Chapter 15—Wake Up, Bitch

Another two hours had passed.

Chael had spent most of it adjusting to the pain in his skull and his newfound blindness, to the way his body felt both weaker and stronger than before. More than anything, he had spent that hour thinking.

Thinking about what he had become.

Thinking about what he had lost.

Thinking about what the hell he was supposed to do now.

He had always lived for spite rather than survival. And yet, here he was, still breathing and still standing despite every reason not to.

Chael clicked his tongue and shook the thoughts away. His head was already aching pretty badly and now it was being amplified from his overthinking.

He lifted the broken spear in his hands. It acted as both a weapon and his only guide. In these two hours he was also moving the spearhead around and playing around with it in different angles just to get used to his new version of sight. It was very difficult and disorientating and he had no idea how he was going to fight like this. His only hope was to get used to it as soon as possible.

The wooden shaft of the spear was too short to be useful in a fight, but at least it had a sharp end and a reflective surface.

That was all he needed for now.

Crouching near the small fire, he lit the tip of the broken shaft and let the flames catch onto the dried wood. Slowly, they crawled upward, creating a tiny but steady torch.

Perfect. Now he had both light and sight.

Chael gripped the spearhead and stood up. His fingers adjusted the angle of the silver spearhead, tilting it left and right, scanning his surroundings through its dim reflection.

It felt very strange as surreal, as if he like disconnected from his body and was seeing the worlds through someone else's vision. Although that was pretty close to the truth.

The images in the reflection bent slightly, warped along the metal's edge, stretched whenever the light shifted.

Chael walked, carefully navigating the cavern floor. The ice beneath his boots was uneven, cracked in places where the stalactite and the dead Veyrith had shattered the ground. He could hear the faint drip of water, the cold air still thick with the stench of blood.

He kept moving forward while sweeping the spearhead from side to side like a man testing the depths of a river. The world shifted within the reflection as jagged stone, distant icicles hanging from the ceiling like frozen fangs and even further down was darkness his makeshift torch couldn't reach.

Then he stepped on something soft and squishy.

Chael frowned.

'Another one of those bastards' corpses.' he thought, and without hesitation, he kicked it aside. 

But the moment he took a step forward-

The reflection in the spearhead changed. It showed a human with silver hair. Chael's entire body tensed and his head snapped toward the image. His grip on the spear tightened.

It was Echidna. She noticed the faintest of shifts in her chest suggesting that was she a still alive.

Chael didn't hesitate. He turned sharply in the direction of where she was and walked toward her with quickly with steady steps.

When he reached her, he nudged her with his foot, but not before coldly saying, "Wake up, bitch."

No response.

He crouched down and bought the spearhead close to her face.

Her clothes were torn, her silver hair matted with blood and dirt, her entire body half-buried in the icy slush of the cavern floor. If she was alive, she was doing a damn good job of looking dead.

Chael sighed. 'What a pain in the ass.'

He raised a hand and slapped her.

Not too hard. Just enough to get a reaction.

Nothing.

He slapped her again.

Still nothing.

He let out a slow breath, then narrowed his eyes and slapped her a third time. This one was a little harder.

No response.

"Tch. Is she dead?" he muttered.

For a moment, he actually considered checking for a pulse.

Then he realized he didn't care that much.

Just as Chael was about to sigh and move on, Echidna moved.

Like a coiled viper, she lunged up from the ground, her body twisting as she brought a knife straight for his throat.

If it had been the Chael from last night he would've definitely not have gotten away unscathed and might've even perished right there and then.

But now?

Now, her movement seemed laughably slow.

His hand shot out and he caught her wrist with ease. Her fingers trembled as she tried to push the blade forward, but her strength was nothing compared to his now.

Chael's grip tightened and he twisted her wrist slightly until she let out a sharp hiss of pain. Then, just for good measure, he slapped her across the face.

She hit the ground with a dull thud.

"Try that again," he said coldly, "and I'll turn you into a red smear on the ground."

Echidna groaned, rolling onto her side, cradling her wrist. Her silver eyes flicked up toward him. When she saw him, her eyes widened. His silver hair was damp and sat on his shoulders and his several strands of his fringe was stuck to his face. Chael's skin was pale and look very sickly, much more than before.

And rightfully so. He hadn't had anything to eat in over two days now and his body has been battered and thrashed. And now he was blind and his headache simply refused to go away no matter how much time passed.

The thing that caught Echinda's attention was his blindfold. It was black and was wrapped neatly around his eyes, but from beneath them, blood continued to trickle down slowly. Especially in nothing but dim fire light, it was a harrowing and terrifying sight.

Her lips parted slightly, "...You're blind."

Chael didn't respond.

She sat up a little, rubbing her cheek where he had struck her.

"And you caught me easily. Not to mention that weird thing that happened before that monsters attack rebounded it on itself." she muttered, almost to herself. "So that means..."

Again, he said nothing.

A small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. "You're a Harbinger now, huh?"

He remained still, expression unreadable.

For a long moment, she just stared at him, her amusement slowly fading. Then, with a sharp exhale, she dropped her head back onto the ground, closing her eyes.

"Great," she muttered. "That's just great."

Chael crouched beside her, resting his broken spear across his knee. "You done talking?"

Echidna opened one eye. "Depends. Are you going to kill me now?"

"If I was," he said flatly, "you'd already be dead."

She snorted. "Then what? Keeping me around for entertainment?"

Chael's expression didn't change. "Not exactly."

He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her up. She winced, barely managing to stay on her feet, her body swaying from exhaustion.

"I'm injured, asshole."

"So am I." He turned her toward the darkness ahead. "Now walk."

She blinked at him, then glanced at the cavern ahead.

A slow realization settled in her eyes.

Chael watched as the understanding dawned on her, as she put the pieces together. He was keeping her alive. It wasn't because he cared or he didn't have the heart to kill her, but because if something was waiting in the dark, it was going to eat her first.

Her smirk returned, bitter and tired. "Using me as bait now?"

Chael tilted his head slightly. "You not worth much else here."

Her lips pressed into a thin line. Then, with a tired sigh, she turned forward and started walking.

Chael followed, holding the torch-spear aloft, watching the world through the flickering reflections.

They walked in silence.