The ranger felt the boy stir and looked down without slowing his pace. The kid looked aweful. He'd yet to make a sound. He feared the boy was in shock. Grief and guilt gripped his gut and he sped up, panting heavily as he fled. His arm was burning painfully where the strange mark had been. He felt as though the symbol were trying to burn its way out of his skin. Somehow, he felt sure that when it finally did burn through, he would have worse problems than the pain.<br/><br/>Anger seethed within him that he had brought this evil on the boy. He was a good kid, and a powerful mage. The fact that the ranger had nearly killed him was sickening to him. Clenching his teeth with fury, he leaped off a boulder, landed with a jarring impact on the rocky ground, and kept running. The impact had sent pain up both legs and he stumbled the first few steps until regaining his stride.