Labyrinth: Into the Malignant Book 2

Imprinted

Elliana

My body ached as I hung loosely in the boy with dark blue eye's arms. I moaned pitifully when something rattled my body. The cold sweat dripped down my forehead and back despite the wind blowing in my face from the guy's steady pace. My stomach radiated in pain as my vision darkened and brightened. "Hold on, we're taking a detour" The guy said and then everything went dark.

I woke up who knows how long later and the boy was still running. Loud roars clashed behind us and I shook in fear of not knowing what was happening. "They know you're here. The entire kingdom is hunting for you" He grumbled. A knife flew by the guys head and I let out a strangled cry. Before long a blade grazed his arm and he faltered. The blood oozed down his arm and at the sight I knew I would throw up. "Don't you dare" He hissed, seeing my blue face.

Something hit the guys back then and we both crashed to the ground.  I rolled unable to stop myself. I had no control of my body. My head was hit by a rock and I searched for the guy. His forehead was bleeding, but that didn't stop him from unsheathing his sword and cutting down the creatures behind him. From the sight of blood my vision dimmed again and the last thing I saw was his glowing eyes coming for me.

***

"That's it... take it easy princess" I heard. My head throbbed as my eyes fluttered open. An old man was sitting beside me and he gave me a firm nod. "She finally wakes" He said holding a cup of water to my lips. I drank from it like it was my last drink and he put his hand on my arm. "Slow down princess" I listened and let my head fall back down to the soft pillow.

The old man, had a graying beard and a balding head. His face was masked with concern and sternness, but the laugh lines said otherwise. His ragged clothes hung from his skinny body. I watched at he moved rhythmically over my body to check for anything hurt. I felt safe in his care. He gave off the soft hearted appearance. He reminded me of a grandfather.

All of a sudden everything came flooding back and I gasped. My attempts to sit up or run away were stopped by the old man. He struggled to hold my fragile body down. "Boy, get over here!" He yelled furiously. Immediately, strong arms held me down and his hypnotizing blue eyes met mine. "If you don't calm down I will knock you out. My ways are not as forgiving as most" He growled down at me. I fell limp and he glared at me.

"Where am I?" I asked calmly. "My name is Tecian. You have made quite the journey. This here boy ran you across part of the Malignant to keep you safe. Your stomach was reacting to two different poisons mixing in your system. I found the poison of a snake creature and of Malvant. You my princess have been through quite a lot" He explained. "Did you get it out? Why do you keep calling me princess?" I asked.

"With as much poison as your body has already taken in, there is no use to risking it to draw some of it out. It obviously isn't killing you, so I didn't see the point. I call you princess because that's what you are" He answered. "Isn't the point of poison to kill you?" I asked. The man shrugged but ended up nodding. "Normally yes, I've never seen someone with this much poison survive. It astounds me how your system hasn't collapsed on itself" Tecian admitted.

"Why?" I asked. "Well, when poison enters your body it attacks-" "I know how poison works. I want to know why it hasn't killed me" I interrupted. He stood and his head twitched. "Oh, yes. I don't know" He said turning and rummaging through something. I rolled my eyes. "Great," I muttered. The man gave me a look. "Watch it" He warned. I huffed before slowly sitting up. I winced as I did and he rushed back to me with a vile in his hands.

"Princess slow down, I don't want you to go and hurt yourself too soon" Tecian scolded. I nodded and looked around. "Where are we?" I asked. "I made my home in one of the large willow trees in the center of the Malignant. You are currently in my guest bedroom. Your friend over there looks like he's about to wet his pants in anticipation" The old man teased. The boy's blue eyes stared angrily into mine and I could tell he was about to snap. The look was enough to send fear coursing through my body.