Chapter 65 - Nyal's Story part 14

Gon caught her, of course. This time, thank the ancestors, he didn't break any of her bones.

She woke in her husband's arms. She was lying in his lap on the ground, her granddaughters kneeling beside her.

"Korte-Anthe… Ganni…" Nyal croaked, reaching out to cup their cheeks in her hand.

"Grandmother, are you okay?" Korte-Anthe cried, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Are you going to die?" Ganni demanded.

Nyal laughed. "I'm far too mean to die just yet," she said. She coughed, wiped a bit of blood from her lips. She glanced toward her husband, worried the blood might incense him, but he was covered in blood from head to toe. She doubted one little drop of her blood would upset him now.

Relieved, the girls patted her.

"We need to return to the village quickly," Gon said to Nyal. "I have fed until my belly strains to bursting, but my hunger will not remain sated for long. Do you feel well enough to travel?"

Nyal nodded. "I didn't come all this way just to die at the end. I've had better days for certain, but I can travel. You'll have to carry me, though."

When he smiled, the blood crusted to his face crackled and flaked away. He moved his arms beneath her back and the bends of her knees, rose carefully. "Follow us, girls," he said, "and don't trail too far behind. Believe it or not, there are beasts more dangerous than your grandmother lurking in these wilds."

Nyal would have laughed if it didn't hurt so much, but he was wrong in what he'd said. There was no beast more dangerous than a mother, not even in the wildest wood.