CHAPTER 9: LOST

Fate's eyes flew open, it was still dark. The next thing he noticed, he was freezing. He could not feel his body from the neck down because of how cold it was. All he could feel was the cold and pain on his face. 

His face was still facing the ground and his neck was still on the stone and that was when he realized he was not just cold but most likely paralyzed too. He could not move, as uncomfortable as the position was, he was stuck here.

He did not know how long he had been unconscious. He could not see much but while falling he had seen that the entirety of the space was filled with trees and by the sounds he could hear, wild animals too.

This was not good. He was bleeding and even if his wounds had closed up, he had bled where the branches cut him. Whatever wild animals were around him, they would be able to smell the blood on him.

He bit the inside of his cheeks, he needed to think of something but he could not process much right now, not with the state his body was in. He felt his eyes close, he was too weak to be awake but he did not want to fall asleep.

He did not know which was worse, falling asleep when he did not know what was lurking in the dark forest or staying awake and getting torn apart by it. He would prefer neither. However, he was too weak to stay awake, and even though he didn't want to choose, his body chose for him.

His eyes opened again and this time it was no longer night but on the verge of dawn, it wasn't quite dawn yet but it was obvious that any minute, the blue hue that signified the start of the new day, the warning before the heavens opened and the sun blasting down in full force would leak through.

He wasn't as cold but he could tell his situation was not any better. He could feel his limbs but he could not move them. The pain was mostly gone except for the uncomfortable feeling in his throat as a result of the stone.

It made breathing a little hard and he knew he had to force himself off the stone. Aside from the fact that he was severely uncomfortable, his view of the area was also greatly restricted.

He was a little surprised to see himself in one piece but he was grateful for that. He had been expecting to be ripped to pieces by wild animals when he finally woke. It was still obvious that he was not the only one in his vicinity but he couldn't see anything other than trees and the ground he was directly staring down at.

He tried to move his arms so he could use them to push himself off the stone but his arms wouldn't listen to his command. He sighed in exhaustion and tried to move his neck instead this was riskier as he was bound to scratch his neck on the stone. However, that was a small price to pay unless he did not slip off the stone right and ended up breaking his neck again but he was certain he could manage.

With all the energy he could muster he pushed his head to the side. The stone was pointed so he knew all he had to do was push himself to the side just a little and he was likely to slide off. The only problem was executing it without tearing his neck open.

"Fuck!" Fate yelled after a couple of minutes had passed but his cuss didn't even leave his throat. He was still stuck on the stone.

He closed his eyes and bit his teeth down as he braced himself for any pain. This time instead of trying to move just his neck, he aimed to roll his entire body so he would roll off the stone and face upwards.

He rolled to the side and his throat scratched against the stone. He coughed at the raw feeling in his throat. Thankfully, the cut was not as deep as he thought it would be and he could already feel it healing.

He coughed as he tried to breathe his throat felt very dry. He could kill for water. The ground felt cold behind his back and the morning dew made the plants around him glister as the light hit them.

He closed his eyes, a huge part of him was wondering if V was even looking for him. He did not know the number of hours he had spent in the forest but it was at least ten hours since it was already daybreak.

The blue hue was almost gone at this point and the soft ray of the sun was sipping in through the space in the leaves of the forest. The shade kept him protected but even if he was not protected by the trees, the sun was not hot enough to cause any damage to him.

How long would he be required to lay here before V found him? A huge part of him was worried she would never find him or worse the guards would find him first. They would definitely know to look for him down the cliff since he could not die no matter how grave his injuries were. He could not return there no matter what he would rather be a wild animal's meal. 

The sun was getting hotter, he could not keep lying here but no matter how hard he tried he could not move. Not to mention the excruciating hunger he was feeling and his dry throat. He had an idea why he was so weak but he was too weak to do something about it.

"Demon boy!" He heard a soft shout, the voice sounded really close. Fate was sure he was hallucinating, his mind was finally losing it.

"Demon Boy," the voice called louder and his eyes flew open. He recognized the voice.