Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 2: Shock

Chapter Two: Shock

Xaphile honestly didn't know what to expect when he first started following this strange man through the woods that looked like they'd come crawling right out of a fairy tale, but what he hadn't predicted was coming to enjoy the feeling the forest as a whole gave off.

It was simple, but scenic, and the golden beams of sunlight filtering down through the dark green leaves of the trees cast everything in a strangely beautiful glow. He had been walking through this pretty wilderness with Gus for what felt like hours already, but it wasn't until they walked out of the underbrush and onto a cobblestone road that his bare feet halted.

He stared at the strange road with furrowed brows, examining it with something close to mesmerization, since he'd never actually seen a real cobblestone path before.

"What's with this street?" he called, gripping his strange tail through his shirt to make sure it wouldn't slip free. "Where's the pavement?"

"Pavement?" Gus grunted, casting a suspicious glance over his shoulder. "I've never heard of pavement. What is it?"

"Uh, what all normal streets are made of."

"Folly," Gus sniffed. "I've never seen any other type of road except dirt and brick."

Why hasn't he ever heard of pavement? Or rather, how? Xaphile wondered, touching his new fangs with a grim expression. Seriously, what the hell is going on here?

He couldn't answer any of those questions, and truth be told, he was too nervous and put-off by the man's bizarre personality to try asking. The two of them walked down the road for nearly another two hours before the clouds darkened into a misty gray overcast.

"You should be careful," Gus suddenly warned, stopping him from walking around a sharp bend that rapidly descended towards an enormous waterfall. "The earth around here is unstable. Many a traveler has fallen prey to the river because of this area."

"Yikes," Xaphile murmured, glancing at the path beside the river. "I'll keep that in mind."

He carefully tiptoed around the mossy stones and let out a sigh of relief when the road turned, descending away from the water. Xaphile looked at the scenery with dazed eyes as he walked, taking in all the birds that were flying in the air and the squirrels chattering up in the trees. He thought it was rather typical until he pushed aside a branch that had stretched across the road and came face to face with a deer the size of a grizzly bear.

With a loud yelp, he jumped backwards and fell flat on his butt, scrabbling at the cobblestone in shock when the giant animal bolted away and vanished into the undergrowth.

For a long moment, he merely sat there, quivering.

"Did you see that?!" Xaphile cried, looking at Gus with an open mouth. "I almost kissed a giant deer! Fuck, that thing was huge!"

Gus blinked several times at him, then let out a howl of laughter that made him flush.

"You really are just a kid, aren't ya?" he chuckled, wiping his eyes. "Demon or not, you're a young one, all right."

"I'm not a demon," Xaphile complained, brows furrowing a little. "I told you, I'm human!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," the man snorted, rolling his eyes. "Let's go. Time is short."

After that particular incident, the two of them continued on through the mountainous forests, following the road downhill, and the farther down they went the warmer it became, and the light drizzling eventually stopped. Directly ahead, a familiar lake came into view.