Blackfeather Woods I am a lost boy from Neverland

When the pressure released, Wildfire's instincts screamed for her to dart to her feet and try again. Yet now she was exhausted, in too much pain to make the effort. She wheezed after filling her lungs, then coughed. She didn't move otherwise, other than to blink against the tears now filling her eyes.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she wailed weakly, her voice echoing thinly off the formidable cave walls. She took a ragged breath, then changed tack. "My mate is the commander of Drageda. When she finds out about this, she'll wage war. Drageda has never lost a war." The words came out quiet and wobbly, and Wildfire shrank even as she spoke them. But even if she took another beating, at least she knew this was so much more than some pusillanimous bluff.