No Rest for the Weary

As Lucas ran, the tension that was in Eva's body slowly melted away. He knew she had fallen asleep as soon as her head fell against his chest.

'The herbs here seem to be stronger. I should be more careful next time.'

Her falling asleep was perfect for their situation right now. It allowed him to cover more distance without worrying about her getting motion sickness. He secured her tightly against him with his arms and picked up the pace a little.

They had spent too much time near the dead beast. The animals were becoming more active as he ran farther away. Beast blood was like an addictive drug to them.

In fact, the main reason beasts became so powerful was because they constantly needed to protect themselves. Normally it helped cull the numbers of beast pests, but the ones that you saw in the forest were a problem because they were so powerful.

An elder had taught the younger elves, who were learning how to hunt for the first time, about them.

'Beasts are a curse that the world brought upon the land to destroy those that take from it.'

At the time Lucas had thought that was silly, but after killing his first few beasts he could only explain the power they held as something born out of the world. Perhaps that is why elves tended to live closely with nature, not changing much of the landscape of the world.

This type of life made it easier to hide from humans, but also left their villages excluded from trade and commerce. That is why money was not used often in those villages and people mostly bartered with goods.

In fact, he could say that he and Eva were fortunate that they were in an area where there were less beast attacks. It was probably because there were fewer settlements.

However, it was still strange to him they had come across two beasts when Lucas was being this careful. Was something attracting them? Lucas tried to remember if there was anything that could attract beasts from his survival lessons.

He clenched his teeth when he realized that he could not remember anything. His lessons had focused on avoiding and killing beasts, not attracting them.

He would probably need to ask those that purposefully fought beasts as a job if he wanted to solve this mystery. If anyone knew anything, it would probably be adventurers.

However, that was a job for humans. Or at least that is what the elder had said at the time. Seeing outsiders in his village was rare, so he was sure it was just that the elder did not want to encourage them to leave.

He hoped that Alva and his family did not receive backlash from the village because he left. As his thoughts moved to Alva, Lucas became the slightest bit depressed.

'Feeling homesick is normal after leaving home,' he tried to tell himself. It was not that he wanted to go home. He would not change his actions even if time were to rewind itself.

It was because the person in his arms was that precious to him. If he had not helped her, he was sure that she would no longer be in this world. So to feel a little bit of depression in exchange was ok with him.

The light of the day eventually faded and darkness spread across the fortress. Lucas' eyes automatically adjusted to the light level.

He had probably traversed enough distance to be safe from the chaos that would ensue after attacking the beast, but he wanted to make sure that Eva was safe.

At some point she would need to face beasts and be able to win. Lucas knew that fighting was inevitable for her, but it didn't have to be today or now.

He could slowly teach her how to become strong. Even if it meant that she would one day leave him, if he could instill her with the skills she needed to survive, he could be satisfied.

He could, couldn't he? It was no use trying to convince himself. Life happened regardless of what he did. Despite being so cautious and scouting their campsites, two beasts had managed to get close enough to be a danger to her.

If anything he wished he could give her his years of experience and survival training. He was young in age for an elf, but it was still a lifetime of experience to a human. Having a whole lifetime of experience would surely be beneficial.

Since he did not know of a way that would allow him to give his memories to her, all he could was guide her down the path. Still it was painful thinking of ways to exploit her weaknesses.

His heart ached each time. He would even give her his sanity if it meant she could live a full and happy life. This was the least he could do.

Lucas found a campsite a little after dawn. From the time they left and all throughout the night, he had not once put her down. He was afraid this would be the last time he would be allowed to hold her.

The look on her face when she looked like she would refuse him scared him. There was an unnatural sadness behind her eyes that he had not seen before.

Did she hate him for not protecting her?

Instead of setting her down he sat against a tree with her in his lap. The medicine he gave her must have been more potent than he realized. What would she say if she woke up like this?

Would she demand he put her down? She trusted him to get her to safety and he was betraying that trust. Perhaps if his heart ached a portion less, he could put her down.

Still the image of the wolf pinning her down crossed his mind and he could not release her. At some point his pained thoughts slowed and the exhaustion of two nights with no rest caught up with him.

******

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