Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Zaira's POV

He gently lowered me to the floor. "Xenos and his brother Leav, besides Reah, were my best friends. They were both werewolves, but we didn't care who was a werewolf or a gi. Or in my case Lycan. We were all just kids with nothing on our minds other than making as much mischief as possible." We walked side by side again while I listened to his voice. "Me and Serdas, we couldn't visit her much. Luna and Gaia only let us down every once in a while." He uttered Serda's name as if burning himself.

"Down?" I prodded.

"Yes, down to earth. We both lived with our mothers.", a short hesitation. "In the palace of the gods."

My mouth opened and closed again. "Wow."

"I guess I was okay," he said, with an amused twinkle. He seemed to be considering driving on and saying more as he watched me as I waited, wide-eyed. His mouth twitched. He began to tell me about his childhood, how close he and Serdas were, what mischief he and his friends made on earth.Especially when it came to Ares, the god of war, the troupe of youngsters had no mercy on pulling the craziest pranks that they could dream up just to piss off the poor god.

The whole time I listened to him attentively, absorbing his words like a sponge. He always elicited a giggle from me as he recounted his adventures while my heart melted.

"Why did the goddesses forbid you to come to earth anymore?" I couldn't imagine how the moon goddess could ever refuse her little boy Aramis.

“We are Wardens, or at least we were. We had a mission for which we were created, to protect the world from further harm. So we had to have our focus on our training and education. Our training was not finished until we were 100 years old. Not much for gods really, considering we're immortal, I was kind of a baby at the time."

I couldn't hide my disbelief. How could it, if I had only seen 20 summers myself. So I had to be a fetus for him!

"How old are you?" You couldn't see the curiosity that could be heard from his question.

I toyed with my jacket and defiantly craned my chin. "Old enough not to be a kid anymore."

"I'll find out, don't worry, little wolf." I snorted in mock indignation.

"Why did you lose touch?" He spoke of her as if this close friendship no longer existed, as if it had all died long ago.

He didn't have to ask who I meant by her . He said nothing for a long time, and I wasn't expecting an answer when he said, "Long after Serdas and I graduated and came to Earth, we were close friends. But times change you and nobody knows as well as we do what immortality does to you. And times came that divided the whole country."

He didn't have to say more, I knew what he was getting at.

" The Red Age," his gaze darted to me. "I know what happened."

Aramis and Serdas had turned against the population and started a huge war. They were called the Avatar of Death and the Cursed Wolf . They had killed thousands of living creatures, caused a whole bloodbath, they had been given their names. I looked at him. Was he really a monster? A question I didn't know the answer to.

"Why?" I asked him. "Why did you turn against the people?"

His face darkened and he closed himself off. He had decided to consider the conversation over, there was nothing he could do about that.

I was both disappointed and happy about it at the same time, didn't know if I could cope with the answer. The sound of my footsteps on the leaves and fallen small branches calmed my nerves. It reminded me how much I had missed it. Being locked up for years without smelling the wind, feeling the earth under my bare feet and letting my wolf out free was the worst abuse of all. I would not wish on any soul on this earth to be so separated from nature.

I breathed in the muggy morning air.

It was warm and oppressively damp. I was sweating like I hadn't in a long time, I had stuffed my sweater into my backpack, but I had kept my top on, even though it was stuck to me. How Aramis held up in his black leather suit was beyond me.

Nevertheless, the vegetation around us made me forget all negative aspects and contemplate its incredible beauty. Plants that grew in their most beautiful colors, tropical fruits that hung from the trees and tempted me to bite into them.

I would have loved to grab one and taste it, but Aramis had warned me not to grab any of the fruit or plants, no matter how adorable they looked. Because the more colorful and beautiful the fruits were decorated, the more poisonous they were. The same was true for the plants.

So I consciously kept my hands to myself and paid close attention to where I took my next step.

Focusing on the ground, I realized too late that Aramis had stopped and collided with him. He didn't sway while I struggled to regain my balance. I grabbed his black jacket for help. He growled but let me do it.

"Why did you stop?" I asked, gently tugging at his jacket.

"There, we found her." He pointed ahead. I peeked out from behind him, trying not to touch any of the plants too much, and then I saw her. She was on the bank of a wide river on the opposite side, rooted between the roots of a huge tree, its light blue color made it stand out among all the greens and browns and its white dots gave it its trademark of omorphism.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked in amazement. I was full of energy, the last three hours of walking hadn't tired me, I could still walk miles. This feeling and this knowledge of how strong I have become since my escape from the Darkmoon pack was intoxicating.

He turned halfway to me. "How I miss it when you were too scared to bug me all the time." For a few seconds I thought he meant it, but then I caught a twinkle in his eyes.

Without comment, he turned back and continued on his way.

"See those rocks over there?" he gestured with a hand at scattered rocks big enough to stick out of the river and leading a roughly recognizable path to the other side. I nodded other shores. I will go first so I can see which stones are well anchored."

"Agreed.", I looked into the green, muddy river, whose strong currents lapped the stones. I could just refrain from telling him to be careful, that would only hurt the pride of his dominant wolf.

He didn't hesitate, jumped onto the first nearby rock and, like the wolf he was, landed gracefully on it without staggering. The same for the next two. "They are sure you can come."

Without giving any further thought to how deep this river might be and what kind of animals might be in it, I hopped onto the first stone. I staggered briefly, but quickly found my balance and continued on my way.

I jumped onto the nearest stone, my feet touching the smooth slippery surface and I slipped off. One moment I was in the air, falling, and the next I was surrounded by strong arms, holding me to a hard but warm chest.

"Oh god!" I clutched his arms tightly.

"A simple thank you would have sufficed, especially since I'm only a demigod. But don't let that fool you."

"Oh, it's you!" I wrinkled my nose. "'Sorry my mistake, I must have got you mixed up."

His teeth shot out quickly and pinched my chin. Playful. My wolf stretched for joy. "You want a bath with the snakes, after all." A look down into the river was enough to see the snake skins gleaming in the sunlight, snaking in the water.

I narrowed my eyes and before I knew it I was sticking my tongue out at him. "I prefer my bathroom without the nasty snakes, thanks a lot."

Something fundamental had changed between us since last night. I got more and more glimpses of the Aramis that was behind the stone mask. I wasn't sure what was happening here, but I didn't want to stop it at all costs. It felt so good and easy to play and bicker with him like we'd never done anything else. I felt young and carefree, like my life was full of sunshine and happiness.

With a suppressed laugh, he held out his hand. "Allow me to show you the way, Your Highness."

"It would be an honor, your demigod," I replied, putting my hand in his. I couldn't get enough of the twinkle in his eyes, I was obsessed. I curled my lips into a smile while the corners of his mouth twitched .

As a warm breeze brushed my white hair, I felt my body lift off the stone and into the air. I gasped in surprise and clutched Aramis' hand.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought you might like it," he replied, and I let out a delighted laugh.

"And how!" I waved my other arm in the air.

His hand tried to break free of our grasp. I looked at him questioningly. "Come on. I'll hold you, I promise." There was absolute honesty on his face that he would keep his promise. I released my grip and held my breath as I floated in the air. I moved my arms carefully, and as I was about to fall, I did , also my legs.

My heart fluttered with pleasure and I spun in mid-air. "It's incredible!"

He led me beside him as he jumped from stone to stone and crossed the river.

Pure happiness flowed through my veins as I laughed and danced carefree in the wind.

Arrived on the other bank, he put me down carefully.

"Thanks!" I beamed. "That was just.. Ah, I can't even put into words how great that was!"

He just nodded, eyeing me like he couldn't get enough. There was a desire in his eyes that had nothing to do with last night's lust.

"How did you do that?"

"Telekinesis. It's a mental power that lets me move and teleport things."

"Oh," I just said, overwhelmed by the sheer power this man possesses. I smiled, though, noting, "Well, I definitely like it when you let me fly with that power."

"Then we'll do it again." His thumb brushed my bottom lip, tracing my smile. "Your smile suits you. I like it."

I gasped, unable to react. Dropping his fingers, he pulled off his backpack and pulled out the glass. Then he turned and began to store the omorphy in the jar. I cupped my mouth and it was like I could still feel his touch.

A movement at the edge of my vision caught my attention. Golden wings even larger than my hand fluttered through the weed of the strangler fig, past my face.

A butterfly!

And what a butterfly it was, I had never seen one that big. I reached out to him in amazement and he sat on my ring finger. I couldn't take my eyes off him, he was so beautiful. It crawled across my palm and was now over my wrist. Just as I was about to reach out a finger to touch its wings, I saw it open its mouth - but too late. He sank his fangs into my skin.

"Ow!" what a little beast.

Before I could blink, Aramis was in front of me, his dark locks falling in his face. "What happened?"

"Nothing bad. It was just a butterfly that decided it might be a good idea to try me." The momentary pain had already given way to an echo.

"What butterfly? Describe him." Aramis urged me.

My eyebrows drew together. "I told you everything is fine! Nothing has happened."

He sprawled in front of me and glared at me. "Now is not the time to rebel Zaira."

He was really serious.

"It had golden wings," I said with a shrug. "That's all I can describe it to you. Just a butterfly."

"Damn, that's not good. Where did he bite you?"

I held out my wrist to him. "Here."

He grimly examines the tiny bite mark, which to my surprise was reddened.

"I'll suck the poison out of you," he announced, his hasty gaze still on my wrist.

“What?!"

He looked at me intently, not wanting to waste time talking. "I told you, the more beautiful, the more poisonous." I nodded. "That also applied to the golden Petaloudà."

"The what?" I asked confused.

"Petalouda. The butterfly you just saw. They are extremely venomous insects that can do more with one bite than a snake could ever do to you."

I stared at the bite on my skin in amazement. "But won't it hurt you?" I looked at him worried.

A faint smile twisted his mouth. "No. Demigod, remember?"

"No." Despite the tense situation, I smiled. "Okay, do it."

He didn't need to be told twice. No sooner had the words left my mouth than his was on my skin, sucking out the venom. I felt the pull and gritted my teeth to keep from making a sound. Too late I noticed how the branches and twigs of the strangler fig, as well as its roots, began to move and approached us.