Her body hangs limply in my arms. Three suns, is she dead? No, I can feel that she’s still alive, but barely.

My eyes draw back over the cliff. We’ve been cornered here. The wild beasts’ snouts turn up as they pace back and forth. Their disgusting frames pivot and turn, and their legs twist underneath them. They’re just waiting for us to die so they can eat.

The pain is awful. It rushes through me. Deep wounds from bites and claws cover my body. Each breath I take aches more than the last as if someone is stabbing my chest.

But worse than the pain is the position we’re in. Mor stands a few yards aside me. We have no ground left. Our only option is to jump down into the ravine, where the water’s strong current rushes over jagged rocks.

“She isn’t going to make it. She’s losing too much blood,” Mor shouts.

I clench my jaw. “Yes, she will! I’ll make sure of it! Don’t even think about worrying about me. You must protect her!” Speaking sends sharp pangs through my chest. My legs wobble, and I teeter to the left, then right.

“It’s my job to keep you alive, not some woman,” Mor snaps.

“Save her first, Mor!”

He must know then I care for her more than I should. Before he can fight or try to stop me, I use the last of my strength to jump off the cliff.

Air rushes past my face. We’re falling, and there’s nothing else to meet me but the river that my broken body rushes toward.

It feels like slamming into solid rock. I hit the surface of the water; it foams and roars around my head. The force tears Emily from my arms. The current pushes me down, and the water consumes and absorbs me. It rushes up my nose and into my lungs, burning.

I thrust my arms out and reach for the surface. My whole body is screaming in defiance and discomfort. Blood leeches out from the cuts, spilling into the water. My legs and arms throb and cramp, but I ignore those thoughts. I need to find Emily and rescue her.

I try to swim, but my whole body seizes with pain. The cold water pulls me down. My arms push frantically, but the surface isn’t getting any closer. Damn it! This can’t be the way I go! But the darkness of the water only thickens, and I sink deeper.

Mor’s large arms plunge into the water above me. He grabs me, yanking me up with a jerk. His strong arm fights the current with ease, and we break through the surface. My lungs suck air in. Mor throws me over his shoulder, and he swims to the rocky shore.

“Orien!”

He gently places me down.

The coughing attack starts. Blood and water drip out of my mouth, followed by vomit. I retch, on my hands and knees. My body is trembling now, and my head spins.

“Where is she?” I cough. I have to find her. Is she still in the water? Is she gone? I force myself up, but the world rocks under my feet. I collapse to the ground, spitting water from my lungs. My arms wobble to push myself up once more. “Where is she, Mor?” I scream. The fear of losing her gives me enough strength to stand.

Mor helps steady me. “You need to heal yourself first.”

I step forward, swaying. I’ve lost a lot of blood. My legs shake as I take another step.

I see her then, lying underneath a tall tree, covered in blood. She’s barely recognizable. I give enough effort to approach and then collapse onto the ground beside her. I reach a hand out and press it against her back. Her flesh burns with fever, but her lips and eyelids are blue. I can’t let her die. If she does, it’ll be my fault.

“Why didn’t you save her sooner?” I snarl when I feel Mor’s presence looming over mine like a shadow.

“You’re my sole responsibility.”

During the attack, he tried to rush to my side first every time. “I can take care of myself. You should have focused on saving her first, then me.”

“You’re being ridiculous. Why do you care about this human so much?”

I don’t have the energy to fight him. I slowly sit up. My head pounds. Orange blood drips down from a wound on my forehead over my eye. I wipe it away. I’m covered in scratches and bites. Mor’s thick skin saved him from any severe damages, but Emily’s soft flesh is riddled with cuts and gashes. All of her back is inflamed, and the clothes she wore are ripped to shreds.

“She could die, Mor.”

“Don’t even think about it,” he growls as both of my hands push against her back.

I’m going to use the rest of my energy to heal her. It’s one of the many gifts the Baromenians possess. And for once, I don’t want to be selfish with it.

“I can’t let you kill yourself.” Mor grabs my arm, and he twists me back, throwing me several yards away from Emily. I grimace as my body slams against the shore.

“If you don’t let me save her, then I’ll kill you!” I clench my teeth and glower at him.

“You couldn’t save your mother, and you can’t save her! You almost killed yourself trying to save her. I can’t let it happen again!”

Anger plows through me.

I lost my mother years ago, during the Great War. She’d tried to stop my father’s tyrannical dreams and defied him.

I was forced to watch as he dragged her through the courtyard of the castle and executed her as a public example, a demonstration that he was willing to sacrifice anything to unify the Centaurus System.

I ran to her body and poured all my strength into trying to save her. When Mor ripped me away from her corpse, I was only half alive.

I abandoned Baroma soon after, filled with hate for the Emperor. We were just kids then, lost in a war-torn world.

But I’ve never stopped regretting it. Wondering if I could have saved my mother if I’d tried just a little harder.

And now, Emily’s body lies on the rocky shore near death, and I have the chance to rescue her.

“Orien! Don’t!”

“I was weak, young, and foolish when my mother died. I can save Emily. I have to. I can’t be responsible for another innocent’s death.”

“She’d happily watch you die.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Another coughing fit hits me. My shoulders convulse. I’m not giving a very compelling case for myself.

“You have nothing to prove, Orien!”

With every passing second, Emily slips farther and farther away from me.

“Enough! Shut the fuck up! You’ve wasted too many precious seconds. I’m doing this!”

Mor shakes his head and throws his hands in the air. He takes a few steps in the other direction and looks out over the rushing river. I understand his frustration. His whole life has been built around protecting me, but everything is different now.

For once, he’s being selfish.

“I’ll have no choice but to bury your body on this god-forsaken world.”

“You’re being overdramatic.” I turn my attention back to Emily. My fingers tingle, and I feel the energy pull through my veins and out to her.

Healing someone else takes time and focus. It’s a skill some Baromenians take years practicing; I haven’t done it much, truthfully. It’s extremely dangerous and very possible to kill oneself in the process of saving another, but now, I have no choice. I push down hard with determination.

“Come on,” I mutter. “You can do this, Emily. Who's going to entertain me on this fucking shit planet?”

Her wounds are deep, and I worry too much blood has been lost. Even with my help, she may not survive.

If she dies, it will be all my fault. I agreed to bring her to Omicron. I am the reason we were attacked. I chose where we made camp. All of it would be because of me, and this poor human had no choice in any of it.

I force more of my life source into her.

Without my own energy to fuel itself, my body begins to shut down. My head grows foggy, and my skin starts to numb. My vision blurs, yet somehow, I continue. The fear that it’s too late pumps through me.

And just when I think I can’t take anymore, her flesh begins to bind itself together. The open wounds slowly scab. The cuts close. Her lips fade back to light pink, but I continue until I feel her heartbeat strengthen and her breathing smooth out, and I’m certain she will be okay. Then I take my hands away from her back.

I didn’t even notice Mor was standing over me. “Three suns, you did it,” he sighs with relief.

“That’s right.”

“How do you feel?”

“Awesome.”

It's an obvious lie. I look up at him and flash a reassuring smile; I stand, but the whole world swivels to one side. Mor catches me seconds before I collapse on my face.