You are tiny.
The air and sunshine is refreshing after hours and hours of roaming caves. The sun already left, but although the sky is dark and tainted with red, the breeze clears my lungs of the humid, dusty air. I can feel my forehead cooling, as if drenched.
I close my eyes a second. It's nice.
You wriggle out of my arm and fall onto the rock. Ouch.
The landscape up here is a mix of rock and dirt fading into sparse woods with the reputation to be cursed. Charming. Absolutely thrilling. You stay where you are, perhaps wary of the slope?
I reach out for you. I broke the chains holding you, but the rings themselves are still constricting your ankles and wrists. It would be too dangerous to break them with a sword. I'm already surprised it worked with the chains.
You stay where you are, refusing to take my hand. You stare, that's all. I drop it. Nagging worry floods back. What was done to you?
If I hadn't found you... Would you have died of thirst or hunger? You're wearing dusty, loose clothing, hiding your form beneath. The flesh of your hands hadn't dried out between their shackles, not like the starving beggars that I came to see on the streets, so you don't look that thin, but...
I wouldn't be here, if it wasn't for my brother. No one else would be reckless enough to risk their lives to dive into caves that happen to be on vampire hunting grounds. That's just not something that happens.
Vampires are elusive, reclusive, and they capture humans to enslave them and drink their blood. Everyone knows that. Everyone's scared of them. Was it a vampire who captured you? No wonder Vampires and dragons share tight links.
If not for my brother being kidnapped, I wouldn't have rescued you, another kidnapping victim. Isn't that ironic? I giggle and you keep staring at me from beneath your wild bangs. Your blonde hair is short and messy. It's too dark to tell what your eye color is. I cough.
"The reason I found you. My brother. He's the most precious thing of mine, you see?" I blurt out.
Surprisingly, you shake your head. You don't see. Okay, that makes sense, because I'm an idiot who said that out of context. I hope that's not the first thing I've ever said to you, because that would be embarrassing as hell. Dang, I don't remember.
"Can you walk?"
You nod, but don't move.
"Can you... start walking?" I suddenly realize it's getting seriously dark. We could very much be attacked by vampire traffickers. I had overlooked that.
Thankfully, you obey and swiftly jump to your feet. You start trekking down the hill, flailing for a moment, but finding your balance just as fast. I follow, my backpack bumping up and down on my shoulders. You're faster than I expected from a small child who was locked up in the dark for hours. Aren't you sore? You're barefooted, oh gods. The pebbles must dig into your skin. You're going to get hurt!
"Wait! Your feet..?"
But you're not slowing down at all, keeping pace just enough to not lose me. That's, nice enough of you, I suppose.
"Wait up! Do you even know where we're going?"
You stop abruptly. I get to you a couple strides later.
You shake your head.
"It's alright, I have a map."
I get it out of my bag and unwrap it, squinting. Of course. It's too dark to see anything.
YOU ARE READING
Mother of Monsters
FantasyMisael's twin Azariah was kidnapped by an evil monster. To find his brother, he tracks down a legendary weapon said to be capable of slaying these creatures, the Mother of Monsters- but what he finds instead is unsettling. An Open Novella Contest s...