CONTENT WARNING: Panic attacks
Xinyi
The rush of the underground river caressed my ears as I made my way carefully down to its edge. Though the river ran underground, it was anything but sedate, and if I took a careless step, I’d fall in and be carried away. I didn’t know where the river ended, or if it opened back up to the air after disappearing into the cavern wall.
Honestly, I’d rather not know.
Kneeling at the edge, I took out my waterskins and filled each one, carefully sealing the precious water inside. After stowing them back into my pack, I went to check the nets. Each net was a struggle to remove from the water, and by the third empty net, I was resigned to eating mushrooms and lichen again. The fourth net, however, had a large squirming fish trapped in its embrace. Releasing a sigh of relief, I tied a rope around the tail, holding its thrashing body steady. Once it was secure, I tied the rope to my pack and slung the pack over my shoulder.
Climbing back up the path was certainly harder than going down. My foot slipped on a loose stone and one hand managed to catch myself on an outcropping before my chin started an intimate relationship with the ground.
“Ow,” I groaned, straightening, feeling the muscles of my shoulder and arm complaining about the sudden abuse. Shaking my stinging hand, I kept climbing, watching my steps closely. It didn’t take long for the stinging to abate and the muscles to relax.
Even after sealing most of my magic, my natural healing kept working. I couldn’t help my amazement each time my body knit itself back together.
Returning to the deep cave I’d made into a home, I dropped my pack onto my workbench. I stowed the waterskins carefully on their shelf and laid the fish on the stone slab I used to prepare food. Grabbing my knife, I prepared the fish, filleting, removing organs, and carefully taking out the bones. My movements precise and quick, I had the flesh splayed and ready in moments. Taking another stone from its shelf, I rubbed oil on one side and laid one of the fillets on the oil. The other fillets I sprinkled with a bit of salt and wrapped in waterproof leather I used to store foodstuff.
Once I’d stowed the fish on a shelf, I picked up the stone slab with the single fillet, grabbed a few large mushrooms and some dried basil, and went to the fire pit under a makeshift stone stove. I set the stone slab aside and began to nudge the small fire back to life, adding a few logs to feed it. Then I set the stone slab on the heating surface with the mushrooms, crumbling basil over top both them and the fish. As the fish began to sizzle, I returned to my prep area and snagged a tiny lemon from my stash, bringing it over to the cooktop. With a small knife, I chipped away at the lemon peel, sprinkling it onto the fillet. Then I replaced the lemon on the workbench and grabbed a larger knife.
Careful not to split the fillet, I gently flipped the fish with the knife. I rotated the mushrooms, watching the color bloom on their surface.
Once I was sure the fish and the mushrooms were cooked, I retrieved my single wood plate and slid the fillet onto its surface, dropping the mushrooms right beside it. Feeling a slight chill creeping into the cavern, I nudged my log seat closer to the fire and sat, digging into my meal.
Just as I was finishing the meal, a loud crash reached my ears, coming from the back of my cavern home.
Fear clawed at my lungs, strangling my throat, stuttering the beat of my heart. Without hesitation, I dropped my plate and darted to the shelves, grabbing my “getaway” pack and two waterskins.
“Ow…” came a groan from the crash site.
My movements paused and I slowly lowered my pack.
“Shit… how did I fall… wait, what?” The young voice made the fear ebb away a little at a time.
After a moment, I put down the pack and cautiously approached the back of the cave, where my sleeping roll and blankets lay surrounded by the books I’d managed to collect during my time here.
There, rubbing her head, was a young woman with brown hair and riding leathers. From the look of her swelling wrist, she’d likely sprained it when she fell.
Fell… how?
Glancing up to the roof of the cavern, I noticed the once-small crack I’d covered with a barrier was now much larger - but the barrier was still there. How, then, did she fall through it?
“Who - who are you? Where am I?” came her voice, rising in crescendo with each word.
A headache bloomed right between my eyes.
“Please lower your voice,” I murmured with a sigh. “I should be asking who you are, seeing as you just dropped into my bed.”
At my words and gesture, she looked around her and flushed. “W-well… I was sure I was stepping on solid ground! I didn’t see any opening!”
“That… is partly my fault. I have a barrier around this place, to prevent entry and notice… but you just … fell right through it. How? Who are you that you can just go through barriers?” I asked her, folding my arms in my long sleeves and looking down at the human.
“I… fine, I’ll go first. My name is Elisabeth. I’m on the run. Some men… they came to my home and kidnapped me in the night,” she said, pulling her knees under her. “I’m just a girl - I’m human, I don’t have magic, so I don’t know how I got through your barrier. I’m sorry for intruding… but please hide me.”
I pursed my lips as I studied her, thinking things over. It’d been a few decades since I’d had contact with anyone other than what I caught in my nets or traps. Not even that family of wolves came around anymore.
It wouldn’t be that bad to hide a human for a few days, would it?
“I don’t want to be involved in whatever you’re running from,” I told her, my voice quiet as I chose my words, “but I will allow you to stay here for a few days. You can call me Xinyi. My barrier should hide your presence and scent from whatever is chasing you… but your footprints up above, I can do nothing about…”
“I-I’m sorry…” she said, looking down into her lap. “I … I didn’t mean to get anyone involved…”
I sighed and slowly approached her, crouching down in front of her. “Who’s chasing you? Why?”
She flushed and bit her lip, tears starting to form in her eyes. “T-the… the Knights... I heard them talking last night… the Emperor… he wants to force me to marry him… to make my mom cooperate with him…”
My jaw clenched the more I heard. I stood suddenly and grabbed a blanket, draping it around her shoulders. I couched in front of her again, one hand on her shoulder in quiet comfort. “No one should ever be forced to marry someone they don’t love. I don’t care the reason.”
Her tears fell then as she clutched the blanket around her shoulders. She rubbed the heel of one hand against her eyes and sniffed loudly, her frame starting to shake and shudder.
“Lay down. Get some rest. You can stay here for a few days, then we’ll figure out how to get you back to your family,” I said, gesturing to the bedroll.
“W-what about you?”
“I don’t need to sleep often,” I told her with a smile, “I usually spend my nights reading, anyway. Now rest.”
As I stood again, she finally nodded and laid down. I knew it wasn’t the most comfortable bed for humans, but she wouldn’t be here long. She could deal with it for a few days.
Turning on my heel, I left the small cave and headed towards the stove. Muttering about unexpected guests, I cleaned up the remnants of my spilled meal, scrapping it into the compost bin.
With a sigh, I set the plate down on the workbench and picked up the scrub brush. Pulling a waterskin from the shelf and a tin bucket from below the bench, I poured a bit of water over the plate, then scrubbed, taking care not to damage the wood. I hated making plates, and this one was only a few years old.
But it was already showing a bit of age.
Muttering to myself, I finished the plate and dried it, setting it back in its place on the shelf. That done, I grabbed a waterskin and the book I was on and sat beside the fire. The chill of the cave settled into my back as I read, but I stubbornly ignored it. All my blankets were in the other room - and there was a young woman in there.
A human.
They woke up so easily, scared so easily.
If it found me while she was here-
Cold sweat began to trickle down my back even as I squashed the horrible thought, swallowing around the lump in my throat. The lump refused to go away, so I grabbed the waterskin beside me and gulped down cold water. Coughing, I spit up a little of the water, bending over my knees and convulsing. The waterskin clattered to the floor, leaking out a bit of its contents. Taking a gasping breath, I shut my eyes and counted backwards, slow, from ten. When that didn’t work, I breathed in through my nose, held it for a few seconds, out through pursed lips, repeating a few times, trying to repress the shudders that worked their way up my body.
Talons raked across my back-
No, it’s not here!
Hot breath ghosted over my ears-
I’m safe!
White fangs snapped at my neck-
I escaped!
“E-excuse me?” came a quiet voice from behind me.
I stood, whirling, knocking the book from my lap and causing it to skid too close to the fire.
“Y-your book!”
Elisabeth dove for the book before it could catch, rescuing it from the hungry flames. She dusted the cover off and smiled, looking it over. “It looks fine…” she said as she turned and handed it up to me. “I’m glad.”
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