As A Stranger Or A Friend?

Axtapor - 1 Second Seed, 1245 A.D.

I watched as she carefully sliced the meat away from the bones of a desert hare I hunted earlier. The meal would be that and roasted potatoes. A far cry from the handsome meals she was cooking back when we lived in a proper house, but it was better than starving. I had not yet told her about the change in plans, mostly because I didn't have a concrete one to present her with in place of my original one. Surely if I told her The Empire was no longer our destination, she would ask where we were going instead, and I didn't have the heart to tell her that I didn't know.

But the guilt of keeping her in the dark was eating me alive. And not just about that but The Realm of Dreams too. I had avoided the subject whenever she tried to broach it, but how much longer would I be able to manage doing that? Each time she looked at me with those deeply honest and trusting eyes, I was consumed with intense feelings of dread. Whenever she found out, she would surely be upset at me, and that might be enough for her to push me away altogether. She would no doubt understand that even though what happened was a miracle, it also meant that I gambled with her life and would only prove my carelessness.

"Please eat. The potatoes will become hard if you let them get cold." Her small voice brought me to the present, and I turned to see her sitting beside me with her own humble portion of food.

"Aye. Thank ye." I replied as I picked up the cracked dish she'd plated my portion on.

We began to eat quietly, and despite the meal being simple, it was somehow packed with flavor. She really was a master of the domestic craft.

"What is the Holtep Empire like?"

"Hot. Dry." I remarked as I took a bite of meat.

"I see." She said quietly, then continued to eat in silence.

Some minutes passed. "We nay be goin' there."

"W-What? Why not?" She asked nervously.

"We just— we nay be." I said, not looking at her, already dreading what she would ask next.

"Then, if not there, where? Where have we been walking to this whole time?" Her voice was shaky and filled with fear.

"I nay know." I admitted with my jaw set hard.

I couldn't bear looking at her. Just the idea of seeing the fear in her eyes was enough to make me want to beat myself to a pulp. How could I disappoint her like this?! After making such a show of looking like I had a plan, dragging her out all this way and nearly killing her in the process! How could I do this to her?!

"You said the harbor was this way, didn't you?" She asked, setting her plate down softly in the sand.

"Aye." I pushed one of the potatoes on my plate with a single claw.

"Were you— were you going to abandon me there then? Is that it?"

I whipped my head around to look at her and saw she was crying steadily.

"Nay. How could ye think that? I would no leave ye." I said, setting aside my food to grab her face and wipe away her tears.

She sniffled as she looked at me with a pained expression, but the tears wouldn't stop coming. Though before I could get another word in, I heard a slow clapping. She ceased her crying, becoming tense in my grasp as my blood ran cold.

"What a touching display." A man's voice said, followed by the feeling of cold steel on the back of my neck.

I stiffened and stayed very still. When had they approached that I had not heard them?

"It seems our comrade was right. Your slave is pretty."

"If'n ye touch her—"

"Ah, ah. Who said you could talk, lizard?"

The steel bit into my scales, causing some discomfort, but I didn't dare grimace to show it. I looked into Mariel's glassy eyes, feeling my stomach twist at the look of terror in them. I did my best to ignore that feeling as I tried to make out any sort of reflection in them. Perhaps I would be able to see how many men were behind me. I only knew of one at present, but there could be more. But it was a futile thing to attempt; the moon was not bright enough tonight.

"Get the girl." The man commanded.

Two large figures appeared and pulled her from my grasp.

"Axtapor! Please! Let me go!" She screamed and struggled in their arms as remained there on the ground.

"Been al—!"

"Quiet!" The man yelled, pressing the knife further into my neck.

A menacing growl rumbled in my chest. I itched to tear them limb from limb, but with this knife to my neck, I would be dead before I could reach them. The man wielding the blade knew that, too, as he continued to dig it further, producing a familiar stinging sensation. But how could I have not heard any of them?! I was accustomed to detecting the sound of footsteps in the sand and that of breathing bodies. I should have heard them!

"Since you defiled her with your sick form, we must cleanse her flesh with that of her own. Don't worry; you'll get to watch. Just to make sure we do it right." The man's voice whispered low in my ear.

"Let her go." I said in an even and threatening tone, bellowing angrily from my stomach as I spoke.

"No. Go on. You know what to do." He commanded.

The first man wrestled her down as she cried and screamed. He started trying to push her skirts up when suddenly it became quiet.

"Axtapor, help me!" She pleaded, looking at me from her place on the ground.

"Close yer eyes!" I called out to her. I had been here before. I didn't want to become a monster before her as I had with Ophelia.

"It's okay." Her voice was soft and quiet now, "Please...just kill them."

I quickly got to my feet and whirled around, slitting the throat of the man holding me hostage. It seemed there were only three of them, which made me even angrier. I should have heard them! I should have heard them! I drew my cutlass, advanced on the two that had her, and swung at their necks with fury. The two stumps sprayed blood across Mariel and the sand around her, dutifully dropping the heads they'd once supported to the ground with a thud.

Immediately after, my ears popped loudly, and I suddenly remembered the needle from a few days ago. Those bastards had planned this very carefully, and I'd been so careless in not realizing it before. An informant, a saboteur, and finally, the muscle... It was the oldest play in the book, and I fell for it like an idiot.

She blinked, and time returned to us. I dropped my cutlass and scooped her up into a strong embrace. My entire frame was shaking as if my body had finally begun to understand the danger she had been in moments ago. She wailed in my arms, clinging to me tighter than she had the night I rescued her from the palace. I kissed the side of her head many times and then realized that I was crying too.

"Be alright." I reassured her shakily, "I have ye. I have ye."

"I-I don't care where we go! Just take me away from here!" She screamed, her words feeling like knives in my chest.

"Aye. Aye, I will."