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She looked away to stare at the flames, wondering what she was to do then.Does that mean I could... force him to come with me?She didn’t really like the idea of tricking the Duskwalker, but if she was to go to one of the towns, would he chase after her?That’s if he intends to keep me here captive.

If she escaped, would he save her if Bragg’s men tried to take her? He would be forced to intervene then.

Her heart twisted at being so deceiving.

He could also choose not to save me.She would need to trust that he would, and she didn’t know if she was willing to risk it.

I don’t know if I trust him.Not that deeply, at least.

Bragg was an unkind man. Randy had only echoed Bragg’s threat that if she ran away a second time, he’d cut one of her Achilles tendons. He didn’t care if she would limp for the rest of her life with a foot she could barely move, so long as she was within his grasp.

She hadn’t made it far the first time she fled, which was a month ago. She barely made it a hundred metres before she was dragged back by her hair while she kicked and screamed.

There are worse monsters than Demons and Duskwalkers,she thought, as liquid bubbled in her eyes.

She wished her memories of all the abuse she’d suffered would cease existing, but they were too fresh. A week ago, she’d suffered. She’d come to accept her torture through prolonged exposure, but it also meant her mind had locked her emotions away regarding it.

At the time, she’d silently shed tears and gritted her teeth, but now that she was free... it was like she couldn’t hold back the grotesque and frightening images.

Her skin didn’t itch, nor did it feel dirty – especially not after her cold dip in the water – but she did feel... unclean. She didn’t have the urge to scrub at her flesh until it turned raw, but her essence felt unfairly tainted. Something had been stolen from her, and she worried this would forever cling to her mind like sticky mud.

She didn’t want it to. She would rather remove those memories and pretend they never happened. That, for the past few months, Linh hadn’t existed. From the day she’d been walked out of her village, to when she woke up that first time sitting against the boulders next to the Duskwalker’s pond, she wanted it to all fade away.

It’s not fair.She clenched her eyes shut, willing herself to push all of it to the back of her mind and lock it away. She’d been so close to being trapped once more. If this Duskwalker had left her to defend herself...Oh gods. I don’t want to think about what would have happened.

Linh sucked in a breath when a gentle pressure wrapped around the bottom of her jaw. She opened her eyes as she was forced to look upon the Duskwalker, who had silently come closer. He lifted her face with his entire hand, his orbs a dark yellow.

I thought yellow meant joy.She knew the darkness of it didn’t when he tilted his head questioningly. His claws weren’t sharp,but they still felt deadly as they lightly pressed into her cheeks and throat.

Linh froze when he came even closer and sniffed one of her cheeks with less than an inch of room separating them.

“A-are you wondering why I’m crying?” she asked.

Her skin prickled when a long and purple tongue flicked forward. It wasn’t entirely shaped like a serpent’s, since it was thicker, but it was forked at the tip. It wiggled near her skin, and she swore the very points of it just ghosted against her – precariously close to the outer corner of her eye.

She backed away while swiping where he’d... tasted the scent of her tears?

“It’s nothing,” she lied.

When he didn’t let her chin and jaw go, instead holding her gaze, her skin flushed with shame.

She felt like a crybaby, when she’d never particularly been that way before.How do I put all the tears I’ve shed back inside me?she thought with a sniffle.

“It’s fine. I just have a lot on my mind.”

As if he could read the truth, a soft and quiet growl rumbled from him as his orbs turned red. He gently released her and pulled back to lie down like before. With his head on his arms, he let out a snorting huff.

Despite knowing she’d annoyed him, she didn’t expand further. Talking about it meant vocalising it was real and had happened, which took it from her innermost thoughts and gave it to the world. In doing so, it would no longer become forgettable, as it would linger in someone else’s mind – even a monster’s.

Maybe that was another reason she wanted Bragg, and all his men who knew what had happened to her, dead. Not for vengeance, but to erase any evidence of it beyond herself. Peoplewere witnesses, and it lingered in the subconsciousness of their minds.

Linh wanted to snuff that out permanently.

Ignoring Nathair in the periphery of her vision, the longer Linh sat by the fire, the less she shivered. Her clothes dried.

After a while of her thoughts spiralling, a soft snore stole her attention. She fully turned to the Duskwalker who had fallen asleep near the fire.

Her crinkled brow of concern settled as surprise overshadowed her musings.