When Lexi opened her eyes again, for a moment, the darkness confused her and for the second time, all of the memories came rushing back and she was hit with an avalanche of emotion.
She sat bolt upright, crying out as a searing pain radiated across her chest and instantly, the scaled male from the last time she was awake was at her side, his little chirrups and concerned face assessing her closely.
He scurried away, reaching for a small pot that had been hidden under the hay they had obviously slept on last night and busied himself with opening the container, his reptilian tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he concentrated.
In any other circumstances Lexi would have found this amusing, but right now, she could barely think straight and even breathing was painful.
The male chirruped in glee as the lid finally popped off and clattered out of his clumsy hands and onto the floor. He frowned down at it disapprovingly and made a noise that Lexi could only assume was the closest thing to cursing that he could muster.
His eyes lifted to hers, before dropping to the wound on her chest that oozed with each rise and fall of her chest. A sad rumble emanated from his chest as his eyes scrutinized the area and he offered the tub to Lexi, pointing to her chest and chirruping expectantly.
"You want me to put this on there?" Lexi whimpered in disbelief as she shook her head vehemently, "No…not a fucking chance. Do you have any idea how much this hurts?! Touching it is definitely going to make it worse."
The creature chirruped disapprovingly and chattered in a language that she didn't understand, but from the sound of it, he wasn't happy with her.
"Look, I don't know who you are, and while I appreciate…whatever it was you did last night...it doesn't mean I trust you. How do I know Narcissa isn't going to use you to inflict further torture on me?"
His scaled brows curved downwards as he offered the pot again, and when she didn't take it, he huffed in irritation and dug his own fingers deep into the pot, retrieving a large glob of whatever that gunk was inside and reaching for her chest.
Lexi scurried backwards, retreating into the corner of the wall and yelped in pain as the wound cracked and oozed with her movement and the male sighed heavily as he moved towards her.
"I'm warning you..I'll fucking kick your ass if you come anywhere near me with that...HEY WHAT THE FUCK!" She yelled as the creature manhandled her struggling body and flailing limbs onto his lap as he sat down heavily, restraining her effortlessly with one arm and applying the foul smelling gunk to the wound.
"Just you wait, as soon as you fucking let go of me I'm gonna give you a million reasons to wish you'd left me alone!" Lexi seethed as she gritted her teeth against the pain of his fingers scratching across her wound.
'If you sit still, it will be easier." the female voice that intruded into her mind when she fell asleep appeared again, and Lexi froze.
"What the fuck…" she breathed as she twisted her head around to look up at the now stoic scaled face of the male that tended to her wounds, "Is that you?" she demanded angrily, her eyes narrowing to slits as she glared at him accusingly.
His eyes slid to hers as his brow creased slightly and he chirruped questioningly.
"In my head!" Lexi snapped, "Is that you in my fucking head talking to me?!"
The male huffed in what Lexi thought sounded like a laugh and shook his head.
"The male that tends to you is Orynn," the voice rumbled, its amusement clear and Lexi could feel her mouth split into a snarl at the unwanted intrusion.
"Listen, I don't know who the fuck you are and why you're in my head, but Im gonna respectfully ask you to get the fuck out and leave me alone. I don't want to be here and I sure as shit don't want a stranger poking around inside my fucking head." Lexi hissed furiously.
The male behind her chirruped sadly as it reached for a wad of cloth that had been coiled around itself and stuffed into the corner and began to wrap it around Lexi's wound.
"I am not a stranger, child…" The female voice murmured in a strained tone, and Lexi could practically feel the hurt in her voice.
For some reason, Lexi felt a wave of guilt wash over her at the fact that she had hurt this unknown intruder's feelings and as much as she tried to shake it off, her heart hurt. Granted, it could be the pain from Narcissa's butchering of her chest, but strangely enough, that pain had faded to a dull throbbing now. No, this guilt ran deeper than physical pain.
"Look, I'm sorry but, I don't know who you are." Lexi mumbled apologetically although she didn't quite understand why.
"You have forgotten much, " the voice answered sadly, "I will have Orynn bring you to me…even Narcissa cannot go against an order from my lips…I outrank that twisted bitch whether she likes it or not." the voice continued and Lexi didn't miss the smug tone in her voice.
Orynn's arms wrapped around her gently once he had finished wrapping her chest and holding her carefully as if he might break her, he stood, before depositing her at arms length and dashing to the opposite side of the small cell as he watched Lexi warily.
"It's okay," Lexi admitted begrudgingly, "I should have listened to you and put whatever that crap is on. It's really helped with the pain…thank you."
Orynn's eyes seemed to light up as he chirruped happily at her and his eyes seemed to squint happily in her direction.
"You can trust Orynn, Lexi. He is my son and as important as you are to me, you are to him. He will protect you as much as he is able, but against Narcissa…he is helpless." The voice descended into a low hiss in her mind, "That bitch has warped the poor child and I will get him back if it's the last thing I do."
Lexi's heart leaped at this little snippet of information. Perhaps not all was lost. If there was someone who hated Narcissa as much as she did, then perhaps she could ally herself with her.
After all, her father had always said that 'the enemy of my enemy is a good friend to have' and for the first time, Lexi realized that perhaps she should have paid closer attention to his lessons.
She would befriend whoever this mysterious woman was and find out what she could about Eromaug before he showed his despicable face.