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How many people has he eaten?And more importantly...howhad he eaten people who didn’t speak the language of the country they lived in?

I only know a few Vietnamese words.Much of that had been lost over the many generations of her family. But this? These were full sentences,conversationsfrom what she gathered.

Nathair eventually stopped bashing his head the moment it was buried. The voices became muffled after he filled his entire mouth with sand.

He continued to writhe, but it was weakening, just as he reached behind himself and clawed up his own back. He gouged deep, causing purple blood to well and instantly drip down his sides.

Unable to take the sight any longer, Linh ran towards him despite the obvious danger.

She lifted her arm to shield her eyes when sand flung on her and pressed forward. She fell to her knees and started pushing on his back, hoping to startle him back to normal.

“W-wake up!” she shouted, even though his orbs were white and not black like she’d only once seen them – the one time she’d ever heard him snore. “Wake up!”

His massive hand shot up and grabbed her forearm. She winced at the pressure, but he didn’t squeeze any harder.

His squirming ceased. Instead, it was replaced by full-body shudders that caused his muscles to visibly leap all the way down his ridged back, then his tail, before making the tip vibrate. Muffled words continued to come from his buried mouth, as more shudders wracked his entire body like seizures.

Then he locked up.

Tears instantly welled in her eyes when she noticed that his whines and whimpers never stopped.He sounds like he’s in pain.

Unable to leave due to his grip on her arm, Linh was forced to remain at his side. She didn’t know how long she knelt there, if it were an hour or more, but Nathair didn’t break from his whines, his tremors. He seemed to bury his skull further and further until all she saw was his hooked ram horns. Even the top of his chest was sinking.

Every time she patted his back comfortingly, his grip on her tightened until she cried out in pain. She stopped, unsure if it was even aiding him.

Sand bubbled up when his nose hole exhaled, clearing the grains away, only for them to slip back inside. Over time, water sloshed around his tail as high tide quickly crept towards them.

Then, finally, his hand lost tension and dropped to the ground. She wished silence fell upon them when he shifted to the side just enough to unbury his head.

Instead, he hacked out sand, wheezing and whimpering, and he wildly huffed as if he’d been sprinting. Noticing grains in his gills, she wiped at them, sure they were uncomfortable.

He didn’t react, but she couldn’t stop herself from trying to dust him off further as tears fell. Shell-shocked and confused, she trembled as she tried to soothe him from whatever the fuck this just was.

Just a few hours ago, he’d seemed so formidable. Now, he lay there weakly.

He lifted his head just enough to show that he was looking at her. Then, within the blink of an eye, he recoiled from her, making her start and fall back. His orbs shifted to dark orange, and she was beginning to wonder what the colour signified.

Her eyelids flickered when he ducked forward and cupped both sides of her head. He brushed over the top of her head before grabbing her left arm to check it.

“I’m okay!” she shouted, shoving at him before he could continue. She slyly hid her right arm while rolling down her sleeve. “Areyouokay? Your back is bleeding.”

Nathair lifted his head to look at the sky, as if it hadn’t just sent him into a weird trance! He darted his skull towards the cliff, the ground, and the water sloshing around his tail.

She realised then that since they were north facing, they were in the shade. The sun would go down soon.

Without warning, Nathair swiped up the fish and dived his claws into the sand around her body. He lifted her. Her legs and arms kicked in surprise before he secured her into a bridal cradle and bolted for the cave opening.

Along the way, he crouched down to grab the larger shell she’d dropped, like he’d seen it in her hand before he lost his ever-loving shit. He gave it to her, and her heart squeezed that he stopped to obtain it despite everything.

Still unrecovered from earlier, he let out deep huffs of exertion that echoed within the rocky alcove. He shifted her until she was seated with her legs wrapped around his side and his arm locking her in. He swiped up her shoes with his tail tip and shoved them at her.

He must be worried about the Demons.If his blood scent didn’t bring them upon them, her human scent would.

“L-leave the chest,” she offered when he reached for it, noticing how much he was shaking and how sluggish he was being.

She immediately clamped her lips shut when he bit out a menacing growl. He placed the fish inside it, scooped it up, and shoved it under his armpit. Then he slithered up the boulders carefully.

Did I make him feel weak?She hadn’t meant to make him feel that way. She could just understand the need for urgency, and she hadn’t wanted to burden him further with the chest.