The Evanescent

Chapter Thirty

Deitonin made it back to Mae, finding her adorable as she slept.

She had her right arm tucked under her head and her right arm draped over the armrest.

He smiled, taking a seat before the sofa.

Mae was breathing softly and evenly.

The Dæmon grumbled quietly and laid his head on a cushion, watching her.

She stirred and made a noise, murmuring.

He lifted his head slightly to look at her.

Mae relaxed, her murmuring coming to a stop.

He laid his head back down, his ears dropping as his stomach growled.

It wasn't long before she slowly sat up.

Deitonin lifted his head, looking to her with hungry eyes.

She looked up at him, confused. "Dei...?"

He blinked, then smiled, "Morning sleepyhead..."

She smiled back. "Morning..."

The Dæmon leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

Mae returned the kiss.

He smiled, nuzzling her.

Mae giggled.

Deitonin pulled away, smelling something that caught his interest.

She looked to him. "What?"

He sniffed, "Just a Metalhead poking around..."

Mae nodded. "Okay."

Deitonin continued to sniff, intrigued.

Mae sat up. "Do you want to go outside?"

He hesitated, looking to her, "Can we?"

She nodded. "Why wouldn't we be able to?"

He slowly stood, "I didn't know if you wanted to."

Mae smiled. "I honestly want to go outside."

Deitonin extended his hand to her, "Alright..."

She placed her hand in his.

He gently pulled her to her feet.

Mae smiled.

He smiled back.

She moved to his side. "Ready when you are."

Deitonin sniffed, catching the Metalhead's scent again, "Ready..."

"Then let's go."

He nodded, leading her toward the mouth of the cave.

Mae followed.

The Dæmon squinted his eyes at the midday light as they left the cave, looking out over the desert.

Mae shielded her eyes from the sun.

Deitonin's ears perked as a roar filled the air. He looked over to see a young and relatively small Metalsaur not even a mile away.

She followed his gaze. "That Metalsaur is small..."

"It's young..." he said, "But still lethal."

She nodded. "But not all Metalheads are bad anymore."

He nodded, "I'm aware..."

Mae sighed. "What do we do, then?"

Deitonin sniffed, catching the scent of blood and charred metal, "It's fatally injured...by Mauraders." he closed his eyes to focus on the scent, "We should put it out of its misery..."