Guardian

Chapter 5

1104.

Liv's feet pounded on the soft grass as she ran - where to she was unsure, just as far away from that hell as possible. She had been abandoned, left to die alone. And she had almost accepted that fate, but refused to give in. Years had passed since she had been captured, the wound refused to fully heal. She had served her time, endured her fair share of pain. But now she was free.

Guards posted around the dungeon, just in case she should try to escape shouted after her, but she ignored their words. This was her chance to start anew. To make up for her crimes by being a better person and by helping others. Even if everyone else wished her dead, she would prove to them that redemption was possible through means other than suffering.

So she ran and kept running, even when her lungs screamed at her for air, even when the arrow lodged in her leg. Although she was leaving a trail of blood behind her, she managed to lose her pursuers by disputing her trail with a river. It was ice cold and chilled her to her core, but it was necessary.

Finally, she found refuge in a small clearing in the wounds and she began to pull out the threads holding her mouth close. It hurt more doing it herself than when her captors had done it, but she knew it had to be done. A change of attire would also be necessary; hers lay limp from her frame in bloodied scraps.

After she finished with the threads, washing the blood away with the freezing water of the nearby stream, she turned to the arrow in her leg. It was lodged deep, but it was not the first time she had sustained such an injury. She carefully removed it and began to tend to the wound that was left behind. But the loss of blood and the exhaustion of sprinting deep into the woods had taken a toll on her weakened body. She passed out next to the stream, her wound still bleeding out.

-

(Olivia's POV):
The sounds of commotion brought me out of the deep sleep that I was desperately enjoying and immediately awakening a defensive mode within me. I could hear the cries of someone outside of my room and my fingers had already wrapped around the handle of my knife that I kept in my bedside table by the time I remembered that Loki was staying in my apartment. But that didn't make me any less on edge as my thoughts began to spin.

I immediately jumped out of bed with my knife in hand and crept to the bedroom door, opening it a fraction of an inch to see what was going on outside. The lights were still off in the apartment so I had to rely on the glow of the city peeking in through the curtains. Unless they were hidden in the shadows, there appeared to be nobody else in the apartment besides myself and Loki. But still, Loki was crying out in pain.

A wave of compassion washed over me as I rushed into the living room and to Loki's side, placing the knife down on the side table. Loki's eyes were closed and I realized that there was no actual threat to his life, he was simply having a nightmare.

"Loki, wake up," I cooed, gently shaking him awake with one hand and running my fingers through his raven hair with the other, hoping that he would find it a comforting gesture.

His eyes shot open and before I had a chance to say anything or even blink, he had a dagger at my throat. A flash of recognition passed through his eyes and he lowered the blade but was still tense.

"What are you doing here?" He snarled, glaring down at where my hand was still resting on his arm.

Despite the anger, I did not move, "you had a nightmare, I just wanted to wake you up."

His eye twitched slightly and he growled, "you should have left me, I could have killed you. Nor did I need your assistance."

"Did you want to talk about it? It might help you," I offered, rubbing my thumb over his arm. I received nothing but a glare in response and I sighed, getting up from my kneeling position beside his bed and pattered into the kitchen, turning on the light as I entered.