Chapter 42: I need you

ZADOK Ithra stayed glued to me in a tight embrace. I tapped her back as she held tightly to me.  “It’s okay,” I managed to say, “It’s over.” We remained like that for a while, and slowly, her breathing normalised. I fought against asking her why she left without a word, but I knew it wasn’t the right time.  Shilhi’s words strongly reverberated inside me. I couldn’t scare her away If this thing would work between us. I needed her.  And with the looks of things, she needed me to survive in this forest and get our desired results.  We needed to work together. I knew that, seeing her nearly give up to the Sirion told me just how vulnerable she was to the beasts that lurked in this forest alone.  It scared me how easy it was for them to kill her and bring doom to my mission. There and then, I vowed never to let her out of my sight.  She needed me as much as I did her. I just had to make her see it.  “Thank you,” Ithra said after stepping away from me.  Her voice was so low. I almost didn’t