Chapter 547: The Face Beneath
A Day Before
The world below the cliff felt like a different battlefield. It was more quiet, but it wasn't safer.
The moment Tobias's feet touched the ground, his knees nearly gave out beneath him.
Strong hands caught him before he could collapse fully, steadying him as the rope around his waist was quickly untied. Voices blurred around him—urgent, overlapping—but none of them truly registered.
The only thing he felt was the burning in his side. It spread slowly, like something alive beneath his skin.
"Get him over here," a woman's voice cut through the noise, sharp and controlled.
Tobias barely registered being guided across the uneven ground, his boots dragging slightly against the dirt. The air here was colder, heavier, laced with damp earth and perhaps fear.
He was lowered onto a flat rock, his back hitting the surface harder than intended. A low grunt escaped him, his jaw tightening immediately after.
"Stay still," the healer instructed.
