The Lost

39- The Deal

Azure

"Lyn- Lyn, are you okay?" Stupid question.
Of course the girl wasn't 'okay'. Lyn sobbed thickly into my chest, gasping and shaking all over. Oh gods, Lyn. I wanted to shower her little face with kisses and hold her here forever, protect her, feel the radiating warmth and know that she was safe in my arms. There were no words to describe this urge to soothe her, shelter her. Her small hands had latched onto my vest like lichen on rock. A quick and bloodless heartbeat fluttered against my front, so fast that I couldn't count the beats even if I tried.

"Lyn..." I hushed, "I've got you now, it's alright. Hold me, hold me..."
Without thinking, I brushed my fingers through her tangled hair. The white was all stuck to her face and clumped behind her ears, like cobwebs. My gentle hands soothed the little one's crying, even if just a bit. Her struggling gasps simmered down into hiccups. The sobs lessened until she was just shivering against my arms. Again, I repeated the same words to her, in the most calm and composed voice I could fake. I've got you now, it's alright.

Things were anything but alright.

My wings jittered against my back. Still I could hear her screams, a sting in my ears.
His shadow yawned black and total over the pair of us. All I could do was hold her, grateful of something to distract from how I was too numb move, breathe in and breathe out. What have I done?
Just when I was sure that she had finally calmed down, the girl burst into tears all over again.
"You lied!" She cried at me. I think she meant to shout, but her throat was red-raw from all the screaming. Sick burnt in my throat when her tiny hands began to pound against my back. It hurt how painless it was.

Accusations broke down into senseless sounds. The flailing slaps melted into two fists clutching the back of my vest, her tears turning hopeless, her face sinking into my shoulder. 
With every breath I took, an apology burnt in my chest. But how could I apologise? I had brought the girl into this forest and tangled her in my problems. The one thing she had asked me for, the one promise she had demanded I make, I had broken it. She was here because of me, Sam was here because of me. They were here together because of me. My heart seemed to constrict as Lyn nuzzled her face against my chest.

That human could have killed her.

If I hadn't been here to beg for his mercy, he probably would have. Just for the fun of it. Just for the pleasure of squeezing the life out of a tiny, thrashing body.
I had to struggle for air at that thought. I could never take this from Lyn's mind, no matter how 'sorry' I was. Some things are impossible to forget.

A voice all too familiar made a sound like a laugh over my head. Lyn grabbed my vest into her little hands and would have ripped the thing apart in her panic had I not taken her by her wrists. She produced a soft moan. Maybe words. And in response I pressed her to me, soft shushes streaming from my chest. My warm wings helped to weaken the fright when I strained them to circle around the two of us.
"I've got you, Lyn," I breathed, "It's alright, you're alright, shh..."
She sniffled, still quivering.
Only when I had rocked her in my arms for a little bit did I force myself to look to the sound. 

Slowly, I was tilting my head upwards, to the tormentor himself. Had it not been for the fact that I had Lyn in my care I would have been trembling all over. We were in his shadow even now. He didn't need to stand to block the light straining through the canopy. Just by kneeling over us he made the rest of the forest look small and distant, unimportant... Now more than ever, arched over the two of us, Sam really did seem like some sort of giant monster.

The human looked at me, at my tearless eyes, then to my arms and what was rigidly held inside them. I tensed my face to the most loathing, lamenting glare I could possibly muster, yet still felt tiny when I uttered, "Get away from us."
He obviously didn't hear me, "Hm?"
"Get away." I was louder this time. Angrier too. "Don't you even look at her. Get away. You monster- you fucking psychopath!" My voice was becoming fatally aggressive, and I knew it.
"Azure." He scolded, though he didn't seem genuinely annoyed, "Language. She's listening to you."