Chapter 30

Oh my gosh!Linh's mind reeled as she patted her flushed cheeks in disbelief. Crouching down in the water's spray at her washing area, she covered her mouth to hide her grin from no one. With the oil torch she always left in here giving her light, her gaze flickered over the dancing shadows.

Oh my gosh. He said he loves me!

Well... not him, not truly. Like always, his thoughts had leaked through, and he never seemed to realise – as if he was too distracted.

I thought he might... but I didn't want to just assume. He'd asked for her soul, but he'd never stated anything regarding his feelings.

He could want her soul for a bunch of reasons, some of them selfish, others fond. He could have been instinctually possessive, like a neanderthal bashing his chest going ‘mine' at the first female he saw.

He was also a... Duskwalker, a monster. Love may have been too deep of an emotion.

He loves me.And it didn't feel wrong. She'd had someone else say that to her, and it'd made her skin crawl. It'd made her feel suffocated, like a set of chains around her throat.

But if this was Nathair's love... then it felt right. It felt obsessed in a way that wasn't cruel or controlling, but enlightening. It felt safe, like she was perfect – like he'd said – and she could feel secure in that infatuation.

Her heart had responded to it immediately.

Little fuzzy balls had unfurled in her chest like butterflies – so light, fluffy, and beautiful. The warmth of it had swirled around in her bloodstream, making her want to do or give him whatever he wanted.

Even her sternum had grown hot, like her soul had been moments from fluttering out of her so he could take it.

As much as she truly thought she needed a shower, as she was covered in seed and a little tender, she'd needed a moment to digest all this. She didn't feel sick, quite the opposite. Her stomach felt gooey with lingering desire and her returned affections.

I love him too. She'd known at the quartz cave that she'd been falling for him, but she knew it for certain once she woke and wasn't radiating aches.

Aches she'd suddenly been missing and had hungered to have returned to her. Aches that stiffened her muscles and made her wince, but were the evidence of a well-pampered body.

I want to give him my soul.She wanted to be with Nathair. Hopefully he'll let me visit my family and will help them with the bandits anyway. Even if it meant Bragg's men were no longer an issue for Linh if she were to stay here with Nathair, she would still like to help the valleys. He would. He says he doesn't want to help, but I know he will do the right thing.

She smiled as she thought, I want to tell him I love him too.

She'd like to do it in the sun with the beach beside them. She'd like it to be special, and for her to get all her nervous jitters out first. To feel clean, and hope that he'd already be combing his claws through her hair when she offered her life to him. She wanted to be sitting on his tail, all wrapped up, knowing that would be her life from then on.

With an excited bounce to her steps, she stood to exit the water. She picked up her pink dress and thumbed the green leaf pattern. The bumpy texture made her smile, and she was glad she'd be wearing this today as she spoke with him.

Just as she went to put it over her head, a loud, boisterous roar made her jolt. Linh stumbled, catching her foot on the edge of a rock, and fell to her knees. She popped her head through the neckline and turned her head towards the darkness.

That sounded like Nathair.And it'd sounded... distressed.

Without thinking if it would be wise or not, Linh guided her hand down the wall to go to him. Although she wanted to sprint as fast as her heart was beating, her feet were never steady at the best of times.

She stumbled when she thought, what if it's a Demon?

Then again... a Demon would have come straight for her.

With her lips flat in determination, she went faster when whines, whimpers, and raspy hisses came from the muted light before her. She entered the main cave, and gasped so hard her lungs seized and her throat stuck together.

Reared back with a dipped torso, as if he was struggling to hold himself up, Nathair squirmed. He clawed at the sides and back of his neck. Then he dipped forward to grab the underside of his skull from behind, claws stabbing deep, and pulled with all his might like he wanted to rip his own head off!

His maw parted, and a chill instantly clutched at her bones. Gut-tightening dread knotted her insides.

"Please, don't," a woman cried from him, before she screamed. "S-stop."

Nathair's yells, as if his level of distress was so strong it broke through his silence, overshadowed the woman as he roared, "No! Make it stop! Not these memories. Not these thoughts!"

"Nathair!" Linh exclaimed when she noticed how much blood there was. Dark-purple liquid steamed down his humanoid torso in rivulets.

She was right. He truly was trying to remove his own head. It's like the day on the beach. Like Nathair was partially conscious, able to move and react rather than being in what she considered a half-sleeping trance.

"Please, calm down," she yelled, putting her hands up, but didn't dare touch something so large and dangerous.

His white orbs flared bright orange, and he shoved her away so hard that she fell onto her backside. "Stay back!" he roared, while dropping his fangs, and giving her a resounding hiss.

Heat drained from her features as she pushed up on straightened arms. He's never pushed me before. Then again, he's never done this before either.

His whines and whimpers made her heart squeeze.

Linh backed up but didn't back down. Instead, she used the only tool she had in her arsenal: her voice. She sang with all her might. Through sheer force of will and the desire to help him, she managed to keep her voice from shaking so it wouldn't ruin whatever power she had.

Even as he continued to writhe and scratch at his own neck, she didn't stop. Nathair clawed down his throat until he tore open his flesh all the way to his spine. His wounds gaped, revealing purple muscles.

Then, after a minute, he began to slow as a deep breath left his parted maw. He snapped it closed as he turned to her, to the sound of her voice. She expected him to dart around her in comfort, but he just fell to the side until his skull and one of his horns bashed against the stone with a horrible thunk.

"Linh," he rasped, reaching out a hand until it fell against the ground weakly.

She kept singing as she crawled her way to him. Linh knelt behind his head, and he shuddered as he rolled to his back to give his chest room to breathe. He struggled, each rise and fall accompanied by a wheezed whimper.

As carefully as she could, she lifted his weighty skull and propped it on her legs as tears of sympathy bubbled in her eyes. They fell directly onto his beautiful, bony face. She never stopped trying to lull him, yet he didn't fall asleep instantly like normal.

He appeared to be in too much pain, or perhaps his rapidly heaving chest was too frantic. She placed her hand over his heart to feel it was fretful and so fast she feared it'd burst any second.

His gills on both sides were torn to shreds. If he tried to swim, she knew he'd suffocate. Blood saturated her favourite dress, but she didn't care; all she cared about was his wellbeing.

Nathair gained the strength to lift his right hand so he could rub a claw under her tear-filled eye. "Little nightingale..."

A distressed hiccup burst through her song as she grasped his hand to keep it to her cheek. She rubbed against his knuckles and claws, wishing she could talk to him. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was that he had to go through this, that she wished she had a way to help him more than what she was doing now. She wanted to tell him she loved him, cared for him, and wanted to be with him in hopes it would ease him through his pain.

"Don't cry for me," Nathair stated, his voice stronger in volume, as if the memories were gone, but his tone was weak and sluggish. "I will be fine."

Every time he swallowed, blood bubbled faster, and it was harrowing to watch.

He lowered his hand, despite her desire to hold on, so he could nudge against the corner of her lips. She didn't even know what song she was singing, or if it was just mumbled, pointless words.

"Thank you," he rasped.

As if he couldn't hold on any longer, the weight of his arm became too heavy for her to hold up. It slipped through her trembling grasp as his orbs blackened and he fell asleep for her.

Linh refused to stop singing. Like her body was in unison with her mind and heart, she didn't eat, didn't go to the bathroom, didn't do anything but this. She settled her tears to keep her strength, and only gave herself moments of rest by humming.

She knew he would eventually heal. After the fight with the bandits, he'd returned to her without a single wound. That didn't stop how pity swirled behind her sternum, aching for him and what he had to go through.

She hated that he'd been suffering through this for centuries.

Like the first time she'd done this, Nathair slept for hours. He didn't wake, even when the day morphed to night. The longer it dragged on, the more her eyes drooped. She longed to stay awake for him, but she found herself lying down around the top of his skull with her belly pressed to his horns. On her side, she stayed near his head so that if her singing softened, she'd be near his ear.

I'm so tired. A whole day and night had passed, and it wouldn't be long before the sun rose.

She closed her eyes and just focused on humming.

Something clasped her bare ankle, but she was so exhausted she barely registered it. Sleep had befallen her, and she kept waking just to sing, only to slip back under.

Linh screamed when she was tugged.

With eyes stark and wide, she gripped one of Nathair's horns when she was dragged across the ground. She held tight and braved looking at the Demon grabbing hold of her.

Its face was pointed and almost fishlike, with minute human qualities. She noticed an eel-type tail flopping around, so like Nathair's and yet so different.

"Shush!" she hissed, the Demon female in nature. "It sleeps! It's injured. Don't wake the Mavka."

Don't smell of fear!Linh told herself, choosing to remain as unafraid as humanly possible. She just clung to Nathair, hoping he'd wake to save her.

"Get off me!" Linh screamed, kicking her free leg to boot it in the face.

Red flickered in Nathair's orbs while a growl gurgled up his torn throat. It made his blood bubble through his maw, and even from his bony nose hole. It was a harrowing sound and sight, and she clenched her eyes as she looked away.

Claws dug into her calf as the Demon tried to obtain a better grip on her, and blood welled. The pain was small, the Demon's claws tiny, but Linh winced. She kicked harder and pulled on Nathair's horn to get away from it.

His maw parted, just as she whispered, "Please, Nathair. Help."

"Shut up, silly human," the eel-like Demon hissed. She darted forward to cover Linh's mouth. "His blood travels. More Demons come. Already fought for my prize."

It was then that Linh noted the gashes over its body, and the purple blood – like Nathair's – leaking from them. It covered her mouth to quieten her, while trying to pry her hands from his hooked horns.

Her own blood welled when her fingers were sliced, but she refused to let go.

Nathair moved like a flash of lightning. One minute she was clutching him, and the next, she belted out a scream when fangs lanced straight through the torso of the Demon and embedded into her thigh below it simultaneously. Ice-cold liquid burned her flesh as it spread deep into the muscle of her leg. He quickly removed his fangs to tackle the Demon, coiling around it like a snake trapping its prey.

A new Demon entered the main cave. Linh shuffled back while covering the punctures in her thigh. Nathair's fangs were so large that blood welled constantly from the deep wounds, and touching them made her whimper.

I need to get away from here.From the Demons and Nathair.

She eyed the water behind her.

He gave an ear-splitting roar with Demon blood coating his face. His orbs were red, his fins flared, and he looked menacing. He shuddered constantly, and his poor head tipped as if the muscles in his neck were ruined and unable to support it properly.

Using his hands to walk, his tail flicked side to side as he went into the tunnel to chase the scampering Demon.

But Linh knew, without a doubt, that her protector was currently not her friend. He bit me in confusion. Well, the Demon's torso, but she'd been below it.

She dived into the water to minimise her blood scent. Holding onto the ledge, she splashed water onto the stone to reduce it even more. With that done, she started to swim to the other side of the lake, ignoring how cold the water was, how she was already shivering from blood loss. She'd never been more thankful that he'd taught her how to swim, otherwise she would have drowned.

She winced, only to cringe when her leg stopped responding. The venom is spreading, she thought, as her stomach muscles contracted. She was almost to the other side when her right arm began to grow lethargic.

Propping herself up enough that she could use her left arm and leg, the right side of her body became limp and useless. The second half of her quickly began to lock up as the paralysis spread faster now that it'd moved through her heart.

Managing to get out of the water until only her right foot was submerged, she focused on trying to breathe. Her lungs were tight, as if they, too, would turn to stone. Her breaths grew sharp, and she gasped for air.

The only light came from the torch on the other side of the cave and his magic circle still inside his nest. She stared at his magical glow when her head lolled. Screeches and roars reverberated up the tunnel while Nathair fought, only for silence to fall upon her.

For a long while, everything went quiet.

What's going to happen to me? Would she die? Lie here forever? She had no idea how his venom worked. N-no. N-Nathair will heal me.

Linh stopped being afraid when she couldn't even muster the strength for it. Her heart calmed to an eerily slow pace, and she worried it'd halt with how shallow her pulse was.

Her lids lowered as she tried to blink, but she never finished the movement. Her entire body went cold. Shit.