Iris:
I groaned tiredly as I realized we still had a long climb ahead.
We had only been climbing for ten minutes, yet I was already so exhausted that I regretted never focusing on my physical strength until now.
I mean, I had learned to fight over the years, or mostly just watched and kept an eye on the fighters, but this, actually getting involved in something physical, was different. It was hard.
The morning sun had barely touched the side of the mountain, and the wind stung my face, leaving my cheeks raw and cold.
"Be careful," I heard Luca utter to me.
The rocks were so uneven that every time I grabbed one, the rough surface scraped my fingers.
Dust made them slip again and again.
Each pull upward made my arms ache, but the thought of stopping made me feel like a failure of a mother, someone not trying hard enough to find a cure for her son.
So I kept going.
"We should have left the weak ones behind," I heard Lara's comment and my jaw clenched.
