Captured by the Beast [SS#2]

Chapter 41

"You too?" He asked surprised as I laughed.

"Absolutely! But, we have to focus on anything but our surroundings. It won't do us any good if we start losing our marbles in this place." I assured him as he softly laughed. "I'm glad you talked to me about your worries. Not being able to see my hand in front of my face has been a little unnerving but knowing that you're with me makes it even better." I admitted as the cave seemed to close in a lot more before we were crawling on our hands and knees up the small staircase which resulted in me having to let go of Mizail's cloak.

Breathing deeply, I focused on putting one hand before the other while doing the same with my knees. Occasionally, my fingers would brush against Mizail's cape but after a while, they didn't. "Mizail?" I questioned while stopping to listen. Nothing but a deafening silence answered as my heart began to race. Maybe he's further up ahead, resting and simply can't hear me. I told myself. As ridiculous as that sounded, I needed to convince myself not to panic even if what I said wasn't true. "Mizail?" I called again while continuing up the stairs, willing my mind to focus on anything besides my surroundings. Thinking there was no point in keeping my eyes open since I couldn't see anyway, I closed them while feeling my way.

"Nuri?" Mizail called out from behind me as confusion washed over me. How did he get behind me? How did I get in front of him? I wanted to call out to him but something in me told me to just keep going and not say anything. "Nuri?" He called again, growing a little closer as I willed myself to move a little faster even though my knees were aching. "Why are you leaving me? I thought you loved me." He responded after I didn't answer him. Soft tapping echoed behind me as I tried to steady my breathing, willing myself not to cry. Whatever is behind me, it isn't Mizail. He wouldn't say something like that. "Nuri." It called once again, the voice distorted now followed by a low gasping noise. I was scared out of my mind as I tried to crawl faster but the soft tapping grew closer.

"Nuri!" The familiar voice called out frantically as I quickly opened my eyes and lifted my head. There was an exit further up ahead with light shining through where Mizail was bent over it, reaching in towards me. It was truly him in the flesh! The closer I got to him, the more I could smell his smoky scent. As soon as I got close enough to outstretch my hand towards him, he grabbed hold of me and yanked me out swiftly as we fell back onto the ground. Quickly sitting up, I looked back towards the entrance of the tunnel we were in. Staring back at me with large dark eyes was a creature as white as snow. It had no nose and I didn't see a mouth as it laid on the stairs on long human-like limbs that seemed too long for it to be normal. It had no hair, just large dark eyes that stared at me unblinkingly.

"I'm not afraid of you!" I yelled as it sat up on its elbows while tilting its head at me like an animal would do.

"I'm not afraid of you." It repeated, a dark mass opening beneath its large eyes and lower jaw. It had no teeth, just a gaping darkness. "Harmless." It pointed at us with its long talons as Mizail leaned forward in my peripheral vision. "Harmless." It repeated, pointing back at itself while Mizail helped me stand to my feet as I never took my eyes off of it no matter how much it hurt to stand.

"You're harmless?" I asked as it stared unblinkingly at me before nodding. "So, why were you chasing me?" It stared at me with those unnerving eyes before looking off past me. It wasn't looking at Mizail but it was staring intently at something before it slowly backed into the darkness of the stairs, the entrance magically closing up behind it. As soon as it was out of sight, my knees gave out as I fell to the cold ground. Looking down, I was surprised to see snow beneath my knees.

"Are you okay, my heart?" Mizail asked, quickly dropping down beside me as I looked up at him through blurry eyes before he pulled me into his arms and draped his wings over me. He held me as I cried, the fear of it all finally hitting me. Once I was finally calmed down, he pulled back while wiping my face with his cloak.