The Taming of a Beast

Chapter 10

A/N: Enjoy! Please don't plagiarize my story. :/ 

*******************************

"Perhaps it's time I go and find out what happened to Zeph after all these years. I...I've ran away and hidden myself for so long."

Evelina looked dazedly into the fire as she finished her story. Adrian felt sympathetic to her. She had just lost her home and family where she finally felt safe, and now she was on the run with him. Though his hair was now dyed, Neer and his men would now be on the lookout for him with brown hair.

Eclipse mewed sadly before curling up in Evelina's lap. The cat looked nowhere as ferocious as she had been when fighting alongside Adrian earlier. The witch absentmindedly stroked Eclipse's fur, her thoughts most likely hurling away.

Adrian wasn't sure how to comfort her, having never been comforted much in his life. What should he do?

Once he had seen a comrade of his running towards a lover to embrace her when a mission was completed. The pair had stayed together like that for a long time, with the young woman gently stroking the knight's hair.

Hesitantly, Adrian reached out and took her hand once more and squeezed it gently as if reassuring her. She gave him a tired smile, her rose-pink eyes fatigued.

"Are you cold?" Adrian asked.

Though their clothes were dry and they were sitting around a fire, Evelina's hands were not as warm as they were before.

"A little," she admitted.

"Did you put any blankets in your storage ring?"

Evelina searched through her ring and managed to find two blankets. Adrian took the two blankets from her and wrapped them both around Evelina's shoulders.

"Do you not feel cold?" She questioned.

Adrian threw a few more pieces of wood onto the fire. "No, not really. Neither hot nor cold temperatures really affect me too much."

He looked up into the night sky peeking out from the treetops. They would have to spend the nights out here in the cold. It was a good thing that it was spring and not winter. He had plenty of experience camping outdoors, but Evelina probably didn't. Not to mention, she hated the darkness.

"Still, you should have a blanket, too. What if you get sick? You haven't fully recovered yet," Evelina asked worriedly as she placed the blanket around Adrian's shoulder.

Adrian felt the corner of his lips lift up slightly as he adjusted the blanket.

The fire crackled as he put a few more branches onto the fire.

"You mentioned that you needed to use my mana when we were fighting Neer and his soldiers. What did you mean by that?" Adrian ventured.

Evelina pursed her lips. "Witches don't produce their own mana naturally like mages do. Morena said that witches have to use the environment to cast magic. But as far as I know, we don't absorb mana from living beings."

She frowned and looked at her hands.

"When I found you unconscious, I discovered that I was absorbing your mana. But I can control it. That's what I meant about using your mana. I'm sorry, Adrian."

Her pink eyes looked at him warily, as if to scan his face for anger or fear.

"There's no need to apologize. You didn't realize it."

Adrian thought for a moment. He did not know how to repay Evelina's help, but letting her use his mana was no trouble at all. After all, every time she took out the poisoned essence in his body, his mana pool was slowly refilling to what it used to be. In fact, this was turning out to be fortuitous. And he told Evelina as much. It would be dangerous for her outside of the Forest of Illusions without mana to use, and in this way, Adrian and Evelina were the perfect partners.