XOTӔL:

My eyes snap open. The lantern from the humans has burnt out but I can still see clearly.  The humans are asleep. The beast’s ears prick up as I raise myself onto my feet. He follows suite, stretching out his back legs and gingerly stepping over his master to join me as I make my way out of the mine, making not a sound. Standing outside in the cool air I check my satchel, I need chamomile and mandrake root. I focus my energy and smell the air for the familiar scents. Yes. They’re both growing nearby. I head toward the mandrake root first keeping my ears open and smelling for the trackers. The beast doesn’t follow me into the wood. Good, he would too easily give away my position. I silently step over logs and around rocks. I’m focused on finding the root quickly so I can gather the chamomile and get back to the mine before the humans wake up or the trackers find us. I’m irritated at this mess. I feel in my satchel for the key and wrap my hand around it. I have to find the garden. She is waiting.

There, I spot the purple bell-shaped flowers in a clearing. They’re still closed, but I know them. I can smell them. I quickly loosen the earth around the plant and pull them out of the soil, flowers and root, both are useful. I tuck them safely into my satchel and stand up, searching the scents of the wood for the chamomile. I pick up the scent and follow it about a hundred meters away before I spot the tiny daisy like flowers. I take my time selecting the fullest blooms and as I’m slipping them into my bag I hear a rustle to the west, then the scent hits me. It’s the human, Dante. If I can smell him, so can they. I hurriedly close my bag and head toward him location. Stupid human.

Dante:

I wake up Suddenly. Something's not right, Cerberus isn't at my feet and the Dӕmons missing. Marcus and Chloe are still asleep huddled together near the wall. My body is stiff and sore after the adventures from the previous day, it takes a few extra seconds to stretch out and stand up. I listen intently but don't hear anything other than the sound of Marcus and Chloe's soft breathing. There’s no light, the lantern burnt out and it must still be dark out. Taking a deep breath, I flick open my lighter and head toward the entrance of the mine, grabbing another lantern and lighting it, I hold it in front of me and ignore the shadows cast by the eerie glow. As I emerge from the mine I notice there’s no moonlight, it’s too dark but my ears pick up the sound of Cerberus paws over the dried ground. Soon I feel his nose bump against my hand and can barely see him even with the lantern light. He’s always blended in with the darkness.

I strain my ears and hold the lantern up to see if I can find the Dӕmon by sight or sound, no luck. I set a slow pace, heading away from the mine, keeping my senses on alert, a few meters from the cabin I see an old hunting perch, this looks like it would be a good vantage point in the daytime to check our surroundings. I should it do a rough scout now while I’m here. Leaving the lantern at the base, as the climb will need both my hands, I make my way up to the first landing. Its just a basic hunting perch. There’s some rope left up here and a layer of dew. It’ll work. I position myself at the edge and sit listening for sounds of the wood. Its eerily quiet, No insects, no birds, no rustling underfoot. I must have been lost in my thoughts because I see light creeping up over the horizon. I move to start my climb back down when I see a shape taking form behind the tree. I lean forward a little and squint to make out the shape, is it her?

 XOTӔL:

I peer through the tree’s and see him sitting atop a perch of some sort. He is in full view of the wood, and his scent is heavy on the air. I move quickly making my way toward him, prepared to give him a stern lecture on the importance of not being an idiot. As I clear the tree line I see his eyes focus toward me, he leans forward and then he’s falling, a startled yelp pierces the quiet wood right before a soft thud accompanied by the shattering of glass.

“Go get the others” I command Cerberus. Once he darts into the tree’s I rush to Dante. He’s awake but his eyes are closed, squeezed shut. A piece of glass is sticking out of his thigh.

As I’m examining him and feeling for other injuries the large male and female come crashing through the brush, following Cerberus. Marcus assesses the situation with a worried expression on his face while Chloe, is staring at Dante, watching his blood drip off the edge of the shard.

“I can heal him.”

Marcus looks at me. “Pardon me?”

“I can heal him.” I repeat.

Chloe looks at me. “How? How can you possibly heal him? You can’t even heal yourself!” She points at the cut on my leg from the arrow.

“This is different,” I gesture at my thigh, “it’s been dipped in death.”

“Dipped in death…” Chloe trails off, staring at me as if I’m something vile and grotesque.

“I will heal him. I need a place to do it. I can hide us if you find me someplace to do it away from here, our location has been compromised by this idiot.” I gesture toward Dante. “I don’t need a big space but we have to go quick…”

“There’s a cabin” Marcus interrupts “maybe an hour hike away.

Chloe is still staring daggers at me. I do not have time for these petulant humans.

“Take me.” It is not a request.

Marcus and Chloe carry Dante on a makeshift gurney, Cerberus trots next to us, alert and protective, not straying too far from Dante. The hike is not difficult for me, my small feet and long legs make it particularly easy to step over debris and place my feet exactly where I want them. The humans look so clunky, stomping about, shuffling feet and grunting.

The cabin is small, with a rough wooden exterior and porch that has seen better days. I smell the air, no sign of their scent. I take a vision of the cabin, replace it with a bog, and send it out in a 125-meter radius. Anyone who comes with that distance will see only the bog.

“What the fuck!” Marcus nearly drops Dante. I forgot about them… I lift the vision from my 3 human companions.

“I don’t like her,” Chloe says weakly “I hope she can fix Dante though.”

The way the female states the smaller males name causes a spark of outrage in my gut. What is this feeling?

Dante:

Searing pain then blackness. I float in and out of consciousness. I feel like I’m floating, am I being carried? Blackness envelops me again.

 XOTӔL:

Dante, is laying on the table. I can feel the heat coming off of him from across the cabin. And the smell, sickly. Like copper. I can taste his blood on the air from his wound. I have to heal him; his companions are outside the door waiting for us to emerge. I told them already the trackers won’t find us through my visual manipulation spell. The beast is sitting in front of the door. He’s staring at me. “I will heal your master, calm down.” He lays down, with his head on his paws, but doesn’t look away from me.

I rummage around inside my pouch for herbs and my vial of healing water and begin to work. Using a stone mortar and pestle, I begin to grind chamomile, mandrake root, althea officinalis, Balkan peony with a little water from the Edipsos spring. I hear a low groan and turn to Dante; His eyes are trying to open. He’s pale and sweating. I need to calm him down quickly, perhaps paralysis? I can inject venom into his blood stream and partially numb his arms and legs. Yes. I bend over him, and gently feel around his neck for his pulse. There’s a small hourglass pendant around his neck, I move it to the opposite side. He is hot to the touch. Much hotter than a human should be. I press my teeth against his artery and feel my fangs pierce his skin.

Dante:

Blackness fades to warm light. My head is throbbing. My thigh feels like it has been torn in half. My feet are numb. As the room comes into focus more clearly, I can make out her figure against my side. I wince as she pulls her lips away from my neck, her saliva like ice against the rhythmic thump of my pulse.

"Has the numbing started?" she inquires, her lips brushing my ear.

"Just barely," I growled lowly "its spreading fast."

I watch as she crosses the small cabin, her long legs pale as the moon, except for the angry red line across her right thigh where the arrow has grazed her. It doesn’t seem to be healing. I admire the curve of her rounded hips and butt, her full breast and narrow shoulders before meeting her gaze. I’m still taken aback at her eyes, shaped like a cat, surrounded with a fringe of thick lashes and a light violet iris.

"The venom will dull all sensation in your extremities, but you'll retain feeling in your core." She picked up a small clear bottle half full of a murky amber liquid, dipped her long finger into the jar and looked pointedly at me as she flicked out her tongue.
I felt the stirring immediately. Deeper. Stronger than before. My eyes left hers and focused instead on her long slender finger poised in front of her plump red lips. Her pale pink tongue, longer than a humans, slipped out from between her lips and wrapped around her finger. I continued watching in awe as her tongue coiled around her finger. I would have freely given my own life if first I could experience the same sensation on my throbbing erection.

XOTӔL:

He is looking at me with something in his eyes. Pain? Lust? A mixture of both I would wager. He is rather attractive for a human. Small and stocky. But his eyes have an almond shape, and his black hair is cut short. His skin is smooth, a light tan color. His jaw is strong and his nose angular.

I taste the mixture I made. It’s ready. I make my way back to him holding the jar in one hand and murmuring a healing spell over the mixture, as well as over his wound. I need to extract the glass from his thigh. I place the mixture on the table next to him as I lean over to examine the wound. His hand twitches. “I really can’t move, can I?” He asks.

“No” I reply “Your limbs will be paralyzed for about an hour your time.” I use my nails and carefully cut away cloth from his pants, avoiding cutting his skin.

“This would freak me out if I wasn’t so shocked” he states

“Shut up” I command as I examine the wound more closely, there’s cloth and debris in it. “I have to cleanse the wound first, good thing you’re numb or it would burn.” I carefully grab the exposed glad shard with one hand, bracing his thigh with the other. I push energy through the glass into his wound, and pull it out swiftly. Blood is pouring out. I place my hand over the wound and feel for impurities, drawing them out into my hand. Small specks of glass, dirt, rocks, the eggs of a centipede gather into a lump in my hand, I toss them away on the floor. Once more, I attempt to cleanse the wound, seeing the orange and red energy filling the crevice as the blood is temporarily stopped. I push clean healing energy, with a light green aura into the wound, and with my other hand I grab the jar. I use my hand to smear the mixture into the wound, pushing it deep into the cut and adding healing energy along with the herbs to reduce inflammation, pain and risk of scar.

“I don’t want to be the one to tell you how to do your thing, but isn’t using your hands to smear that crud on me counteractive to cleaning the wound?” Dante inquires.

“No, my hands are not like yours, they do not breed germs nor foster growth of bacteria. My hands are cleaner than anything in this world of yours.”

“Right….” Dante states, looking unconvinced.

I finish packing the wound with the mixture and pull out a small roll of glittering cloth from my satchel. I wrap his thigh tenderly and use magick to seal the end so it won’t come off.

“This wrap will adhere to your skin over the next day or so and then absorb into your body. It won’t allow contaminants to enter your wound, the protective barrier it provides will only last about a week. After that your thigh will be susceptible to injury again.” I explain. Dante is looking at me again, his eyes staring at my lips as I speak. “Rest” I command, and wave my hand over his eyes. They fall shut and his breathing and heart rate slowdown. I don’t like to magick humans, but I need to dress my own wound and wrap it and I don’t want him staring at me while I work.

I add saffron to the mixture I made for Dante, and then ingest some. It should help with the pain. I must get back to the otherworld, or find a Goddess to fully heal this wound. “Who dips arrows in death?” I ask aloud, Cerberus looks up at me from his place by the door. “You know you’re named for a hell hound?” I ask him. He doesn’t reply.

When my wound is dressed and I’ve magicked my clothing back together to hide to my skin, I take stock of my herbs and Edipsos water, I’m running low.

Marcus and Chloe’s voices float over me from outside. The light is starting to fade. I approach the door and pull it open.

“He’s resting, but his wound is dressed and it will heal before noon tomorrow.”

“Thank God” Chole exclaims and rushes past me into the cabin. I wince at the outburst.

“It’s getting dark. Should we stay here?” Marcus asks, looking toward the horizon and the setting sun.

“I will make a fire in the cabin and we can stay here until morning. How awful it must be to not see in the dark with your primitive eyes.” I throw at them. These humans are annoying and I need to find the gate to the garden. I don’t want to stay and babysit the humans but they have my scent all over them now from being in close approximation, and the trackers could find them, and then find me if I let them out of my sight.