Chapter 146. Under His Protection

I sprint across the snow, tears streaming down my cheeks, freezing instantly against my skin. My lungs burn with every ragged breath, and my legs ache so fiercely I fear they might buckle beneath me. Branches whip at my face, and my fingers, still stained with dirt and blood, clench and unclench in the air. The cold bites through the thin fabric of my torn shirt, chilling my skin. The brown shirt—once white—clings to me in sticky patches around the torso. The neckline is torn and saturated with my blood, like a second skin.

My footsteps leave dark imprints in the snow, but the track soon ends where the forest grows thick. I push onward, weaving between trees, my bare feet sliced by jagged ice and hidden shards of bark. My toes are numb, and the cold drains me swiftly. I try to wipe the blood from my palms on my shirt, but it just smears, making the fabric damp and foul-smelling. The metallic tang of iron fills my nose, and I wrinkle it in revulsion—yet I can’t stop. Not now.