Chapter 699: A Cold Night II

Isolde shivered terribly as the cold wind assaulted her petite body, keeping her hands on her shoulders and rubbing them gently despite their trembling.

Her jaw was shaking as well, and once she decided she had walked far enough, she stopped beside a small formation of rock outcroppings.

After a brief glance around, she slipped behind them, her bladder feeling as though it was about to burst after holding it in for so long.

Bending her knees, she crouched and gathered her dress as modestly as she could around her waist, before finding the elastic waistband of her underwear and slipping it down to her mid-thigh.

She closed her eyes, letting her bladder loose as the relief finally came. For the next few seconds, a faint hiss and a gentle splash could be heard while she relieved herself.

She quickly finished her business before pulling her underwear back into place. After taking a moment to straighten her dress, she looked around again to make sure no one was nearby.

’Let’s head back.’ Sighing into the cold air, a smoky cloud of her warm breath escaped as she rubbed her shoulders and began walking, only to stop in her tracks a moment later.

"Uh... which direction did I come from again?"

She genuinely had no idea. The ground here was too dry and hard to hold clear footprints, and she was no scout, especially with so little light to help her.

After taking a moment to think, her heart hammering within her chest, she chose the direction she felt most certain about and began walking quietly through the cold.

’Thankfully, I haven’t run into any monsters.’

Her eyes kept wandering across her surroundings, and she occasionally glanced over her shoulder, suddenly wishing she had brought Mira or Tessa along to keep her company.

’This place is so scary at night.’

The moon gave her enough light to see the ground ahead, but beyond a few dozen metres, the darkness became too thick for her to make anything out.

After a short while, she felt as though she should have covered at least half the distance back to camp, yet nothing around her looked nearly familiar.

Her expression darkened as she slowed, looking from one stretch of barren ground to another.

"No way... D-did I get lost?" Her heart thundered in her chest, and she snapped her head around, only for a strong hand to clamp tightly over her mouth.

Another arm wrapped around her stomach, pressing so firmly beneath her ribs that she could hardly breathe.

"Hoho... Would you look at that? Didn’t I tell you today was our lucky day? Hahaha!"

Her eyes widened in shock as a powerful frame pressed against her back.

Fear sent a tremor through her body, and she reached desperately for the hand covering her mouth, trying to pull it away.

"A golden goose has fallen into our clutches of her own accord."

He brought his face close to hers, his foul breath reaching her cheek as she struggled with all her strength.

His grip didn’t loosen in the slightest. She tried to scream, but the sound was smothered beneath his palm, and he held her so firmly that she couldn’t even turn her head to look at her attacker.

All she could do was twist her eyes within their sockets in a futile attempt to at least get a small glimpse of her attacker.

Another figure emerged from the nebulous darkness ahead, and as the moonlight washed over his face, Isolde’s eyes widened in recognition.

It was one of the men they had met earlier, which meant the person restraining her had to be his companion. She struggled even harder, desperately trying to pry his hand away from her mouth.

"A feisty one, eh? Help me with her!"

The approaching man laughed as he came closer. "You can’t even keep one weak girl restrained? Are you really that useless?"

"Shut up!"

"So, what do you want to do?" the other asked. "Take her back to camp and let the others hold her while we hunt down the rest?"

"What are you talking about? You want me to wait? Hell no!" The man behind her tightened his arm around her stomach, making her breath catch painfully. "Let’s take her here and now. I’m sure you don’t mind me going first."

"Going first? You’re joking, right? You’ve never had a problem sharing those four. What’s different about this one? We can both take her at the same time!"

Isolde’s body shuddered as the meaning of their words finally settled upon her. These beasts weren’t merely trying to rob her.

Her knees weakened, and she didn’t even want to imagine what they intended to do, tears gathering in her eyes while they argued over her as though she couldn’t hear them.

’Someone, please... Help me.’

Her struggles were growing weaker, her strength slipping away beneath the crushing hold around her body.

’Elion...’

The thought of him was meant as a silent plea, a foolish hope that maybe he would suddenly appear and save her like some damsel in distress, and he, the prince charming that he was to her.

But instead, thinking of him, she suddenly thought back to all the seemingly impossible things he had achieved, and she ruefully felt disgusted with herself.

Even now, she was still hoping someone else would come and save her, relying on others as she usually did.

’Brother was right. I really am a useless wench.’

The thought almost made her give up, but then Elion’s face flashed through her mind.

She remembered his handsome smile, their training together when she taught him the basics of spellcasting, and the shameless teasing that never failed to fluster her.

Then came the memory of the last kiss they had shared before separating, and something within her suddenly clicked.

’No... I don’t want this.’

’This can’t happen...’

’Only he can touch me.’

’Only Elion can have me.’

She found a little strength within her trembling body, a little courage beneath the thoughts of inferiority crowding her mind.

Her eyes grew firm as she stopped pulling at the hand covering her mouth and opened her lips just enough to catch its edge between her teeth. Then she bit down with all her strength.

"Ahhhh! Fuck!"

The grip around her loosened, and she moved immediately, ducking beneath his arm and wrenching herself free. She stumbled for a step before finding her footing, then ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

"That bitch!" he shouted behind her.

"You useless son of a bitch! Why did you let her go?"

"She bit me!"

"Well! After her!"

The pair began chasing after the fleeing Isolde.