Kaim woke up to the sun blaring in from open curtains. It took him a moment to blink away the light and curl his face into the pillow. He had to remind himself that he was safe, that he wasn't outside in a camp. That he wasn't outside in a war. There was not any reason to fumble for his weapon, or pull on his uniform, because there wasn't a threat here. He took a deep lungful of air, breathing in the slightly mildewed pillow, and let it out slowly.
He moved his head away from his rest, taking in another thirty seconds before he knew it would be time to get up. To start the day anew, and away from his nightmares.
In between the wars, on his down time as he liked to call it, he kept himself busy by helping out anyone in need of extra hands. He found that during the harvesting months, farmers were always shorthanded, so he found himself wandering over to some farmlands. At least that was the pattern he followed in his first sixty years of living, if he could call it living. By now he understood that he was very different from the people he roomed beside.
He knew not to stay in any one place long, not when his immortal body never aged. Mortals didn't take too kindly to those who were different than themselves, so Kaim lived a solitary life. He didn't mind it so much.
This particular break from the mercenary life led him to wheat farmers. It was autumn and it was time to start cutting down the tall plant, and the lucky farmer who hired Kaim was very pleased that he could cut it so neatly and quickly without much fatigue. "It's like a weapon, eh?" the farmer commented with a laugh.
Kaim just swung the sickle, keeping to himself. The farmer laughed again and went back to his own business. The less Kaim talked, the better it was. He was still trying to understand these mortals. Reading them was hard, and befriending them was harder. He couldn't quite figure out the level of friendliness to exhibit, and by the time he thought he might be ready to try, mortals had already labeled him as weird and distant. Why try now when in just a month he was probably going to leave without a single goodbye? Better to stay unsociable and figure out how to get away from these flat lands before winter.
Halfway through the reaping, as his farmer-boss called it, he came to a standstill in ignoring the mortals. As the sun found its spot in the middle of the sky, Kaim watched as a younger woman walked down to the fields to deliver their noontime meal. Usually it was the farmer's old wife who came down wheeling the cart of food, but it would seem that she had fallen ill. This new woman had long raven black hair, and bright green eyes. Her clothes seemed to differ from the normal outfits he saw around here. They seemed looser, lighter in color, a little fluttery, and definitely shorter than what seemed normal. Kaim didn't see many women around this place to compare to, but he was sure he had never seen a lady's skirt not reach her ankles. Her sandaled feet were covered in dirt like she had been outside all day, and Kaim noticed that her skin looked tanned under the sun. He wondered from what island she wandered off of to come to the middle of the countryside this way? She wore a warm smile on her face as the farmer introduced her.
"This here is Isla," the farmer said, patting the woman on the back. "She's my niece from the south, and she'll be helping out around here." Isla bowed and when she rose back up, her green eyes locked in on Kaim.
He could feel the heat rising to his face as it became clear that she was not going to look away. Not wanting to seem like he was staring at her the whole time, despite the contrary, he turned away and went back to work to await his turn for his meal. Strange, he thought to himself, rising his sickle again. Strange, and that's all he could think.
. . .
Kaim found Isla to be perplexing. She never strayed too close to him, but not exactly far away either when she came down to bring their meals or water. She made eye contact, but when it happened he would quickly look away. When he would sneak a glance, though, most of the time she was still looking straight at him. Kaim found it a little unnerving at first—why would she want to look at me?—but after a while, he learned to ignore it. Despite his attempts to pay no attention to her when she was down in the field, he found that he couldn't get his mind to stop thinking about her after she left. As the days grew shorter, the more he thought about Isla, and the more confused he felt.
After a week, she finally approached him, and he was startled out of his swinging. "Oh, I'm sorry." She smiled at him, and somehow Kaim knew she wasn't exactly apologizing for anything. "I just thought you'd like some water."
"Uh," Kaim said, flinching at how ridiculous his voice sounded. Had it really been that long since he had talked to anyone? And why did she make the effort today to come talk to him? He usually came to the cart himself and silently made the exchange without any eye contact or words. "Sure."
"Not a man of many words." Isla handed him a new canteen, heavy with cool water. "Well, that's okay. Here you go!"
"Thank you." Kaim made sure he sounded like he meant it. She looked on the edge of wanting to carry on this talk, but he didn't know how to start. He really didn't know how to begin any kind of casual conversation with another person, much less carry it, but he didn't have the chance to try it out today. She gave him another smile and wave, before walking over to another worker.
Kaim took a long drink of water. For whatever reason he felt like his body warmed up twenty degrees despite the cooler wind that was starting to carry through the fields of wheat.
. . .
The next day, at the same time, she came to talk to him again. This time Kaim was ready, sort of. "Nice weather?" He couldn't be more proud of the topic, however lame it really sounded. He observed many mortals start out their day like this and surely this could prompt Isla into leading the way.
"Oh!" She jumped. He guessed no one expected him to talk to anyone first. She giggled behind a hand, and Kaim felt his heart jump at the sound. "Yes! It's starting to get cooler down here, um. I never got your name."
"Kaim. Kaim Argonar." He lifted up a hand. Mortals shook hands when they were meeting for the first time right? He reprimanded himself for not remembering that the day before when they actually first talked to each other. For half a second he thought she wasn't going to take his weird handshake offer, but without missing a beat she shyly offered her own in a small shake. Her hands were rough, he noticed. Little callouses ringed her fingertips and palms like she carried things around all day. They were not unlike his, though he couldn't imagine this woman welding a sickle, much less a sword for battle. "It's nice to meet you?" he managed to get out. He could feel his face heat up again and he had to wonder what exactly was going on with him. He felt like a fool.
"You must not be from around here," she said, laughing again. "But that's okay! Neither am I! It is very nice to finally know your name, Mr. Argonar."
And that's how the week played out: nice weather and Mr. Argonar. Kaim felt himself growing weary from trying to think of more topics to talk about, but he never had the chance to say anything more than the comment on the weather. It was exhausting trying to gather his courage to talk to her, and at the end of their interaction he was left wondering if there was even a point in getting worked up about it. By the sixth day of the small talk he was ready to avoid contact with any mortal for the rest of his days.
However many he had ahead of him, which was probably a lot. Forever, maybe.
On the seventh day of what might be another agonizing good weather talk, an early fall storm decided to show up. The raining stopped the work for the day, and Kaim found that he didn't have much to do without it.
So he spent the morning staring out the window, until he heard a knock on his door. All of the help had their own little rooms in an old, but renovated, barn next to the farmer's own home, so Kaim wasn't exactly surprised to see Isla at the door with an umbrella, carrying breakfast. "Good morning, Mr. Argonar."
"Hello." He at least knew it was polite to let someone through the door, away from the bad weather outside. He opened the door wider and gently took the food out of her hands. She thanked him, folded the umbrella, and leaned it against the door. "You didn't come down for breakfast, so I thought I'd bring some back to you."
"Oh, uh, thank you."
Kaim stared down at the food in his hand, then back to Isla. She tilted her head a little and motioned at him. He froze in his spot, and she saw his reaction. "You can eat. I don't mind."
Kaim wondered if it was normal for people to watch other people eat in such close quarters. On the battlefield, the soldiers ate in silence and in haste. There wasn't much room for staring and chit-chat. Here, though, would he have to talk? She might want a pleasant conversation, but he knew he wasn't the most attractive eater in the world. In the army you had to gulp down your food and get back to work—and this wasn't an army camp, he reminded himself again. It was just his room and a guest.
Unsure of how to go about this, he set the plate down on the little desk that was provided to him. He stared down at it, trying to think was it rude to just start? Did he need to offer half to her? "I, uh, did you? Did you e-eat?" He couldn't sound any less smooth.
Isla gave him a smile and nodded. "I ate."
"Do you need to sit?" Kaim offered her his desk chair, but she shook her head. He could see the laugh that wanted to escape her lips. He felt like the world was collapsing, and anxiety was starting to kick in. How could one person make him feel like such an idiot? How did mortals live with themselves after making another person feel so awkward? How could he get out of this situation without making her feel bad or disgusted? Why did it have to be Isla that makes him feel like he has two left feet? He couldn't even figure out if it was really her to blame, or this new weird feeling of inadequacy that suddenly moved into him in this last week. The air suddenly thickened and his lungs screamed out to open a window for fresh air, but the roaring thunder told him otherwise. Why couldn't he just be alone? He frowned, looking at the floor.
"You need to sit down to eat! Please don't mind me!" She smiled, but Kaim could feel his discomfort level shoot through the roof. Was she just going to stand there and watch him eat? Wasn't that rude, or did it not make her as uncomfortable as he was right now? How does he go about this? Couldn't she just leave? He had to do something before she questioned if he was a statue, so he forced his arms to move.
He sat down, decided after a moment that he didn't like having a person behind him he couldn't watch with his own eyes—a curse of paranoia behavior that refused to stay in the battlefield after he had left it—so he turned his chair sideways and held the plate of food with one hand. He couldn't really decide if he had an appetite after overthinking everything he has done in the last three minutes. Isla, meanwhile, wasn't even paying any attention to him. Instead just looking out at the rain pouring down on the fields.
Before Kaim could think of voicing the annoyance he was feeling at her presence in his room, no matter how rude he thought that would make him, she said, "the rain reminds me of the spring where I'm from."
Kaim didn't say anything, but he waited to see if she would continue. This was a little bit different than 'how's the weather,' so he thought he might want to listen harder. Learn a thing or two. She moved away from the window as a flash of lightening lit up the gray sky. She sat on his bed, which made him anxious for more reasons than he would like, but continued to look outside. "It pours and pours, and the sea is angry, and it makes me thank the gods we live on higher ground."
She finally looked at him, a sad look on her face. He stopped eating for a moment wondering just what was going to happen next. He was the worst at reading emotions, and was she going to cry? Panic was well on its way into his brain, and all he could do was freeze with the fork in his mouth.
"Ah, but I'm happy to be away for a little bit." A smile lit her face again, and Kaim sighed a little in relief to have avoided tears. He hated grief, and saw too many men and women cry in the business he was in. No need to bring those unhappy memories up.
Instead he tried, "so are you from…islands?" Islands and Isla. It seemed to fit.
And she knew it fit. "Yes. My mother and father thought it was a joke to name me Isla because we live on islands. So very original."
One thing Kaim had learned about these mortals of this earth was that sarcasm came in many different forms. This one, he hoped, was playful. So he smiled, and luckily she smiled back. "Kaim isn't a name I've heard before. Are your parents just as silly as mine?"
Kaim set the plate on his lap and almost tangled his fork in his hair from lifting his hand up. "Well…I'm from…not around here. I don't remember my parents much. Actually, I don't remember much of anything at all."
She tilted her head, curious. "Like you can't remember your childhood?"
Kaim shrugged. "Nothing. I remember waking up sixty yea-sixteen, I-I mean, years ago?" Kaim dropped his fork. He had to think clearer or he was going to blow his cover. Although, he was sure Isla would just think he was being mischievous if he told her the truth about his unendingness. "Um, doctors said it was amnesia."
There was a small gasp and she looked pitiful. Kaim realized it was actually pity aimed for him. He set the plate on the desk and turned to her fully. "No. I, uh, have had this feeling, though, that my parents are not of this earth. Living," he corrected himself with a wince. "Not alive."
"Yes, but you must have been so small! Isla was leaning in, hands clasped in front of her. "You must have been scared!"
"I wasn't small?" He had never been small in all of his long life. Kaim wasn't exactly sure where her thought process was going. This mortal was particularly hard to understand, even though he wasn't very good at figuring them out at all yet. She didn't have anyone to compare to in difficulty. Kings are easier to figure out! he thought to himself.
"You can't be more than twenty-five!"
Kaim thought back. What was it that the doctors guessed all those years ago? Sixty years was a long time to think back on, but Kaim's mind always remembered what was said in the important memories. The doctors told him he had a curious case of amnesia and his age. "I'm twenty-eight," he said after a moment.
"So, what, you were eleven? Twelve years old back then?" she guessed. "To be in a strange place with no memories as a young boy must have been terrifying!"
Kaim almost laughed. That's what she meant by small! He was never a child, or at least not in this world. But he couldn't remember anything before waking up here. Nothing remained of his past life. So he shrugged and decided to make up a story. "Well, I stayed in Uhra as a helper to the innkeeper until I was old enough to join the army." A little truth. He did stay at the inn until he became a mercenary.
"Ah, a soldier then?" she was leaning back a little away from him. He didn't understand the frown on her face. Maybe she didn't like Uhra?
"I didn't have much of a choice." This was also partially true. The first thing he wanted to do after waking up and seeking a doctor for his memory loss was to lend his hand in something. That just happened to be a war, and unfortunately he was good at it. It also helped that he would never die permanently on the battlefield. "There was no home for me to go to."
There was the pity again, and he decided he did not like that look on her face. "But I'm away from the army now. I did my years and I just want to explore a little."
She smiled at that. "I like traveling, too."
"Oh?"
"Yes. I am from the south, as you know, and I come up to help during the wheat harvest. My aunt is my father's sister, and I knew she was going to need a lot of help this year. Her letters to my parents told of the hard year she was having with her health. I guess she's gotten sick a few too many times."
Kaim was unsure of what to say. As far back as he could remember, he had never gotten sick. Not even a cold. He had learned that it was almost physically impossible for him to catch anything really, though he had almost died from the heat once. He remembered the pounding headache, nausea, and dry mouth that almost made him succumb to the dark. He was lucky to stumble into Oyora. "I've…well. I don't get sick much," he concluded, lamely.
Isla shrugged. "You're a healthy young man. I wouldn't expect you to." She smiled again and stood up. She reached out her hands, motioning to the empty plate, and Kaim lifted it and the silverware to her.
"Thanks."
"No problem! Though you have to come to me and get lunch," she said with a wink.
Kaim felt the blush rise to his face, and looked away. Isla giggled and made for the door. Kaim, remembering what social manners he could, jumped up and opened the door for her. The rain was still coming down, but not in sheets like before. Isla picked up her umbrella, bowed her head towards Kaim with another beautiful smile, and made her way back to the main house. Kaim watched her go, half making sure she made it safely, while the other half wishing she hadn't left.
"What's going on with you, Argonar?" he asked himself before closing the door.
. . .
The rain left as quickly as it arrived, and left the field a muddy mess the next day. It was slow going, and still a little damp in the air, but Kaim had been through worse. He still managed to get what he normally got done in a day, and managed to help out the other mortals too.
He noticed that Isla was a little more relaxed around him, also. They were talking to each other in a nice, comfortable way. It was still about the weather to start, but Kaim was finding new things to chat and comment on.
Like: why she wore a dress even though it would be easier to just wear pants climbing up and down the hill with the food cart. He was all about practicality, and that was the one thing that was not about her. Well, he could probably think of some more.
"Kaim! You can't ask a lady that!" she teased, slapping his arm. Kaim was almost mortified if it wasn't for the playfulness of her tone. "I may only be nineteen, and that may seem just young and foolish to a twenty-eight year old, but I like dresses! And they are easier for me to move around in! See, I'm practical!"
"I guess. Especially since your dresses don't cover your toes and there's less of a chance of tripping."
"That's just because I think my toes are adorable," she said, and winked at him again. Kaim had to promise himself to get over the flush of heat to his face that automatically happened when she did that. Though he had a sneaking suspicion that was the reason why she did it.
And so until the end of the harvest they slowly got to know each other. On the last day of work, Isla came down with the food cart, this time with her aunt in tow. "Oh! Mr. Argonar!"
Kaim set down his sickle and turned to Isla. She was motioning him over. "My aunt would like to speak with you!"
He bowed when he reached the older woman. She shook her head and laughed low and deep. "Oh, there's no need. No need." She gave him a smile. "My sweet niece has told me that you were in the army?"
"Ah, yes. I was."
The old woman nodded. "Well, it's the last day and I'm sure you're preparing to leave and go where ever you need to go, but I have a proposition for you. You see, my husband was supposed to escort Isla back to her home, but it would seem that he has caught whatever bug I had in these last few weeks. Now of course he isn't as sick as I was, but with all of that traveling it would not do him, or that cold, very well to be out in this soon to be dreadful weather.
"I was wondering, and don't worry I'll compensate you dearly for it, if you could please escort Isla back south? I just worry for her safety out in these parts! There's all sorts of monsters and devilry out there, and I'm sure my brother wouldn't take too kindly to her going by herself."
Kaim bowed again, saying, "I accept. And really, you can keep the money."
The older woman patted his lowered head. He rose up to meet her eyes. "No, you'll need it. It's a few weeks journey to where she's from and I would feel awful if you slept outside in the cold for all of it."
Kaim accepted the offer again, resisting the bow that he had to remind himself was usually used for royalty, and, at the end of the day, headed to his room to pack.
. . .
Kaim felt the thrill of being out on the road again. Walking long distances, eating from a campfire, washing up in a stream; but it felt a little different with another person. A companion, he mused to himself. One thing he noticed was that he had to find little places to have privacy. Things like bathing had to be strategically planned so that they didn't bump into each other. Though the planning bit was a little hard to work out.
Isla didn't seem to notice the growing discomfort or the fact that Kaim jumped when she wandered in on whatever he was doing. He thanked whatever godly presence that was looking out for them that she hadn't walked in on him doing anything truly embarrassing. By the fourth day he decided to talk to her about it.
"Isla."
"Mr. Argonar! What would you like for breakfast?" She turned around and Kaim must have had a more serious face on because she tucked her hands behind her back and looked bashful. "Is this about this morning? I swear I didn't see anything!"
That was because I heard you stomping on the branches and I dived into the water so quickly, Kaim thought, though he too couldn't exactly meet her eyes. "Well, we need to…talk about that."
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Isla looked up at Kaim and gave him a smile.
She must like smiling a lot, Kaim observed, but he didn't mind it either. It lifted his mood greatly, despite the lingering embarrassment of almost being caught in the nude.
"How about we don't do any type of bathing until we are both up? That way we can warn each other when we are going to the stream," she suggested.
"Okay, and I think that'll work for any other private matters—" he started, but she interrupted.
"Also! That means no peeking!" She was holding up an accusatory spatula so very close to his nose so suddenly, he almost took a leap back. "I may be old enough to consent to that kind of thing, but I'm not looking for it!"
"I…I would! Not! I would not!" Kaim held up his hands. Could she really think he would be that low? He wasn't some dirty voyeur. He could never see himself committing such an abhorred crime. Kaim suddenly couldn't breathe. Is that what Isla thought of him, really? He was going to have to somehow prove he wouldn't look when she did anything now, and he was having trouble thinking of ways to do it. Of the situations he'd have to force himself into to make sure she knew he was of the highest of honest men. He wracked his mind, his heart racing. Anxiety was closing around his throat—
"I'm kidding!" Isla laughed. Kaim sighed. "Oh, your face!"
"I'm glad to see you so amused." Kaim took the spatula from her hands, and she cried out in protest. "Why don't you go now? It's my turn to cook anyway."
In just half a day they would reach their first village, Kisa, on the edge of the Ipsilon Mountains. From there it would be a few more villages and then they would be at her home on the beach. Kaim wondered if he could survive this ordeal.
. . .
They stayed in Kisa for two days and were off again. The journey did not lead them through the mountains, thankfully, but rather around them. Kaim found that even on the main road there were still beasts to be wary about, especially on this second half of the journey. Just how was that farmer supposed to protect anyone by himself?
Isla answered that question for him over their dinner. "My uncle would have had a caravan, and he's surprisingly good with a rifle! He's made the journey many times and knows exactly where to hit any monsters that came by!"
Kaim knew some tricks. Never leave the fire burning, sleep off the ground if you cannot get the fire's light all the way out, and always relieve yourself close to the campsite. It was a little weird explaining that last one to Isla, but instead of being grossed out by it, she thought it made a lot of sense. "Beasts don't like the marked territory," she had said.
Kaim didn't think he had ever met a girl like Isla. Most of his interactions with women were of married women who wouldn't give him a second look, or at least never acted on anything. Any of the girls more his age, or rather his mortal looking age, would have been scared off by his serious face alone. Not Isla, though. She was always teasing him and telling him to lighten up. She was endlessly energetic; Kaim wondered if that was to a fault, or maybe because she was almost a decade younger than him—more like forty years, he thought with a sigh. It was a weird thing to think about. Physically he was only nine or so years older, but he felt ancient in thought. He had to often push away the little affection he found himself wanting to display because he couldn't think of displaying anything to a nineteen year old. It felt wrong. That and he had never found himself in this kind of position before. He had heard tales of soldiers leaving lovers behind, but he always thought those kinds of emotions could only happen to mortals. Then Isla happened, and he almost felt like a lost puppy ready for adoration. He honestly couldn't think of any other words to describe it. It was such an new feeling, but one that left him with a dark pit in his chest.
He found himself asking why he would need to fall in love with anyone when they were ultimately going to die first? No matter how long they live, they would always grow withered and pass on before him. It left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.
Kaim did find that he valued talking to her. Even when he couldn't form the right words, or got awkward over anything, Isla seemed to brush over it like it was a normal way to behave. However, this didn't help his conflicting thoughts, and sometimes had him avoiding her and her sometimes flirty behavior.
Despite this development, he was learning a lot about how to interact with people. This was the first time he had really made any kind of connection with a mortal, that wasn't formed on a battlefield.
What he wasn't expecting was this fierce force of protectiveness. He was constantly on guard, sword resting on his hip but palm always right above it. Any time she stumbled, he was right at her elbow to steady her. He would take the lead if they had tall grass and part it for her. Most of him pondered why he was consciously doing all of this. He was back and forth on whether his relationship with Isla was helping or hindering his social development. Why make this effort for someone? Was it because he had never traveled with a lady? Did he feel the need to protect her because she wasn't weapon trained? Or was it still her impractical dress and sandal choice of attire? Or is it because every time she smiles and laughs, I'm falling more in love with her? Kaim asked himself. He sighed. Maybe this wasn't love, how would he really know anyway? Love was for people who had time for it, and even if Kaim's was unlimited, he felt that he didn't deserve it.
On the third week of their traveling, with just only a little more than a week left to go, they came across their first monster. It looked like a lion, but was definitely not one. Its blue mane carried itself halfway down its body and seemed to wave all by itself. Kaim wondered if that was just it being frightened by them or if its hair did that all the time? Maybe that's how the monster sensed oncoming prey. Its eyes were a fierce yellow, and they did not dim at all. As it got closer to them—low to the ground, almost a prowling like stalking—Kaim could see that the color of its fur shifted, and if they weren't careful it might be able to camouflage with its surroundings.
It gave off a roar, and Isla squeaked and hid behind him. It wasn't that big, but after Kaim cut it down, Isla made a fuss. She claimed it was the biggest monster she had ever seen and was so very happy that she had her own personal bodyguard. "I swear Mr. Argonar, my uncle never got so close to a monster like this!"
Kaim rolled his eyes. Isla laughed. "Come on. It'll be late afternoon soon, and we'll want to make sure we find a better place than this for the night."
Isla followed close beside him. He didn't think she had ever been this close before, only a finger's length between them. She smelled wonderfully, despite this long stretch between villages and only having a stream to bathe in, and Kaim wondered briefly if she was hiding soaps in her little bag she wound around her shoulder. He was this close to her and could see that she had a tiny scar on her chin that he hadn't noticed before. He almost asked her about it, but heard her gasp.
He wasn't paying attention to the trail ahead of them. Not too far in the distance awaited a larger version of the monster he had just slain. It was three times as big, and its jaw looked like it could easily fit the two of them in at the same time. Kaim jumped when Isla reached for his hand with both of hers. She was griping it very tightly, and when he looked over, he could see just how pale she had gotten. "Don't worry. No sudden movements. Stay behind me." She nodded nervously, and followed his instructions exactly.
Kaim looked around for anything they might do to get away, but it was a pretty flat land around them, the only trees were three kilometers to the left of them. The monster was eyeing them, but not getting any closer just yet. Kaim figured they might be able to run for it, but would they make it all the way to the trees? Would Isla be able to make it running in sandals? She seemed to be following Kaim's eye, and squeezed her hands tighter when she realized where they would be escaping to. "Isla. We're going to run. Take off those sandals—slowly. Slowly. Don't look back, okay? On the count of three." He nodded at her and she jerked her head up and down, clutching her sandals close to her with one hand and the other holding onto his hand. With his free hand on the hilt of his sword and eyes back on the lion monster, he whispered, "one, two, three!"
They caught the lion off guard but it only gave them a second's head start. Kaim could only hear their feet pounding on the earth at first, but the vibration that the monster created let him know that it was catching up to them fast. Kaim pulled Isla along, but when he heard the roar so close, he knew he was going to have to defend. "Get down!" He pushed her ahead of him, and whipped out his sword.
He was too late for the first and second blows, but he was able to deflect the mouth away from him. Kaim could feel the wetness on the front of his shirt, but had no time to assess the damage. He was still on his own two feet and that was just going to have to be enough for now. The monster charged again, and Kaim sliced up to the bone on one of his front legs. The monster cried out, Kaim's ears splitting, and whipped around. The lion was different than the smaller one in that his tail seemed to have some spikes on the end of it. When the monster turned, Kaim wasn't expecting the sharp tail, and yelled out when it tore at his left side.
He knew there wasn't much of him after that, and now he couldn't breathe right. He felt like coughing up liquid and that was never a good sign. He took his blade in two hands and charged at the monster. This would have to be the last strike. With all the energy he could muster, he shoved his sword into the beast's ribs. He had to really push in after the initial contact, but he knew he hit the right spot when the monster fell right down, dead.
Kaim held down on his chest the best he could as he stumbled the last few feet to the woods. The pain was numbing, and his body cold and convulsing, but he knew it was only because he had lost so much blood and his life was giving up. Isla was at his side as soon as he fell down in the soft grass. Tears were running down her cheeks and he knew he must not look that good.
"Isla."
As Kaim felt the stillness in his body succumbing to his wounds, his only regret was that he couldn't spare Isla the sadness of his death. "Don't. I'm…okay," he managed to get out.
"You're not!" Isla said through her tears. She looked panicked. He knew they were too far away from any civilization to get help, and she had no skill in first aid or magic. Kaim coughed, and he was sure blood came out with it with the way Isla's eyes grew. He didn't know they could get any larger, and he almost laughed at the thought. If only he wasn't so tired. "You're dying," she whispered.
Kaim touched her cheek, hand falling just as quickly as it came up. "I'll come back," he weakly said.
Isla looked confused, eyes racing down his mangled body. "I don't think so—I don't understand. Kaim! Please, no, Kaim!" She touched his face and his eyes were drawn to her tears. He barely could notice that she hadn't called him Mr. Argonar. "Don't leave me alone."
He closed his eyes, his temporarily last breath leaving him.
.
When the darkness cleared and his senses burst back into life, Kaim opened his eyes, and shut them again quickly as it was still just a little too bright. He was able to see that the sun was getting closer to the horizon, but it wasn't across it just yet. That was good. This gave them time to set up camp and get dinner going. He would just have to get Isla and—
That's when he heard the crying. He made sure his breathing wasn't heard, and that he lay still before opening one eye. She wasn't facing him, her head was tucked into her hands, but it didn't look like she had moved from her spot next to him. He was out for a good hour, was she really grieving that long? She must not have seen his wounds stitch themselves up. Her crying and shaking made his heart ache. He had the sudden urge to touch her and try to soothe the pain she must have felt. When he shifted an arm, she looked down at him.
The shriek she let out could have made him deaf. "Isla?"
"This isn't happening!" Her eyes were wild, and her face blanched white. Isla scooted away from him as if he were fire, ready to consume her. She pointed with one hand, the other drawing her legs to the side of her. "You! Dead! You died!"
Kaim moved slowly. He could count on one hand how many people he had come back to life in front of. So far this was going exactly like the others had, and soon he wouldn't be surprised if she ran right into the woods. He had to make sure that didn't happen, less another beast wait around the corner ready to strike. He sat up, hands in the air, but didn't make a move towards her. Instead, he just stared with what he hoped was a guilty expression.
Isla didn't put her finger away. She breathed in and out, Kaim heard it come and go in a rhythm that was calming her down. It took her a minute, but she slowly lowered her arm. She didn't look to be wanting to get any closer, and he wasn't sure if it was wise to move in case she bolted.
He sat there with arms raised for a good five minutes.
Finally, "you weren't joking then." Kaim tilted his head, leading her to continue. "You said you'd come back."
He shifted forward, and she scooted back more. Kaim lowered his arms, they were starting to ache, and decided to keep still and quiet. There was an awkward silence. Isla stared straight at him, color starting to come back to her cheeks, but Kaim had to look away after a moment. He was starting to feel guilty. Just when he thought he had made a friend, he had to die and ruin it.
Without hearing a sound, he felt her finger poke at his cheek. He jumped a little, and found that she was so very close to him. Her face was focused and intense, Kaim could smell that beautiful soap she washed with. "Amazing," she whispered.
It started off with a tickle in his belly, then he started to shake a little, and finally let out a choked sound. He laughed and laughed until tears streamed out of his eyes and down his cheeks. "Is this what happens when you die and then magically come back to life? You die again of giggles?"
Isla wasn't smiling, so Kaim wiped away his tears and sat up straight again. "I'm sorry. I thought I was the weird one."
"Weird one?" Isla punched his arm. Kaim rubbed the sore spot, knowing he deserved that hit. "Weird one?" She hit him again harder, and he dodged the third one that came after. "I am most definitely not the weird one!"
"I'm sorry."
Isla crossed her arms. "Let's get going. I don't think I'm ready for your explanation yet."
Isla stood up, stumbling a little. Sitting on the hard ground with legs tucked underneath her made for a wobbly walk. Kaim held out an arm to catch her, and despite her shock and actions towards him, she allowed the small touch. As they crossed deeper into the trees, she took one last look over him. "And please. Change. I'm sure that blood soaked shirt will attract everything in this forest."
Well, she was right about that.