Once the others fell asleep, except for Ferona and Roya, who kept watch, Cahir got up and walked to the pond, where the soft waters reflected the glow of the campfire.
He looked around to ensure no one was watching, undressed, and walked into the cool water, making sure to grab the bar of soap from the shore. He washed himself and went in deeper, diving in and swimming around. The water lifted his anxiety away, like plumes ofsmoke escaping a volcano. He floated on his back and stared up at the sparkling stars.
Seda was his best friend, but his heart longed for more. How long could he truly avoid these feelings?
He heard Seda’s voice and turned to see her sleeping form. Seda called his name again from another direction, and he let out a groan.
Not again.
He swam toward the shore and carefully grabbed his sword.
“Cahir…” the voice called.
As Roya descended, he nodded toward the dark woods ahead and slowly walked into the trees with his sword drawn. Through the trees, he spotted the figure of Seda standing naked, his eyes flicked off guard for a moment, but he resisted the urge to be entranced.
Roya and Ferona let out loud caws, rousing the others.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked, pretending to believe the creature while holding the sword.
“I missed you so much,” it said in a voice that was a direct replica of Seda’s.
“I’m sure you have,” he replied.
The Hailec’s enchantment wasn’t working on him, and its illusion flickered, showcasing its wretched form for a split moment.
It lunged for him, dropping the illusion. Cahir brought down the sword and sliced off its head. He bent down and picked it up from its scraggly hair, noting its sharp teeth and melting skin on its face. He carried it back through the trees.
Everyone was up, looking in his direction.
He hurled the Hailec’s head to the ground and drove the sword through the top, impaling it into the earth. The sword shook back and forth as Cahir released it.
“Someone’s got a horse,” Askold said, and the others chuckled.
Cahir looked down and remembered he was naked.
Chapter 34
Seda
It took a few more days, but the scenery eventually changed. They didn’t run into any more Hailecs since Cahir had taken out the last one at the pond. She noticed how he had been with her since the Camp. He appeared even more unwavering in his protection and affection for her than before, almost as if, perhaps, he saw her as more.
A faint glimmer of hope began to melt the hardened ice surrounding her heart.
She couldn’t shake the memory of how his stomach muscles tensed as he drove the sword into the creature’s head with a powerful thrust, and she also couldn’t stop thinking about the way his penis, the same one she’d seen the other night, had pressed into her when they woke up together in their apartment. She had no idea it looked like that. No wonder the bulge in his towel looked the way it did.
She wanted to see it again.
She felt her cheeks and ears immediately start to flush and turn red.
His muscular form reminded her of a character from her favorite book from her teenage years. Not that the book got into those kinds of details… at least not that her parents were aware of.
“What’s the name of this place?” she asked, trying to distract herself from her racing thoughts as they drifted up to the tallest trees she had ever seen. Pines and redwoods towered overhead, filtering the sun in waterfalls of light. The forest floor was dim and faintly shimmering with a misty haze that moved as they walked through it. Even in the morning light, the mist seemed to draw them further into the woods. The soft ground was a relief to her sore feet, with patches of ferns and moss that were oddly more slippery than in the Heath Forest. She stepped over a fallen pinecone and was glad she could see it through the haze.
“Don’t know if this place has a name. I’ve always just called it the redwoods,” Seren said from her side.
“Are there Hailec’s here?” she asked him, now and then looking around, in case she spotted something.
“Not this far north, thankfully. But there are other things we need to watch for,” he replied. She shivered and glanced around nervously in the dim light. Fearing that she was sensing someone watching, whispering, and tracking her every move.
