CHAPTER 22: FATE MEETS ZEK

Fate's eyes flew open, he must have been asleep for some time. The cave was even darker and V was still nowhere to be found. He sighed and sat upright, he was hungry. Well, it wasn't like he was full before but that nagging feeling in his stomach was back. It felt like his stomach was being eaten from the inside out.

"Where did she go?" He murmured in the night. His eyes widened. "Could it be that she left me here?" He paused and looked around.

"No," he said as he tried to console himself. "Her armor is still here, there is no way she would leave without it." He chuckled dryly.

She can easily replace it! His thought yelled.

"Shut up!" He screamed. "She is coming back, okay? She said so herself."

He folded himself and grabbed his legs but he could not help but think she was taking a little too long to get here. If she left without him, he did not want to imagine what would happen to him but it made no sense that she would rescue him and then leave him.

"Enough with the negative thoughts, okay?" He mumbled and folded some more, bending himself so his knees covered his ears. Of course, it didn't shut out the thoughts but he couldn't think of anything else he could do.

He wanted to go look for her but he could barely stand, also there were the creatures of the night she had mentioned, he would not stand a chance. He would only give them an endless meal.

He sighed, his only choice was to wait, he hated it. He hated waiting. That was all he had done in the past years, wait. Waiting never brought any good out of it.

Fate heard a shuffle in the grass and he raised his head. A huge smile appeared on his face. "V," he cried, but it was not V.

Fate's face fell and he struggled to his feet, using the wall to support his movement. "How did it get in here?" He whispered.

It was just a wild animal however, that did not make his case any better. He was weak and did not know the first thing about fighting. Also, there was nothing he could use to protect himself.

Her armor was far away and even if he could get his hands on it, he doubted he would be able to use it. There was no strength in his hands.

If the animal attacked him and left that was a good scenario but if it decided to drag him out of the cave, he was going to be in big trouble.

Monkey nuts! He cussed.

The animal stepped further into the cave, careful of its surroundings as it eyed Fate who was backed against the wall. Fate was not sure what animal it was, he had never seen anyone like it in his life. It certainly was not the deer or buffalo the villagers usually hunt. It looked like a cat but it was at least twenty times bigger.

He felt the wall up with his fingers, he did not know what he was looking for but he knew if he found it, he would know. He kept his eyes on the animal, unsure if it could see him as clearly as he could see it.

It was easy to assume it could see him as the animal refused to take its eyes off him and they continued to make eye contact. He could do nothing but watch as the animal continued to approach him.

A flash of pain coursed through him as the animal bit into his leg. He didn't scream, if guards were outside he would be leading them right to this place. He bit the inside of his cheeks to prevent himself from screaming out loud.

Fate was at a loss of what to do and his first instinct was to smack the animal. It was a pathetic attempt and he was sure it caused the creature no pain. His action only made the animal drag him from the wall.

He landed with a loud sound as his head made contact with the ground. The wild animal still had a grip on his calf and he sank his teeth further into it. Fate felt his vision blurred as his bones were crushed.

Fate bit further into his cheeks and he could taste blood. His eyes watered and he balled his hand into a fist. Instinctively, his mind cried for her and he hated himself for that.

Suddenly a bright light shone, Fate closed his eyes for a brief moment as he was almost blinded by the glare. He opened his eyes just in time to see V land on the wild animal. Her swords were already in it before any part of her body made contact with the beast. 

The animal didn't even get a chance to react to the shocking events before it started to choke on its own blood as V stabbed both sides of its neck. Its grip on Fate's leg lessened immediately and it staggered a little but V did not let go. 

It started to vigorously try to shake her off, it was obviously the last battle before death but V wasn't merciful. Instead, she gripped the animal with her thighs, maintaining the position she had landed on it, pulled at her swords completely, and stabbed the animal again.

The movements were so fast since the animal was busting around with all its strength that Fate knew if he had not been watching closely he would not have seen it.

The beast's movement stilled and it fell to the ground, V was still stuck to it, and they fell together. She slowly pulled out the swords and rolled away from the animal. 

She stood to her full height and her movements looked unsteady, Fate wondered if it was because of all the tossing and turning. It didn't matter though as usual his gaze was focused just below her neck.

It was funny how he was just ravaged by a wild animal and all he could think about was when she pulled berries out of those beauties. He made sure he ate every single one of them.

"This is the demon boy," a voice suddenly said, breaking him from the trance of leching at V with his eyes.

He turned his gaze and noticed for the first time that they were not alone and that the light didn't magically come on by itself but rather it had a holder. Fate frowned; he could not see the dude's face as the light was directly in front of him.

The man raised the staff and shoved it into the ground before approaching him. The man was wearing a robe, it looked brown but Fate was sure at some point they were a brighter color.

The man had a beard and his expression threw Fate off. He rushed at him with a grin. Fate didn't know what to do, he looked from V to him but no explanation was coming forth and V was staggering, he was surprised she had not fallen to the floor yet.

The man got to him and immediately placed his palm over his calf. Without any words, his calf began to glow and he could feel it healing.

"You are not Deedee," he said when the man took his hand off him.

He chuckled, "No, I am not. I am Zek, a friend of V."

"He is not my friend!" V interjected, her words sounded draggy. Fate would have sworn she was in no state to respond but he was wrong. She was still on her feet but Fate was not sure how much longer she would last.

Zek chuckled awkwardly, "What is your name, young boy?"