Cassia felt as if her body was frozen to the ground. Her mind drifted in a limbo state and the girl tried desperately to wake up. She had never experienced this amount of pain before and every fiber in her body hurt. Cassia attempted to scream at the top of her lungs, as loud as she could, but she found her voice wouldn't work. An unimaginable pain swept through Cassia she felt as if she was being burned
from the inside out. The girl finally found her voice
and as her eyes opened she screamed.
She quickly closed them as
she couldn't see anything, it was unfathomabley black and she wondered if she was struck blind. The pain slowly dissipated and her eyes fluttered open again to see two emerald orbs of light. At first Cassia felt fear grip her at what she was seeing but this quickly faded.
The Donestre is here, but, where am I? the girl asked herself as she looked around. It appeared as if she was in the mouth of a large cave. The ground was hard and
lumpy beneath her and she tried to move upright. Cassia nearly passed out from her attempt and fell back down with a whoosh of breath.
"You are in pain, stay," the Donestre said. His voice was one that offered no negotiations on the subject. Cassia turned her head to look at him and saw that there was still chains attached to his arms, legs, and neck.
I wonder how he tore off the rest of the chains, Cassia pondered as she scanned the cave.
"Everyone must be worried about me. How long have I been here?" Cassia asked. The full moon was out and she was just beginning to notice what the things underneath her were. There were hundreds of skeletons scattered littered about inside of the cave. She shivered at the thought of the bones being human remains.
"Days," he simply replied. She bolted up and then landed back on the ground as her head swam with blinking dots.
"Days? Maui is going to kill me! The whole village is probably searching for me, I have to get back, I have to," Cassia stopped in mid-sentence. She felt a hand on her chest pushing her back down as her vision slowly cleared. The Donestre had a stubborn look on his lion face and she stared back at him in surprise.
"You must stay," he growled. She glared at him and grabbed his hand to push it away.
"Hey you, don't tell me what to do! I can take care of myself, I need to get back home!" Cassia exclaimed. She couldn't imagine how Maui was
handling not knowing what happened to her. The girl snapped out of her thoughts as she felt her hand being easily pried off of the Donestre's.
"You are a weak human, you'd be easy prey for my kind or any other animal," he stated. It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her by his comment. She dropped her head as his words slowly sunk in.
He's right, I am weak. I can't even sit up, the girl admitted to herself.
Cassia thought that if she could ignore the pain she was feeling it would go away. This strategy worked when she was performing her exercises with Maui but she had passed her limit. Cassia had heard stories of what happened when Maji went past their limit using magic. She'd never experienced it herself until this moment.
"Alright, I won't fight you, I'll stay here. Now, can you please take your hand off of me?" she asked. The girl breathed an exasperated sigh as she waited for the Donestre's response. He glanced down and hesitated for a moment before he removed his hand. The Donestre gave her a curious look as he leaned in closer. Curling his lips to show her his fangs he seemed to watch for her reaction. Cassia could see the pointed, sharp edges of his teeth and felt him moving closer.
"Don't you fear me?" he questioned her. His face was mere inches from hers and she was even more mesmerized by his eyes. There was something so sad, confused, and lonely about their depths. She felt like she could swim in them forever and never find out who this creature really was.
"No, not really. I mean, it's kinda creepy you have bones everywhere but I don't know... I don't feel that scared of you. Are you afraid of me?"
"Why would I fear a human? My kind eats humans," the Donestre answered indignantly. He snarled but Cassia didn't flinch at his display of anger. He seemed to be even more offended by her not reacting to his intimidation. She smiled and this threw him off guard. The Donestre leaned away from her at the sight of her smile.
"I am not just a
human, I am a Maji. And, I'm quite gifted in magic, as you noticed. It's only Majis who have magic inside of them, and most people are scared of our red eyes," she stated. She continued to smile as the Donestre eased backwards. Cassia enjoyed finding someone who wasn't a Maji that didn't look at her with fear. She didn't know if the Donestre felt the same way because it was impossible to read him.
Her focus went to the heavy chains attached to the cuffs. Cassia wanted desperately to break them but she couldn't risk what would happen afterwards. She heard the metal clink and scrape against the ground as he swiftly stood. She saw that when he stood he only wore a tattered animal skin over his hips. The girl gave his body a quick glance and saw that his wounds were completely healed. The longer she looked at him the younger he appeared with his gangly body. Everything about him seemed to be out of proportion as she studied him.
"I hope you don't mind me asking this but, um... how old are you?" Cassia questioned him. There was a long silence as the Donestre seemed to be lost in thought. His gaze wasn't focused as he looked away from Cassia. She was afraid that he was ignoring her when he broke the silence.
"I am ten years old," he replied. Cassia's eyes widened in shock as she heard his age.
He's only two years older than me! she thought to herself. The girl realized that her mouth had fallen open from his answer and promptly snapped it shut.
"You are so young, where are your parents?"
"Parents?" the Donestre said with a blank stare.
"Yeah, you know, your mom and dad. They'd be the adult Donestres who raised you. I'd think that they'd be with you," Cassia explained. The Donestre had a confused look on his face but it disappeared.
"My dam and sire? They left me. Donestre do not need their dam or sire to hunt. We can feed ourselves at a younger age than your kind," he replied. Cassia couldn't understand why any parents would purposely leave their offspring. Opening her mouth Cassia prepared to ask another question and quickly stopped herself.
That has to be really hard to not have parents and have them just... abandon you. Did they leave him for another reason than him being able to take care of himself? Cassia wondered to herself. There was a silence that drifted between them as she looked at the Donestre for any emotions. She couldn't find any as his eyes weren't focused on her but pointed to the entrance of the cave.
"I did not see any humans with you. Where are your parents?" the Donestre said the last word awkwardly. Cassia was surprised that the Donestre was now questioning her. He turned his head to focus his attention back on Cassia. The girl dropped her head to avoid his penetrating gaze. She didn't like it when even Maui brought up her parents, let alone this creature she just met. Cassia balled her hands into fists as she tried to calm herself but it wasn't working. Feeling his eyes boring into her she looked up at him, her eyes dancing with fire.
"I don't want to talk about it!", the words suprised Cassia as they came out of her mouth. The Donestre seemed equally taken aback by the girl's hostile answer and took a step away from her. She wanted to apologize for her outburst but he was moving away from her. Cassia could see he was unsure how to react and turned his back to her. The girl continued to stare at him as she tried to figure out how to explain her reaction. Yet, Cassia didn't feel prepared to talk about her parents and found herself speechless. She watched as he swiftly turned towards her and got in the position of a resting cat. The Donestre's hands were out in front of him and she could see that his legs were tucked underneath.
"Sleep," he uttered. Cassia gave him a peculiar look as she wondered what he meant. As he regarded her with wide eyes she realized that he was telling her to go to sleep. The girl bristled at him commanding her to do something and thought about arguing with him. Cassia decided to let him win this time as her eyelids fluttered closed.
"I'm going to sleep because I'm tired, not because you told me to..." Cassia let him know with a yawn. Rolling over on her side she hugged her arms to her body as she tried to get comfortable. She could hear precipitation dripping occasionally as it echoed within the cave. As the girl laid there on the damp floor she heard the Donestre's voice.
"If you reconsider speaking about it I will listen," he spoke softly. She smiled at this and fell asleep.[/quote]
Hi Sarah ...... I made a few changes in the bold .... The last bold should be there to show her shouting..... I hope you can use the suggestions. Your choice to use or lose hon. I like how your story is shaping up. I have read this one a few times now. I find I am quite enjoying it. Keep up the great work.
Mysty
Help us get better hosting = make your donation today!
