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Chapter 30

And I open them again. Time has sped up, and the blade whistles past my face, the side of it actually rubbing the very tip of my nose, and I can see my reflection, for a fraction of a second, a wide-eyed, terrified fourteen year old girl, whose cat ears are flattened right to her skull in fear, pupils dilated to thin, distrusting slits, mouth open so the small fang-like incisors in her mouth show like vampire teeth.
The sword has impact, plunging with perfect trajectory... into the hairy chest of the mid-sized Beast which has it's overlarge fangs inches from my neck behind me, and it hits the ground with a dull thud, sending up small eddies of dust.
I lie on the ground for almost a minute, panting rapidly, my heart thudding like a battle drum in my throat, and I can only stare blankly at the hairy mass that had been about to kill me.
After a while-So long it begins to grow uncomfortable- I turn my head slowly, to glance at Stone, who's deep blue eyes, like little oceans, bottomless and eternal, that just seem to go on forever, and ever, and ever- Sorry. Yeah, anyways, our eyes meet.
And suddenly his face breaks into a scared grin, and I can't help but do the same. Next thing I know, he's fallen to the ground as well with laughter, and I can't get up I'm shaking so hard, with the dregs of fear, and now the presence of this untraceable humor.
We lie on the hard path for another minute or so, until we're able to shake the nonsensical laughter, and get to our feet. Even then, once we start to walk again, I'm still shaking slightly with surges of chuckling.
"Wow," I pant, still in complete disbelief and utter confusion, which, for some reason, is funny to me. "I-I really thought-"
"That I was going to kill you?" Stone says, and suddenly all laughter and joy has vanished, and his eyes are ice again, as he bends to draw his blade from the Beast, wiping it on his pants leg.
"Well, yeah..." I shrug. "You kind of threw a sword right at me."
"I was aiming for the Beast." He mutters quickly, not meeting my eyes. I narrow mine, but I continue.
"Yeah... Thanks anyways."
"Whatever." He shrugs it off, and leaps over a three foot gap in the trail, offering me his hand behind him.
"What do you mean, 'whatever'?" I say incredulously, ignoring his hand, and hopping lightly over. "This isn't the first time you've saved my life." I hate to admit it, so, so much.
"No kidding. The score-" He starts, but I continue, determined not to reach that subject, because I know very well who's ahead and who's owing.
"You could have let me die," I say, getting to the point. "You could have. It wouldn't have affected you in the least, since you just happened to pick me up along the way." When I say it, he deliberately looks away, suddenly fascinated by a large rock that looks amazingly exactly like another fifty or so that we've past.
"But you didn't. You went out of your way to save me, every time." I stare him down mercilessly, though he's half a foot taller than me, and when he speaks, he sounds uncomfortable.
"So?"
"So?" I say incredulously, and I balance on a series of small stone outcroppings like stairs, watching the drop to the forest hundreds of feet behind me.
"So?! So why?!" I stress, landing on solid path again, and turning to watch Stone effortlessly leap from the path five feet below and seven feet away, skipping the steps, and land next to me without faltering.
He's silent, as we continue to hike, for a long time, until when he finally speaks, I've almost forgotten I said anything.
"I don't know."
I go to reject it, but then I fall back to silent pondering, mildly disappointing. I haven't really been thinking about what he might say- Okay, I have, but I don't expect that. 'I don't know'. He isn't sure why he saved my life? Does he really feel nothing? Were the kisses really just to get me to focus? Was-
"Ash!"
"What?" I snap, irritated. Why can't I wallow in despair in peace?
"The sky is moving toward us."