How much did a few blades need to be sharpened when we haven’t used it since killing the vampires? My eyes darted around the cave to see where he hid the decapitated heads he brought with us. I still didn’t understand it, but it wasn’t hurting anyone so I continued to ignore it.
I wonder how long it took before it started to stink…
Grind. Grind. Grind. The sound made my head twitch, reminding me of the dark room they kept me in. I couldn’t see anything. I was forced to hear whatever was around me, the sound of screams, the sound of torture…
“Vik!”
He didn’t answer.
“Dammit, Vik!”
This time he growled but I was ready for him. I quickly turned around and spat exactly what was on my mind. “I get it we were tortured but you can't let it change you! Snap out of it!”
He bolted upright, gripping his blade in his right hand. His posture was relaxed but his voice was anything but. There was a hidden menace beneath the calm. “I was a doctor and my hands are covered in the blood of those I failed to save.”
He held both hands up and began to look at them front and back, front and back.
“But now I know their true purpose is to take life, not to save it. Like I told you before, Vik isn’t here anymore.” He stared at me for a few moments through his goggles, then took a deep breath, turning his face in the direction of where he kept the bag of heads.
“I am the reaper. Your friend died in that dungeon and I was reborn into what I was always meant to be. An executioner.”
A chill, not from the snow, swept through me.
The beautiful snow remnants slowly began to make their way inside of the cave behind me. I shivered but didn’t take my eyes off Vik who stood there motionless, his hand still gripped to his blade as if it had become a part of him—an extension of his limb.
Finally, Vik moved to a pile of wood in the corner and added more to our dying fire. He sat with his back against the far wall, facing me and the entrance. If he wanted to be alone, fine. I would leave him alone to whatever madness that was taking over him.
I grimly went back to our little cot area and laid down, facing away from him, determined to have my own alone time too.
It was stupid really, since we both shared one cave and were only a few feet away from each other. But the stupidity of the situation refused to get through both our hard heads.
I dozed off despite how hard I tried to fight it. The only reason I knew I did was because I was awakened by the sound of birds chirping outside and the sun’s rays peeking through the entrance.
Had an entire night truly gone by that fast? I moved into a sitting position and stretched, hearing some of my bones pop.
If I had to choose between a stone floor and the flat beds we had back home, I'd still choose my old bed.
I looked over my shoulder to see those damn goggles staring at me.
“Good morning,” I said as an olive branch for whatever happened between us last night.
He nodded in response and got to his feet. “It’s time to move.”
“Okay.”
Vik grabbed his bag of heads and tied it around his torso like a backpack, then placed his short blade into his pocket and grabbed his machete with his other hand.
I made sure to pat myself down, noting where my blades were and followed behind him. The moment we exited the cave, a blast of icy air hit us and chapped my lips and face almost instantly.
I braced myself for the walk that was coming. I was glad that Vik remembered to tell me to grab thatperra’s boots before we escaped. I didn’t know how his toes were able to handle this extreme weather.
Maybe he couldn’t feel his toes anymore…
I kept it in the back of my mind and told myself to check up on it the next time we stopped.
Without warning, a loud noise was coming toward us at a fast pace. The crunching of branches and thuds that hit the ground made my heart race as I pulled out my knife and got into a defensive position. Vik did the same with his machete in hand.
Snow showered on all sides as a beast camouflage behind it grunted and growled. When it was a few feet away, Vik pushed me behind him before handing me his short knife. I didn’t know how good I was with double wielding but if Vik believed in me, so did I.
