Isadora was fed up with this man who thought he could have his way whenever he deemed it.
Dashwell was tolerable but with him? She loathed the fact she was stuck with him and even more for trying to get under her skin each chance he got.
It was becoming an entertaining affair for him, and she cursed her fate for being the beacon of an insane man's frolics.
What could be the reason for him to ask such questions? Why the interest? If he's eager to know so badly then she will ask too. It won't be one-sided.
"Why did that Serpent man call you the Reaper?" she asked.
"Catchy name isn't it?" he winked and Isadora rolled her eyes. "But I'm the one asking the questions here, love"
"I prefer not to be the only one giving information"
He chuckled. "I'm an outlaw. As you know, bounties are placed on an outlaw's head—could be silver, or gold. I earned my gold"
Isadora swallowed a lump in her throat, he sounded proud speaking about it and mulled what kind of person he was to stem such bliss in a lifestyle that had no meaning.
What is to become of a man who had the entire continent after him for crimes he committed?
She struggled every day being labeled as a Mannfae and it was hell but to choose such a life was beyond baffling.
Isadora could clearly believe it now, she had observed it since that night, this man was mad because only a madman can live with such tendencies.
"Not just the Serpents, other bounty hunters pay me a visit and do you know why the name sticks?"
She shook her head, feeling terror shaking her bones in anticipation of what he was trying to reveal.
"Because I harvest souls for, Daudi"
The air suddenly grew tighter between them.
Kraven leaned away from the boulder, taking some strands of her golden blonde hair and tucking them behind her ear, his touch didn't stop there, they moved to her normal-shaped ear.
Quavers took over Isadora's body, feeling his gruff finger at the helix of her ear.
Her eyes glimpsed his, the pointed edge of his ears and the earrings adorning them. A simple abnormality to her ears deemed her unworthy of the Fae society, it was barbaric and also quite tragic she was born as what she is, a mannfae.
It was more heartbreaking because they were all children of Alda and Almadra, the Allfather and Allmother of all creations but the difference was far too great to consider.
An impure blood will always be a dirty blood. She was the god's imperfect creation.
Isadora felt his hold under her jaw but unlike before this was delicate but dominating.
Kraven raised her chin so her eyes met his. "What are your thoughts, Isadora? Basking in self-pity?"
No matter what he said about them being alike, he was wrong, he chose this lifestyle but Isadora was cursed with hers.
The only outcast here was her and he was just a man who didn't deserve this world.
"We're nothing alike," she said, her voice laced with bitterness. "You chose this life I didn't" She shook her head slowly, her eyes stinging because of the incoming tears but refused to let them fall in front of him.
He may have taken her freedom just like everyone else in her life but he'd never have her completely. She would hold onto that part of herself as best as I could, just like she had always done.
Kraven tilted his head to the side, an action that seemed inhumane. "Yes we are, the gods have damned us both, and yet we still worship their names, the irony of it is just so tragic, for you that is... a girl who does not know how to spin the wheel of her fate and surrender to its cruelty, a tragic failure"
Isadora slapped him across the face before she could stop herself. Acknowledging what she'd done, she gasped.
Kraven licked his broken lip before turning back to face Isadora. His features remained calm but she knew it was nothing but a lie, for she could see it in his eyes... the darkness not just any darkness but the whisper of insanity blending with the void.
Isadora whimpered when he grabbed her neck, she squeezed her eyes shut anticipating a hit or a death blow but nothing came just his deep voice to ear.
"Between the gods and me, what you should really fear is me. The wheels of your fate will bend and break under my control"
She rasped, flickering her glassy eyes open. His words shook her to the core because for once there was truth to them and it only dug more misery into her heart.
"There's no escaping me Isadora.... because once again the gods have damned you by bringing you into my grasp" he leaned away, eyeing her shuddering frame, a look of loathing replaced his features. "Elska should be pleased"
~♧~
Elska should be pleased
His voice haunted her the entire night till dawn. Isadora's mind mulled over why he ridiculed the goddess of love's name with such disgust and resentment. His eyes only holding madness were turned into deep pure abhorrence.
"We can't follow that route, Aric will expect that and we'll be ambushed," Rav said.
Isadora's eyes found the two men walking in front and immersed in a serious conversation concerned with their travel, another day of walking and the two were finally talking about the route.
"We'll take the shortcut then," Kraven said with a shrug of his broad shoulders.
"Shortcut?" Rav said with clenched teeth. "The Abyss?"
Isadora stopped abruptly at Rav's words. The Abyss? The Forbidden Route of Brookcrest?
She had heard stories from travelers who came to seek her healing abilities, it was a route no travelers dared to pass, they said it was called the Abyss because of the swamp, the place was infested with phantoms.
"We can't use the Abyss" Rav interjected.
"It's the best route possible. We came through there, why the sudden disagreement?"
Rav took his arm to stop Kraven and spoke seriously. "It might be any other day for us, but I'm worried about Isadora"
"It won't be a problem"
These two cannot seriously be thinking of using the Abyss route, right?
Isadora was mortified by these two men gambling their chances. They seemed to conclude and it was the Abyss over the Serpents.