Shit. They can smell us?
But before it can locate us, Lachlan is upon it. With one mighty swing, he cleaves its head from its shoulders.
In slow and controlled steps he walks towards me, only half his face illuminated by the light of the full moon.
He looks wild.Savage.
A glowering brow kissed by the shadows.
His shoulders fall in relief as he steps over the corpse of one less creature to endanger our people. I’m horrified and aroused simultaneously.
When he nods his head toward more leaves crunching. I no longer feel.
A killing calm settles over me.
I will be swift and deadly, everything I was trained to be.
We both move silently as wraiths now towards the crunching sounds. The demon snarls as it comes around a tree, obviously picking up our scent, but it’s too late. Swinging my axe in one swift motion, I strike it down, cleaving its head from its body. It crumples onto the ground and I step over it, heading for the next one.
I feel nothing.
Not relief, or fear, or even anger.
The only thing I can feel is Lachlan’s lingering presence behind me, covering my back.
On and on I move, decapitating demon after demon. My muscles fatigue quicker than I would like with no magic here.
Yet still I move,killing.
Hours pass. Corpses of our enemies litter the forest floor.
The forest falls silent, but alive once more.
With the silence and the first rays of morning light, the killing calm slips, freeing my mind from its grip and the reality of our situation comes crashing down onto me.
Had Lachlan not come out of the cave after me, I wouldn’t have noticed the demons before it was too late.
I was close, mere seconds away from being killed.
Lachlan wipes his blade off on the silver and green moss that grows on some of the tree trunks and I watch him.
My heart pounds almost painfully in my chest. Thankful that we’re both still alive.
Dark spots of demon blood splatter his leathers. His jaw clenches as he works, and the rugged beauty of him enraptures me.
Bugs chirp, and an earthy breeze winds through the trees, washing away the stench of death. The sun crests the horizon as it replaces the moon’s claim on the sky. Its light chases away the shadows, both real and in my mind.
I nearly died.
Died without ever being with him.
His words from earlier ring through me like a note held too long. Tomorrow is not promised.
My breathing quickens, pants slip through my clenched teeth.
I’ve been in such a hurry to fix everything, and be everything to everybody that I haven’t stopped and given myself a moment to live.
As if sensing my stare, he glances up. The golden light illuminates his face, making him look like a knight in shining armor, come to rescue me.
