"Are you going to speak at all, girl?" They had traveled for several hours and she'd remained silent through everything. "You are stuck with me, my pet. You can free your tongue. Hell, you can even spit venom at me if it would take that look off your face."
"My name's Angeline." Her face flushed as she huffed at him from her horse. "I was told by my uncle and King to hold my tongue in fear that I would anger you."
"My! A lively one!" He chuckled as he looked back at her. When he saw her cheeks reddening again, he could only assume that he was nothing but a man from a nightmare. "Red suits you, my Lady."
"Ugh!" Her eyes darted away from his gaze.
The path they were following came to the edge of a clearing. Pulling back on his reins, he brought both their horses to a halt. Glancing back towards Angeline, he saw she was watching his every move. The fear faded sometime during the ride, and she now gave him a hardened look. Grinning, he pulled himself off his horse and walked both mounts over to a dead tree, hitching them to it. It was amusing to see how hard she avoided his stare as he gave her a hand off her horse.
"We'll camp here." Pushing her along, she noticed he was putting an abnormal amount of distance between them and the horses. "You can get the camp started. Clear this spot of rocks and limbs; I'll grab the packs."
"Fine." Hiking her long skirts up, she made quick work of clearing the campsite. "I will need to find more travel worthy clothes soon, Lord Cedric. I wish not to slow you down in your travels. I prefer to be free of skirts if you would allow me to be."
"Don't worry, pet. We will be traveling through the cursed woods to a village there." Circling back, he pulled all the bags and packs off the two horses and returned, offering them to her. "If a dress does not suit you, then you shall pick out something more proper to meet your needs. I do not care what you wear, just as long as you do not slow me down."
"Thank you, my Lord." Cedric smirked at her as she took the packs from him. Angeline laid out the campfire and sleeping spots without any further instruction from him. "You have camped out before I see."
"I used to live in the village we are going to, Raven's Den. I travelled with my father many times to sell goods at the castle and to see our cousins." She bit her bottom lip, annoyed that he continued to stand there, watching her do all the work. "Do you not have other business to tend to, perhaps food for the fire? I see you packed nothing to eat. For someone who travels often, that seems naïve."
"I am already at work for food. Don't you worry your pretty little head about that, pet." He walked past her and toward another tree. "Now excuse me while I take a piss."
Angeline's face mottled. Raised on a farm, she couldn't help but scoff at the fact his lordship was rather bold for someone of his rank. In all her years at the Castle, not even a peasant had dared to spit in front of a Lady of the Court, let alone relieve himself. It was exasperating keeping her back to him. He was right behind her doing his business while she was trying to gather wood. Dropping what little she had in a pile, she decided it would have to wait. He was in the way and she was in no mood to go too far from the camp. She watched as the horses started fussing and fidgeting at their hitching tree. Her eyes caught a strange movement from the tree. Once more, the bare tree shuddered and one horse screamed, pulling its reins tight as it backed away.
"There it is." Cedric finished and turned around to walk back to the horses. "Stay back."
"What is going on?" Swallowing her nervousness, she watched the dead tree quiver again as more screams came from the horses. "What is happening?"
"Dinner." Scoffing, he stopped halfway; the horses were frantic and trying to tug free, biting at their reins.
Despite the distance, Angeline could see the whites of the eyes of the horses that were now pawing at the tree. They were desperate and frightened beyond anything she had ever seen. One horse managed to break free and sped off down the trail, leaving its companion screaming and bucking. The other horse was fighting to free itself, but all it managed to do was create raw spots from its harness that dripped blood down its cheek. The bright red lines glistened in the sunlight as the struggle continued. A rumbling was coming from the ground as the dead tree started to grow taller as if it were a weed pulled up by an unseen hand. The horse was still bucking and squealing, becoming more frantic as foam dripping from its mouth, eyes wild with fear. In horror, Angeline watched as the ground exploded, the horse pulled high in the air.
The dead tree was the horn on the nose of a Sand Orm. It was a massive serpent with scales running down into the ground that imitated the look of an earthworm. Smooth and the color of the surrounding soil, she marveled over its size as she caught glimpses of a treelike fin that ran the beast's length. Once more, the ground trembled under her feet. The mammoth Orm snatched the horse dangling from its nose-horn into its mouth. Its gaping jaws were large enough to hold three horses with plenty of room left over for their riders. She slid to her knees in awe as she watched the massive creature eat. The horse's screams were quickly muffled by its jaws, despite the lack of any teeth beyond its hard, boulder-lined lips. Her ears met with a mixture of crackling and popping. She couldn't decipher if she what she heard was the bones of the horse or simply the stony collision of the monster's jaws.
Lord Cedric was unmoved. The Orm turned its enormous head to face Cedric, a low groan rippling from it as it did so. Trees and bushes shifted and moved just behind it and down the trail. The entire forest snaked back and forth like waves on the ocean connected to this monster that towered over them like a small mountain. There had been rumors of whole forests changing, but seeing an Orm so close explained how everything in an area could move. Its back fin was the forest and with a shudder, it could shift and change acres of what could be mistaken as legitimate trees and underbrush.
"Whoa!" Cedric spat. "You're much bigger than I thought."
Snorting dust clouds from its nostrils, it moaned louder in response. The Orm's reply sounded like boulders falling. Vibrations rattled through the ground, aiming to shake the air from Cedric's lungs. The plant-like fin rattled, sending a flurry of birds from their misplaced nests, left behind on a demon's back. Two glowing eyes opened to peer down at who dared to stand against such power. With another shake of its woodland appendage, the Orm came crashing down towards Cedric. An explosion of soil and rocks flew up and past the tallest of trees.
The roaring of the ground muted Angeline as she started to scream. The rolling cloud of dirt blocked out the sun and overwhelmed all her senses. Her shrieking burst into coughing as she gagged on a lungful of wet soil, rocks fell from the darkened sky. Crawling across the shaking ground, she desperately sought one of the sleeping bags or any cloth to help her breathe. Wheezing harder, she ripped her skirt, covering her mouth and nose. Her eyes stung from the debris. She could barely see her own hands in the darkness, let alone tell if the Orm was closer or further away. The ground shook violently again, the sun a distant memory in all the chaos and hell that swallowed her now. She scrambled backwards, but a hand pushed against the middle of her back and she froze. The earthquake battle faded away as silence took hold.
"Stop moving." Cedric's whispering lips caressed her ear. Chills ran down her spine and through her limbs. "It can't see you, but it can feel anything move on the ground. Even when the blasted thing is moving around, it can pick out a grasshopper among all of this."
Her stinging eyes fought to open against the dust. She could only focus on−Fangs! Lord Cedric's pristine lips embellished with the fangs from her nightmare. Fear stricken, she shuddered as muddy tears begin to run down her soil-covered cheeks. With no willpower left to scream, all she could do was sob hysterically. Her gaze was fixated on the fangs framing the corners of his mouth. Cedric's lips were moving, but the dread had washed away his words.
"Come on." Snarling at her, Cedric's green eyes shone through the shadowy cloud of dirt, pulling her eyes from his mouth. "Keep it together, pet. I have no time to baby you. Stay here and do not move. Cry all you want, but do not move from here or risk being eaten."
Dashing away, he left her there in the unknown. She heard another deafening crash as more dirt and rocks fell about her like hail. Her body would not move despite her mental pleas to her legs to run away. In her mind, and with every painful blink, all she could see were the green eyes of the demon named Cedric. Shoving her face into the piece of cloth, she continued sobbing, no longer concerned with the rumbling and raining soil. Nightmares about this strange Lord were coming true with each passing second. She had been married off to the devil himself, no hope to ever be free of the hell she will now called her life.
Seeing nothing past her cloth, she eventually realized the only wailing she heard was her own. It was unclear when the ground had stopped moving, but she was reluctant to look. Most of the dirt made its way back to earth as her eyes focused through the muddled daylight, and then she gasped. The Orm's massive head lay close to her, close enough that the smell that greeted her nose was a mixture of mud and blood. Catching sight of what was left of a mangled horse leg her eyes jerked upward, caught by the color green. Cedric was kneeling on the top of the carcass, mouth bloodied as he exchanged glares with her.
Breaking the stare, Cedric went back to the task he was working on. Orms, much like Dragons, Dracs, or Wyverns, were massive and held a great range of power. Cedric had found the life force from one of these creatures was indeed larger, their souls filling their bodies. On physically massive prey, the task of feeding was daunting, almost endless for him. He found himself growing perturbed by Angeline's stare as she continued her mournful weeping. Refusing to lock eyes, he focused on pulling the power out as efficiently as he could. There was little time left to separate the departing soul and its power from the dying body.
Distracting incubine blood, you dare interfere in my feedings as well. She is bait. I will not take her if that is all you desire. I do not desire the flesh of a human girl, even in the manners of incubine power gain. You insult me, I will not bend to your will.
Finishing his meal, he stood. The ground all around them was brown and littered with rocks and roots. Angeline was still gawking at him, sitting in the same spot, her muddy tears painting her cheeks and her figure caked in soil. Spitting the last of the foul tasting blood from his mouth, he rubbed his lips clean of any bloodstains that smeared them. Content that she would not be moving anytime soon, he leapt down behind the Orm out of her sight. It wasn't long before he came back with two rabbits in hand but she had passed out. Grunting, he flopped her over his left shoulder and started to follow what was left of the old trail. The destruction left behind from the Orm was stunning. Glancing over the wasteland, he smirked. This trail would be unpassable for those coming behind them. Gouges and holes would prove impossible for even the most agile of horses to jump or skirt around. Nothing more than a muddy crevice with a decaying Orm and open sky remained. Heading through some trees and into the forest, he found the other side of the trail.
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Crackling and a loud pop brought her from her restless sleep. The smell of soil was faint, but the stronger scent of succulent meat found its hold on her grumbling stomach. Opening her eyes, she found herself on a rolled out sleeping bag, in front of a campfire that was dancing around two rabbit carcasses. Holding her breath and her apprehension, she sat up only to see Cedric sitting on a stump on the other side of the orange wall of flames. Flashes of a blood covered face, wolf-like fangs and feral green eyes flooded her mind. This was a beast, not a man, which sat across from her.
"Figured you would be hungry by now." His stare was intense, but his voice was much softer. She marveled over how powerful those emerald daggers gripped her, making her feel excited and terrified, agony and desire. "And we are far from the Orm. That carcass will be attracting every manner of scavenger in this area for weeks to come."
"Wh-What are you?" Chills shook her as she caught a glimpse of contempt in his face. "No man could have killed an Orm. It is rare for an army to take one down, and the size, I..."
"I am no man, if that is what you are asking." The muscles in his jaw twitched. "The forest is safe thanks to my leftovers. There's a creek just past the trees behind you. Go wash up, you smell like you rolled in a dung heap."
She looked back through the bushes, her ears catching the faint trickling sound of water, but she hesitated. "I don't understand. You could have left me for dead, why didn't you?"
"It would look badly if I lose my new wife right after leaving the castle." The words stung as she looked at his cold, hard expression and his tone shifted to match. "I am sure you've caught wind of some rumors about me. This was a chance to quell any doubts about my humanity. Now wash up. You're insulting my nostrils and a disgrace to your title, Lady Angeline."
Scrambling to her feet, she walked away from the warmth of the fire and closer to the sound of the creek. No matter how hard she fought back the stinging in her throat, she found herself sobbing once more. There was no comfort in hugging her arms as she stopped next to the rocky circle of water. It swirled gently in a round pool before continuing further down its narrow pathway. She noticed something folded on a nearby rock, not far from where she stood. Kneeling as her eyes adjusted to the dark, it became clear that he had laid clothes out for her.
Soaking in the gentle rush of the water, the soil sloughed off with each wipe. Her concerns were far from the details of reassuring herself that she had freed her hair of every root and smudge of mud. Her life, her destiny, it all seemed so unfair. Tough times were all she had known and now she faced a far worse future than the horrible fortunes from her past. Married to the devil himself, she could only abandon all hope.
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