Nicasi quieted his breathing, growing as still as the trees around him as he tried and failed to determine the location of the energy's source.
This was not good.
In fact, it was about as bad as it could get.
He needed to find Mallin and get him back to safety, and he needed to do it now.
The pain from his wound had settled into a relentless ache that gnawed on him from his hip to his navel, permeating his entire abdominal cavity. Anything below that on his injured side had gone almost completely numb.
He'd begun to sweat from the effort it took to pretend like his injury didn't exist. The short waves of his hair clung to his damp forehead and nape, and when he pushed a strand from his eye, his skin felt clammy.
It didn't matter how much willpower he had to keep going. At a certain point, it wouldn't be enough.
