The Forest Keeper

Chapter Fifteen: IN WHICH Kea Fights Harder, and Leonas Tells Her Everything

Wednesday, October 24th

Kea leaned against a tree and bandaged her arm for the third time that day. After Dameon let Talyn go to the lake, Kea had tried to stand up to him. The first time his claws scratched her, she wanted to pull back, but she found that she was too angry to. She kept going, and as a result got cut up pretty badly. The claw marks were starting to get infected, despite every effort she had made to prevent it.

Abaddon watched her with wary, tired eyes. "Are you sure you don't need me to look at it?" he asked, not for the first time since they had gotten away.

She pursed her lips and tied off the bandage. "The most help you could offer would be to go find Leonas and bring him back. I'm not sure where to go from here, and I need his... expert help."

"Kea, I was in his service for months before ever making an effort to help you. Don't you think I would know him enough to help you stand up against him?"

She glanced up at him. "Abaddon," she began in the same condescending tone, "you fell within the first five minutes of fighting him because you were so overcome with your grief over Milaya's death. What makes you think that this time around would be any different?" She lifted her tank top a little to inspect the other marks Dameon left on her body. Those looked just as bad as, if not worse than, the one on her arm that she had just bandaged up.

He sighed and leaned against the same tree. "Because that was yesterday." There was something in his voice that was less than convincing to the Keeper. "I'm feeling... well, not much better, but I can –"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Kea snapped, looking up at him and dropping her shirt back down. She got to her feet and looked up to meet his eyes. "You are not any better than you were yesterday, and there's no telling whether or not he'll capture you again. I'm not willing to let you run into danger like this." Tears welled up in her eyes, and she wiped them away with the back of her wrist. "I've lost two friends in the last twenty-four hours. I know your pain. But I can't lose another one. Okay?"

He bit his lip, his eyes widening just slightly. "I didn't..." He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

She sat back down, fighting a grimace of pain back. "It's fine. I'm not doing well without Leonas. If he were here, maybe..." Maybe I wouldn't be so uptight. Maybe I wouldn't be on the verge of tears every second I'm awake... She licked her lips and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on dulling the pain. It only made it worse. "I should be fine soon. I just hope that Leonas comes back soon. To tell you the truth... I don't know how much longer I can keep going on like this. Without him, I mean."

Abaddon rested his hand on her shoulder. "I can try to find him, but I don't know if I'll be able to as quickly as you'd like me to."

"It's fine. You don't have to look for him..."

He squeezed her shoulder. "Maybe it would be for the best. To calm myself down, if nothing else." He snorted and let her go. "I'll return if I find anything. If you need help..."

She nodded and swallowed the rest of her tears. "I'll be fine. I'll call for you if I need anything. I'm assuming your hearing is much better than any humans?"

"That's right. It has to be, since I've been part wolf for a majority of my life." He smirked. "I'll try to be back soon." He started walking away.

She watched him leave out of the corner of her eye, and she whispered, "Thanks, Abaddon." She leaned against the tree and put her hand over her stomach. If demon wounds could be healed, she would have done it a long time ago. But they couldn't, and so she just had to deal with the pain for a while until they were closed and clean enough to heal. All she could do was wait...