The Substitute Healer (BL)-Chapter 102: “I… I can’t… please… no…”

"No!" Soren shot back with a trembling voice, a mix of fear and anger. "You should be listening to me! You always do this, you always decide things on your own!"

"What?" Elias snapped despite the chaos around them. "I should be the one saying that?"

Even here with danger pressing close, they argued because fear didn’t always show as silence.

Around, as shadows shifted, footsteps drew nearer making Elias stiffened with his muscles taut, pain and cold forgotten for the moment. He then pulled Soren closer behind him while bracing for what was coming as their argument fell silent.

Because both of them knew there was no time left.

Elias’ heart was hammering in his chest as he gripped Soren’s hands while intertwining them with his own, just as he was about to whisper that he would protect him when laughter rang out, mocking and cruel, and the attackers suddenly closed in, surrounding them.

"Look at these two here!"

Elias’ fingers instinctively squeezed Soren’s, and Soren flinched as his own chest rising and falling with ragged breaths.

"Aww, what an emotional scene," one of them cooed while tilting his head as if enjoying a painting. "Look at how the black-haired guy holds hands with our target."

"Dummy!" another sneered. "Don’t say target since he is already one."

Hearing that, Elias felt heat rush to his face not from embarrassment, but from anger mingled with fear. He tried to shrink closer to Soren and shield him, but the laughter kept coming, crawling over them like a swarm.

"Aww, sorry about that," another voice said while dripping with mock sweetness, "but isn’t he just... too good looking? Look at those eyelashes. And even through those fur robes... oh, I can tell he’s slender. Gosh, I want to... lick it."

Soren’s stomach twisted.

He then pressed himself into Elias instinctively while hiding as much of his body as he could. Every nerve in his body screamed with disgust, fear, shame and helplessness as those words burned, invasive and disgusting, yet nothing they could do would stop it.

"What are you, a pervert?" the first voice snapped, almost annoyed. "Our client said to bring him. Bring him, not assault him!"

"Aww, that’s too bad," another replied with a soft, playful hiss. "But didn’t he say we could bring him in one piece? He never said we couldn’t enjoy ourselves along the way. Come on... we can take turns. How about that?"

Elias’ fingers tightened around Soren’s hands until his knuckles were white. Soren gasped quietly but the sound was lost in the attackers’ laughter. Elias could feel every tremor in his body and every inch of fear radiating off him.

He wanted to shout and to strike but there were too many of them.

Every step the masked figures took forward felt like the cold was seeping into his very bones. Every word they spat into the air carried a sick, invasive menace that made his stomach churn. He could feel Soren shaking against him, and it took everything he had not to panic.

They weren’t just dangerous.

They were depraved, twisted, unpredictable. And now, they even had them cornered.

Elias pressed his forehead to Soren’s while murmuring in a voice that barely rose above a whisper: "I... I won’t let them touch you. I promise. Just stay with me... don’t let go..."

But the laughter only grew, surrounding them like a suffocating tide.

The cold outside and the stench of blood faded for a moment. All that existed now was the way those maniacs were looking at Soren, like he was nothing more than a toy to be devoured, and the tightening fear that there might be no way out.

’What do I do now? Is there even anyone I can call for help?’ Soren thought with a flicker of panic rising as he realized the only person he could rely on was right there in front of him as his eyes landed on Elias’ back.

His chest throbbed as memories pressed in where back in the encampment, there hadn’t been a single soul he could turn to, not one. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

On the contrary, so many of them had been the cause of his pain, humiliation, even the reasons he had learned what it meant to be powerless. And now... he was completely alone again,

with only Elias by his side.

Just as Soren was lost in his own thoughts while drowning in the helpless realization that he was truly alone except for Elias, a rough hand clamped down on the nape of his neck. The grip was merciless as the attacker’s sturdy arm lifted and choked him, cutting off his air.

Soren struggled and instinctively reached for Elias’ shoulder, desperate to pull him back but it was too late. In an instant, they were separated.

"L-let go of me!" Soren shouted while wriggling violently but his efforts were useless. His eyes locked on Elias as the man slammed him to the ground, raining blows down on him without hesitation.

"Ugh!" Elias groaned as a sharp kick landed squarely in his abdomen, and before he could even recover, a boot pressed down hard on his head. The attacker leaned casually into the pressure with his eyes fixed on Soren, who froze with tears streaming down his face.

"No... please, don’t!" Soren’s voice cracked as he stumbled forward, hands trembling. "Stop... please! Don’t hurt him! I... I’ll do anything, just... just don’t!"

"Hmm... what a crybaby," the man cooed with a tone laced with cruel amusement. "It’s alright. I’ll make sure to kill him with a single stab... but first, let me have a little fun."

Soren sank to his knees now with his chest heaving as he clawed at nothing, his voice was also breaking under the weight of helplessness. "I... I can’t lose him... he’s the only one I have... please! I don’t care about me! Just... just leave him alone!"

The attacker’s lips curled into a predatory smile. "Hmm... I really want to pounce on you, but it wouldn’t be any fun if he didn’t see, would it? You seem important to him... so I just want to crush that idea. Hmm?"

Soren flung his hands toward Elias instinctively while trying to shield him and to push himself between them, but it was futile. His body shook uncontrollably, his heart was throbbing in fear and anguish twisting together in every nerve. Each sob caught in his throat and each second was unbearably painful.

"I... I can’t... please... no..."

The words fell from his lips in barely more than whispers as it carried everything he felt for Elias. The love, fear, the helplessness, and the overwhelming instinct to protect the one person who meant everything to him.

After all, Elias was his only family.

"S-Soren... run..." Elias gasped while forcing the words out with every ounce of strength he had left while trying his best to look at Soren’s tearful face.