CHARMAINE'S POV:
"Son... You'll be fine..." The faint female voice trembled, breaking at the end as it sounded more like a helpless whimper.
"I'm going to skin her alive!" Another voice was seething with anger and I was shocked a little.
What am I hearing? Who's the 'her'?
I touched the side of my head where the throbbing ache was slowly growing obvious to my somnolent senses.
"Ouch..!" I shrieked in pain when it stung as I accidentally pressed the bulge. Just then, the room dropped silent and all whispers died. That's exactly when it hit me.
HOLY CRAP!
The entire incident (or accident) in the Valerian Woodland gushed into my memory in a swift and the first thing that crossed my mind was the final sight of the giant wolf that I stabbed with my poisoned dagger. It must be suffering in extreme agony right now. Or... It's already dead. That thought immediately caused both guilt and tears to whelm within me as I laid there in regret. My blurry vision caught the sight of a lean silhouette approaching me with speed.
"YOU! It's all YOUR fault! HE WAS TRYING TO PROTECT YOU FROM THAT PACK OF HYENAS!" The silhouette yanked me up by my arm roughly as she spat those words in anger. I simply let her drag me out of the shadow and into the light since I still couldn't properly feel my limbs.
"Look at what you've done! What did he ever do to you to deserve such misery?" I lifted my head towards the direction she was pointing to and saw the familiar figure. Suddenly, I was wide awake.
I crawled hurriedly towards the beast's shivering body and reached for him. For a warm-blooded beast, his body felt as cold as ice and his shimmering snowy feature that I recalled was now almost in a darker shade of blue.
The poison...
Without hesitating I began scrambling the unfamiliar floor for my belongings when the girl from earlier voiced again.
"What are you doing?" The tone of her voice was enough to imagine her anguished expression but still, I looked up at her face to directly meet the boiling rage.
"My things..." I spoke.
"WHAT??" She scooted closer to hear me properly. I was surprised how she was still willing to hear me out despite the anger. So, I said a little louder.
"My things- Where are they? I... I can help him with them!" I managed to say.
I could sense her hesitation clearly but she shook it off as her eyes shifted to the opposite side of the room. A slightly older woman reached the slab above and retrieved my backpack. She placed it on the floor and sat by the beast, gently stroking his crown while he exhaled low growls of pain. Although I couldn't completely grasp the picture of the entire situation at that moment, I could still think of one single thing. The last hope I had left.
The Elixir of Life, created by the great Healer, Xavier Montgomery.
Without thinking at all, I expelled all the contents in my backpack and began fumbling for the elixir among them. Both the girl and the older woman were quite taken aback by my sudden actions but they chose to remain silent for some reason and I wasn't in the place to analyse their possible causes so I kept on with what I was doing. After what felt like forever, I finally caught a flash of the freshly prepared vial of potion amidst the bunch of things I packed. I grabbed the potion and crawled towards the beast hurriedly but my last hope was snatched away from my hands in a huff.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Isn't what you have already done more than enough for him to suffer?" The girl yelled outraged words while holding the vial out. However, her eyes were welling with tears with an expression that did not correspond with the tone of her words. There wasn't rage in them. Instead, there was fear. She was afraid. She was terrified of what would happen to the beast if she allows me to use the vial but she was masking her fear with rage and somehow I could relate to her emotion precisely. Why, because I've been going through the exact same crap due to my family.
I was afraid that they will no longer need me.
I was afraid that they will ignore my existence.
I was afraid of being left alone.
However, I never did once voiced my fear, instead, I yelled and threw tantrums in an effort of hiding it. I faked anger to sound stronger. I screamed louder to suppress tears. What was I trying to achieve with that anyway? I have no answer for that either but right now, the girl before me seemed to be an exact resemblance of my own self and I don't want her to make the same mistake.
Although it was quite painful, I still stood up with my trembling limbs and reached out for the girl's hands. She backed away instantly causing me to lose balance and tumble forward but then she was still fast enough to catch me before that could happen. I looked up at her face and realized that she had sharp features, which were quite beautiful, to be honest. She had long elegant locks of bronze hair that complimented her sharp collarbones perfectly. Her formerly scared eyes were now filled with worry as she scanned me from top to bottom. Taking the opportunity, I held her gaze steadily and spoke with my utmost comforting intonation.
"Listen... I'm sorry I did this to him but let me at least, try to redeem my mistake. I can't guarantee you if this will work but I can promise that it won't make anything worse. Please trust me. I'm... I'm a healer. I come from a family of Healers. Please..." My own eyes were pouring without my knowledge.
I was regretting my mistake and was scared that I will not be given a second chance to repair the damage. I knew she was so damned angry with me but however, I still had a small amount of hope that she will heed my request.
Hope as small as the vial of potion in her hands.
She shut her eyes tight for a moment, letting a few drops of helpless tears escape from them. And when she opened her eyes back, I saw my own reflection in them.
There was hope in her eyes too. She held her hand out with the vial in it, without saying anything but I heard her mind loud and clear. So, I took the elixir and moved beside the beast in silence. His eyes met mine as I petted his head. His body was ice cold and the glow I remembered seeing in his azure eyes were now gone. He was in deep pain and I caused him that.
"It's alright big guy... I'll help you..." I whispered, trying to sound brave but my teardrops gave me away easily. He growled softly, as though teasing my failed attempt. Taking his head in my hands, I slowly emptied the potion into his shivering mouth and waited for him to settle back.
His eyes draped close as his tensed body fell at ease a little. Placing his head back on my lap, I was praying with all my might for him to magically start running around because Xavier Montgomery claimed that potion to be the Elixir of Life.
One minute passed and he still remained unconscious.
Two minutes passed and his breathing began to slow down.
In the third minute, his whole body froze still.
"No..." He didn't respond.
"NO! WAKE UP!" I shook his giant figure pathetically but he didn't budge an inch.
"NO NO NO! NO! IT MUST HAVE WORKED! NO! WAKE UP! WAKE UP NOW!" I kept shaking his lifeless body. I examined his eyes. Felt his temperature. Checked his wound.
"Please... Please wake up..." Tears of remorse began trickling down my face as I gathered his giant furry figure in my trembling arms.
I killed him... I killed an innocent life.
"Leave... You should leave..." I heard a faint voice behind me. It was the older woman this time. Tears were running down her face but her voice sounded rather firm. I wanted to apologize to her. I wanted to tell her that I wasn't aware of his good intention. I wanted to tell her that I tried... But words just didn't rise from my throat.
The girl from earlier was now curled up by the beast. She was crying harder and harder, not bothering about her strong woman shell being broken before a stranger and the older woman was being polite enough for 'asking' me to leave. I rose to my shivering feet and gathered all my belongings, in utter silence. Neither the girl nor the woman said anything.
And definitely not the beast himself either.
I shot one last glance at my saviour's now lifeless body and felt my heart breaking a million times over and over again.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered, more like to myself. Hoping that the wind would convey my words to him.
The Elixir of Life he said... a sinister laugh slipped out of my mouth along with an endless trail of teardrops from my eyes as I ran away from my mistake.
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