“What about the fire? How will we see in the caves?” she asked. “Will you use your magic?”
An inquisitive little thing.
I liked it.
“The fire will be just fine. And as for eyesight, I have no problem seeing in the dark,” I said as I led her down into the tunnels. “It takes focus and concentration to use my magic for an extended period of time, so for you, I’ve grown these.”
The tunnel brightened to a light blue hue as we arrived at the portion I’d populated with glowing mushrooms.
“Selvyn, are these real?” Iris asked as her fingers brushed over the luminous, velvety caps.
“Yes, they’re real. I grew them myself.”
She smiled, leaning closer to examine the mushrooms. “I’ve never seen anything like this. They’re beautiful.”
This tiny human was really stroking my ego. She wasn’t the first to be impressed by the mushrooms, but she was the first to awaken feelings in me that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
It was unusual for me to be attracted to the humans that found their way into my tunnels, but there was something about this one that felt different.
“Um, Selvyn,” she asked. “Is there somewhere I can, you know, relieve myself?” She rubbed her neck and refused to make eye contact with me.
It dawned on me what she meant and I felt embarrassed I hadn’t thought of it before.
Generally, I was conscious of these things with those I led to safety, but in my enamored haze, I’d forgotten about her bodily functions.
“I should have asked you before we left. I’m sorry. There’s a little alcove down here just a ways.”
Before I knew what I was doing, I grabbed her hand and led her down the tunnel.
“Here,” I said as I came to a stop in front of an opening in the cave wall. “There’s plenty of moss lining the walls.” I plucked a handful of mushrooms and handed them to her.
She looked at the mushrooms for a moment then stared up at me, her teeth digging into her lower lip. “Could you, um, maybe go down the tunnel a bit? So I have some privacy?”
It seemed that humans were more sensitive about their bodily functions than I remembered.
“Yes, I’ll be just down the tunnel. Yell for me if you come out and can’t find me, okay?”
“Alright.” She gave me a genuine smile, then turned into the alcove to take care of her business.
I hummed as I made my way down the tunnel in an attempt to give her more privacy. Perhaps during our time together she could teach me some new songs. I was growing tired of the ones I’d been singing to myself all these years.
I leaned against the cavern wall and rubbed the jagged tip of my broken horn.
Had I really been down here alone for years?
I did make the occasional trip into Belden, but only when necessary. And even then, I only interacted with those that I could explicitly trust, like Elric and Marta.
When I thought about it, my life was actually quite lonely. One filled with darkness and solitude. A choice I’d made for myself out of guilt and passed off as a necessity.
“Sevlyn?” Her tiny voice rang down through the tunnel.
“I’m here, Iris. Can you see me?” I asked.
“Yes, I see you.” She was closer now. “Even in the low light, a giant demon is hard to miss.” She giggled and nudged my arm playfully.
I liked the fact that she was becoming more comfortable.
Perhaps I even liked it a littletoomuch.
