Chapter 63: Decision
Amid her despair and unbearable pain, Thalia stared at the sky, praying with all her heart for salvation. To her, every second she lived was an unbearable hell, and the worst part was that she was fully conscious of it.
Suddenly, she saw a blurry figure standing beside her.
’Please, free me from my torment,’ she wished, though she couldn’t utter a word. None of her body responded to her commands even her vision was too blurry to focus.
’Save me, kill me,’ she screamed internally, but all that escaped her lips was a faint groan.
The strange man stared at her for a few seconds before moving his hand. Despite her blurry sight, she noticed he was holding something. Instinctively, she assumed it was a dagger.
’Thank you,’ she said in her mind, thinking he was going to end her suffering. She closed her eyes and waited silently to have her throat slit or heart stabbed. But nothing happened. The pain she was enduring, hellish in intensity, suddenly lessened significantly. Her body relaxed slightly, and she let out a tired exhale.
In disbelief, she opened her eyes and stared at the stranger, unable to understand what had happened. Her vision was still too blurred to make out his features — or rather, to notice he was wearing a mask.
She was too exhausted to think, so she simply gazed at him in a daze. Gently, the masked man slipped his hand under her head and lifted it from the ground. Now that he was closer, she finally noticed the mask covering his face. With the last bit of strength she had, she asked, "Who are you? What are you doing to me?"
But she got no answer. She only felt something cold touch her lips — a strange liquid entered her mouth, and she involuntarily swallowed it. As it flowed through her, a refreshing, strange sensation spread inside her body like heavy rain after years of drought.
Her pain eased dramatically, and her awareness returned. She looked at the masked man and said with realization, "You healed me," then immediately lost consciousness. The only reason she hadn’t fainted earlier was the unbearable pain.
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