(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 488

Chapter 488: Worries will eat you alive

Kellen had worried that something even more terrible was going to happen once they had touched the core. Anything could have happened. The Boss could have woken up, the times of activity in the forest could have changed, anything could have happened.

It was a fucking miracle that the worst worse case scenario didn’t happen. They were able to get to the marked path and Bree was quick on his heels, following after him as fast as Kellen could go. He was worried that she would trip, that she was at a loss for breath, but she didn’t complain.

She didn’t say anything. Pale faced, she probably looked like a mirror to how Kellen was feeling. Fear and panic coursed under his skin, his hand burned, but Kellen didn’t care. He just moved, following the path that he’d set out of this hellish fucking gate, his trembling sister in his arms. Kellen was at his wits end.

This wasn’t as bad as if he’d found Gwen in the gate...no longer with them, but it was fucking high up there. He knew he was in shock. He knew it, but there was nothing he could do to get himself out of it. He needed to stay focused, he needed to keep his head on straight. They still had two other people they needed to drag out of here, and Bree was barely in a state to help him.

There were so many other dangers they needed to worry about while on the way out of here. Thank goodness Kellen had fully rested before this. He felt like he had the energy for four Field Guides inside of him, and he needed that.

Since he needed to do the work of four Field Guides to get them out of here.

They made it out of the denser, more poison-filled part of the forest in record time. Kellen only gave Bree a few minutes to catch her breath before they rushed over to the area where they had left her colleagues. Kellen had Bree check them, make sure that they hadn’t died or been attacked while they were gone.

They were fine. Alive, but barely, and deadweight. Unlike what Kellen told his students, they did not leave anyone behind. So, Kellen had Bree lift up and move the heavier of the two, the Esper, onto Kellen’s back. She would take his backpack, strapping it around her front as she would carry the other Field Guide on her back.

Kellen had her tie the Esper to him, so that he wouldn’t have to worry about him slipping off. Bree did that while Kellen wasn’t holding Gwen so that his arms could rest, and then he tied her body onto her back.

Bree was stepping up, because she had no choice, and Kellen was grateful. Grateful that she wasn’t complaining, grateful that she was willing to go along with this nonsense. Kellen knew that she had very little options, but...he was just happy she was rising to the occasion.

Once Bree had his backpack on her front, their rope between them was secured, and Gwen was in his arms again, Kellen began to get them the fuck out of there. While they were slow moving because of the extra weight, Kellen and Bree were of the same mind.

A temporary discomfort for a long term goal. They were going to get the fuck out of there.

The whole time that they had been moving, getting themselves sorted, and even taking a break to fuel up, Gwen had not awoken. Neither had the other two members. Kellen was beginning to think that the gate had some kind of play in that, and he was glad that he had woken up after he had gone to sleep. What was happening? He didn’t know, but he was also glad that Gwen hadn’t woken up again.

Listening to her scream had broken something inside of Kellen that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to repair.

The moon set, and then the forest started waking up. Kellen didn’t care, nor did Bree. Kellen explained the knife hand to her, and Bree had taken to it like a fish to water. She didn’t stop with one, Bree had gone double knife hand. She made sure to ask Kellen if he was still in front of her every once in a while, showing how much the toxins in the air were affecting her, but after he confirmed, there was always a satisfying slashing noise, a spray of some kind of fluid, and silence.

Kellen never asked any further questions.

The first 12 hours of this kind of arrangement was quiet, focused, and serious. Bree and Kellen both felt when they lost where the gate was located. They had been moving along the pathway, even if it felt like there was a more direct solution. Kellen didn’t want to get lost, not when he was in this kind of a state, and Bree McKnifehand was slashing at things he couldn’t even see.

Bree didn’t take the fact that she couldn’t feel where the gate exit was well. Even though Kellen had explained it to her when she was more stable, that didn’t mean that she was okay now.

"No! We’ve lost it!" She’d sobbed. She wasn’t well, the toxins getting to her as she spent more time in here. Kellen couldn’t even blame her. He just calmly explained that they had a route back, they were fine, she’d probably made most of the marks so that they could get out.

The reminder had helped, as had the break with a snack break as well. The food seemed to help, as had Kellen’s safe supply of water. They were running out though, and they had a few more days to travel before they could get out.

Kellen just had to hope that the dead weight they were carrying didn’t become too much for Bree to bear. He could carry two people, maybe even three if dragging was allowed. But four? That was beyond him.

If he knew, that would mean he probably had to let Bree know. If he kept it a secret from him and from her, keeping the glove on, he didn’t have to worry about it. Besides, it felt like a sick kind of poetic justice. Both Woods siblings losing a part of themselves in this dungeon? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

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