“That’s my boy! Thick blood, strong bones and…”
“Stronger will to use my horns… yes, I remember our family’s motto.”
She grinned big and I had to say, I was really starting to like Aunt Stava. Her gaze shifted to me, but it wasn’t intimidating. No, if anything, it was inviting.
“And who is this human girl who fights beside you, so courageously, I might add?” she praised, making me blush.
“Alex,” Aster said.
“She is… someone important,” he said, and I couldn’t tell if he hesitated because he didn’t know what word fit best or because he didn’t want to tell her the whole truth. Either way, warmth bubbled inside me at his words.
Stava studied me for a moment, her eyes bright and curious.
“I have a feeling the rumors that the King is back have something to do with you… Ah, don’t look so shocked now. I may have a thick skull, but it protects all my knowledge, isn’t that right, boy?” she said, laughing as she nudged Aster enough that he had to stop himself from missing a step as he walked away from the slain monster.
I didn’t know what to say, looking at Aster for guidance. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close.
“It’s a long story, Stava, and I give you my word that we will explain on the way. Is the herd close by?”
She nodded. “Some of them.” After her reply, she promptly turned to me. “Come on then, human girl. You look like you could use a proper meal.”
It only took one step before my heart dropped into my stomach as I remembered what I had lost.
“Oh, no!”
“Alex, what is it?” Aster paused, taking a step back to look at me.
“The dagger… I lost the dagger. It fell down the crack and…” Tears filled my eyes, knowing our hopes of defeating Demetrios had dropped significantly.
“Oh shit… hey now, come on. This isn’t your fault,” he said, switching from shock to comforting me in seconds.
“It is, you told me not to use it, I should have kept it in my sheath and…” Suddenly, I stopped when Stava stepped into view next to us and held out her hand, making me gasp.
“Is this what you’re looking for?”
My mouth dropped before I stammered out the question, “Where did you…?” I didn’t finish before she started chuckling.
“Sometimes the walls move and it kills you, sometimes they move and deliver you a gift. So, imagine my surprise when a one shifted to reveal this beauty.”
“Oh my god… thank you… thank you!” I said, throwing my arms around her, or at least as much as I could get them around her anyway. My reaction must have taken her by surprise because she went back on a hoof and released a billowy breath before she chuckled.
“Ah, you're welcome, wee one,” she replied, patting me on the back far more gently than she had Aster when hitting him on the arm.
I took the dagger from her hand, the one she wasn’t using to pat me, and slid it back into my sheath, happy to feel the weight of it there once more.
I also saw the way Aster mouthed a silent thank you to his aunt before she stepped away. We then followed Stava deeper through the Labyrinth, the atmosphere completely different from before. There was no tension. There was no fear. And though I could still feel the heartbeat of the Labyrinth under my feet, it was slower now, more subdued, as if it knew better than to challenge us now that Aunt Stava was here. But then again, I was surprised that she didn’t seem afraid of anything, and I had to say, her bravery was infectious.
Aster walked beside me, and I couldn’t help but chuckle the next time she called him little bull after he had asked her a question about the herd.
This alerted him to my smirk, prompting him to warn, “Don’t say a word.”
My grin grew before I dragged a finger across my lips, telling him they were sealed. It lasted only about thirty seconds before I informed him, “Looks like we have more in common than I thought.” He raised a questioning brow, and I continued, “Unless, of course, you want to stop calling me little human.”
He glared at me without malice, and I mouthed a single word after…
‘Karma’.Then I winked at him, making him roll his eyes and groan, which I classed as a total win.
We continued in silence for the most part before she asked about the Rift, wanting to know what had happened that day. Aster explained the essential parts of what had happened overthe years he had been gone, although for those in Theïkós it was much less time, which for his aunt had been a blessing.
