The Crystal in the Chasm

chapter 14

"Then where do you belong?" Death Bringer's voice was low and full of malice.

I still couldn't shake the disbelief from my face, the utter shock consuming me. My jaw was dropped and my eyes wide. "You have been with me for days..." I said aloud to try to convince myself of it to be true.

Death Bringer strolled to the back of the cave, examining my tiny carvings of little birds and the drawings on the wall. Running a ringed finger over them, he frowned. "You could thank me."

"For spying on me? Why? Why bother?" I ran my
fingers through my hair, still sitting on the cold stone floor.

"For feeding and clothing you. For helping you find water," he responded flatly.

I flinched, sucking in a breath of air as the memories replayed in my mind of the last few days. The amount of times I did not think twice about an animal seeing my body, blood cycle and all. I had pet him. He seemed to register the horror settling in on my face.

"It was nothing I haven't seen before," his gaze softened, "I didn't look anywhere but your eyes. You have nothing to be embarrassed of." He was inside my mind, it felt like. Poking and prodding around where he had no business being.

"I trusted you... I trusted the cat..." I felt like I might shatter. It was too much.

He scoffed and turned to face me, "And you can't now? I'm no longer an animal so I do not deserve your politeness or decency? It was rather refreshing, I must admit."

"Why?" I repeated.

"You'd have died. I watched you time and time again unable to kill for food. What was that about by the way?" A flicker of amusement flashed through his eyes. Those blue eyes. I should have known.

I pushed myself to my feet, shaking my head and holding my arms around my body as if to keep myself stitched together. "Well I hope you enjoyed seeing me naked while you could because it will never happen again," I glared at him, trying to rebuild my mask to hide my vulnerability.

Death Bringer clicked his tongue. "I most certainly did."

I only glared at him harder.

"Are you ready to come back to my place yet?" He groaned and rolled his shoulders.

I let out a small breath, my heart quickening once with a small sliver of what might've been hope. He wanted me to come back. For a brief moment, the few days fell away as if they hadn't happened.

"You should be glad I left. I broke your nose," I reminded him.

Death Bringer chuckled. "Ah yes. I never did thank you for that, did I? You are impressive in the ring. I will give you that, princess."

"Careful. If you keep complimenting me, I might think you actually like me," I warned with a small smile trying to tug at the corners of my mouth.

"Come back," he sighed. "Just come back and we can go back to hating each-other."

I didn't have it in me to pretend I didn't want to. So I did.

————

I entered the cottage before him, leading the way back into what now felt like a sanctuary. After spending days in the wild, I realized that I was in fact so stubborn that I was willing to starve to death out there before ever even considering coming back here. The small ache in my chest that had been building for some time seemed to ease as I registered the wood floors, the scent of willow trees, the familiar space... and Sea Legs.

Merlin stumbled into the room in a frantic motion from his bedroom and strode quickly to me. I froze up, overly aware of my limbs and where to put them, as he neared. To my surprise, his arms opened wide and wrapped around me in a tight squeeze. It nearly knocked the breath out of me. I didn't register it at first, my reaction delayed before I hugged him in return. My muscles ached and my body felt heavy as some of my weight relaxed in his arms. He was nearly fully supporting me by the time he began pulling away.