Cost of Fire

Zion began clearing the ground, which was filled with dead leaves and branches, with the help of a stick.

After ensuring that no insects or snakes were resting there, he began constructing his shelter from branches and leaves.

His actions showed experience, and within half an hour, his shelter was ready to use.

He had practised making them hundreds of times under the guidance of his father. As he looked back on those times, a sigh escaped his mouth.

Now that the shelter was done, it was time to collect food for the night. From the looks of it, he still had about half an hour before the light completely disappeared.

Zion hurried with the food collection. Before long, he returned to his shelter with adequate amounts of fruits, nuts and mushrooms to survive the night.

The surroundings soon went dark, and the bugs started singing without restraint. Wanting to be done with his dinner, Zion started nibbling on the items he had collected.

He had saved the fruits for the end and relished them. The juicy fruits somewhat quenched his thirst, and after his stomach was full enough, Zion sat in the lotus position.

His current Qi reserve was at five per cent. It was only enough to throw a single punch and kill or severely injure a wild animal.

Therefore, to increase his chances of survival, he must raise his Qi as much as possible.

Zion followed the breathing pattern and started absorbing the surrounding Qi. The process was as slow as always.

Three hours seamlessly passed.

When Zion opened his eyes, a trace of exhaustion was apparent on his face. Tomorrow might be a very long day, so he decided to rest instead of practising for another hour.

However, he suddenly noticed a faint orange light being emitted not far away from him. It was a campfire. Zion's whole expression changed the next moment.

"Bastard! Is he out of his mind!" Zion exclaimed in horror and frustration. He grabbed his spear the next moment and rushed out of his shelter.

 His direction was the exact opposite of where the light was coming from.

Meanwhile, at the campfire site.

"Pass me the yellow flower's paste," A woman said.

Hearing her instructions, Fana passed her the paste she had prepared on a leaf.

With a grim expression, the woman accepted the leaf and looked at the unconscious person lying in front of her.

His right arm was bitten by a wolf several hours back when they were escaping from the village.

She applied the paste over the man's wounds which were still slightly bleeding. After proper application, she tore the man's robes and wrapped them tightly around his arm.

"Will he be fine?" Fana asked. Her voice was laced with fear and uncertainty.

"Yes, his face still has a healthy colour to it, so he didn't just lose consciousness because of blood loss, the exhaustion from today's event must have also played a part in it," The woman answered.

"That's good. I'm so glad you are with us, Mary," Fana sighed in relief.

Mary smiled, hearing it and replied, "It should be me who should be glad. Without Troy's help, I would have been dead by now."

"It's the same for me," Fana said as she gratefully looked at Troy's figure.

"When will he wake up?" She asked.

"In around half an hour or so," Mary guessed.

"I see…" The conversation died down the next moment.

Now that Troy's state was stable, their attention was back on what had transpired today.

Staring at the dancing flames, they painfully ruminated about today's events in silence.

Almost all the villagers had died. Some who managed to escape were hiding in some part of the forest just like them.

The ghastly scene of hordes of wolves rushing in during the afternoon celebration and tearing everything and everyone to shreds was still very vivid in their minds.

'Father…mother…' Fana thought. Both her parents had died today. It was the same with Mary. Within just a single day, everyone and everything they cherished was no more.

"Mhmm…" Troy's groan caught the two women's attention.

"Troy!"

They both exclaimed and went to his side.

"W-water…" he muttered.

Hearing this, Fana inserted a few small berries into his mouth.

"I'm sorry, but we only have this right now," Fana replied.

Troy bit into them and soon pushed himself off the ground with Fana and Mary's help.

Massaging his head, which seemed to be aching because of dehydration, he asked them, "How long was I unconscious?"

"For about two and a half hours," Mary answered after a moment.

"I see…" Troy answered. He was still a bit drowsy, and his memories were a chaotic mess. He stared at the flames and blinked his eyes a few times.

It was only then that he regained some clarity, and a huge frown appeared on his face.

"Since when has the fire been burning?!" Grasping Fana's hand, he immediately asked.

"Since you fell unconscious. We needed to check up on you so that we could treat you," Fana answered with confusion.

"You…!" Before Troy could finish his words, he was interrupted by a powerful howl.

It was soon followed by several other howls in unison.

Hearing the familiar howls, everyone's back got drenched in cold sweat.

"Run! It's too late to do anything now!" Troy exclaimed and picked up his sword from the ground.

He immediately chose a direction opposite to where the howls came from, and the three of them started rushing out of the campsite.

"Just keep running! The fire will act as our decoy, and we could gain considerable distance from them," Troy said while gritting his teeth.

Soon, however, Troy was out of breath. His body had already lost a lot of blood, and just standing felt very burdensome to him.

Mary and Fana nodded to each other and supported his arms from the sides. Like this, the three of them kept moving ahead with great determination.

Mary's foot suddenly landed on an uneven surface and got twisted.

"Ughh!" She cried out in pain and fell to her knees.