Krampus walked ahead; Amon did not know what it was, but for some reason unknown to him, the man supported himself with one hand on the cave wall to continue walking.
But Krampus was exhausted; he had to eat and drink, but he ignored it; he just walked forward; he didn't even turn around.
Amon dropped back a bit and now walks next to Bruna. "Bruna, I know you don't trust him, but heal him; I can't watch this."
Bruna knew that the cause of the man's suffering was not injuries but a lack of calories. His nails were brittle, and he had signs of dizziness and many other visible symptoms.
But she wanted to know the reason why Amon wanted her to heal him. "Why?"
Amon looked forward and spoke, "Because he is not too unlike me, he is in a bad state, but despite that, the first thing he thinks about is the well-being of a certain person."
"He is someone who already knew many dark sides of this world, probably even more than me, but then came to the end of this darkness, and now he would do anything to protect this light, even if it was only a spark."
"But what if he attacks or tries to trap us?" she asked, still with the intention of learning more about Amon.
"He won't; believe me, this man is not a danger, at least not yet. As long as the people he loves are okay, everything is fine; however, the moment this person or persons die, the world will burn. So let us make sure that whoever this master is talking about is alive and stays alive."
As she saw how Amon looked at the back of Krampus, Bruna had already made up her mind and was ready to help him, but there was one thing that needed to be asked before, one last question: "And which one would be better, if this master had already died or would die in the future?"
Amon did not even have to think about this; if Krampus was really how he was, then there was only one answer: "The first one. But in the best case, not a single one of these two."
As Bruna heard these words, she walked up to Krampus and called out to him from a little distance. She felt bad for it, but she still did not want to come too close to him. Even if she knew that you should never judge a book by its cover, right now she does not care about this.
"Krampus, wait, you seem very hungry here. Take this."
Bruna reached into the flying sheath of darkness Amon created; all the food was stored in there; some of it could even be warm, as she reached out for the huge arm of the white-furred gorilla-like monster. Krampus reached out to it.
Now it was really clear: this ravenous appetite could only mean one thing: a calorie deficit. Water was, as always, no problem. Krampus produced some himself with the help of arc magic.
He gulped down the arm in a few moments. When he was done, he didn't seem to have full strength, but he could walk straight ahead without having to lean against the cave wall.
Bruna cast another spell on him that helped against exhaustion; she once found out that it also worked against hunger; it was not a cure but just a means to keep someone ready to fight.
Amon's curiosity arose; he wanted to know who Krampus Master was; he wanted to know what person could have such a huge impact on him.
"Krampus, would you like to talk about a few things?" Amon asked, and he walked beside Krampus, who turned his head towards Amon as he heard the question.
As Amon saw the red, glowing eyes and the face of Krampus, he understood why Bruna was so caustious about him; this man's looked more like a monster after all, but he was ready to give him a chance. A chance to show who he was and who Krampus was.
Krampus gazed at the ceiling, and Amon seemed to notice something that could be a smile; the only thing that changed was the glowing eyes of him changing from red to yellow for a short amount of time.
"Where do I start? She is kind, gentle, a bit shy, beautiful, loving, and, jeah, just perfect. However, even if she is shy and introverted, when it comes to bravery, no one tops her."
Over and over again, the eyes changed color. As the color seemed to be stuck in a yellow glow, he proceeded.
"When something needed to be said, she said it; she was not the type of person who tells you what you want to hear, but what you need to hear."
The gaze shifted from the ceiling to the floor, and the eyes changed to a dark blue that nearly essembled grey. His voice lowered. "Hah, but at the same time she was lonely and sad, and slowly her joyful self turned more and more introverted; she withdrew and spoke less and less. Until that day, the day when."
Krampus clenched his fist, and his eyes glowed in a dark red tone, a tone that was completely different from the red they glowed when they first met.
Amon laid his hand on the Krampus holder and spoke, "You know she resembles my wife; she too was once broken and deep in depression. But then, after time, she started to heal, and I began to see more and more sides to her. Each day passed, and each day I saw new sides to her that nobody ever saw besides me, and each day I fell in love with her again."
"I don't know what happened to her, but what's done is done and can't be reversed, but we can live, help each other, and then one day."
"Overcome the pain of the past?" Krampus eyes mixed in grey and green gazed at Amon, waiting for an answer.
"No, share the pain, and create memories—memories to overwrite old ones, hoping that they will never come back."
"And what if they do come back?"
"Create a new one. A once broken person is like a vase; you can flick it together, but in the end, a small bit of force—much less than the one that broke it—is enough to shatter it again. But as I told my wife this, she said, If a glass breaks, then you can melt it again and reshape it as often as you want."
The moment Amon finished his sentence, he arrived at a huge gate—a gate decorated with bones, skeletons, and red liquids splattered all over it. Krampus turned away from Amon and wanted to push the gate open as Amon grabbed Krampus hand and said, "Tell me, Krampus, are you ready and willing to melt the glass and reshape it as often as it takes?"