Louisa's POV
When Darren walked back into the room, I noticed that his face was swollen and bruised.
He kneeled down and tried to untie me, but he failed.
I could see that he was exhausted.
"What has he done to you? Has he beaten you?" I asked.
He didn't say a word, still trying to untie me.
"Darren..."
"Lisa, could you please..." he interrupted me, "Just don't say anything, please."
He looked so pale. His hair was a mess. His pants were torn.
He was shaking like a leaf.
I zipped up my mouth immediately. My heart was bleeding.
I wished I could hold him, but my hands were tied.
Tears dropped down my cheeks like rivers. I just couldn't hold them back.
"I'm sorry, Lisa. I shouldn't have talked to you like that. I know you're worried about me." He lowered his head and whispered, licking his ruptured lips.
His hands were shivering. His tears were dropping on my hands.
After he eventually untied my hands, I held him in my arms and cried out loudly.
"I'm fine, Lisa. I've had worse days, you know. At least you're with me now." He patted my back and whispered next to my ear.
I wasn't able to say a word. I was literally choking on my own tears.
"Please don't go anywhere... Just be here with me..." He said and held me tightly in his arms.
"I won't go anywhere without you," I cried, "But why? Why did he do things like this to you?"
"Master hasn't done anything to me, Lisa. I fell in the forest. That's all. Please don't cry. When you're crying, I can't think straight." He stroked my hair and said.
His voice was so tender and soft.
How could Finn be so merciless and heartless to hurt someone so gentle and genial as Darren?
I just couldn't believe this was happening.
I cried my heart out in his arms.
We were holding each other and crying silently for a long time on that day until the fire in the furnace eventually died and there was only complete darkness in the room.
I remembered that he wanted to stand up and set the fire, but I just didn't want to let go of him.
Then, I must have been so worn out that I passed out in his arms.
When I woke up again, I found myself lying in a bed made of a haystack, with Darren's clothes covering all over me.
Darren's tall, thin silhouette was clear in front of the fire in the furnace.
He was murmuring something in a low and deep voice into the fire as if he was talking to someone.
I couldn't hear him clearly.
"Darren..." I stretched out my arms towards him.
He quickly turned back and walked to me.
"You're tired, Lisa. Please go back to sleep." He held my hands and said.
"What were you doing just now?" I asked.
"I was talking to my brother through the fire. I'm sorry, Lisa. I must have woken you up." he said.
"Can you talk to the deceased through the fire?" I asked.
Darren shook his head and said, "No. When people die, they're gone. I was being stupid to talk to an illusion. I do stupid things like this all the time. I'm so sorry, Lisa."
"You're missing him and you don't have to apologize," I said.
He looked at me as if he was about to say something to me. But then, he just turned his head away from me.
After a brief moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "Are you hungry? Master has just told me through telepathy that he wouldn't be back in a few days. Let's clean up the boar and maybe we can grill it or something."
I was a bit disappointed and relieved at the same time.
I missed Finn. But at the same time, I couldn't face him because he had been so cruel to Darren.
Cooking always calms me down. When I don't know what to do, I cook.
I wiped my face with both of my hands and said, "Yes, you're right. Let's cook together. I saw some cumin plants outside. I'll get the seeds and grind them. We'll make some skewers."
"What's that?" Darren frowned.
"I'll show you. Just remove the front legs of the boar and dice them. Leave the rest of it to me." I said and quickly walked out of the room.
It was completely dark outside. I felt a bit intimidated.
Darren made a torch. I asked him to grab a basket and walk with me around the cottage, picking up some cumin plants, mushrooms, peppers, and turnips.
"Do we need all of them?" Darren asked as he put another turnip in the basket.
"I'm hungry. I want to make some more skewers." I said.
I lied.
The truth was, I wanted to prepare more food in case Finn came back.
When we gathered all the ingredients and walked into the yard, I saw a white shadow flashing in front of my eyes.
It was as white as a ghost and I screamed out, "Ahhh!"
At the same time, I heard the scream of someone else, "Ahhh!"
It wasn't Darren's voice.
It was high-pitched, trembling, coming from behind the tombstone of the hunter!
Had the hunter got back to life? Did he crawl out of his grave? It was impossible! His body had already been dismembered.
Was that his ghost I saw? Or a floating head?
I completely freaked out and hid behind Darren's back.
Darren wasn't afraid at all. He strode to the back of the tombstone with the torch and grabbed something up from the ground.
It was long and furry, with a cute triangle head and a pair of flashing round eyes.
It was...
"A skunk?" I was shocked.
"Hey, hUman woman! Mind your language! Skunks stink and they're not as slim as me! Look carefully! I'm a weasel!" He waved his small paws angrily in the air and shouted at me.
He was small, but he was loud.
I noticed both of his front legs were wounded.
Darren held the back of his neck and said, "Is he talking to you?"
I nodded and said, "He said he's a weasel and he didn't like skunks."
"You can understand what I'm saying?" he looked astonished.
"Yeah. I can talk to animals. I know it's weird. I'm sorry for calling you a skunk." I apologized.
He looked at me and said, "Never mind. I'm weird as well. I'm white while all other weasels are yellow or brown."
"Do you want me to attend to the wounds on your feet? They look pretty bad. I have some potions." I said.
"Is it going to hurt?" He looked alert.
"I might need to remove the rotten tissues. But I guess it wouldn't be worse than you're feeling right now." I replied honestly.
"OK. But I want you to hold me. I don't like this warlock. He has got some dark aura around him." he said.
"What does he say?" Darren asked.
"He wants me to hold him," I said.
"Does he bite?" Darren looked at the weasel and frowned.
"Hey! Mr. Dark Aura! Let go of me now or I will bite you!" the weasel protested indignantly.
"No, Darren. He's just a bit distressed because of the wound. Could you please let me hold him? You can prepare the boar. I'll treat his wounds in the room and come back to help you."
"OK. If you need any help, just let me know." Darren said and passed the weasel to me.
The weasel quickly put his front legs on my left arm and curled up in front of my chest. His long tail wrapped around my right arm and it felt a bit itchy.
I somehow could tell that he was happy to be held by me like this.
I looked closely at the wounds on his front legs. It seemed that something sharp had got him. The inflammation was pretty bad.
"Look at you. Poor thing. What happened to you?" I asked.