9. Mazituz

NINE

Iwatch her internal struggle, not knowing what more I can do to express to her that I'm not a danger. I feel as if I've already proven to her that I mean no harm. Surely, she should be able to see that if I wanted to hurt her, I would have done it already.

She clutches the wall, and something seems off. Her eyes begin to flutter closed when she suddenly falls to the ground.

"Camille!" I shout, rushing toward her and kneeling on the ground.

I feel her neck for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when I detect one, although it's slightly weak. All I can think at this moment is that I caused this. She was so scared of me that she actually fainted. Sorrow courses through me, followed by longing.

Regardless of her reaction, I can't just leave her here injured and unconscious for anyone to come across. I'd be signing her death certificate. As I slowly lift her frail body into my arms, I decide I will take her back with me to my lair.

I stand, holding her close to me, hoping that my body heat will help soothe her. The feeling of her lying against my skin feels so incredibly right to me that it's hard to ignore.

I take one last look at her unconscious face before setting off in the direction I need to go, wondering how she will react when she wakes up, but ultimately deciding that I will deal with that when the time comes. Right now, I just need to get her to the safety of my den.

As I walk, I try not to let myself think too deeply about how poorly this all went. But it's hard, considering I have nothing else to think about. I navigate through the caverns with purpose, keeping my stride careful so as not to jostle her too much, a silent apology in each of my careful steps.

I try not to, but it's impossible not to look down at her as I walk. Her face looks so peaceful, and I study her delicate features, now softened as she sleeps. A pang of regret threads through me before I can stop it, and I feel terrible for causing her such distress. I find myself wondering if this was all a mistake, if she would have been better off before I interfered.

But then the thought of those elves taking her brings anger and protectiveness back to the forefront of my mind. Every ounce of my being tells me that I did the right thing in stopping that, even if she is terrified of me. Possibly even more scared than she was with the dark elves.

The difference between me and those creatures is that I truly mean her no harm. The same cannot be said for those elves, who clearly had dishonorable intentions. I will not hurt a single hair on her head, and when she wakes up, I will make sure that she knows that. No matter how long that takes.

"You're safe with me," I whisper to her. "You'll see."

I take turn after turn, wishing at this moment that I had chosen a home that wasn't so far away. All I want is to get in the safety of my own space, to get her farther away from those evil beings out there.

"Left, right, left, right," I murmur as I round each corner.

Thankfully, I don't come across a single living being on our journey. I don't want to have to engage in another fight today, especially not with her in my arms.

Most of all, I don't want her to wake up before we get there. That interaction would probably be even more of a disaster than the first.

Finally, we reach my lair, a secluded enclave adorned from wall to wall with luminescent pearls and glowing stones. I walk in, setting her on my considerably sized bed of moss as gently as possible.

I kneel next to her, observing her shallow breaths a little too closely. It's impossible for me to not be worried about her in this state. My gaze trails down the rest of her body, noting each and every injury, my eyes flaring each time I spot a new one.

Her too frail body is spotted with bruises, some new and some old, along with scrapes and dried blood. I try to focus on her beauty instead of letting my anger at seeing all of this get the best of me.

I start at the top, noting the way her hair fans out around her head like golden threads on top of the green canvas beneath her. It's hard to look away. She's so irresistibly beautiful that I have to refrain from touching my skin to hers.

A sudden wave of protectiveness washes over me, hitting me harder than the biggest wave the ocean could throw my way, and I can no longer control myself. I let a tentacle carefully and slowly brush aside some hair from her forehead, my eyes full of wonder.

"Breathtaking," I murmur, unable to take my eyes off of her. "Flawless."

The silence of my small, private home, which was once comforting to me, is now filled with the sound of her soft breathing. It's a reminder of my loneliness, my longing for companionship that may have just been fulfilled in the most unexpected way.

Another part of my brain gives me a gentle nudge, reminding me that this girl has not agreed to such a thing. In fact, she seemed quite against even standing next to me, let alone following me anywhere.

I debate with myself, my desire for her presence wrestling with the part of me that recognizes this for what it is. The knowledge of how vulnerable she truly is hits me, and I realize something.

How could I justify keeping her, this creature of sunlight and land, in the perpetual dusk of my underground world?

My tentacle brushes another piece of hair out of her face, admiring her once more, when she stirs. I stop moving, stop breathing, bracing for the inevitable freakout that will ensue. She moves slightly toward me, her hair falling back into her face.

"Mmph," she mumbles.

Staying completely frozen, I watch for any sign of distress, but she appears fine and her eyes stay closed. I breathe a small sigh of relief. I'm not ready to face her yet, needing time to come up with some way to help her see the real me. To see past the tentacles and the foreignness of me. To look further.

I've never had to do such a thing. Never wanted to, never cared to. Now that I think about it, I've never even come across another being that I wanted to spend more than a few minutes with. But something about this girl has me in this chokehold, causing all rational thoughts to leave me.

I decide that I need to occupy myself with something, anything, to distract me from this depressing spiral I've been on. I stand, crossing the room and collecting some healing moss so I can tend to her injuries. Taking my place at her side, I begin carefully smearing small amounts onto her cuts.

She stirs again as I touch her, and I wait for her to settle back down before continuing.

I try as hard as I can not to disturb her while I work. The last thing I need is for her to wake up while I'm touching her and freak out before I can explain myself.

Camille's presence seems to be a comfort to me, the sight of her provoking a warmth, an attraction that goes beyond the physical. It isn't only her appearance that draws me in, but everything else too.

The way she stood her ground, the way she refused to give up. How she fought those dark elves as best as she could, trying to escape a world she knew she was too good for.

Her strength captivates me as she has clearly been through a lot and has not let it break her. She has more perseverance than I thought possible for a human. I can only dream that she will let me in, let me show her that not everything in the world is harsh.

It's like she's the light in my dark, shadowed existence that I didn't know I needed until I saw her for the first time. The one I've been unknowingly searching for all my life. And even though my heart is in unfamiliar territory, all I want is to discover where these new feelings I'm having will take me.

I can only hope she will feel the same.

Unfortunately, the moss does little to distract me from my negative thoughts like I presumed it would. The idea that she fainted from fear of me, from the sight of me, creeps back into my mind. I let the thought gnaw at me, sinking into my conscience with sharp, unrelenting teeth.

Somewhere deep down, I wonder if her reaction was a sign that I blatantly ignored.

"What am I doing?" I murmur as I finish with the healing moss.

Is it even possible that I'm the protector she needs, or am I just another bad male in her eyes, even if my intentions are pure? Maybe I am no worse than her previous captors. Maybe she will only ever see me as one of them.

I know that this is completely possible, and yet I don't know how to give up hope. I refuse to. Shouldn't I at least try? I convince myself that staying the course is the right thing to do, despite the nagging part of my brain that keeps whispering that this is wrong of me. That she doesn't want me.