ADRIA’S POV.
It wasn’t like I didn’t want to hold on, I was just tired. The pain in my stomach was too much, and so much blood had run up my nose that it stung, and my throat felt sore.
When the ghosts left me, my senses had returned, but my eyesight was dimming.
And I wondered… Am I dying? Would just a single trick from the forest, kill me just like that?
I had attacked with all my might, not knowing I was fighting with the one I could never overpower.
Lucien, seeing me as a monster, would have attacked fiercely. My screams must have been roars to him, and my gasps of pain, snarls.
“Adria… stop.” Lucien suddenly said, and I realized my own eyes had been closing without me knowing it. “Hang in there. Don’t close those eyes.” He ordered, laying me against the tree. Where was he going? “Think of your mother, who you promised to return.” He added, and I heard his hasty steps ruffling the leaves, as he went past.
My mother… Yes, I was thinking of her, but where was Lucien going? Was he planning on going through the mission alone? My eyes found it so hard to keep themselves open. The hardest thing was my thoughts of more monsters coming to meet me in a state where I couldn’t even begin to defend myself.
I’d have to watch them come closer, feel my own fear rise over me like a monster itself. I’d have to watch the horrible features of what was coming, and would most likely be dragged away, unable to even scream, or speak.
If those dead bodies came again, they would rip my soul from my body because I wasn’t sure I would be able to think of so many people, living, breathing and laughing.
Thinking of my mother was quite nice. She was a lovely person. Her laughter was light, and for some reason, thinking of her laughing at that moment, reminded me of sweets popcorn popping, as they got ready to be eaten.
But I couldn’t think of my mother for long. My eyes were very heavy and began to close without my permission.
And the very last thought in my mind was, ‘I’m sorry, Lucien.’
I couldn’t hold on anymore.
~
The next time I woke up, there was warmth, yet cold around me. I opened my eyes, and saw a fire in front of me, then Lucien sitting in front of it, looking hopeless.
He had been filled with so much hope from the start. Had seeing me in such a situation dampened his spirits? Well, it was bound to happen anyway.
Wait… how was I awake? I was pretty sure I had died. My eyes had closed, and I didn’t feel anything anymore.
Then I tried to sit up, but felt a sharp pain in my belly.
“Stay… stay like that until morning. It’ll feel better.”
“Till morning?” I asked, and he gave a bright smile.
“You’re better.”
I lifted my head to see my stomach and saw Lucien’s shirt tied around it with some leaves peeping around it.
“You’ll be fine.” He added, pushing my head to lay on the ground.
“What did you do, and how did you do it?” I asked, and he smiled again.
“I went herb-hunting. In the past, whenever my men and I hunt for some enemy in the forest, and a few of them got hurt, we went herb-hunting. Even though this place has quite the record for being dangerous, it has some medicinal herbs.” He explained, looking around, and I relaxed.
“So, you treated me.”
“I promised your mum I’d bring you back.” He replied, smiling again. “We’re surviving this. Sure, the forest has been really tricky. We could have killed ourselves right there if you hadn’t spotted my necklace, but we’re still here safe, and alive, aren’t we?
“And we’re going to scale through whatever else this land has prepared for us.” He reassured, pushing more twigs into the fire.
My heart went down. It felt very heavy. Lucien was putting on a façade. When he had thought I was sleeping, he had let his true emotions show. He had let how hopeless he was, show on his face, but immediately I opened my eyes, a huge smile was plastered on his face.
Maybe he was also scared. That spider illusion had come really close. He had almost killed me, and I could tell he was feeling very guilty about that.
“What are you thinking about?” He asked, and I jolted back to the present.
“I was admiring your self-control.” I replied, and he scoffed.
“Self-control, my foot.”
Lucien, and I continued to talk, and laugh into the night, until the fire died out, and our lids were heavy.
~
In the morning, we got up, and began to walk.
Truly, I felt better. The pain was no longer sharp as it had been the previous night, nor was it dull. It was somewhere in between.
We continued to trample upon leaves, and twigs as we made our way in the forest.
“Why does it feel like we’re hiking now?” I asked, panting.
“We must be going up some kind of mountain.” He replied, and I placed a hand on my belly. It still hurt, as I walked further, but what more could I do? I had to accept it.
“I wasn’t really planning to attack the monster, though. The monster which was you.” Lucien said, breathing hard as we climbed the mountain.
“I was going to attack. I figured, if I ran, it would have chased me, and that would put me at a disadvantage. Instead, charging first, would be better.”
“If you ran, I’d have probably stayed still.”
“And we’d continue to see ourselves as monsters.” I countered, and Lucien was about to chuckle when we suddenly heard a loud screech overhead.
We looked up in alarm, and to my shock, above us were eagles, all circling the air with sharp beaks that looked dangerous to me, even from where I was.
Not one, not two…
A lot.