"He's alive."
Relief hit Arion hard enough that, for one brief second, everything else disappeared.
Marius was breathing.
Human fingers remained curled into the grass beneath the thermal blanket, his grey eyes wet while Matthias crouched beside him and Victor continued issuing orders to the medical team.
Arion tried to take a step.
The ground shifted beneath him.
At first, he assumed it was simple exhaustion.
Then his vision narrowed.
The trees at the edge of the clearing blurred into dark vertical streaks, Victor's voice stretched strangely through the communication channel, and the metallic undertone of Arion's own pheromones became so strong that he could taste it at the back of his throat.
He reached for something that was not there.
"Arion?"
Matthias's voice sounded distant.
Blackness closed over him before he answered.
—
Hendrik caught him badly.
