She felt better now that the stinging pain, that the spellbound dart had been causing her, had been removed. The warmth, that her partner had been providing her, was somehow spoiling her, but Sunny loved it. She was even guilty for receiving such warmth while the others could not. She felt pathetic though, for she failed in keeping the others from going through the trouble of patching her up. She felt bad for being careless.

What if it had cost a life? It would forever haunt her if it did. She was both glad and mad at what had transpired. She was glad that everyone came back safely and mad that she had been too engrossed with the fight, that she had carelessly allowed a dart to slip through her defense, and cause trouble not only to herself, but to others.

The constant bumps on the road, made the ride quite unpleasant, as the carriage trudged the dirt road that seemed to stretch for miles without an end. Where they were headed, those inside the carriage didn’t have a clue. Trust Kwon Yuri and Im Yoona on the matter, for they have experience in exploring the countryside, while everyone else was busy with the tasks involving the city of London.

It was quite ironic to have the two Bulgarians lead the way, when in fact, the twin-like lasses have just arrived a few days ago.

Sunny could only grimace every time the compartment lurched and they all land back to their seats with a thud. She was no exception, and with her injury still on the verge of healing, made it seem like a punishment.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped and with curiosity filling her veins, Sunny opened her eyes to see her comrades awakening from their slumber – or what seemed to be a forced sleep on their part, for they barely seemed to have shown any hints of waking up from a good nap.

“What happened?” Sunny asked weakly, her voice so soft that it was barely a whisper. Her cousins had caught on to her though and Juhyun popped open the window to inquire of the reason for their journey’s sudden halt.

Yoona’s voice responded to the maknae’s query and the answer was a bit unsettling.

“Juhyun, Yuri and I caught a whiff of something unpleasant from the village up ahead. We’ll have to change course. Yuri says it could be of benefit to us if we stay off the roads.”

“Unnie, does this mean we have to leave this carriage and travel on foot?”

“No. We keep the carriage, since everyone else could barely walk an iota, so how could we force them to travel for miles? Yuri and I will find a way. We don’t have to go back down the path that we came by. Who knows, the hunters might be tailing behind.”

“Then, we trust you on your judgments, unnie.”

And with that, the maknae closed the carriage window. Without a hitch, the carriage began moving again but this time, it seemed that the bumps have stopped. The ladies could only feel as if they were floating in mid-air. Sunny could feel the lightheadedness that came with Yuri’s affinity. She sensed that they were floating, perhaps barely floating as their driver allowed their horses to lead the way off the road and into the woods with their heavy load floating just above the grassy forest floor leaving no trace of their existence in sight for their pursuers to stumble upon except for the horses’ hooves.

Now, all that Sunny could feel was comfort in the midst of her cousin’s embrace. The young blonde archer proceeded to lose herself in the realm of sleep as she willed her wound to heal.

A few moments have passed since she had fallen asleep and a cold hand found itself over her forehead much to her surprise. The carriage had stopped not long ago and Sunny didn’t even know, but she was confused upon taking in the surroundings once her eyes opened.

Besides, Tiffany who was feeling her forehead, the carriage she was lying in was relatively empty and she found her body taking the full length of the carriage seat that she, Juhyun, Krystal, and Tiffany had once been cramped in.

“Uh…” Her voice croaked as she struggled to let her question slip from her lips but Tiffany raised a hand, silencing her.

“Hush, Soonkyu. We’re all taking a break from what had transpired.” Tiffany had managed to answer her unheard query. “You have a fever… but how are you feeling as of the moment?”

Sunny found her head resting on a folded cloak, which had Tiffany’s scent on it and before she could answer, her fellow archer had draped a blanket over her body. The blonde archer had deduced that it had come from the stash reserved in the carriage’s hidden compartments.

“I – I’m fine… I think…”

Tiffany gazed upon her for a moment, before she carefully slid off the fabric to reveal the area of Sunny’s injury. A gasp came from the younger vampire’s lips before Tiffany called for Yoona’s assistance startling the injured one.

“Yoona, come here. quickly!”

The carriage door burst open and in came Yoona with Yuri in her heels. “Unnie-“ the younger vampire’s question was cut short when her eyes landed on Sunny’s exposed wound. “Oh dear… It’s spreading!”

“What’s wrong?” Sunny weakly asked as she struggled to sit up only to be subdued by Tiffany, who pushed her back down.

Yoona knelt beside Tiffany while Yuri followed suit in silence, her eyes staring at the worsened injury in alarm. The water-affiliated vampire summoned water vapor in her palm, which began swirling erratically as Yoona chanted a healing spell based on the element.

She slowly placed the swirling mass of water over Sunny’s reddened wound area, that seemed to be spreading over her abdomen like the plague. Sunny unleashed a shrill cry in response as Yuri and Tiffany scrambled to restrain her. 

“Stay strong, unnie. I will get the hunter’s poison out of your system.” Yoona said as she applied pressure on the swirling mass of glowing water that was forcing its way into Sunny’s injury. The skin around the wound had been tainted crimson, swollen veins and arteries were visible under the surface. 
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