Life never goes as planned. Tabibah could feel it as the remnant of her might died down and she felt pain all over her body.
It hurts so bad. It felt like her soul was being poked and burned slowly.
The full moon had hit her worse than ever before even if she had prepared for it. Apparently, her heart wasn't as settled as she pretended it was and the loss of powers accompanied by pain made it worse than her first moon.
The moon was angry at the fact that Cerci broke her vows and defiled herself and could only take its anger on her children. Tabibah knew the reason it hurts was because she still had a feud she had not started settling, and the reason it was worse was because she still couldn't trust her mate fully.
Sao ruined her, he broke her trust and increased her paranoia. She already had trust issues but now it was worse.
He will kill her if he knew how weak she was now, he will definitely kill her and take her head to Sao for a price.
The pain made her eyes blurry and she could only see the faint silhouette of Etim who was asleep. Kill him, kill him while he is asleep, he will never betray you if he is dead.
The pain of her heart demons and mate bond fighting makes her yell without letting out a sound.
Etim suddenly stood up clutching his chest and her breathing quickened. He is surely going to kill her now.
She opened her golden eyes and saw him looking at her with confusion which soon turn to panic. Her eyes went hazy.
Etim woke up feeling like his heart was being slashed to pieces. His first thought was to complain to Tabibah and imagine his shock when he saw her groaning on the floor in pain.
"Tabi… Tabibah." he ran to her and wince at how high her temperature was. She was running a fever and her body was as cold as ice which he didn't think was possible till now.
"What do I do? What do I do?"
"I should kill you," he heard her whisper.
"Okay, her sickness made her murderous." he didn't take her words seriously, whenever he was sick, he also planned how to end the world. It was no big deal.
He ran to the river and fetched a bowl of water and lit the fire thankfully, the flint was quick to light this time. He pulled his thick clothes and wrapped her with them, bringing her close to him.
"You should run, I will kill you."
He laughed. " You are such a positive ball of energy when sick, aren't you?"
"I will kill you once I regain my energy. I'll chain you to my bed and slowly choke you to death."
"I won't have a problem if you use your thighs." Etim retorted cheekily. The only reason he could joke around was because she was too weak to hurt him, but thinking about it. He seriously won't mind if Tabibah chokes him with her thighs.
Stop being a pervert, she is ill, his conscience judged.
He frowned, he didn't know witches could get sick, he didn't expect Tabibah could get sick. What kind of sickness comes so unexpectedly and makes the strongest person he knows turn into a shadow of her past self?
"You will leave me. All of you always do. I hate you all."
He sighed as he took another of his shirt, wiping her to her dissatisfaction. It hurt him to see her in pain, at this rate he was sure his feelings were greater than a crush and now obsessive.
It took a long time before she settled down, he was tired and wasn't comfortable sleeping far away from her, at least that was the excuse his heart came up with as he hugged her to sleep.
Tabibah wasn't sure what happened but when she woke up, she was wrapped in Etim's ugly green fur and hugged tightly by him with scattered utensils and a bowl of cold water next to her.
He looked so peaceful sleeping, he was like a painting. Bloody wasps of hair sticking to his face and eyelashes fluttering. She lay there watching for sometime, obsessively staring at his face. Suddenly, she stood up.
Oh Cercei, just like she had expected, the mate bond had thickened once again. Her goal was to break the bond not get closer to him.
Breaking the bond would break him, the thought of hurting him made her eyes flare with anger and guilt. She stood up and went to meditate. He woke up almost immediately after she finished.
"Stand up, I want to test something out with you."
He looked at her dumbly, eyes still heavy with sleep. They started training that afternoon.
…
His screams were as loud as a banshee. Tabibah ignored him and drank the porridge he cooked slowly.
Damn, it tasted really good. He wasn't lying when he said he could cook.
She looked at him from beneath the tree she stood and saw he wasn't dead yet. She ignored him and sipped her soup sighing in satisfaction. Perfect.
"Tabibah you demoness, it is past an hour already!! "
No more Bibah?
"Bibah my foot" he retorted shaking his fist. " if I ever call you Bibah again may I turn into a fool!! "
The giant snake which Tabibah had disturbed on purpose to chase Etim shrieked loudly when nobody was paying it attention, Tabibah waved her hands turning it into dust.
Etim collapse on the floor panting loudly. He had just finished the race of his life, literally.
Why did I tell Tabibah that the moon was really pale blue and just looked white because of the dark purple night sky? She had increased his training from an illusion into a real monster just because she lost an argument.
He felt like all the bones in his body were not available at this moment "Bibah." he called softly. "I seem to have lost control over my limbs!! "
Who said he will turn into a fool if he called me Bibah?
"I'm already a fool, I can't be more foolish than this," he told her shamelessly.
Tabibah snickered and came down from the tree with a loud 'swish'. Her skirt twirled lightly and she landed without a drop of her soup spilling. She walked towards Etim and looked at his pathetic ass on the floor.
It's been six months... Why are you still so weak?
"Excuse me!!! There is a big difference between being chased by an illusion and being chased by a creature that thinks I stole its egg... Which I didn't."
Tabibah showed the egg to Etim and the latter looked at her in disbelief.
Let's make egg stew this afternoon.
"TABIBAH!!!!! "
Shhhhh, Stop being dramatic, we both know you are happy.
Etim was more than happy. He felt like he could fly if he had the strength to stand up.
Six months ago when Tabibah started training with him, he was reluctant not like he dare to tell her.
He was used to being beaten by the little wolves, but in front of Tabibah he didn't want to look weak. Which was really stupid because even Sao was weak before Tabibah's demonic power.
Yes demonic, he no longer classifies her as normal since he saw her kill an hydra in a blink of an eye.
But training with Tabibah, he actually saw improvement. Massive improvement. For one, he could sense his abilities.
Close your eyes and enter mediation. Tabibah told him like she could read his thoughts.
He closed his eyes but he felt her cold palm on his chest, He froze up.
Concentrate.
It is easier for you to say, you don't have an insanely beautiful woman trailing her hands all over your body.
He was sure Tabibah didn't care about his gender. He wasn't sure if it was the witch's way but for some unknown reason, her hands were always on him and it was hard to ignore. It felt weird when she started, weird and not disgusting like he felt when others do so, His body was uncomfortable with it because he was not used to people touching him but he didn't ever feel like throwing up or tearing her hands away or freezing up.
He just felt tingly. He still feels tingly and it worsens everyday. He literally had to think about naked bears dancing to prevent himself from becoming hard.
I am like the earth that holds all living things, Solid and firm. Like the branches, I bend but remain unbreakable, like the plants I give life to all those that need, like herbs my goal is to heal...
He continued chanting the Earth elves' mediation verse in his mind to clear his thought before he entered his space. He could see the forest clearly, from the tiny tumbles of the sand, the ripples of the little stream, the buzzing of insects, and the slushes of the leaves. Everything within one mile radius was within his sight.
His eyes teared up slightly and he opened his eyes to the bright yellow sun.
Tabibah sighed deeply at his antics. He always cried over everything, she was regretting not learning the hankie spell.
Why are you crying this time? She asked helping him up.
He sat up and leaned on her body whispering gently. "My sight increased by four meters. "
Good boy.
Etim felt his heartbeat quicken up. He looked into Tabibah's eyes and bit his lips slightly.
What am I thinking about? Everybody knows she tore the heaven and earth just because Sao broke their marriage. I was only kidnapped to threaten Sao and queen Mia.
We will leave this night!
"This night is a full moon," he told her and she frowned.
She couldn't believe she forgot. How easy was the mate bond making me trust him? She could still recall the first full moon she spent with him.
Pursing her lips, she retorted. "Then we will leave tomorrow," she spoke unaware of what her voice does to Etim.
"Leave for where?"
"Witch Vale. I'm hungry, prepare my meal," she replied pushing Etim off her. The latter face planted on the floor and let out a loud groan.
Etim raised his head, stared at her departing figure and yelled angrily. "I am not your maid!! "
She turned to him and he swallowed back his words.
"I meant I am…I am not a maid, I'm a human… O lalala ooo" he sang off key."It is a song, I suddenly just recalled it"
Tabibah rolled her eyes at his foolishness. Just when she was thinking of bonding with him, he behaves like an imbecile.