The woman was still in shock at what Damiond had just said.Damiond had expected this kind of reaction. After all, she had lost pretty much everything she had. And even if he was not directly involved, it was enough to make a woman barely holding herself lose all patience.
The woman walked forward, one step at a time, on the solid and cold cave floor. Her shadow, formed by the fire, moved across the cave. And without even realizing it, she was right in front of him, her shadow covering his body.Damiond was still ready for her every action. He would let her hit him if it could even ease her pain a little—so long as she didn't try to kill him. After all, just because he never had someone to rely on didn't mean he had to do the same to others.
But surprisingly, instead of punching, slapping, or taking her anger out on him, she sat down in front of him. She lifted both of her arms.Damiond got ready to attack if she was planning to kill him—but instead, she hugged him and said, her voice full of comfort and warmth he had long forgotten,"Oh, you poor soul… you must have suffered a lot."
Damiond didn't know if he should lower his guard—but he did. Her warm hands touched his neck, reminding him of his mother. For once, after such a long time since his mother died… maybe, for just this once, he could be a kid again.
He stayed still without saying anything, not wanting to ruin the moment.After a while, she removed her arms and stood up. She then went back to where she had been sitting and sat down.
"Ah, don't tell me you're crying," she said humorously in a mischievous manner as she looked back at Damiond."Thank you," Damiond replied, his voice betraying a hint of softness. His face was looking down, making it impossible to read his expression.The woman thought of making another joke but decided against it.
Both of them stayed silent in an awkward moment, letting the voice of the burning fire fill the cave.After a while, breaking the silence, she said, "So… uh… do you have any idea how to escape this place, oh great traitor?"
She really can't help it, can she, Damiond said internally.
"I do, but I'll need two things for that to even begin. First, a dead human body, which I can obtain by killing any of the soldiers who are looking for me in this area." He took a deep breath, not knowing what her reaction would be. "And second… that bird on your shoulder. Whatever it is."
She looked at him with a weird expression, tilting her head to the left. "Dead body… bird…?" she said, this time not mischievously but with actual confusion.Damiond took a deep sigh, already starting to get annoyed with her.
"You'll understand what I mean later. But for now—can I have your bird or not?"
It was originally her husband's phoenix. Almost every tribe leader of their tribe had a phoenix of their own, so it was also symbolic and historically important to their tribe—but it was not important enough to sacrifice herself, or more importantly, her unborn child.
"As long as it will actually achieve something," she said."It will," Damiond said, without even a hint of doubt on his face.
A moment of awkward silence again filled the cave.
"I will rest for today. My injuries are mostly healed, but they will be completely healed by tomorrow. We also have enough food and water to sustain ourselves for a few days," Damiond said, breaking the silence.
After that, Damiond stood up, walked toward the fire, grabbed a piece of meat, and started eating it.
"Come to think of it—do you have any weapon?" Damiond asked, as the thought suddenly crossed his mind.He had almost died in the previous battle because of multiple reasons—being tired, disadvantaged terrain, etc.—but the most important reason was simply that he didn't have any weapon.Humans were simply not designed to last any big battle without weapons… unless, of course, you climbed further up the ranks where you could solidify your aura and create a weapon out of it.
"Hmm, I do have a knife… but are you sure you're old enough to use it?" she said again, bursting into laughter.
There was clearly a hint of annoyance on Damiond's face. He didn't say anything further, just coldly stared at her.
After some time, she took out a knife from underneath her clothes and threw it toward Damiond, hitting the piece of meat he was carrying.
Damiond looked at her, stunned. He was rather impressed by her throwing skills but didn't want to let her know that—because she'd only annoy him further.
So he just took the knife out of the meat, laid down near the fire, and pretended to fall asleep.
A silence enveloped the cave as the sound of burning wood felt like music to the ears.She also sat on the other side of the fire. A quiet exhale escaped her lips—short, controlled. The kind people take when trying not to panic.
A few hours flew by in surprisingly comfortable sleep, even knowing that danger lurked all around them.In a moment of silence, Damiond heard a noise coming from outside the cave. He could sense even the smallest changes around him, thanks to a unique property of his aura as well as because he had leveled up.So he knew it was the sound of humans.
He immediately exhaled his aura as much as he could—and there, he sensed it.
Soldiers, completely armed and covered in armor, wearing soft, warm red clothes underneath.
Two… three… four… five… six—"Shit,"Seven.