Seth rushed over, dropping to his knees beside Akhil. "Are you insane?! What kind of strategy is getting eaten?!"
Akhil let out a weak laugh that turned into a cough. "Wasn't... exactly planned."
"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Seth's hands hovered over Akhil, checking for injuries, though the blood coating made it hard to tell what was damage and what was just mess. "I thought you were dead! I thought—"
"I'm fine," Akhil interrupted gently. "Really. Just... need a minute."
Nibo limped over, one hand pressed to his ribs where the tail strike had hit him. He stared down at the dead Serpent, then at Akhil, then back at the Serpent.
"You killed it from the inside," he said slowly, as if trying to make sense of what he'd witnessed.
"Seemed like the best option at the time."
"You're covered in blood."
"Noticed that, yeah."
"And you look like you went swimming in stomach acid."
"That too."
