Her

A young woman with dark hair and light blue eyes lived in a vast, deep forest. As far as she can remember, this place was her home. This forest no longer had a secret place for her. She knew every nook and cranny it could hide. The only areas she never ventured were at the four-point exits.

Each point of the forest was inhabited by four mixed races of humans and beasts.

To the north, the pangarion looked like a feline. They were great hunters mainly at night, thanks to their night vision.

To the east, a clan between birds and humans who called themselves falrowven lived there. They had a tall, slender physique and a sonic scream that served long-distance communications.

In the west lived the colony of a fish breed called Quibasson. They could breathe underwater through the gills that were exposed at the back of their ears.

The southern path, the lizard-shaped community named Sergozard, was staying there. Their skin could heal all kinds of wounds on their body with incredible speed.

Whenever the others explored the forest, the young woman hid from them.

One thing she never expected was that this day would change her life forever.

She crossed a clearing to get to a cave. It was her house. For the time being.

As she walked, she saw something on her path. From afar, she assumed it was a dead beast. When she went a little closer, it wasn’t what she thought.

A pangarion? If I’m not mistaken, he’s their Chief. She thought. She identified him as their leader because of the claw marks on his left eye.

She leaned closer to his body to get a better look. “He has deep wounds and claws marks all over his body.”

The young girl looked around. “But where is his clan? Why did they abandon him like this? Why am I still here watching him?”

Realizing what she was doing, she walked away from the pagarion.

No! I have to get away from him. She said to herself.

The more she moved away from him, the more remorse she felt. Against her better judgment, she decided to help him.

Ugh, I’m sure if the tables had been reversed he would have left me to rot.

She grabbed a small dagger that was tied after her ankle. She cut branches and vines that were on the trees. She began to build a stretcher that would help her transport her unconscious guest.

When everything was gathered and tied up, she struggled to put the pangarion on the stretcher. He was heavy compared to her small body.

After a long journey behind her, she finally came to the end of her path. She placed the pagarion in front of the cave entrance and lit a fire to keep him warm.

She focused on cleaning and treating his injuries.

The pangarion groaned. The young woman glanced at him to see if he was awake. She felt relieved that his condition hadn’t changed. She wasn’t ready to deal with his temper. She remained perched all night near him to take care of his wounds.

She studied him more closely. He had a feline appearance, a sturdy body with dark yellow-brown skin with black dots that were exposed all over the back of his body and on either side of his face, golden hair tied in a ponytail and a short beard. that covered his jaw. He also had a long panther tail with the same shade as his body.

The pangarion started to wake up and looked around. As he sensed a presence near him, he fixed his yellow eyes on her.

“Where the fuck am I?” He growled at her as he stood up from the ground. He grabbed her by the throat, pulling her towards him so they were face to face. “Who the hell are you?”

Her feet were no longer touching the ground. The young woman grabbed his wrist with both hands. She tried to break free from him.

“Is th-is ho-w y-ou sh-ow yo-ur gra-titu-due to the on-e wh-o sav-ed your life?” She struggled as she spoke, he still had his hand around her throat.

“Nehalla?” He whispered, looking surprised.

“Wh-at?” She asked.

Instead of answering her, He released her from his grip. She fell to her knees and started to cough while rubbing her neck. He smirked at her and brought his lips near her ear.

“Woman, even though I’m hurt, I’m still strong enough to get rid of you. What do you think of this little fact?” He teased her.

“I knew you were just a barbarian! It doesn’t mean anything to you that I just saved your life. If it wasn’t for me, your body would now bathe in your own blood!” The young woman responded without hesitation.

The pagarion roared, he was very angry now.

“No one asked you! You should have minded your own fucking business.” He took a deep breath to control his rage. “Woman, I can sense your fear and I find it very entertaining.” He smirked as he told her the last part.

“My name is Kally! Not woman! Understood!?” She replied annoyed by him.

He laughed. “I admit, you’re funny.” He laughed again. “Glad to know you’re not as vulnerable as I thought.”

“Ok, I’m really confused…” Kally’s eyes grew as big as a saucer. She couldn’t finish her sentence, he kissed her suddenly on her lips.

She shoved him. “What the hell is wrong with you, kissing me like that?” She whipped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Is this blood that I just tasted?”

“Calm down woman? I gave you a little drop of my blood because you saved my life and I kissed you because I knew you wouldn’t take my blood willingly.”

“I can imagine why and stop calling me woman already!” She snarled.

Ugh, who does he think he is? She thought to herself.

He kneeled in front of her. “I Hajjar, son of Fahyra and the late Akmire, pledge to protect you until my life is taken from me.”

It surprised Kally at what Hajjar said to her.

“So Hajjar is your…” Kally started screaming uncontrollably.

He stood up from the ground and took her face in his hands. “Kally, what the hell is happening to you?”

“I...I don’t know, I felt my eyes as if they were burning.” She kept her eyes closed while answering Hajjar.

She didn’t understand why or even admit it to herself but she loved the feel of his hand on her.

He looked at her with concern in his eyes. “It just stopped, you don’t feel anything anymore?”

She nodded. “And now, All I feel is a tingling in my eyes.”

With his thumbs, he rubbed the underside of her eyes. “Open your eyes, I just wanna take a look to see what’s going on. Okay?”

Kally did exactly what Hajjar asked her to do, and when he looked at both of her eyes, his expression said it all. “A brilliant blue light covers both of your eyes.”

“But what’s going on with me? And now all I see is that blue light,” she said as her tears rolled down her cheeks. When he saw this, he wiped away the tears with his thumb.

“Do you trust me?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry It’s too early for me to ask you that. Would you mind closing your eyes? I have an idea!”

Hajjar was right; it was too early for her to trust him. Even though his touch made her feel things she had never felt before. What other choice did she have? She didn’t know what else to do and was at least happy to know that she wasn’t alone right now. Especially what was going on with her.

“Is this better?” Hajjar asked after he placed a scarf over her eyes and tied it to the back of her head.

“The intensity of the light is less than before. Thank you, Hajjar.” She smiled at him.

“I think the best thing to do is to go to my clan and see my mother. She is the only one I know that can help you.” Hajjar informed her.

The mere thought of venturing over there made Kally’s heartbeat very quickly. She made a promise to herself to never venture into the territories of other clans. But now she didn’t have a choice. She hoped not to regret this decision.