mae turned back. "We've been walking four hours."

"Then we'll walk four more."

Nathan adjusted Merlin against his shoulder, slow. Gentle.

"Let's stop soon," he said. Not to argue. Just to say it.

Elara hesitated.

Then nodded.

They stopped under a tree that barely deserved the title. More of a skeletal trunk with two arms left. The ground beneath it was flat. That was good enough.

Nathan knelt, letting Merlin down easy. He folded the coat tighter around him, making sure it reached his ankles. Dumb detail. But it mattered.

Mae dropped beside him with a sigh. "He's still the same?"

Nathan nodded.

Seraphina stood off to the side, arms crossed. Watching the tree line.

Dion kicked a rock. It rolled three feet and died in a bush.

Nathan stared at Merlin's face.

'Why haven't you gone cold?'

It bothered him more than it should've. Because cold meant final. Cold meant closure. This?

This just felt like Merlin had gone somewhere without permission.

"He's not dead," he said. Quiet. Maybe too quiet.

Mae looked at him. "Nathan—"

"I mean it." He leaned back on his heels. "I don't think he's dead. I think he's—somewhere. Else."

Dion sat down across from them. "You mean, like… in a vision?"

"No. Not like a dream. Not like passed out." Nathan looked at Merlin again. "He's working through something."

Seraphina finally spoke. "You don't know that."

"I know him."

"Barely," she said. "You forgot half of everything."

Nathan's jaw tightened. "Still."

Elara finally sat down. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"Wait," Nathan said.

Dion sighed. "Great plan."

Mae leaned her head on her knees. "I don't want to bury him."

No one spoke for a while.

A breeze kicked up. It moved through the trees without sound. Just touch. Leaves fluttered, quiet. Like even the wind wasn't sure it belonged here.

Nathan reached for Merlin's hand. Held it lightly.

It didn't squeeze back.

Didn't twitch.

But it wasn't stiff either.

'You better be somewhere good,' he thought. 'Because this sucks here.'

Then, softer, inside himself—

'Come back, idiot.'