Wayfinding | Aaravos x Reader |

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 12: FOSTER

Insolence and valor diminished.

Instead, she was ridden with fear.

Inyah gaped as your feet rose and parted from the surface of the Earth. With your palms and eyes turned to the Heavens, you conjured something messianic and blasphemous within you. The elf instinctively reached for her dagger, but hesitated soon after. When the woods whispered maledictions and drowned her own voice into ambience, she knew a mundane blade was no match for what was to come. "Get . . . get down! I said get down this very instant!"

Semi-conscious within the temples of your body, you failed to respond or comply. Even your face, which usually emoted everything from the sun to the moon, was listless and inscrutable. "Glid!" The female bellowed into the thicket in sheer panic. "Gliden, c'mon! Where are you?" On any other occasion, she would be ashamed of her pleading. But the last time you went berserk, you nearly impaled a man. After the news she had shared with you, Inyah knew the injuries and destruction you would cause would be far worse.

As the gusts of wind grew violent, the elf felt her stomach coil.  A storm - in the shape of a sphere - brewed in the clearing with you in the very centre of it. Seeing that survival was her priority, the female was charged and ready to flee. She was certain that her companion would find and remedy you at some point. But coming to the frame of the woods, the female faltered. Glancing back at you for - what she imagined was - the last time, she caught a gander of your salted cheeks. Inyah then realized that Mother Nature was not mimicking your anger but your hurt.

Your heartbreak.

She wavered at first, but eventually laid her weapons down. Despite being tossed and turned, Inyah broke through the current, with her arms crossed before her face. She trekked towards you and finally seized your wrist.

Initially, the touch was alarmingly firm. However, as the winds settled and the forest grew quiet, the elf softened her clutch. She wordlessly reassured you by caressing your knuckles with her thumb. When you gradually lowered yourself back to the ground, the ruffian drew your limp body into an embrace.

Knowing her character, you assumed the contact was a way to bind you - to control you. But she snaked her fingers through unevenly cut hair and cupped your head. Even the breath that ghosted over the crook of your neck was warm and unsteady. "All along . . ." Inyah broke off briefly, to swallow the lump in her throat. "I thought I'd never be able to calm you down."

You were still unresponsive. Yet, when a teardrop stained the elf's shoulder, she knew you were listening. She pulled away to observe your state. Noting that your eyes were still an abyss, she continued to speak her mind. It comforted her to know that you usually didn't recall anything when you were . . . that monster she despised so much. "I don't show it often - especially when Gliden's around - but I do care about you, (Y/n). It hurts me too to know that our time together is ending so abruptly. But Enox will take care of you."

Almost instantly, she registered the lie that effortlessly escaped her lips. And when she realized what the truth was, her spirits were crushed. As her vision blurred from her watery eyes, the elf held your face between her hands. "You are my mission. My mission," she chanted in hopes that her chest would grow lighter. "Your demise is my ticket to life."

As cruel and callous as she was, the elf still felt sickened by her words. But she had to accept the conditions of her employment. Otherwise, she would face a fate much worse than yours.

"But I pray that in some lifetime, you will be born as my child. Maybe then . . . I'll be able to pay my debts to you." With that, she pressed her lips against your cheek, brushing away the remnants of your grief.