Foolish Fools

Northern reacted instinctively, though he had several fractions of a second to decide. After all, he was closest to the impact point where the same girl had just made her borderline foolish proclamation.

She flew backward as the stone boulder shattered, as if destroyed by an explosion from within. Northern watched her soar past him.

In those crawling moments—as she flew by—he gracefully curved his arms around her stomach, instantly neutralizing the force with minimal movement before casting a squinted glance at the exploded boulder.

The group felt the blast. The last cargo behind hadn't survived unscathed, blasted away by the violent spray of large stones. Several mercenaries managed to dodge the sudden attack, but none could both evade and save the cargo.

The only person who could have, had to save an endearing young lady instead.

Northern set her down, leaving the girl wide-eyed and breathing raggedly.