Chapter 8
"Ouch! This is so difficult, ow!" Filia whined as she tried to maneuver her clothing off her shoulders without causing her back too much pain, least to say she was failing miserably. "AAAHHH!" Filia cried as she felt the wound on her back stretch and tear even more. After she had reverted back into human form when Xellos had left with Amelia, the place where her injured wing would have been on her back was replaced by a rather large, messy gash running from the top of her shoulder blade down to the middle if her back. She was attempting to remove at least the top part of her clothing so she could get a better look at it, and also to stop her cloths from sticking to the wound and getting even more soiled, not that there was any point in saving it now. The back of it was covered in her freshly spilt blood and no amount of washing would ever be able to remove the stains.
"What are you screaming about Filia?" Xellos said as he phased into the room behind Filia. At the sight of Filia's blood soaked cloths and the partially exposed wound on her back, Xellos's usual trickster mask fell from his features, his eyes opened with a cold stare at the gash and he let slip a low menacing growl from the back of his throat.
"-gasp- Xellos what…" Filia looked back at Xellos with a small trail of tears down her pale face from the pain she was in, however she instantly shut her mouth when she heard Xellos growl and froze stock still as he glared at her exposed back. He then started to advance towards her quickly. Filia could not help but flinch slightly as he neared her back, causing Xellos to hesitate for the slightest second, before he proceeded to aid Filia in removing her top just enough for her wound to be fully exposed.
"Silly dragon, you should have waited until I got back before trying to do this on your own, you're going to cause yourself even more pain at this rate," Xellos said as he removed the last piece of cloth from her, fully exposing the damage done by the attack.
Filia was amazed at the care Xellos took when he helped her to remove her top, his hands where so gentle, she would never believe that this was the same monster that slaughtered hundreds of her own, now handling her so delicately as if she where made of thin glass. Filia then remembered that she was half naked, in front of the murderer of her race, and probably at her most vulnerable. She could do nothing to inhibit the tomato red blush that over took her whole body at the thought. She let out a tiny squeal and tried to cover her front as best she could, however the movement caused a bolt of pain to go through her whole body. Filia's body seized up and her legs gave way beneath her, however before she could fall, a pair of powerful, yet lean and gentle arms wrapped around her middle, holding her upright from behind. Xellos went to painful lengths to avoid Filia's wound as he picked her up bridal style and carried her over to the bed near the rear of the room.
"You need to be more careful you silly girl, or do you want to make your injuries even worse?" Xellos said with a small trace of sarcasm and irritation as he gently sat her on the edge of the bed.
"Well sorry but I don't feel comfortable being exposed like this, especially to you," Filia snapped, it's understandable for a woman who was stalked, chased, and had her wing blown off, to be a little snappy.
"Well excuse me for giving a damn!" Xellos's hands where fisted at his sides while he loomed over her, honestly this woman has to be the only one who could get under his skin, and it somewhat worried him as to how much effect she had on him. Had she been anyone else, he would have incinerated her by now. But she's not someone else. She was Filia, and truth be told he doesn't think he could ever truly harm her, and yet she could get him so mad, his anger could melt steel.
"Well no one asked you to, why do you care anyway?" Filia asked, disdain evident in her voice as she turned her nose up in a defiant fashion.
Xellos was somewhat unprepared for that question. As he saw it he had 3 options. Option 1, tell her the truth and that he had bonded with her and wanted to mate her (Yeah right, like that will go down well). Option 2, deny everything (a tempting idea as it had served him well in the past). Or option 3, completely evade the question.
"That's not really the issue here at the moment," option 3 it was then, "for the time being you need to take better care of yourself or you're never going to heal properly. Now turn around while I get some bandages and fix you up," Xellos then went to the dresser near the wall of the room and pulled out a few bandages of different sizes from the bottom before deciding on the right size. He then grabbed the water basin from the top of the dresser which the servants had left after cleaning her up and a fresh rag, making his way back to Filia.
"Well? Hurry up and turn around," Xellos commanded, motioning impatiently with his free hand. Filia hesitated slightly, but did as he bid and faced her back to him. Xellos then sat near her and stated cleaning around the gash as best he could without causing her too much pain. As he cleaned her he couldn't help but notice how soft her skin was, he could almost feel the texture through the rag, and he would bet anything that it was probably warm too. It also seemed to have its own little glow that had nothing to do with the lighting in the room. He took the opportunity to look over the rest of her body from behind. Her hair was like pure gold and as soft as the finest silks. He traced the junction between her neck and shoulders with his eyes intently. He could almost imagine what it would be like if he nibbled just where her shoulder started, just enough to draw a small amount of blood before he would lick the small trail, tasting her essence. His eyes started to glow ever so slightly as his thoughts continued to wonder as he finished cleaning Filia's wound.
He managed to rein in his imagination before they got too heated and set about getting the bandages ready. Before he put the first cloth to her he took one last look at the wound and his thoughts turned dark. He had come far too close to losing her because of those dragons. Xellos's eyes started to glow again, but this time it was of rage. How dare they harm what rightfully belongs to him, he was Xellos, general-priest to the great Beastmaster Zelas Metallium, second only to his master and the other dark lords, and they had the nerve and stupidity to attack his mate! If he had an alternative choice at the time, he would not have killed them so quickly, He would have made them suffer in intense agony in the deepest dungeons for eternity. But Filia was in mortal danger so he had to make it quick or run an even greater risk of losing her.
Putting these thoughts away for the time being he completed his task of wrapping her up as carefully as he could. "Filia, you have to move your arms or I can't wrap you properly," said Xellos. Ever since he had set her on the bed she had kept her arms in front of her chest, hiding herself from his gaze. Filia blushed bright red at this statement. If she removed her arms she would be in full view of one of her supposed to be sworn enemies.
'But then again, I can't really call him my enemy now, I mean he did save my life, and now he was helping to patch her back up,' Filia thought to herself, 'But that doesn't change the fact that this is XELLOS! You and he had been butting heads since the beginning, and now you're about to let him SEE you? Have you completely lost it!?' Filia argued back with herself, it was true, she and him had never gotten along in the past, but critically thinking she was in no position to refuse his help, she was in no condition to bandage herself right now, "Fine, but don't get any ideas you pervert," Filia warned as she slowly raised her arms so Xellos could wrap the bandage around her torso. She could not help but become acutely aware of how his hands felt on her naked skin. Every time his hand would brush against her ribs and back sent shivers through her entire body. She was surprised at her reactions towards him. If some had told her 2 months ago that she would be in Xellos's room, half naked while he bandaged her up, she would of outright laugh at the preposterous thought.
"Xellos, about that talk I needed to have with you," Filia said in a small voice, she began to fidget with the bed covers in front of her, nervous about his reaction to what she had to say.
"Hmm, what about it?" Xellos said as he finished tying the bandage off and making sure it was secure. As he finished Filia turned around to face him, holding the remains of her clothes self consiously.
"When I told Miss Amelia what happened, I lied. I do remember what happened after you showed up and put the barrier around me and Val, I saw everything, right up until you stopped the one who did this to me from escaping and tore one of his wings off, I think that's where I blacked out, but I remember everything right up until then," Filia had kept her head down through her whole confession, so she didn't catch the brief flicker of worry pace over Xellos's face before he returned back to his emotionless mask.
"I see, so why didn't you tell Miss Amelia?" Xellos asked without a trace of emotion.
"I didn't want to scare her, Xellos what I saw will probably haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life I…I didn't want her to go through that. You, you looked like you enjoyed all of it," Filia said, a small trail of tears making their way down her beautiful face. Xellos couldn't stand the sight of those tears, tears caused by him.
"I'm not sorry about what I did Filia, and you shouldn't be either, it was either them or you, it may not be pretty but that's the way life is. I thought you would have learnt this by now".
"I did learn! I learnt more than anyone should ever have to," Filia began to sob softly as memories of her races misdeeds flowed through her like a tsunami.
Xellos's features softened slightly, he gently grabbed Filia's sobbing form and held her in his lap as he stoked her hair in a comforting motion. "Would it make you fell better if I said I'm sorry that you had to see it?" Filia never answered. She just buried her head into Xellos's chest and continued to cry until she finally cried herself to sleep.
After she had dozed off Xellos lifted her up as carefully as he could so as not to disturb her, pulling the covers down on the bed and set her on her uninjured side to rest. He then pulled the covers back over her and for a while just sat next to her simply looking. He continued to stroke her hair for a short while after before finally getting up and walking towards the foot of the bed where Val's basket had been left. He picked up the basket and set it on the nightstand beside the bed where Filia lay. He then noticed that the flower was still in the basket. He was somewhat surprised as he expected one of the servants to steal the flower while no one was looking and he would have to track it down. They must have thought it would be a seriously bad idea to steal from a guest of their master, so had left the thing alone.
Xellos removed the vase with the flower and set it up beside the basket on the night stand before silently phasing out of the room, leaving the slumbering dragon to her dreams.