Regeneration

With the hunters gone, Samuel took in a deep breath as his form returned to normal. The blood red color in his eyes slowly faded, returning to its previous yellow color. 

With a sigh, he turned back to Elizabeth. He helped her to her feet and laid her against a tree.

Seeing Elizabeth's pained face, Samuel's animalistic nature took over as he knelt by her and, using his long reptilian tongue, started licking the blood of her wounds, cleaning them.

She had really tried her best to hold herself back from wailing loudly due to the pain of her injuries. For a child of her age, her level of resilience and strength of mind surpassed that of most regular adults.

She was quite shocked by his action but soon started feeling a little relief. She then witnessed him doing something else that shocked her to her core.

After cleaning the blood, Samuel used the claw on his thumb to prick the tip of index finger, a part of his palm covered in thin scales, and drew a drop of blood from it. 

"What are you doing?" she asked, stunned by his act. "Wait and see", he said and gently held up her arm.

She winced in pain in response to his action. "Sorry", he apologized as he held his clawed finger over her arm and let the drop of blood fall directly into her bullet wound.

He retracted his hand as the bloody finger healed instantly.

"So...What now?" she asked a few seconds later after nothing had happened. "Just give it a minute", he said holding up his clawed finger.

"Ouch!! What's happening?" she asked, feeling a sudden slight tug in her wound.

"There we go!" he said as the bullet lodged within her arm was slowly pushed out of the wound.

The bullet fell to the ground and the wound closed up completely, leaving no scars or traces of a wound of any kind. All the other injuries on her body also healed completely, leaving no scars. 

For an entire minute, Elizabeth just stared at the smooth skin of her fully healed body. "What just happened?" she finally asked. 

"Long story short, I just shared with you my regenerative abilities. At least, that's what my doctor calls it", Samuel answered.

"Regene... what?! What is that?" she asked, totally clueless of what he was talking about.

"Regeneration restores the body back to its original state. It's basically, the ability to heal any form of injury instantly", he explained.

"So cool! So, is it permanent or temporary?" she asked excitedly.

"I'm not sure. Other than Drogo, the wolf cub, you are the only other person I've tried this on", he replied.

"That's insane", she marveled.

"I think it's best we get out of here before we attract any more attention", he said after answering a few more questions.

He stood to his feet and picked her up into his arms, carrying her princess style, causing her to be embarrassed. He then flew her back to her family's camp.

"Before I forget; be sure not to draw attention to the regeneration ability. You might have already figured it out but...it is not a normal ability for a regular human", he cautioned her as they flew high into the sky.

"I promise to be very careful", she said as she held tightly onto him.

....

Elizabeth's older brother froze when he saw his sister in the arms of a creature he had never seen before.

"Wha... wha... Angel, no.....Demon!" he rambled on in shock as Samuel flew Elizabeth directly to her tent. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked her as he placed her down.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow", she said and he turned to leave.

"Sup, bro. How's it hanging?", Samuel asked the stunned boy. Not getting a response, he shrugged, turned to Elizabeth and waved before flying off.

Elizabeth's brother just stared into the sky, completely terror struck, and after a few seconds, fell to the ground unconscious.

Elizabeth smiled as she approached her unconscious brother and dragged his heavy body back into his tent.

.....

Noon the next day, Samuel met Elizabeth at their usual spot. "Good morning", she greeted as she ran up to him.

"Morning. You arrived later than expected", he pointed out after replying to her greeting.

"My brother was freaking out about letting me leave but I managed to sneak away without him realizing. Anyway, what are we doing today?" she asked.

"Well, since we've explored a chunk of the forest, I thought we could explore the mountains. What do you think?" he asked for her opinion.

"That's a great idea", she said excitedly. "Okay, let's go", he said and took her into his arms, taking off with a few beats of his wings.

He took Elizabeth through the mountains, taking occasional breaks for Elizabeth to catch her breath and get used to the high altitude.

For hours, they flew over the tops of the mountains admiring the grand scenery.

Dusk soon approached and they had covered close to thirty percent of the entire mountain range.

"Let's start heading back", Samuel said as he took another route back. As they flew over a mountain, he noticed something strange.

"What are those?" he asked pointing down. "Are they...", Elizabeth's voice trailed off as she strained her eyes, trying to catch a better glimpse.

Although being a mile high in the sky, she could surprisingly see what he was pointing to, although barely.

Unlike Samuel who could see clearly with his eyes, she could only see small figures on the ground.

At the base of the mountain were several trucks hidden within the trees and shrubbery. Samuel flew down, hid in the trees and observed the trucks carefully.

"Those look like military trucks", Elizabeth observed. "Yeah, I think you are right. But what is the military doing here? Do you think they know about my existence?" Samuel asked in a worried tone.

"I don't think so. If they knew about you, they would have had your home surrounded already or at least camped somewhere closer. And besides, these trucks seem not to have been moved for weeks. See, the weeds are overtaking the trucks", she said pointing to the tires.

"You're right. You and your family are the only other people I've met. And besides, I'm pretty sure I'd know if I was being watched", Samuel pointed out.

"There is a small path leading up to that cave. Should we check it out?" Elizabeth asked pointing.

"Let's check it out. It might be important to know who we're dealing with", Samuel said as he held on to her and jumped down to the ground.

He held her hand and slowly followed the path, creeping up to the mouth of the cave.

"It's quite deep. There's probably a cavern deep within. Do you think someone is in there?" Samuel asked as he sniffed the air.

"I can only guess. What are you getting?" she asked.

"Nothing ... the cavern is too dusty. I guess we'll have to enter", he said as they entered cautiously, Samuel leading the way.

A few hundred meters into the cavern, there was a sudden loud clattering noise ahead.

"What's that?" Samuel asked. "I didn't hear anything", Elizabeth said in denial, a scared look on her face.

A swarm of bats suddenly came charging at them.

Samuel immediately spread his wings and wrapped Elizabeth in it. The bats flew over them and exited the cavern.

"Are you okay? That was insane" Samuel asked as he helped her up. "Yeah", she said as she dusted herself off.

"I hope nothing scary is on the other side", she added as she proceeded on the path.