Her Darkling

Chapter 10.

“You are far too young. But I promise to return when you are grown and strong enough to challenge me, lass.”

My eyes fluttered open and I blinked a few times to exercise the strained muscles of my eyelid. A wave of intense dizziness, followed by a numbing headache nudged at the back of my head and sitting up became a problem as things began to blur around me. I grabbed onto the railing closest to me to stop myself from falling over the bed, onto the ground and when the spell subsided, I sighed and leaned back against the headboard of the narrow bed.

I was tired. Too tired to even lift my limb without straining my muscles and my hair was everywhere; in my face and my mouth. I pushed it behind my ear and sighed before looking around me.

I was in a tent. It was made out of thin animal hide, curved wooden stakes and jute ropes to keep them from snapping and to hold them in place. Its entrance was wide enough to accommodate two people passing through at the same time. The lintels were strengthened by ivory husks from mammoths.

The thickness of the material didn't stop sunlight from beaming against its surface and lighting up the area around me. On the eastern side of the tent, several wooden boxes were stacked high up and on the other side were dark cloaks hanging off metal hooks and this somehow reminded me of the repeating nightmare I had woken up from.

The echoes of his words were still imprinted in my memory, always returning to haunt. I tried to drown his voice out with other thoughts but it was impossible to do so as his voice became louder in my head, repeating the same words.

“You are far too young—you are far too young—you are far too—”

"Nariel. You're awake.”

I snapped out of my thoughts, suddenly thankful that someone had helped me do that. It was starting to become a seemingly impossible feat for me.

I forced a weak smile, watching as a look of relief creeped into Eldrion's handsome face. He was dressed in a different jumper but his breeches still remained. He looked cleaner than yesterday and his smile was bright.

The bed dipped when he took a seat. His fingers grazed the skin of my face ever so softly as he pushed hair strands behind my ear. I nearly leaned into him, loving the feel of his skin against mine.

"How do you feel?" He asked, suddenly pulling his hand away from my face and leaving me empty, yearning for more.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "I'd like to have water. I am parched."

Nodding, he stood to his feet and went over to a table I hadn't seen. He returned with a container of water and handed it over to me. I took several gulps, feeling relief wash over me.

"Thank you, Eldrion."

"How do you feel?"

"Terrible all round."

He smiled and squeezed my shoulder. "You'll be fine in no time. Your wound was cleaned and the healing process might take a few weeks."

"Shit."

The entrance door was pushed to the side and Eamon walked in. He was dressed better than yesterday in an all black combat outfit. His hair was impeccably tied into a ponytail, brightly enhancing the details of his face.

"Nariel," He said curtly, stopping when he got to the end of my bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than yesterday and worse than tomorrow."

Eldrion chuckled but Eamon didn't find it funny. Instead, be continued. "What happened yesterday was unexpected. We kept our guards down, putting you into danger. I wasn't expecting for another battle to break out."

"It'll take more than an arrow to kill me, Eamon. Nothing to feel bad about."

An awkward silence followed and I broke it with my question.

"It feels strange that they attacked when we just arrived, don't you think?" I asked while exchanging knowing glances with Eldrion who had gone to take a seat on one of the boxes.

Eamon sighed "There are several categories of demons, all appearing at allotted times and attacking with precision."

Oh, I knew all about that. But I sure as hell wasn't going to let him know that. I wanted to keep prying in the most unsuspecting way possible. He didn't have to know that I came from the clan of demon slayers.

"How about the demon I fought with?" I asked. "Something definitely felt off about her. She was more human than the others."

"She's a higher ranked demon, topping the strength of the regular ones we've been encountering for the past few days. I can't tell her physiology because they appear on rare occasions due to their rank. She's still a demon but is able to manifest in her human form. She is stronger than the average demon."

It definitely had to be that. I knew a lot about Demons but not about her, because I'd never encountered her before, nor had I encountered something similar. It just felt strange that she could possess so much strength even if she was still ranked lower than the demon who had taken my mother's life. While in combat with her last night, she had irritated the hell out of me.

"I see why he's so interested in you." She had said while we were in combat last night. It was cryptic, yet carrying so much information, peaking my curiosity.

"And the masked male who shot the arrow at me?" I asked again, pictorially replaying the memory in my head; a man holding a crossbow and me falling to my knees as the tip of his arrow sank into my skin, tearing through muscles and tissues.

"He vanished. But I caught a few distinct features. He had long silver hair and just half of his face was covered by the mask. He's excellent with the arrows. Very precise. I've encountered him quite a few times and not in any of these encounters have I been able to make out his true self.”

But I was the only one who felt a strange connection to the archer. Before I blanked out, there was a connection so familiar, one I couldn't even decipher.

We fell into comfortable silence. Everyone was deep in thought, including me. It wasn't until Eldrion cleared his throat that I looked up.

"There is a feast that will be held in the camp of the demons in a few days. I received the message from one of my most trusted spies."

"A feast?" Eldrion reiterated.

"Yeah. It's being held on the manor. I've been thinking, to be able to get information on what is really going on, the only way to achieve that is by disguising as one of them and sneaking into the feast. We need to gather information. The Townspeople are starting to ask a lot of questions as they are not at all enlightened on the existence of these evil creatures. We have to give them answers and also find for ourselves, too. That way, it's easier to conquer them."

"And how's that going to go?" I asked with a frown as I weighed the risk of the idea he was about to bring to life.

"I sent some men out and they will be returning at dusk. When they do, we will set out on a journey to their territory."

"I want to be a part."

Eamon raised a brow in confusion and Eldrion stepped forward. "No, Nariel. You won't be going with them. You are still seriously injured."

"But I want to." I replied, giving him a hard look. This was my only ticket to finding the truth out. My only ticket to exerting revenge. I wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by. "I can't sit back here while—"

"It's a no, Nariel," Eldrion replied in a stern voice. "You're not going anywhere and I'll make sure I see to that. You nearly died yesterday and I won't let it happen finally. When you're better, you can think of that."

Eamon excused us and I turned to Eldrion. "What do you think you're doing? Controlling me and having a say in my life?"

He was unmoved. "No. It is the best for you. Anyone who cares for their loved ones will do the same."

"f**k you." I threw back the sage sheets and limped out of the bed, giving him a hard look before I pushed past him and walked out of the tent.

The sun was shining brightly and birds chirped in trees, eliminating the gloom from last night's gory battle. A few warriors were seated in front of a fire with a pot cooking overhead. Another group sat around a canister, discussing in loud voices. Eamon was not amongst any of them.

I walked around, in search of any water body so I could wash up as I felt sweaty and dirty from yesterday.

I finally found a running stream at the base of the plateau, rushing over jagged rugs. It was as clear as day and I could see the white washed sand and colored stones underneath it.

Sighing in relief, I waded into the water until I was knee deep before I began to take off my clothings.

As I took off my pants, I gently pulled at the skin around my wound, wincing slightly as the material pulled away from the dried blood clot. I tossed my clothing onto the dry rock close to me before dipping my body into the water and concentrating on the wound.

Dried blood and flaky clots washed off my body but something strange began to happen at that moment.

It was a deep gash but it was closing up so rapidly. I couldn't form a single train of thought until it closed up completely, leaving no traces of the injury gotten from last night's battle.

"What the hell?" I muttered under my breath and touched the skin where the wound was formerly located. But it was as clean as new, like I was never shot with an arrow. Eldrion healing never spread this quick.

I was still trying to figure out this strange phenomenon when I heard a crack behind me.