~Valarendrik~

The exceptionally bright light of the lantern cast its mystifying otherworldly glow throughout the cave, enticing unnatural shadows to dance to the movement of its brilliantly flickering flame. I watched it in awe as I awkwardly laid there, propped up against the highly uncomfortable stones of the cave wall, stiff as a board, while holding the strange and delicate little human in my arms. She was so otherworldly, with her heart bizarrely beating against my stomach and her vibrant colorations.

Her breathing slowly became long and deep, and the smell of fear all but disappeared. I excitedly shifted my gaze down to her peaceful-looking face. Her messy golden locks were sprawled out over my chest, flowing down my side and onto the floor like a silken stream. While her strangely colored eyes were gently closed shut.

Holy shit... I think I’ve done it. I’ve actually managed to get her to do the sleep thing! A sense of accomplishment bloomed in my heart, and I mentally high-fived myself.

In all honestly though, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, or how to properly take care of her. Humans needed ‘sleep’. That much I knew. But with Gwendolyn being the only other human I’ve ever met, the only thing I could think of was to mimic how I’ve seen her sleep. And I’ve only ever seen her sleep on top of Azathoth like this. Only, I don’t have wings to wrap around Lucilia, so I used my shadows to blanket her instead. It seemed to do the trick just fine.

I felt pity for the poor bedraggled thing. She was completely helpless, frightened, and weak. And not to mention badly injured. I mean, she couldn’t even put a shirt on by herself! I doubted that she’d be able to properly walk for at least a few days, maybe even a week or so. It was also apparent that she was lost without a single clue about where she is.

Although I felt as if I may have gotten myself in over my head with this, I had to save her. It would have been cruel to just leave her out there in the wilderness to die. To listen to her scream her head off like a damn idiot, practically ringing the dinner bell for the wolves, and not do anything about it... No, I could never be so merciless. And yet, now I feel responsible for her.

“Devour her as the wolves would have done... Taste her red human blood... Fresh living blood...” The crown sibilantly whispered into my mind like a bloodthirsty grue, while eerily twitching upon my head. I paid it literally no attention. At all.

As I curiously stared down at her dainty little hand wrapped tightly around my jacket, one very important question kept repeating in my mind... How the fuck did a human just randomly end up in The Abyss!?

It made no sense at all. Traversing worlds wasn’t something that just happened all willy-nilly for no piddling reason. In all my 4,000 and something years... I lost track of my exact age because I just simply do not care... not once had anything like this ever happened. At least not that I’m aware of that is. I also couldn’t help but wonder if she was the only one. Not that it really mattered though, any other human who did manage to stumble into this world was surely dead by now.

My lips pinched tightly closed, and I let out an irritated sigh through my nose. I longed to kick myself in the head for not making the effort to learn more English. If I wasn’t limited to communicating with her like a primitive dingbat, then I could actually ask her about what the fuck happened, and explain to her where she is... And also inform her that she’ll possibly be stuck here for a few months...

“There is a language spell in the ‘Venenatiav Vulumek.’” The crown deviously whispered.

I glared in vexation at the crown... Well technically at the wall, since I couldn’t physically look at my own forehead, but still, it knew full well that my annoyance was directed towards it’s pestiferous persona. “Would you shut-” I began to softly whisper through gritted teeth, as to not awaken the human. Then I stopped mid-sentence, realizing that it had actually suggested something potentially worthwhile... for once.

That’s actually not a bad idea...

Trying not to engage with the crown any further, I narrowed my gaze over towards one of the bookcases. As a tenverian, my eyesight was incredibly sharp. I was able to swiftly hone in on the correct book, then will my shadows to retrieve it.

A black swirling mist began to slither across the floor like a wispy tendril of darkness. I strenuously willed it along, as it pathetically slunk up the side of the bookcase. It wavered and wobbled a few times as if it might dissipate at any moment. Then I wrapped it around the desired manuscript using my mind. It was extremely difficult since most of my shadows were already blanketing the human, plus they were weak regardless... A bitter reminder of my inadequacy.

It was a cruel joke, honestly. That the prince with two marks of power would be so powerless. That I was a fucking weakling.

Shaking those irrelevant thoughts away, I willed my shadows to bring the book over to me. It lowered from the self, gently glided across the floor as though it were a leaf upon a stream, then floated upon the black mist before me. Its binding was solid black, with Venenatiav Vulumek inscribed on the front in dark grey, using the malign-looking abyssal alphabet.

Since my hands were busy holding the human, I used my shadows to flick through the aged pages. I inwardly grimaced at some of the gruesome illustrations. Drawings of bones being tortuously removed from flesh, eyes dissected while still in their sockets, upside-down bodies with blood being drained from their sliced open throats, and other grisly things all flickered by, until I finally came across the spell I sought.

Ah, here it is. A tongue rooting spell.

I frowned after reading it. It was invasive and would probably frighten her. However, it wouldn’t harm her, and it would give us the ability to properly communicate. My eyes trailed down over her small petite form, while I regretfully thought about how I was possibly going to traumatize the poor thing even more than she already was.

I’d honestly never seen such a mesmerizing sight in all my life. Her silky hair was so foreign and pale, golden like the light of the lantern. And her eyes, well, they were by far the most beautiful color I’d ever seen. I secretly couldn’t wait for her to reopen them once she was finished doing her sleep thing, just so I could see that color again. She was so vibrant and exotic, and it was hard not to notice how lovely her features were too.

She’s very beautiful...

I smiled at the thought of her being here for a little while and taking care of her. If the spell worked, then I’d have someone else to talk to other than the unwelcome chatter of the crown, and my one-sided conversations with Sagacor. My shadows snapped the book shut, as I decided on performing the spell once she awoke.

“Lucilia.” I happily mused under my breath, while carefully stroking a lock of her soft hair with the tip of my finger.

And so, I stayed in that uncomfortable position, eagerly waiting for her to awaken. I excitedly peeked down with every soft little noise and slight movement that she’d make. Then a slight frown made its way to my face when I realized that she was drooling on me. But still, I didn’t wake her.

Many hours passed, as she peacefully slept in my shadows.