Fern was sorry for me. She looked devastated at how badly we were treated. She even got angry at them for me when I told her how they starved us on the flying ship.
Then she patted me on the shoulder with a confusing look. It was almost like she was more surprised by her actions than I was. And I was already quite confused.
Fern standing before me made me nauseous. Her scent was strong. It was highly potent, to an extent that made me wonder if it was alive. Her musk embraced me, tried to take possession of me, and I let it be as I stared into her golden sea.
Her touch was soft, consoling, and it made me feel much better. The pain I didn't even know I had been carrying diminished as her fingers lingered on my shoulder.
When she pulled back, Fern's cheeks were still red. She told me a little about herself and answered the questions that lingered in my mind, yet she didn't seem quite there. It was like she was still caught up in the way she behaved. Fern's attention shifted to her fingers and my shoulder before shifting back to my face with a look that carried more questions than before.
Despite that, our conversation never came to a stop. We talked for a long time. Even when Fern said she had to leave, she promised to return. Not to watch me, but to talk and eat together.
I was sad to see her leave. It was like I was abandoned. That the only person who might understand me a little was tired of me. Yet, the way our eyes met when she looked back dispersed the dark thoughts before they could take root.
And even when she turned into a blur and left, her musk remained with me. On me.
***
What is wrong with me?! Why did I do that?
Fern didn't have a reason to expose herself. If anything, she should not have revealed herself in front of the human. He understood that someone was following him and talked to her like he knew that she was present, but that didn't mean she had the right to share food with him and reveal herself.
"I even told him my name!" she hiss-whispered, cursing herself as stupid and foolish.
There had been literally no reason for her to do any of that. In the fae's name, she shouldn't even have been there, let alone helped him. Her duty was to report inconsistencies, which included the sighting of hostile forces. She did that with the Hnoll scouts, yet she kept silent about Xavier.
Even worse, she spread her scent on him and allowed him to call her by her name. But they got closer. Fern liked that.
Xavier was not a bad person either. He was nice to her. He gave her tasty food and made sure only to use fallen leaves and broken branches to start a fire. He did not harm the Eserian. If anything, he helped the forest get rid of the Hnolls. That deserved to be rewarded.
The grove would never think like that. They would see foul play in Xavier's behavior. They'd think he was a good actor and that he wanted to fool everyone. But Fern was not someone to be fooled. She knew little about Xavier, yet she felt like she could trust him.
Hence she chose to meet him again the following day. He greeted her with a brilliant smile and offered her some of the little food he had left. But Fern came prepared. She brought bread and one of the grove's juices for breakfast. She said she was supposed to enjoy it all alone on her patrol. Instead, she savored it with Xavier.
They ate in comfortable silence at first. They enjoyed each other's company with nervous smiles and talked to each other for hours once breakfast was over. Fern and Xavier were just… themselves as they chatted, the grudges of their races forgotten.
Last but not least, Xavier went to the stream Esar to refill his waterskin. His smile as they met all sorts of monsters at the Esar was mesmerizing. It was a smile of peace and comfort. One she rarely saw among her people in times like these. Fern couldn't even remember the last time she smiled like that… although she felt her lips curl up alongside Xavier's at that moment. Looking at him enjoying himself made her want to smile as well.
Then she watched him fight. Not the monsters at the Esar, as that would break the laws of the Eserian, but the monsters that attacked him. Fern watched Xavier. No longer in hiding, yet she was still watching him, the curiosity in her heart growing stronger by the day.
His fighting style was rough. It was almost like Xavier had never been trained by a real fighter. He overextended more often than Fern felt like counting, and his legs did not carry him as far as he wanted–or too far when smaller steps would have been better. Clearly, he was no born warrior. But his physique was great. The training he must have undergone to attain such a physique was enormous, yet he still lacked muscle mass.
And that could be solved with the meat he earned from fighting the plagues of the Eserian. A swarm of Kerinks, small avian monsters resembling chickens with longer wings and sharper beaks, descended upon him as he stepped into one of their traps. They descended upon him and should have easily killed him, yet they failed.
The winged plagues of the forest never even got to see Xavier. He transformed into a Hnoll and hurled his crystallized javelin at one of the beasts. Then he transformed into a Kerin and joined the confused swarm. His beak tore into the neck of yet another Kerink before they realized what was happening. By then, Xavier transformed back into a Hnoll, a pair of crystallized blades in his hands.
His fighting style didn't improve much, but it didn't have to. His Power made more than up for his lack of control.
He was a tricky fighter and changed forms whenever the situation demanded. Analyzing the fight unfolding before her, Fern could not help but smile to herself. It was marvelous. Exciting even.
Her heart raced as the fight reached its climax, and Xavier was nowhere near losing. As rough as the battle appeared, it was beautiful.
"I think you're beautiful." His words echoed through Fern's head.
Heat rose to her cheeks and she had to place a hand on her chest to contain her heat before it could leap out.
What is happening to me?