"Red!"
His face automatically paled into ghastliness rivaling the pale moonlight as he rushed to her side.
While still under the influence, Bynarr swiftly caught her in his arms before her body reached the ground.
"What's the matter? What's going on?!" He shook her tenderly, with the utmost care he could muster. "Is this your payback, huh?! Don't be like this!"
His voice cracked at every end of his statements.
He laid her on her back on the ground very gently and scanned her all over for any tiny evidence of life.
But he did not find any.
Panic-stricken, he ran his option in his mind, and on top of his head, his main option was to try to revive her to life since no one else was in proximity to help them. On top of that, it happened inconveniently in the middle of the night.
His only companion was probably the night owl who cooed its support from a hidden branch of a far tree several feet above him.
"I'm sorry, Red. I really do. Please wake up!" He whispered as he lowered his head towards her face. A few more times, he scanned her over, weighing the option of pumping her heart into working again.
In panic and under severe time pressure it did not cross his mind to check her pulse. But then, he was not very adroit at all in terms of giving medical assistance to anyone to begin with.
"Red. Red!" With his head only inches above hers, he shook her frail body very gently several times – again and again – but still, the lady did not respond at all. No choking, no change in facial expression.
Nothing.
"I don't have any choice." He took a gulp as he lowered his head some more. "How do they do this? Should I just pump air onto her mouth?" He lifted her chin upward carefully so.
And lowered his head.
Their lips were almost touching when a thrilling, blood-curdling shriek cut his momentum. He sprang to his feet turned his head in a futile search of the source of the voice.
"No, Red is more important right now." He kneeled again in such haste that his knee bumped against the ground too strongly. He could swear it would bruise right there. He uttered a groan from the impact but did not linger his attention on it.
Getting back to his earlier position and task, he lowered his head again and supported his weight through his hands propped just beside the girl's unconscious crown. Beads of sweat dropped on the girl's forehead, but still, nothing could make her flinch or react.
He swiftly brushed her forehead where his sweats dropped, and swiftly lifted her chin up. He shifted his weight on his knees and used his hands instead to support her head. One hand gently held her chin in a pinch, while his other hand held the top of her head.
As he parted her lips, he shook his head, "No, nothing that I can do will ever help her."
Every second was mattered, and rather than resting her rescue on his shoulders who was not even certain of what's he's doing, he much rather preferred to ask for professional help.
He carried her and ran towards the direction of the green tents where he had seen her come from.
It took a while for him to come to this option. It did not even occur to him early on.
The shriek from earlier made him change his mind. For such a horrifying shriek to occur in the middle of the night, danger must be near. Bynarr needed to keep both him and Red safe from any danger.
His feet took one step, and another, and another in haste, careful not to get tangled by roots along the way. In the silence of the night, aside from the cooing support of his feathered friends, he heard the deafening panting of his haggard breathing, but surprisingly, his mind remained level-headed considering the challenging situation he was in.
Nonetheless, some sound judgment had slipped his mind, for instance, the possibility that the shriek he had heard earlier actually was related to him, or if his action still made any sense.
He slowed down his pace and caught his breath when he saw some men in the distance. He was so full of desperation when he pleaded, "Sir! Please help my friend! She fell into an unconscious state. I don't know what to do. Help us, sirs! Help her, at least!"
Bynarr noticed too late that the men in front of him had their swords pointed at him – at them. The man in the middle commanded, "Hand her over! What did you do to her?"
Danger.
Bynarr stood firm and held Red in his arms as tightly as he could. His innate protective instinct kicked in. Yes, he wanted her to survive, but what are the odds of her surviving if he handed her over?
She's much safer in his arms. She knows him. She was solely relying on him right now since she was not awake to protect herself.
Was she even still alive?
Bynarr's muscles trembled all over but it did not stop him to stand tall amidst the fear that his heart was filled.
"She needs help! She's unconscious! I cannot hand her over to you! How can you point your swords at us?! We're helpless. We need help. We don't have treasures to give to you."
The man in the middle who was wearing a white cape lost his patience and his cool. With a stern scowl, he marched towards Bynarr and grabbed Red from his arms.
"Don't let him go anywhere." Those were his words to the other two men who grabbed and seized Bynarr at both sides.
He cried helplessly behind while he struggled against his captors. "Red! Red!"
Bynarr lashed on, "What are you going to do with her? Don't lay your filthy hands on her, you scumbags! She needs help! Please revive her! If there are still traces of humanity left in you, please save her!"
He screamed behind the man in white cape who faded at a distance. "Red! I'm sorry!"
"Shut your mouth!" One of his captors screamed back.
Bynarr felt a hit on the back of his head, and soon enough his lids felt heavy. As much as he attempted to stay awake, he could not, inconveniently so. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier as he watched Red got taken away by the man that faded in the distance, not knowing whether she would survive and make it to another day or if HE would see the light of day to tell the tale of his misfortune.