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But this wasn’t the end of Marem, who awoke to a voice calling out in the darkness. She could feel herself weak from blood loss. She stumbled towards the voice, before everything went dark once more as she collapsed.

The last she remembered was her cry for help and a surge of wind before collapsing. She had been brought back, though in the dark her eyes struggled to grasp anything. She heard someone try to speak to her, but ringing had overtaken her ears. Her mouth had the cherry aftertaste of a health potion, as she realized that she survived the attack.

Marem wanted to heal herself, to assess the situation, to check on Sam. But what she wanted didn’t matter, as even with healing, her body still demanded rest as she fell unconscious once more.

Leo looked on, worried about her as he saw her eyes close. He was about to try and shake her awake, but he noticed that she was breathing steadily. He inspected the visible damage on her legs and arms, and Leo saw that a lot of the bleeding had stopped as her wounds healed over.

He decided to set her down and call out for any other survivors, though making sure to keep an eye on her. Despite his hopes, there was no one else. He saw dead bodies spread around nearby, but none of them responded or acted.

He felt disturbed by all this death, surrounding him. He wanted to scream in frustration, unable to accept just how much death happened today. But he didn’t want to disturb her rest, as he headed back to the girls side.

He sat down, keeping the other potions nearby. There he sat, making sure she survived through the night. When morning finally came, the sun reflected off the spilled blood that stained the sand. He spent the night around the bodies, but seeing them in light made it all the worse.

The saving grace of his discomfort began to stir in the morning light, as Leo looked on cautiously. He wanted to help, but was certain waking up to corpses and a stranger wouldn’t be a good impression.

Marem awoke to the sunlight, as her mind raced through the previous events of the day, she shot up. She looked around at the wreckage in horror, her body ached from the Armurions attack. Her eyes locked on to Leo, who had a panicked look on his face.

“Hello,” he started.

“Hello?” she asked, noticing her voice was hoarse.

Leo asked her, “Are you okay?”

Marem took a second to assess herself. Mentally, she was doing horribly, having just barely survived the attack. The healer in her did note that most of her physical injuries were just superficial, so she shouldn’t die soon. Even if she didn’t need to heal further, she figured it would be best to be fully recovered.

“Hand me the other health potion,” she responded.

Leo handed it to her, as he watched her drink every drop. He hadn’t seen healing magic in person yet, and couldn’t help but be captivated as he saw it for the first time. Her injuries grew bright with magic, as the energy filled in the missing gaps of skin and muscle. When the glow faded, there was barely any sign of the injury that was once there.

She interrupted his staring, “So am I the only survivor?”

He hadn’t been prepared to be asked such a question, as he stuttered for a second. He didn’t hear or see anyone else alive, but he also knew he hadn’t looked in depth for anyone else.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Marem said harshly.

Leo looked ashamed, “Yes, I didn’t find anyone else.”

Tears started to form in Marem’s eyes. She turned away from him and stood up, not wanting to show weakness in front of whoever this was. Though in turning, she saw the bodies spread out on the ground. Sure they were just a way to reach Edheim, but she spent time with them. She talked with them over dinners, chatted about the journey, and joked around.

But now their bodies were lying on the ground, crushed in an instant. She walked, without even realizing it, to the navigation cart. She didn’t want it to be true, as she hoped there would be at least one person she could save.

But as she approached its entrance, she heard nothing from inside. There wasn’t a ragged breath, an agonized cry, not even a weakly beating heart. Marem knew what she would find in there, who she would find, and couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Leo followed, as he kept distance but still was able to see her.

“So what happened to the Armurion?” She asked, needing to know what stopped her from dying that night.

“I killed it,” he responded, gesturing to what was left of it in the distance.

There it was, the horrifying monster now reduced into gore. Marem couldn’t believe it, that this man could slay the Armurion that wiped out a whole caravan. Then she realized if he was this strong, then he wouldn’t have wasted his time healing someone for no reason.

She questioned him, “Why did you save me?”

Leo felt confused at the question, as he looked into her tear stricken face. Her eyes were filled with sadness, with confusion, and now fear.

“Because you were hurt,” Leo replied.

“Is that it?” She refuted.

“Yes, I couldn’t just do nothing,” he answered.

She felt shocked, relieved, and upset. Her mind ran through the array of human emotions. While she was sad over the death of the caravan, she had another chance at life.

She asked him, “What now?”

“Well, I’m headed to Edheim. I’d be happy to have you join me, if you want,” he answered.

Marem knew there wouldn’t be any point to staying here in the desert, and she would need help if she was going to leave here safely.

“I’ll join you, I just need to grab some things,” Marem said as she walked to the front of the navigation cart.

She grabbed the maps and tools for navigation that had been knocked around in the fight. Carrying the supplies in her hands, she walked off to her cart. Leo stood by as she packed up her supplies, uncertain what exactly he should do.

She emerged from the cart with a backpack and satchel, as she looked expectantly at Leo. It took Leo a second to realize that she was waiting for him to say or do something. He cleared his throat before speaking.

“So, we should get going,” he suggested.

“We should, staying here won’t do us any good,” she responded, eyeing the bodies.

Leo still didn’t know his way there, but didn’t want to ask the clearly grieving girl for directions. He started to walk away from the caravan, with Marem following him, until he felt a tap on his back. Turning around he saw her looking at a small handheld map and compass.

“You’re walking too far north to reach Edheim,” she asserted.

Leo stammered, “Oh, yes, must have gotten my direction off. I’ll follow your lead.”

She shot him a doubting glance, but decided to simply walk where the compass directed her. Leo followed behind, keeping a distance between them. He tried to not send sand flying, but each step still caused enough of a mess to warrant the distance.

“I’m Leo, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Marem.”