Bound by fate.
The wind howled like a wounded beast through the blackened trees, the cold air blowing hard, Lila and Keal sat on the windfall while he carefully tried to tend to the wounds she sustained during the hunt.
Blood dripped from the wound on her arm, staining the snow beneath them. His breath came in broken breaths, each one laced with pain.
She stood before him, eyes wide, refusing to move. She is a healer and can definitely handle her pain, she wouldn't let him worry about her.
“You can't stay next to me”, he exclaimed, his voice covered with both pain and fury. “ I will only cause you danger…and problems just like I am cursed with”.
His fingers curled into fists, nails digging into his palms as he forced himself to stand and get away from her. His body and heart protested, he knew he wanted her by his side but he had to do what was best for her if he wanted her safe. This is his fight, not hers.
She took a bold step forward, but he flinched back as though her presence itself was now a blade against his skin.
“Go,” he groaned, though his voice wavered with pain.
“Before it becomes too late”.
She could feel his pain, but she wasn't about to let him push her away.
A rush of wind swept through the trees, scattering snow into the air, the cold wind heating harshly again her skin. For a long moment, Lila said nothing, her gaze locked onto his as if searching for the truth beyond his words. A true bond of connection ran through their veins and she stared and him.
Then, slowly but very determined, she shook her head.
“No”.
The word was soft but strong, carrying more weight than any word he had heard before now.
Keal’s chest tightened. He could feel his heart pounding hard against his chest, shocked by her reply. “Lila—”
“I’m not leaving you”, she interrupted before he could say another word. “I promised you that I would stand by you and I intend to keep my promise, you think you're cursed? Fine. Then let me bear it with you”.
His expression hardened. “You don't understand —”
“ I understand enough.” She stepped closer, ignoring the way he tensed and closing the gap between them. “I know exactly what you are trying to do. You want to protect me from any harm, you want to keep me away from the dangers that lure around you, you think sending me away is protecting me, but pushing me away won't change anything. I chose this. I chose you.”
Keal's breath paused for a moment. He could hear the sincerity and honesty in her words, all his life he had been chased, haunted and always looking over his shoulders but he could feel the warmth of her words breaking through the cold that had hardened his skin.
"You… don't know...what you're saying,” he hesitated, voice low. “You don't know what I am.”
Lila lifted a hand, his fingers barely grazing his cheek and pressed a finger on his lip. He stiffened but remained calm without pulling away from her touch.
"I know exactly what you are and who you are, you are a kind, strong, and brave man. One who puts his pain away to fight for others, one who is determined to put an end to the cruelty of the elders and leaders. That is who you are”.
His heart pounded with fast beats.
No one has even spoken to him this calmly before, no one has ever wanted to be by his side. She should be afraid. She should turn and run while she still could. But instead, she was look at him with something else in her eyes—
Something that unsettled him more than fear ever could.
His throat tightened not from thirst but from the words he had just had her say.
“Lila….”
“You don’t have to fight alone,” she whispered.
And at that moment, Keal knew she meant every word she had said to him.
"Fine then, if you insist he said, but you should know it wouldn’t be easy going forward”.
“I know”, she said.
I need to gather some medicine to treat my wounds before it gets infected, she added stepping back into the woods.
"I will come with you”, Keal whispered.
Lila moved through the trees with ease, her fingers brushing against the damp bark as she searched for everything she needed. The scent of the damp earth and pine filled the air. She ignored the sting on her arm, focusing instead on the task at hand.
Keal followed behind her, his footsteps nearly silent, but she could feel his presence like a shadow behind her. He was watching her, protective and determined —but he didn’t try to stop her this time.
She stood near the base of a large oak tree, plucking broad, veined leaves from a cluster of low-growing plants. Yarrow— for infection. A few steps away, she found some golden root, its bright yellow flowers poking through the frost. That would help with the pain.
“You are very familiar with medicine “, Keal said, complementing her, his voice more quiet now, lacking the sharpness from before.
Lila glanced at him letting out a little smile. “It’s what I do, I am a healer remember?”
She tore a strip from the hem of her dress, pressing the leaves against the wound before wrapping the cloth tightly around her arm. The pain flared for a moment, but she stiffened, exhaling slowly through her nose.
Keal watched her closely. “ You should let me help”, he offered.
“ I can handle it,” she said, finishing the knot.
A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I know you can but that doesn’t mean you have to.”
Before she could respond, the forest shifted.
A sheep crack shattered the quiet.
They both froze.
The trees trembled as another snap echoed through the air, followed by the deep grain of bending wood.
Lila turned sharply. “What was that?”
They are here. He said.