Chapter 135: The Final Rejection

Seizing the opportunity, I turned and ran, deeper into the dense darkness of the forest to the clearing. I can see it. I had made a choice, a terrible one that left me torn between self-preservation and the agonizing cost it had come at. But as I ran, I couldn't shake the image of Nicholas, wounded, facing the wrath of the rogues because of me. The burden of that decision would be a heavy one to bear, one that I knew I would bring to my death.

Suddenly, a blur of fur shot out from my peripheral vision. I snapped my head around just in time to see another rogue, its red eyes zeroing in on me.

I reached for the gun. But my hand met only empty air.

“Huh, of course it is gone” I scoffed in annoyance.

I flung myself aside, barely avoiding the snapping jaws of the beast. But the momentum of my dodge carried me off balance, sending me tumbling to the ground.

As I lay there, sprawled, the rogue loomed above, its fetid breath washing over me. An instinct older than thought, deepe