Ceiro’s mind was still in fragments, the conscious part of him fighting wildly against the more primitive subconscious, running on instinct and hell bent on survival. He couldn’t bring herself to let him go, pinning her to the ground, both from fear of what she’d do if he let her get away, or from exhaustion. He wondered if anyone had dismantled the wards around this mountain yet, knowing it was hard to even contact anyone once you entered the area. But he couldn’t use his abilities, and he wasn’t about to ask her to test the wards. Either way he was going to be in trouble. She was probably someone’s life mate, and he’d just hurt her.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“I’m sorry…”</span>he whispered into her hair, his head resting on the cool soil beneath them, beside her own. The silence from her was unsettling, and he had to keep checking to make sure she was still alive. If he’d killed her, than he was already gone. But she was, and eventually she spoke, her voice shaken and afraid.<br/><br/>But her words confused him, either from the fog his mind was currently engulfed in, or because what she said was exactly the opposite of what any woman with an ounce of self preservation should rightly have done in this situation.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“I need… I can’t… everything’s so quiet… He did something to me… I can’t hear the others… Valla… she’s going to be so worried… I can’t see… or shift… He took… he took it away… I don’t know… I can’t…”</span>his desperate whispering faded into silence for a few seconds, stretching into minutes, before he once again repeated his desperate plea.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“Help me… please.”</span>he loosened his grip, taking a leap of faith, though he didn’t let go completely. He moved off her, falling to the ground beside the young woman he’d decided to kidnap, in a sense. Several of his wounds had reopened from the movements he’d been making, and he could feel the precious blood leaking out of him, wetting his clothes and the ground beneath him.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4da6ff">“I don’t want to die…”</span>