Creature

Stephen

Katherine

I release a shaky sigh as I feel him pull me back to where I stood straight.

"Where?"he says, his voice raspy as he begins searching me.

"Where's the bug?"

I slowly turn around to face him.

He looked pale, sickly. He was sweating and shivering at the same time.

I drunkenly stumble towards him and he catches me as I cup his cheeks.

"What.. happened?"I question.

He only shakes his head.

"We need to make it to the human village. It's our only chance. Show me where the bug is."he says, wiping his forehead.

I slowly reach for the back of my neck, and he quickly lifts my hair off the back of my neck, spotting the flower.

He gently runs his fingers against it, lifting the flower to reveal the base that was attached to my neck.

"Jesus Christ. H-he's just getting worse." Stephen says softly.

He grips the flower by its base and begins to pull.

I hiss, immediately feeling a stinging sensation throughout the top of my spine.

Instantly I flinch, tensing up and grabbing his hand.

"What? I need you to be able to run Katherine, this flower has to come out. Xeno told me."Stephen says.

"X-xeno.. helping you?" I question.

"It's a long story. Brace yourself."he says before beginning to tug at the flower again.

.....

Earlier

Xeno, Lunar's eldest daughter opens the door to the blood soaked room kit had left his father in.

She looks around at the graphic screen before glancing over, seeing Stephen's pale body shivers in a far corner of the room.

"Mr. Stephen?"She says quietly. Stephen doesn't respond.

She slowly walks over to him, seeing the long serrated slash mark all up and down Stephen's back.

Some of them bled, others were leaking the brownish colored venom kit injected.

She walks over to Stephen and kneels down, seeing him sweating in pain.

"Mr. Stephen? I don't like what king Kitran is doing to Ms. Katherine."she says softly.

Suddenly Stephens eyes open.

"..k-katherine?"he says very faintly.

Xeno looks closely, seeing small black feathers growing from one of the slashes on his back.

"Are you changing? Your blood doesn't smell human, Mr. Stephen."she says, gently pulling him towards her.

He hisses in pain as he shifts, allowing Xeno to see his face.

"You don't look well, Mr. Stephen."she says, wiping the sweat from his face.

"W-where is k-katherine?"he asks.

"Kitran is keeping her in the royal nesting area. She has a love bug."she says.

"L-love bug?"

"It's a special flower made for livestock. The men also use it to control their wives."she says.

"..h-help.."Stephen says softly.

She begins digging around in her tattered, cloth skirt and brings out a handful of dried herbs and flowers.

"If you chew these you'll regain your strength for a while. But it won't stop your transformation. My mummy told me that humans rarely stop the transformation."

She lifts his head a bit and allows him to eat the dried herbs into his mouth.

Stephen struggles to sit up and Xeno helps him.

"Are you going to help Ms. Katherine? When you're well, you'll help her?"She asks.

Stephen speaks as he's chewing.

".. I'll try my best."

"You can do it. You're weak now, you've lost a lot of your fluid. But your spirit is strong. I can mend the cuts."she says, standing quickly and flapping her brown feathered wings and hopping over him to his back.

"Sorry in advance, I'm new to healing magic."

....

Katherine

"And she..flew you to me?"I mumble as Stephen and I limp towards where we knew the nearest exit was.

"She really doesn't want you to get hurt."he grunts, leaning against the wall for a bit.

"Did kit really do this to you?"I say, causing him to nod.

"We gotta keep moving." He breathes before standing straight again.

.....