'Is she suicidal or just insane?'
Aldric couldn't tell yet as he watched the smile of the dark stalker stretch until it reached the side of its eyes. As it opened its large mouth wider, Aldric could see saliva dripping from its already blood-stained teeth, it's face consumed with shuddering hunger, and he could almost smell its putrid breath from where he stood.
Even then, the golden-haired girl was yet to show any signs of fear. In fact, currently, she seemed blatantly unamused by the creature's display. The dark stalker, however, cared not for her critique, only for the bloody juiciness of her flesh, so it began to feast.
Its hand plunged into chest, tearing away chunks of muscle and sinew. Then, with trembling hands, it stuffed the flesh into its mouth, only to rip another chunk moments later—all while the golden-haired girl watched in dubious silence as the creature ate itself.
"So it was true," Gold Hair finally muttered with sickening satisfaction.
'What is happening?'
Aldric stared in profound confusion, unable to muster an explanation for what he witnessed before him. The first part of what the girl had said about the dark stalker was true, however the latter was different from what he gazed at, the creature was supposed to eat its victim, not itself.
In disbelief, he watched as the dark stalker ripped off one of its own limbs and began to munch on it. And it was in that moment Aldric noticed the falter in its eerie smile, the shift in its imposing presence—it was in pain, it was afraid, yet its primal urge to satisfy its own hunger overpowered its will to stop.
It didn't take long before the creature had made itself a mess of ripped limbs, exposed flesh, and emerald ooze that could have been its blood. Then, with a final thrust, probably in an attempt to end its own misery, it plunged its remaining hand into its neck before ripping out its own throat. Blood gushed out, and it fell to its death before it could feed itself its own neck meat.
The forest fell silent, with only the sound of rushing green blood remaining.
"That was enlightening, wouldn't you say?" The girl asked, her gold eyes panning to Aldric, who slowly discovered he could now move.
"What just happened?" Aldric asked, his eyes gazing down at the gory form of the monster before lifting to meet the girl's gaze.
"I confirmed a rumor," the girl replied with terrifying nonchalance.
Aldric's cheeks tugged in confusion, looking away momentarily before turning back to her and speaking:
"Confirmed? You said they eat their victim. That's clearly not what happened."
"Yes, but that is what would have happened, had it been someone else."
Aldric gave the girl a deadpan stare for a moment before averting his gaze to look around the forest. It seemed everyone else were long gone by now, leaving him with a psychopath. Aldric now understood why the rest were unbothered by the dark stalker—the creature only attacked those unfortunate or oblivious enough to look into it's eyes.
He would be shocked that none bothered to help him, not even the elf, if it wasn't so blatantly expected, what did surprise him, however, was their rush to leave the scene. He assumed they would have been curious about how he would have faced the creature and perhaps assessed his strength.
'Are they... running from something?'
"You seem from a naive world... You know little."
Gold hair walked towards Aldric as she spoke, her steps as graceful as could be, her golden eyes not leaving Aldric's, who awkwardly refrained from making eye contact because when he did, he found himself in awe of their complex beauty.
"I can tell you... Help you. Hopefully just as much as you can help me," she whispered, now a few steps from Aldric.
'She wants us to work together?'
Aldric remained silent, still internally confused. Her alluring proposal seemed insufficient against his chronic distrust.
Gold hair stared at Aldric for a few seconds before letting out a sigh.
"My marking reflects any active intent to harm me, causing the intended harm to the originator."
'Ah, that explains why it ate itself,'
Aldric raised an eyebrow. "Why tell me this?"
"You might be unaware, but markings are most times very well-kept secrets. They are harder to fight against if they are not known... So telling you mine is a proposal of trust."
She paused a moment, then continued:
"I have a second marking, one that allows me to see the mortality of others when I look in their eyes—how likely they are to die."
Aldric looked back at her, no longer avoiding her gaze.
"What do you see now?"
A silence lingered, seconds stretching, before she spoke:
"A man who should be dead, many times over. I have never seen a person more likely to die than you are. Every breath you take is a spit in the face of death. Of us all, you are the most likely to die in this trial."
Aldric scoffed, looking away from her.
"So why team up with me?"
"Simple," she smiled. "Regardless of all this, you're still alive."