Eva laid on the ground with a wolf on top of her. Red blood was everywhere, covering what little he could see of Eva under the wolf.
The world stopped and all Lucas could see was the blood and Eva dead. Pain welled up in his chest and the fear that had been bubbling under the surface caused him to stop mid run.
Lucas raised his hand as if to reach them despite being several meters away.
'No…'
His heart and his mind were saying the same thing. The world that Lucas had gotten used to was crumbling around him. His vision began to blur and dark spots were filling the view around him.
Suddenly a slight movement from the wolf reminded him that he still needed to kill the thing that took away his precious Eva. Pulling the sword from its sheath at his waist he prepared himself to go into battle once again.
The movements stopped and Lucas realized that it wasn't the wolf that had been moving itself, but what was underneath it trying to escape. Hope filled his heart and he slammed his sword back into its sheath to help.
He shoved the corpse of the wolf to the side. His hurried movements shoved the corpse a lot farther than he intended, but he didn't care. As soon as the heavy weight of the animal was off Eva, he quickly examined her body for injuries.
Blood covered her chest and abdomen. That sight alone caused him to go into another panic attack. He quickly examined every inch of her.
"Are you ok?" He found himself asking.
The usual control over his emotions had crumbled. He saw the tears begin to pool in her eyes and she began to cry uncontrollably. The sight broke his heart and he immediately pulled her into his arms, just like he had always thought about doing when she cried out in her sleep.
Having her so close also helped him calm his own heart that had been aching horribly ever since his thoughts had convinced him that she had died. He hated seeing the blood splatter that coated her lovely blue hair.
Speaking so quietly that he doubted she could hear him, he repeated over and over, "It's all right. I am here now. I will protect you."
He repeated it until the sobs became quieter and her breathing returned to normal. It was all he could do for her. He had failed to protect her after all.
Lucas glanced over at the dead wolf and saw the handle of the hunting knife she carried sticking out of its chest. The hatred he felt for that creature had now faded and he could not hear any other predators around them.
'She must have just barely killed it. The wolf must have been drawn from its pack by the smell of the beast before the wind changed.'
Lucas felt thankful that only the one lone wolf had been here. Eva would not be able to handle a pack.
'I need to get her a proper sword to protect herself with.'
Their stock of furs had started to pile up over the last few weeks. Lucas wondered if he had enough to sell so he could find a decent sword for her to carry in the nearby elven village.
The wind changed slightly and Eva's hair flew into his face. It woke him up slightly and he moved Eva away from him slightly.
"There was a beast nearby. The wolf must have smelled the blood from where I fought it. First, clean yourself of the blood then we will leave this area. It is too dangerous."
Lucas looked down at his own clothes and realized he was still covered in the blood from the spider beast.
"I will be down there washing off the beast's blood. Call out if you need anything."
Lucas pointed down the river where it curved slightly and allowed him to be covered by trees. Eva sniffled and nodded.
As soon as he removed his hands from her shoulders he began to feel regret.
'I held her in my arms.'
He did not let himself linger a moment longer and moved to the spot down the river. Perhaps it had been a little too dangerous to allow her to always bathe alone, but what could he do?
Say it would be safer if the two of them bathed together from now on? No, he definitely could not do that. For one thing he would not be able to control his emotions if she undressed in front of him. Another was that they were male and female.
Sure they were not of the same race, but it was still close enough to be considered wrong. It was these thoughts that helped him walk away from Eva.
The sudden closeness he had with her made each step feel lighter than normal. The feeling of her in his arms dominated his thoughts despite knowing he needed to stay alert.
'I need to stay alert! She felt perfect in my arms. No! Listen for more enemies nearby!'
The cold water helped him clear his thoughts somewhat. However, he was painfully aware of the splashing sound up the river as well.
'What if I accidentally came back too early?'
The thought shocked him. He busied himself with washing the green spider blood and splotches of the wolf blood out of his cloak. He would have to wear slightly wet clothing, but he did not have time to dry them out by the fire.
Lucas had never taken part in the young male elves talk about the girls of his village. His thoughts were that they were just wasting their time on frivolous things.
There was no point of dreaming about the girls around them because elves only committed to one person their whole life. What if he talked about one and she became Alva's partner one day?
Of course, he had never really thought that this could happen with a human. His body and thoughts were changing in ways he did not expect. Struggling with the imprinting thoughts was also something he never expected to have to deal with.
It felt foreign and, if he let his guard down for even a moment, he caught himself thinking thoughts that scared him. The imprinting could cause an unhealthy obsession. He could easily see how this became a warning among his kind.
If his mind was any weaker, the obsessive thoughts would have completely consumed him by now. It also did not help that the rumors of humans changing partners as often as the seasons changed had also been whispered throughout his village.
What if he bared his heart out to Eva and she decided to leave him later? He knew that he was not doing a good job of hiding his affection. Any elf would have seen through his facade by now.
Lucas finished washing up and redressed in the wet, but now clean, clothes. He wished he could allow them to dry, but getting farther away from the dead beast was his priority.
******
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