By nightfall, I was jumping up and down again with my brothers, broken bones healed, though the event made me grow a distaste for butterflies.
As I basked in the water, a crack claimed my attention, a dried branch split with a cry, and my attention moved towards the river bank where I spotted the damned woman.
Our eyes met, and I stopped swimming, frowning at the human. Why was it that in a hundred and fifty-six years this district remained uninhabited, but when I arrive, a demon lurks about in my business? She maintained her position on the bank, a few steps away from the water and glanced at me, not shifting. A territorial battle?
Fine, you want to play this game, let us start. I faked not noticing her at all, and if I did, her presence did not bother me one bit. I faked feeling more relaxed and changed into a few swimming styles, dived a dozen times and started floating on my back, revealing my silhouette completely to the woman.
At the sight of me, all of me, another twig snapped. And another. When I looked in her direction, I saw her hopping into the forest towards the safety of the treeline.
That’s what you get for spying, beast.
“I will need to come out eventually,” I announced towards the treeline where I knew she remained hidden. The wounds healed a few minutes after she disappeared, but I enjoyed dragging out the swim. I felt her behind the trees, waiting for the opportune moment.
“I am not leaving,” her tiny voice replied, barely audible from behind the branches.
“Fine with me,” I shrugged and swam back towards the river bank, embracing my nakedness.
I walked slowly, allowing the sun to dry my skin before getting into the treeline where I sensed she lingered.
“Oh my God! Are you crazy?” I heard her squeak, her eyes on me for an instant then backing away to hide behind a thick tree, knife gripped tightly in hand.
“I fail to see the problem,” I replied, standing close to her.
“Get dressed, nobody wants to see that!” the woman’s voice protested. Yet her gaze lingered a while longer than necessary. I couldn’t help a proud smile as I replied.
“I can assure you, there are many females willing to see this, some have.”
“Please put on your clothes?” she grimaced with embarrassment.
“Ah... politeness. I can respond to it better than to your threats,” I chuckled, more to my benefit than hers.
She waited for a while, then peeked from her safe zone behind the tree and backed away as soon as her eyes met me.
“You are still naked!”
“I assume my clothes were the ones that attracted your attention, you must know they are in the branches.” Was she playing a game or did this human possess less intelligence than I’d initially suspected?
“Go get them,” she answered in a breathless tone.
“And leave my back unprotected to the one who stabbed me? Not a chance,” I huffed. I did not trust her and had to get rid of her at the closest opportunity. I could not have a human lurking about, interfering with the energy or accidentally encountering one of the faeries. From the reports I’d received, she always stayed in the southern part of the district and never crossed the river, preferring to keep close to her home. This must have been the farthest she’d gotten to our area, and I suspected it was in search of me.
“I don’t plan to stab you again.” Her voice lingered. “I just…”
No answer came. “You just…?” I pushed.
“I just want to protect myself in case you try to hurt me again,” the voice added, almost broken. Hurt her? Is that what she thought? “I have no intention of harming you or any other female,” I replied, more by instinct than thought.
How did she dare accuse me of such things?
She did not answer, but I felt her exhaling in relief.
“As a sign of peace between us, I will climb the tree and retrieve my clothes,” I announced, “as long as you make a promise too.”
“What promise?”
“Promise not to stab me again while I am vulnerable and naked, climbing a tree.”
She chuckled a bit. “I promise,” the voice replied, sweeter this time. The smile on her lips made me forget the world for a mere second until it disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived.
