Hope felt her chest caved in painfully when she watched the man start to cry silently upon the loss of his wife. His tears got mixed with the blood below his head.
Even though they just met a few days ago. But, this husband and wife had been so kind to them. Despite their tense look whenever Kace was nearby, yet it was still understandable.
Mr. Lori's wrinkled and worn face contorted in pain as he tried to move, but his attempts were getting weaker and weaker. He was bleeding internally and was running out of time.
They didn't know how long Lana would come back with the help that they needed. Normally, it would take them an hour to reach the village, just like when they had to go for the funeral. But maybe Lana could make it in ten or fifteen minutes with her speed…
By then, Hope was afraid that Mr. Lori couldn't wait that long.
"Hope… I can't die. What will Bree become without me? My wife is dead, I am all that she has left," Mr. Lori spoke faintly between his tears as he looked at his unconscious daughter. He coughed and blood bubbled from the corner of his mouth.
This is not good.
He stretched out his hand and gripped the edge of Hope's cloak, the part that he could reach.
"Please," he begged and Hope could feel her heart was being torn apart.
If she could, she would do anything, anything, in her power to save him. But… the reality said otherwise, if the three werewolves were not able to do anything for him, what else she could do?
"Please…" his eyes strayed to the twins' face, pleading.
"Don't worry, Mr. Lori… Lana will come with help, when the centaurs are here, they can definitely save you," Ethan said as calmly as he could through his gritted teeth. While Ian averted his eyes. He couldn't see this.
On the other hand, Hope had cried in silence as she bit her lips. So she wouldn't make a sound. She hugged Bree close to her.
For a moment, there were only grief and hopelessness that engulfed them. And then a solemn look of defeat crossed over Mr. Lori's fading features. His lower lip trembled when he said.
"Please… take good care… of Bree…" a tear fell in the corner of his eyes.
Ethan looked more collected than Hope and Ian, as he understood the gravity of the situation.
Mr. Lori's time was coming, his consciousness was already slipping away. By the time Lana and the centaurs came, he would have gone.
"We will." Ethan nodded solemnly as he grabbed Mr. Lori's hand, giving as much warmth and comfort as he could. "We will take care of Bree. Don't worry."
Hope could feel her fat tears streaming down her cheeks. Her heart was breaking. Remorse twisting in her gut.
There was another silent that ensued.
The moment Hope and Ian raised their head, Mr. Lori's glassy and vacant eyes was all they could see. His body stayed still lifelessly as Ethan put his eyelids down slowly, closing the eyes to respectfully give the absolute peace to the deceased.
It was also Ethan, who took the initiative to tell them what they had to do next.
"We need to go out of here." Ethan stood up. There was nothing they could do by staying there. "We need to help Kace, and go to the village, maybe we will meet Lana and the centaurs on the way."
Hope nodded, wiped her tears harshly from her face. This time, she didn't object when Ian offered his help to carry Bree, because Hope could feel her legs were growing weak.
Hope watched how Mrs. Lori died, but Mr. Lori… his last words, his hope to be able to live for his daughter, his wish for them to take care of Bree, were something that would always echo inside her head whenever she saw the little girl.
"Let's go," Ethan helped Hope to stand up and led them out of the rumble of the house.
Not far from where they were, they could hear the sound of the white beast. He was growling and howling viciously.
Only by hearing the sound of it, there was a tacit understanding among the three people, who immediately quickened their paces.
'What is happening?' Hope thought to herself as she ran beside Ethan and locked her eyes at a certain place, where a white beast was standing tall on top of the fallen troll.
There was something wrong with the beast, Hope could see it from afar. He writhed in pain.
'Did the troll manage to hurt him greatly?'
However, when Hope saw their battle before, it goes without saying that the beast had an upper hand over the troll, so it was most unlikely that the beast would be injured.
'So, what happened with Kace?'
Upon closer look, the three of them could see how the beast snapped his head and tore flesh after flesh of the poor troll, which now seemed to have already died.
"What now?" Ian, who was carrying little Bree in his arms, took two steps back, he looked too scared to come close to the beast.
"Hope, I don't think you want to see this…?" Ethan grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.
However, Hope had caught a glimpse of the beast's odd behavior, thus she swatted Ethan's hand from her and walked forward.
With her own eyes, Hope could see another horrible scene. Probably, Hope had had enough with this kind of scene, or maybe she had gotten used to all of these gory mess situations. Not long ago, she had witnessed two people die. She saw a mother sacrificing her life for her daughter, and witnessed the heartbreaking last words of a dying father to his daughter, thus what the white beast did in front of her didn't even make her flinch.
Hope just looked sad with her brows knitted together.
"What is happening to Kace?" She muttered to herself, why did their situation become more and more unpredictable?
"Look! They are here!" Ian pointed at the distance where Lana and the centaurs rushed in the clearing.