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With her body now feeling much better, she spread her clothes across the stalagmites strewn around the pool and slid herself back into the water for a little longer—while she had both the freedom to do so, and indeed, nowhere else she could go.

Wading turned to splashing as she found more time to herself to be therapeutic. After a while she was almost relaxed in the water, until a sound broke the calm. She looked toward the wall over which the Veil had gone and saw nothing, but her ease was leaving her, so she began to make her way back to where she had left her clothes.

There was a noise behind her. She turned to see the Veil already in the water looking down on her, its head beyond the peak of her reach, and one of its clawed hands coming toward her.

She grabbed at her bare chest, covering herself in an instinctive way, but the creature seemed neither interested in, nor dissuaded by, her sudden action.

With one of its hands, it slowly reached toward her, claws facing backward as though it would touch her with the back of its wrist. As it closed the space between them, Fawn felt her toes grip the smooth stone again and her nails dug into her side.

The creature’s hand stopped just in front of her bare stomach and began to unfurl. Struck motionless with breath gaining speed, she felt the need to recoil or run, or jump from its reach, but she was starting to understand that if it had wanted to harm her, it could have done so already.

Gradually, its powerful fingers closed the final space and the back of one of its knuckles made contact with her stomach. She winced terribly, as not only was this the very weapon that had reduced all those around her to discarded meat, but it was also the first time she had been touched since her mother died.

Upon the evident flinch, the Veil slowed its movement further and stroked the oddly glossed back of its claw across her stomach and downward toward her hip. It moved its head closer.

With her eyes having adjusted completely, she could now see more of the details in its face. Its skin was less rough around its eyes, than the rest of its face, and it was clearly breathing in her scent. She didn’t feel the threat that she had before, but it was far from a comfort. She felt as though she were standing before the perfection of death itself, and waiting to see what it would decide to do with her.

It moved the back of its claw down her hip and into the water. The claw had a surface so fine it barely impacted the water as it passed into it. She recoiled further as she felt the strange texture of its claw pass over her skin, but it didn’t react and continued down her hip and leg, on to the inside of her left knee. Her breath was very fast now, she didn’t dare move as all the fingers that were not brushing against her were close enough that she would risk further wounds if she were to move too much.

As the claw passed inside her knee it then went behind her leg and gently lifted her leg from the water: her inherent flexibility made it simple for the creature to lift it without toppling her over. It drew a large breath as her thigh crested the water and moved its eyes to the various cuts to her skin. It let breath out and moved its hand back, replacing it with its opposing hand and repeating the action down her right leg, bringing it from the water.

Even though she felt fear enough that she was almost frozen by it, there was such care taken by the creature’s movements that she found herself feeling the glossed texture against her skin as if almost pleasant, maybe it would have been in another circumstance. Finally, the creature brought its finger to the center of her chest and moved her arms outward one at a time, looking carefully at each one, and then down her sides. She felt so exposed, as though there was nearly nothing left that she could keep to herself. Once it had inspected her torso and arms, its claw moved down her center. It dropped into the water and she felt more of the claw’s detail as it moved further down her abdomen. She reacted involuntarily, jumping back from the contact.

“Eek!”

The creature paused and moved its head closer again. Sniffing at her, it began to make a rumbling sound. It placed one of its hands behind her and drew it back, turning her slowly to the side. Then with no warning, it tipped her backwards and caught her body across the back of its heavily textured hand.

“What? ... ”

It had happened so quickly she had no time to think. It then lifted her from the water, balancing her whole body across the back of its sprawled fingers, and brought her closer to its face.

It examined her all over intently, and eventually closed its nictitating membranes and looked again, then carefully placed her back in the water on her feet.

It was such a surreal experience for her, that the reality of what happened felt almost impossible to understand. She was now safely back in the water—unharmed—and actually had been checked fairly well for injuries. Fawn wondered if what she was to this animal was something like a pet, and perhaps it had never intended her any harm.

Standing in the water, she felt very ill-prepared with no clothing, no weapon, and no way to move without still being within its reach. Oddly though, there was an air of having been watched over ... as the creature moved slowly through the water, positioning itself to stand above her like a shelter made of dense skin and metallic bone.

Having finished its inspection of her wounds, the Veil moved itself through the pool to the edge. Fawn began to feel a little more secure in herself and went to where her wet clothing was strewn. She began to sort through what was there, to see what was still intact and might work for her. She was able to gather her underclothes, but the outerwear was tattered beyond practicality.

The Veil sat watching her wrap herself in the various pieces of wet cloth. Despite the observation, Fawn felt no sense of threat nor imposition, and the creature seemed to be calmed by her presence in some way. She smiled to herself a little.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Well at least ‘it’ doesn’t hate me for being undressed.

This simple notion was more of a relief than she would have thought possible.

After taking some time to put together what she could of her clothes, she sat and curled forward for a moment, prompting a pronounced sound of emptiness from her stomach as she curved. It had, after all, been another high-expenditure and low-input day.

The sound of her stomach rumbling crossed the ears of the Veil sitting at the water’s edge. It turned its head toward her and moved in closer. Its motion still made her feel a little uncomfortable, but she stayed as she was. It turned its head away from her and held still, sniffing at the air.

Again, her stomach made its complaints.

“Oooh. I’m so hungry.”

Upon hearing the second sound, the Veil moved itself, stepping over her and toward its exit. Its movements were clear, yet quieter than before.

As she watched it go, she found herself a sense of composure she hadn’t felt in some time. There was such calm in the cavern, and staring into the settled pool was soothing for her rattled nerves. It seemed so unlikely after all she had seen, but somehow there was a peace to where she was. As the Veil passed over the wall and out, she began to feel a sense of safety, similar to that which she had felt when Ikan and Eris were alive.

Moving through the caverns and corridors, the Veil followed the scent it had picked up from the girl in its home. Walking over the blood and remains of its earlier victims, it moved to the hole that the invaders had made. Daylight was permeating the small space that Fawn had called home, revealing how little protection it had provided.

Following the smell that it picked up from her clothing, the Veil found the small scattering of dried meat strewn across the floor.

It reached down carefully to gather the pieces, struggling to collect the small, hardened fragments with its long claws. Having gathered what it could of the food, it curled its palm tightly around the fragments, then moving around the slowly flooding sunlight, it sliced some moss from the wall and turned back toward the cavern.

As it crossed over the ground where the Hunter and his Wards had died, it gathered up the clothing and pieces of armor that remained. Curling its tail around the garments, it made its way back over the wall into its cavern.

Up and wandering around, Fawn was becoming familiar with her new reserve. She could see all of the details of the cavern now. It was large and fully enclosed, and it seemed that the space above the wall over which the Veil came and went was the only access.

Able to move around as she wanted to, not having to fear the sudden arrival of the Cast or obsessed Hunters, was a relief she hadn’t expected.

As she wandered closer to the entry point, her foot slipped on a remainder of the thick, dark blood that coated the entire slab in front of the entrance wall.

Layer upon layer, blood had gathered and congealed, slippery where fresh, and sticky where there were accumulations over cycles. In an instant, her calm was tempered by the cold feeling that at any point before she was rescued by the creature, she could have just as easily been another layer on the floor.

She found herself staring at the dark red, trying to fathom what made the difference between those who comprised the coating she was standing on, and herself—the one who was saved.

“Why did it save me? What makes me ... not food?”

The idea held her in place for what felt like forever, until eventually her stillness was broken by movement over the wall.

The Veil came down onto the dark red tarnished rock where she was still standing and stood over her. Clicking slowly, it reached its hand out, unfurled its claws and motioned to the food scraps it had gathered. Moving a little too quickly, Fawn excitedly grabbed at the food, slipping on the massed blood underfoot and landed on her back.

As the flurry of movements both planned and accidental happened, it was more than the creature was accustomed to. It moved its face to meet with Fawn’s eyes, and curled its strange lips down away from its teeth.

“Clunk ... clunk ... clunk.”

Fawn lay perfectly still on the stone, staring into the silvered black eyes of the thing that represented both deliverer and great danger at the same time. Her hands began to shake.

“Ok ... I ... I just fell.”

The Veil closed its mouth and blinked slowly, then tilted its head and moved back away from her. Its muscles loosened as it eased itself onto the floor.

Getting up gradually, Fawn realized she felt more corrected by a senior than threatened by a predator. She gathered herself and started eating the food it had provided. After a moment or two, a rumbling started to come from the Veil.

As she turned her attention to it, it passed its tail around its body, motioning the clothing it had picked up toward her.

This time, she moved more carefully toward the tail and watched as it unwound, dropping the clothes and some pieces of armor on the bloodied stone. Collecting some of the clothing pieces, she took them with her to the pool.

Once she got to the edge she stopped and thought for a moment. Looking back at the now-quiet creature sitting against the wall, she took one of the larger garments that once covered the man with the warhammer, and moved over to where it was sitting.

Carefully, she reached out to the Veil’s hand and tried to lift one of its fingers. Gathering her strength, she was able to move its finger slightly.

As it felt the movement, the Veil looked at her more specifically than before, and after a moment, lifted the finger she had been attempting to move.

She saw the heavy, dark finger lift which made her smile. Bringing the big garment around, she hooked the cloth behind the hovering claw and started to pull the cloth against its inner edge.

As it felt the cloth moving, the Veil intuitively curled its finger, opposing the pressure. Pulled against the crystalline razor of the long claw, the cloth sheared easily.

Watching as Fawn used its claw to slice the garment, the Veil began to shift its head in a curious fashion. As she made the next two slices, cutting the garment into pieces, it just observed and kept its hand steady.

Sitting cross-legged in front of the hand, Fawn carried on cutting up the clothing that the oddly peaceful creature had brought her, setting the pieces down next to her in an ordered pile.

Having collected her cloth strips, she picked them all up and went to the pool again to wash them, as she had done with her own clothes. As she knelt by the water, reaching in with the strips, a cold draft of air blew across her shoulders as the Veil came up behind her. For a moment the movement made her stop.

Then she just carried on, the massive creature sitting behind her. As she continued cleaning and preparing her cloth, she started to feel at ease with the breath coming and going from the hulking creature at her back.

Reaching around, she placed her hand on one of its fingers. The hand twitched backward as she made contact.

“It’s ok ... ”

She laid her hand slowly on its claw again. This time, it didn’t move.

“Thank you ... for saving me.”

The idea that she had been rescued was starting to take over from the feeling of constant fear. Knowing that she had an effect on the creature, was reassuring in a strange way. Leaving her hand on its finger, she felt the pulse of its blood moving slowly under its skin: such a slow and steady pulse, it was calming to witness.

After sitting with the creature for a while, she began to feel a little more at home, but still not certain what she was in the company of. It still smelled like cold stone and old blood. Its own scent was so mild it might have disappeared entirely against the tarnish of odors adhering to it.

–Garrick M Lynch–