A Deadly Bond

Chapter 7 - Delirium

I can't sleep. Despite my exhaustion, my mind is racing with thoughts of the strange creature and Legion's silence. I lay next to Legions wolf form again. After a full day of walking while being on edge we sat up camp, with someone keeping watch at all time of course. Then we ate and immediately after got into our sleeping spots.

Laying next to Legion is just as nerve wrecking as the first time, but there wasn't much time to think about it this time as he had just walked up to me and laid down right by me and the fire. I think newer events might've made him even more stubborn than usual, perhaps one could call it protective.

However even Legions huge wolf form can't fully reassure me to sleep through the night despite how big he is, and I bet it's not helping that my heart acts out of the ordinary almost every time we touch and now my body refuses to sleep at all, even though I know I'll regret it in the morning. Traitor body. I toss and turn though in a gentle way as to not wake Legion, last thing I'd want is for him is to wake up and disturb me even more. I have contemplated letting his warm fur fully swallow me but I'm far too stubborn to even move an inch further.

I give up on sleep and open my eyes, having them closed while not even sleeping just seems like my body is mocking me. Instead my eyes find the reddish haired man- Finley. He is the one who's keeping watch for now until someone else taps him out and I can't help but feel a curiosity rise within me. This was the man that fought the creature. Who hurt it. If Legion won't give me answers then perhaps the man who saw the creature up-close will.

I get up and Legions wolf stirs a bit as if troubled immediately by the lack of my presence and I wait a few moments before I turn to approach Finley with a newfound determination, though while trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake anyone else, especially not Legion. "Hello," I say softly.

Finley doesn't move as he responds. "You should be sleeping." It's clear to me that he heard me approaching from far away.

I hesitate feeling slightly discouraged by his curt response, not sure if I should ask him anything anymore. But with my desperation for some answers I push through my inner desire to just turn around again and instead I sit down next to him by the fire.

"I can't sleep," I admit , "I keep thinking about that creature and Legion isn't saying much."

Finley nods seeming understanding for the first time. "Yeah, Legion can be a bit cryptic at times. But you have to trust that he knows what he's doing." His eyes have still not met mine, instead he's staring ahead into the fire.

I sigh, "I know that whatever that thing is, it is dangerous and I deserve to know more, since he was the one to drag me on this journey."

Finley looks at me for the first time tonight, his eyes brown and full of something I can't place my finger on. Closest thing I could say would be melancholy. "Talk to Legion about this."

I shake my head, "I have tried, but he won't tell me anything. I do not get him or why he insist on being the most infuriating man to have ever existed."

Finley looks down at his hands, appearing lost in thought for a moment. Then he looks back up at me and speaks, "be patient, Legion has been through a lot."

"What do you mean?" I feel an urgent need to know more.

Finley hesitates, as if debating whether to say more but then speaks after some time. "Legion's father was... quite hard on him. He always wanted more and expected a lot from him because of the title he had to pass onto him some day." He rubs his head with his hands. "His father was a very brutal man."

A pang of sympathy shoots through my body and my heart feels heavier than it should. I shouldn't care about this... but part of me does, a big part at that.