After a long silence filled with Marianne’s attempt to recover from the shock and gather her thoughts, the first sentence that her brain managed to express was...

"Alright... this shit is too much for me right now.” She preferred to keep that one to herself and instead turned to address the woman in front of her. She tried to supress her old speaking habits that returned from this hectic situation. She tried her best to be polite.

“First of all, thank you for saving me. She has a million other things she would rather say right now, and her mind was still not completely there, but that didn’t make her forget common decency. Her mind

“Forgive me speaking out of turn, but I do not deserve your gratitude. I already failed you. After all, your body has already been harmed...” The woman kept looking down and the tone in her voice that expressed her feelings of shame seemed genuine.

Marianne glanced back at her former arm. She was reminded of the wild beast, that hunted her not even a minute ago. It was pitifully stuck beneath the branches and didn’t even have the opportunity to thrash around. Instead, it growled ferociously.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

She heaved out a very drawn-out sign before answering.

“Moving on from that.” She decided that she wasn’t in the mood to continue arguing about this. If she feels guilty, then that’s that.

“The beast beside you? Is it no longer a threat?”

The woman seemed startled and looked toward its direction. It seemed like she forgot about its existence entirely.

“The Behemoth is no longer a threat to you. There is no way that it can break through the restraints, and I will dispatch of it as soon as possible.”

"I see..." Was the only response she could give.

"Okay..."

"She is terrifying."

"But at least there is one less problem to worry about."

As such, it was clear to Marianne what she has to do next.

“I’m sorry, I have a lot more questions I need answers to, but I have to hurry.” Marianne didn’t even look back as she went ahead running.

“What...?” The woman seemed shell shocked, unable to utter any words afterwards.

“I don’t have any time to waste, so we can catch up on all that later!” Was the only thing she managed to shout without stopping.

Glancing back for a brief moment, she took notice of the long pointy ears that were previously hidden behind her long golden hair.

The woman stood there, unmoving.

Marianne turned away from the unsettling sight and kept on running.

There’s no way in hell, that she has the time to bother with all that, when there is a certain someone, she needs to catch up with.

Despite that, she could not supress all the thoughts that passed through her mind with each step.

What is up with my arm, or rather my body?

Why did she save me?

Why did she address her as “Divine one”?

Was she not human?

Is she dangerous?

What were the feelings, this... familiarity... that surged from within Marianne when she set eyes on that woman?

She kept on running.