Monsters and Maidens

Barry woke to his whole body being numb and cold. But the numbness didn’t last, sensation started to come back, and with it pain. The dirt stabbed into his back like a hundred tiny jagged points that were attempting to push through his consciousness. But all of that became moot the moment he’d shifted. An explosion of agony swept through his mind. Red hot knives pushed their way through his swollen ankles and up to his knees. He jerked, and it was made all the worse, his arm covering his mouth to suppress the scream as the world became invisible flames that licked at his skin. It left a ringing inside his ears that snatched his thoughts away from him.

When his consciousness came back to him, Barry realized he was flat on the ground again, and a chilling sweat ran down his forehead and all over his body. Everything was cold, ice that pressed against him from all directions.

The young man’s mind tumbled through his thoughts like falling down a cliff. Shaking hands reached for the phone, clicking it on with the press of a button. Light blinded him. His eyes took several seconds to adjust to the darkness. There might have been other sounds, but his shivering heartbeat deafened him to the world.

Something soft and warm touched his shoulder. He turned his gaze towards the blond monster, her blue eyes looking down at his own. Without his glasses, it was hard to see the details, but there was something in those blues that felt… warm.

Barry tried to move and whimpered from the pain. A half-choked sob.

The winged woman shifted, the light from the phone illuminating her as she… lay next to him? The young man’s mind couldn’t handle thoughts. They slurred and blurred before they made their way through. He was unable to make heads or tails of what was happening. Her wing reached out and covered his chest. Her head rested on his shoulder.

The light went out again, and all the human could sense was the creature’s body as she lay her wings on him. Heat from her touch soothed the chill against his skin. The thundering heartbeat that pumped blood into his throbbing skull slowed. His ears cleared from the sound enough to realize she was humming. It was a soft whisper, barely a tune. It reverberated through her body and his own. It soothed the aching; it calmed his body.

The minutes bled by before Barry’s body relented, calming down into a fugue of pain. The sound of the humming slowly drowning out the discomfort, leaving behind a soft warmth. There was a slow, distant pitter-patter of rain, barely reaching the human’s ears.

Gasping, Barry’s thoughts had slowed, moving through a molasses of delirium. With the phone providing light once more, he turned to look into the shining blues of the petite woman that clung to him. “Why?” He could only ask. His voice was hoarse, scratching at his throat like sandpaper.

Her only response was a little trill, and a little tilt of her head. Her cheek pressed against his shoulder, her eyes closed, and her hug tightened ever so slightly.

The young man couldn’t summon the strength to move, let alone risk more pain. He laid there under her wing. His body was still cold, but the heat of her touch had stopped his body from trembling like a leaf at least.

“I don’t…” A slight cough stopped his words, and his lips tightened ever so slightly, his eyes becoming damp again.

Shaking his head, the young man glanced to his other side, to the only other person in this hole that was filled with nothing but dirt, cold, and darkness. The tanned woman sat with her legs crossed. Her emerald eyes were peering at him, her expression unreadable.

“What?” the young human could only ask.

“You’re going to die.” There was no joy in those words, no threat, no anger- rather, it was a statement of fact.

The redhead closed his eyes tightly, hands clenching into fists, as the movement of the phone causing the shadows to dance around them. “I don’t want to die.”

“Without healing, you probably won’t last more than a day or two.” She was calm, looking at him for long, quiet seconds. Her eyes appeared weary, tired.

He choked back tears. “I don’t want to die.” She didn’t answer. His mouth clenched tightly. “I don’t want to die.”

“When the Hound shows up again.” Her voice came out as a whisper. “They will take you, since you’re the weakest. They will eat you alive.”

Barry sobbed, shaking his head. “I don’t want to die, please.”

Her green eyes hardened, a heartbeat of hesitation. “I… can help you.”

“What?”

The words startled him and his eyes widened as he blinked back the tears.

Her eyes locked on his and her expression was grim. “I can put you to sleep, bring it to an end. No one deserves to go out like that, not even a human.”

It was like a cold punch to his gut. The young man shook his head. “I don’t… please, don’t.”

“It would be like falling asleep, painless,” she said. Her voice was as if not her own. She had not blinked; she had not looked away. Her shoulders tightened as she said this, however, betraying the tension behind the calm.

The light in the phone went out and Barry quickly turned it back on, the shiver of his body bringing a throb of agony through his legs. No, this couldn’t be it, not this. He shook his head with everything he could muster. “I don’t… I don’t want to die.”

The dark skinned nameless woman didn’t answer, closing her eyes and leaning against the dirt wall. She almost looked relieved, her arms slumping at her sides as she breathed in deeply and sighed. She turned upwards, towards the blackness of the hole above and the nothingness that it led to. An abyss that loomed over their heads.

“Kajou.”

“What?”

“My name, it’s Kajou.”

The redhead closed his eyes for an endless moment, letting out a hollow laugh. “Barry. That’s my name.” A strangled sob made its way out of his lips. “Not that it matters, I’m just… I’m just...” He didn’t say anything else, feeling unable to utter the words.

A pressure on his shoulder made him turn his head down to the creature that’d been hugging him. Her sky-blue eyes met his. “Bahr-ee.”

Her words brought a flush of warmth through him. Filled with concern and empathy, the young man’s head swam. Barry nodded, feeling his eyes moisten again. “Yeah, I’m Barry,” he choked back the words, the fear, the pain, and the cold.

“Bahr-ee,” she chirped, smiling slightly wider, her wings tightening against him in a comforting embrace.

“What!?” The word came out of Kajou. It was harsh and surprised. Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape, as if what she’d seen was impossible. “Did she… did she just say your name?”

A howling noise cut Barry’s attempt at asking what she meant. The sound bounced into the cave and all around them. Everyone tensed as it shook the walls, and it made the earth tremble as it grew in volume.

A voice ran out from the abyss above them, distant and filled with echoes, but clear. “KAJOU!”

The dark-skinned woman’s head snapped upwards, the shock replaced with brilliance, a smile coming to her lips. “PAN!” She screamed back, loud, her voice a thunderclap that made Barry flinch. “PAN!”

“KAJOU! I’m coming for you!” The voice responded, and barks joined in with the howls from earlier. Something exploded, and the ground shook once more. There were whines and screams. “I’m coming for you!” Kajou shuddered as she heard this, smiling, her head glancing up at the hole’s edge and then back down at Barry. Her smile died down, and her brows furrowed.

The feverish young man shuddered, lips tightening. “Guess that’s your rescue.”

Her frown tightened. “No, you’re coming with us.”